Double Bass Warwick Gnome Series Heads and Cabs

[degrees]

I'm exploring options for the smallest amp possible (because lugging a DB is enough) that can keep up at rehearsals and small-medium jazz gigs (with sensible drummers) and occasional BG use.

I stumbled upon this new range of heads and cabinets from Warwick. It seems too new to have many reviews, especially not for DB.
I'm considering the 200W head with 2x8" 4Ohm cab. I'm using a Realist copperhead.

Has anyone tried these units with DB or have any insight on whether this product design would be suitable?

 

[DoubleMIDI]

I have not seen any DB player using Warwick amps or cabs yet. There might be a reason.

 

[Ric Vice]

I like the fact that the heads and cabinets are rated at 4 Ohms. Typically the bass amp and speaker builders rate the head at 4 ohms and the cabinets at 8. I highly recommend the Traynor SB 106. It’s one of the smallest, lightest, DB compatible amps available. Just my take of course.

 

[bassically_eli]

The Gnome claims an input Impedance of more than 10 M-Ohm, which is definitely high enough for piezo pups. It sure looks like a clone of the TC Electronic BAM200, which has had many positive reports here on TB for both DB and bass guitar. However, recently there have been a lot of complaints of the BAM200 blowing up on people, so perhaps the Warwick could be a more reliable alternative. Is Jonas Hellborg still designing amps for Warwick? He certainly seems to favor a mostly neutral voicing, which I think is a good place to start with upright.

I have a Warwick LWA500 that I like a lot for both DB and bass guitar. It has a very low impedance, though, so a preamp is absolutely necessary unless, perhaps, you use a magnetic pup. It might actually be lower than optimal for magnetic pups honestly.

 

[bassically_eli]

I measured the frequency response of the LWA500 and found that it had about a 5db bump between ~70hz and ~100hz with a steep HPF below that. It was very flat above that. One frustrating thing I found is that the manual is not accurate regarding the EQ specs. Both the claimed frequency centers and the amount of boost/cut were not accurate. That said, I really like how the EQ is voiced.

 

[degrees]

I caved and ordered the amp/cab setup above. Looks like I'll be the guinea pig.

The Gnome claims an input Impedance of more than 10 M-Ohm, which is definitely high enough for piezo pups. It sure looks like a clone of the TC Electronic BAM200, which has had many positive reports here on TB for both DB and bass guitar. However, recently there have been a lot of complaints of the BAM200 blowing up on people, so perhaps the Warwick could be a more reliable alternative.

I must have read the same reviews as I was also considering the BAM200 but made the same conclusion.
Also, the TCE BC208 Cab runs at 8Ohm, so clearly intended to be used as a pair.

Yes, the impedances look perfect. 10Mohm input will be good for the Realist pickup. Hopefully still ok for a passive Fender Jazz?
The amp and cab are matched at 4ohm so the full 200W will be available.
From the pictures, industrial design looks like a solid German car (made in China) so I expect very durable.

Will report back.

 

[Marty Forrer]

10 meg will be fine for the Fender. I have an AI amp with 10 meg and 1 meg inputs. Makes little difference.

 

[bassically_eli]

All the piezo pickups I've used have worked fine with anything from 1 M-Ohm to 10: The copper Realist, the Realist Lifeline, the Vic's model D and model B.

 

[Aloe]

I have a Warwick LWA500 that I like a lot for both DB and bass guitar. It has a very low impedance, though, so a preamp is absolutely necessary unless, perhaps, you use a magnetic pup. It might actually be lower than optimal for magnetic pups honestly.

yeah, for some reason the lwa only has the low-z input, that works good only with active basses or buffered pedalboards. luckily, for gnome it's not the case.

I have not seen any DB player using Warwick amps or cabs yet. There might be a reason.

I've seen one with a BC300 combo (WA300 head + a 115 cab) and everything seemed okay. but it was two generations of Warwick amps ago.

 

[stretch80]

I caved and ordered the amp/cab setup above. Looks like I'll be the guinea pig.



I must have read the same reviews as I was also considering the BAM200 but made the same conclusion.
Also, the TCE BC208 Cab runs at 8Ohm, so clearly intended to be used as a pair.

Yes, the impedances look perfect. 10Mohm input will be good for the Realist pickup. Hopefully still ok for a passive Fender Jazz?
The amp and cab are matched at 4ohm so the full 200W will be available.
From the pictures, industrial design looks like a solid German car (made in China) so I expect very durable.

Will report back.

Look forward to hearing your report! I'm on the same mission!

 

[webbcity]

Hi, long time lurker here but this is my first post. I just recently bought the Warwick Gnome i Pro 300w head and 2/10/4 cabinet hoping to find a lightweight setup that would work both for louder jazz gigs on upright as well as rock gigs on electric. First impression out of the box was fantastic. First thing I plugged into it was my Rickenbacker 4003 and I fell in love with the sound immediately. As others have said, it's pretty neutral, which I like as the sound of the instrument can just come through. But this little setup certainly moves a lot of air and is plenty loud and punchy.

Next up was the upright. I had to make a few tweaks but once I had it dialed in, I quite liked the sound and could probably improve on it a bit more. Very nice though. However, I didn't get all that far because pretty quickly I noticed a buzz/rattle from the cab when I played the open E string, or really anything up to the low G or A. I'm now not quite sure what to do... I bought this via mail order which was a leap of faith. I have contacted the dealer but the first thing they told me to do was check for loose screws, which I did, and found none. I'm going to call them again today. Am hoping they are able to just replace it without too much hassle. But I guess a part of me is wondering whether a new one will be the same? This couldn't just be a design flaw, could it? I enjoy my gear but am not a very technical person so I don't even really now how to tell what could be causing this buzz. I thought maybe it was just the upright, but I went back to the Rick and realized I could still hear it, just much more quietly. Of course the upright is going to have much more going on in the low frequencies.

