I have a sizeable credit with my only close (2 hrs away) music store, and the only amps available there are Warwick Gnomes and Fender Rumbles. Upright players, please chime in with any Gnome head and/or cab experience. If you have to talk about Rumbles for upright , speak, I will consider the 40 (and only the 40) Thank you. Not interested in hearing about other rigs. I wont be purchasing on line. I want to settle my credit with the mentioned dealer.
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Double Bass Warwick Gnome head and box/ upright users yet?
- Thread starter Dan Hannum
- Start date
About 3 months ago I purchased the Gnome and the 2x8 cab shown below. I think it’s a good setup for upright - warm clear sound with plenty of volume - and I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback on gigs. I keep meaning to make a video of it being used on a gig or a rehearsal but I just haven’t done it yet.
I have a similar rig pairing an Acoustic Image head and Acme B1 cabinet and I have to say, I’ve been using the rig with the Gnome/TC cabinet most of the time.
I have a similar rig pairing an Acoustic Image head and Acme B1 cabinet and I have to say, I’ve been using the rig with the Gnome/TC cabinet most of the time.
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I have once used a Rumble 40 with a Stagg EDB in a small stage jam session setting and beyond needing to turn down the bass EQ completely it sounded OK. Louder than I have thought it might have been due to the rather low wattage. And very light.
A friend of mine wanted a cheap bass amp for his EUB for use in home and small stage jams and it works well for that.
A friend of mine wanted a cheap bass amp for his EUB for use in home and small stage jams and it works well for that.
AC: You're using the Gnome more often over the AI says alot! I am trying to determine if Gnomes have transparent, uncolored quality such as amps like AI ,WW, EA, P Jones etc.. Tell me more if you care to.
Hi Dan. I’m reticent to put the Gnome in the same league as my Acoustic Image, but the convenience of such a small and light setup - not that the AI and Acme aren’t small & light, but this rig is even more so (jeez am I getting lazy) - has me enjoying the ease of it all.
Also, not sure which component (amp or cabinet or combination thereof) to attribute to, but even at very low volume, the Gnome/TC rig adds a distinct punch or front end to the sound. Thus, I wouldn’t call it transparent, but to me this is a desirable quality; especially since it’s achieved with no additional preamp in the signal chain. For me it’s truly been a plug in and play kind of rig.
On Tuesday I have a gig with piano and guitar (no drums) which is a setting where I think the Gnome/TC rig really shines. I’ll try and remember to make a video recording of some sort and post it here.
Right... you get what you pay for. Direct plug in to the gnome would be optimum. I am unhappy with the present pre amp I use. The bass is a 100 yr old German flatback with a marvelous tone I would like to keep as true to life as possible, thus the desire for a transparent "natural" uncolored sounding amp. The music is old swing and jazz, just bass , fiddle and vocals in a lounge. Really not wanting anything to sound like a tube amp since most of us equate that with warmth.
I don't know how the Gnome is voiced, but a lot of bass guitar amps have a mid scoop. Most of the time that's a problem with acoustic instruments, but occasionally, serendipity happens and the mid scoop of an amp takes out the piezo pickup quack and mid forward sound. IME and YMMV.
I do happen to own a Warwick LWA500, and I have measured its frequency response. With all knobs at noon, it is has ~5dB bump around 80-100hz, a 3rd order HPF below that (18db/octave), and is completely flat in the mids and highs. I am curious if the Gnome series is at all similar, but I suspect it was designed separately.
I do happen to own a Warwick LWA500, and I have measured its frequency response. With all knobs at noon, it is has ~5dB bump around 80-100hz, a 3rd order HPF below that (18db/octave), and is completely flat in the mids and highs. I am curious if the Gnome series is at all similar, but I suspect it was designed separately.
My understanding is that the Gnome was designed to compete with the Elf, and like the Elf, it has a compressor/limiter that is baked into the signal path and can't be adjusted. This doesn't have to be a bad thing, but it depends on the details. For instance, I like the limiter on the PJB combos quite a lot and just keep them on even though they are adjustable. Some with a more purist attitude toward amplification might not want this feature.
I have a student who has the Elf 1x8 combo. It sounds nice but has a fan which I find annoying. Does the Gnome also have a fan?
I actually don’t know. Either the unit hasn’t gotten hot enough yet for it to kick in or maybe I just don’t hear it.
I haven't noticed fan noise with my Elf 1x10 combo. Played first gig on it last night in a small room, it sounded quite good and natural. But i think the issue with these smaller heads is when you try to get alot of volume, and the tone degrades a whole lot. Quiet situations sound great, loud situations not so much.
I haven't tried the Gnome but I bought an Elf as a backup to my AI and my GK MBF500. I hated it. The upright just did not like it, so I sold it on.
Seems my Gnome post has turned into an Elf post
It's that time of year, I guess?? No wait, it's spring, so maybe this is when Xmas elves turn into garden gnomes.
I just got a gnome on monday. It sounds great, in comparison is more transparent, louder, less noisy than the tc BAM 200. Less unpleasent mids than the Markbass Nano. The fan isn't loud at all.
Dan Hannum: Yes, it's an upright bass test. I use the Gnome with a SAD 112H box (Fostex-Ferrit-speaker + a double-bass-friendly horn, but nothing special; SAD is a 1-man-company in Germany). I sold my MB Nano I about 2 years ago because some upper mids were too much for me, but now I have installed the Schertler Stat B Pickup in a different way, maybe I would like it better now. Like you I'm finicky regarding mids, I would like to try the Nano in direct comparison to the Gnome now. They have issued a Nano II, hm, I don't know about the differences. The Nano and the Gnome have a very quiet fan, comparable to a laptop.
Both are great amps worth trying. To me the Gnome is loud enough for DB and I can transport it in the Bassreflex-Channel of the box. In comparison the Nano is huge, has more power and more features like an effect loop. I also had a BAM 200, but to me it was noisy (hiss) and had nearly no headroom. With "amp that ran cooler" you mean the fan? I don't remember that the fan of the BAM was very loud, but the Gnome and the Nano are definitely more quiet.
Both are great amps worth trying. To me the Gnome is loud enough for DB and I can transport it in the Bassreflex-Channel of the box. In comparison the Nano is huge, has more power and more features like an effect loop. I also had a BAM 200, but to me it was noisy (hiss) and had nearly no headroom. With "amp that ran cooler" you mean the fan? I don't remember that the fan of the BAM was very loud, but the Gnome and the Nano are definitely more quiet.
What I meant was the BAM 200 unit itself got really warm which spooked me. Many have reported that amp to fry. Will either nab the Warwick 1 10 Gnome box or fabricate a 1 10 with an Eminence basslite 2010. May change out to a better PU as well. not so happy with the KK bassmax as it shifts around.
I haven't played long/loud enough to really hotten the Gnome, but because it seems to be louder than the BAM I think I will have to push this little thing less, so I'm optimistic. If you play very loud, you may better should go for the Nano or AI Clarus etc.
I think the Pickup is more important than the amp, as long as the impedance is fitting (the Gnome has more than 10 MOhm, the Nano I has 2, the Nano II has 1MOhm). The box also has a great impact.
I think the Pickup is more important than the amp, as long as the impedance is fitting (the Gnome has more than 10 MOhm, the Nano I has 2, the Nano II has 1MOhm). The box also has a great impact.