Just putting this out here in case anybody has thoughts, I guess. If I could just get this buzz to go away I would love this thing. It sounds fantastic, looks great, and is incredibly portable. I've toyed with the idea of just going to someone locally and paying the $70 or whatever to have them look at it, but at the same time I really feel it should work well out of the box.

Forgot to mention also that the upright is an Engelhardt plywood and the pickup is an old Underwood. Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this! Would love to hear of others' experiences with this setup.

 

[basss]

I recently picked up an Gnome i pro as well. I have a TC Bam200 and like the sound a lot but found it a bit underpowered for louder gigs. I waited on buying the Gnome as I wasn't sure there would be much difference. I liked the bam with upright but like the gnome better and it's definitely a step up in volume. The Gnome sounds similar but has more going on in the lows and highs. It's a bit scooped in comparison to the Bam, in a good way.

 

[webbcity]

I recently picked up an Gnome i pro as well. I have a TC Bam200 and like the sound a lot but found it a bit underpowered for louder gigs. I waited on buying the Gnome as I wasn't sure there would be much difference. I liked the bam with upright but like the gnome better and it's definitely a step up in volume. The Gnome sounds similar but has more going on in the lows and highs. It's a bit scooped in comparison to the Bam, in a good way.

What are you using for a cab with the Gnome i Pro?

 

[DoubleMIDI]

You can try to turn down the bass EQ for DB. That might be better for the sound of the DB and is more comparable to most bass guitars with a neutral bass EQ.

I had an extreme rattle after a transport of my combo amp on a bicycle trailer some weeks ago. Never had it the years before, got an extreme rattle beyond a certain volume threshold.
At home I umounted the grill (four screws), put the cab on its back so the speakers showed up and took the woofer out. There was a capacitor (acting as a high pass for the small tweeter) in the middle of the internal speaker cable and even though it was in shrink tube, it might have been rattling against the woofer case.
I took some rubber foam around it, secured it with thread on both sides (looks like a bonbon now), rescrewed the woofer and the grill and it hasn‘t happened since then.
But my combo was years out of warranty and I needed a very quick solution.

 

[Ric Vice]

Next up was the upright. I had to make a few tweaks but once I had it dialed in, I quite liked the sound and could probably improve on it a bit more. Very nice though. However, I didn't get all that far because pretty quickly I noticed a buzz/rattle from the cab when I played the open E string, or really anything up to the low G or A. I'm now not quite sure what to do... I bought this via mail order which was a leap of faith. I have contacted the dealer but the first thing they told me to do was check for loose screws, which I did, and found none. I'm going to call them again today. Am hoping they are able to just replace it without too much hassle. But I guess a part of me is wondering whether a new one will be the same? This couldn't just be a design flaw, could it? I enjoy my gear but am not a very technical person so I don't even really now how to tell what could be causing this buzz. I thought maybe it was just the upright, but I went back to the Rick and realized I could still hear it, just much more quietly. Of course the upright is going to have much more going on in the low frequencies.....................

Well, you should probably try the head with another cabinet and a different head with the 2/4/10 cabinet. That way you can isolate what the issue is provided the other head and cabinet are in good working order. If the Warwick is under warranty
then their should be able to return it. Loose screws aside it's new enough that a return should be a matter of course.

 

[basss]

What are you using for a cab with the Gnome i Pro?

Doubleshot or MAS 16

 

[webbcity]

Doubleshot or MAS 16

Thanks, was not familiar with these but just looked them both up-- nice cabs!

Well, you should probably try the head with another cabinet and a different head with the 2/4/10 cabinet. That way you can isolate what the issue is provided the other head and cabinet are in good working order. If the Warwick is under warranty
then their should be able to return it. Loose screws aside it's new enough that a return should be a matter of course.

You are right, and my issue was that I don't have multiple heads and cabs such that I could test. However (!)... I remembered I did have an old Flite 1x12 cab up in the attic, so I dug it out and guess what? I plug the Gnome head into it and it sounds amazing. Then I go back to the Gnome cab and what I now call the "farting" sound comes back. So thanks for the encouragement! I've confirmed it is the cab and can call the dealer tomorrow with that info.

You can try to turn down the bass EQ for DB. That might be better for the sound of the DB and is more comparable to most bass guitars with a neutral bass EQ.

I had an extreme rattle after a transport of my combo amp on a bicycle trailer some weeks ago. Never had it the years before, got an extreme rattle beyond a certain volume threshold.
At home I umounted the grill (four screws), put the cab on its back so the speakers showed up and took the woofer out. There was a capacitor (acting as a high pass for the small tweeter) in the middle of the internal speaker cable and even though it was in shrink tube, it might have been rattling against the woofer case.
I took some rubber foam around it, secured it with thread on both sides (looks like a bonbon now), rescrewed the woofer and the grill and it hasn‘t happened since then.
But my combo was years out of warranty and I needed a very quick solution.

Good suggestion about turning down the bass for the upright, that was right on-- it definitely improved things but the noise is still there. And good for you for fixing up your rattling combo. I'm always nervous about trying stuff like that as I worry I'll just make things worse.

 

[DoubleMIDI]

…

Good suggestion about turning down the bass for the upright, that was right on-- it definitely improved things but the noise is still there. And good for you for fixing up your rattling combo. I'm always nervous about trying stuff like that as I worry I'll just make things worse.

I only had a few hours to check, so if it would have been something else I would have taken a different cab and asked the manufacturer later what I can do.