Small and lightweight: what should I look into?

[surfinbernard]

I just bought a Reidmar. I tried a lot of amps in the shop and really had in my mind to buy a valve amp or one with a valve preamp. The guy somehow convinced me to plug in the teeny Reidmar and I reluctantly agreed, believing that for one thing it was not going to be loud enough at 200 watts, and for another it would sound cold and uninteresting. I loved the sound straight away, it's punchy, loud and musical, much richer tone than I would expect from a little digital amp, I suppose I am out of touch with what modern technology can do these days. Also it is plenty, plenty loud.

I played it through a Gallien Krueger 15" cab with a tweeter, also not what I thought I wanted but I bought that too. I'm chuffed with my unplanned purchases, I will just get a valve preamp and get some vintagey dirt that way. I haven't ruled out buying the little cabs to go with it at some point but I saved a bit of cash by getting the GK used and I did really like the sound, PMT in Brum are great and promised they would give me a very good price if I wanted to trade it in for the EBS cabs later on. Can't go wrong eh.

Bear in mind that, to my ears at least, there is a lot more volume from those 200 watts than you will get from some 500 watt ones. Don't ask me why, I'm not very technically minded, but there was no question that it was louder than two otehr amps I tried which were more money and rated at 500 watts.

I would get yourself to a shop where you can try one, preferably with a variety of cabs, and compare it to other amps. I'm sure you will be quite surprised how good it is for the price.

[1976fenderhead]

Most brands are cheating by rating their small heads with peak wattages, while EBS are honest and rate RMS wattage (the TC Electronic RH450 is only about 250 W RMS in reality, for example). Then there's more or less dodgy techniques different brands use to get more volume from that wattage, like compression, etc)...

I will try the Reidmar tomorrow...

Edited June 22, 2012 by 1976fenderhead

[Jack]

Actually most brands quote a (granted very fudged) RMS figure. It's just TC that are outright liars.

[1976fenderhead]

[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1340390651' post='1704033']
Actually most brands quote a (granted very fudged) RMS figure. It's just TC that are outright liars.
[/quote]

I don't think Aguilar is very honest about their TH's either, but can't say for sure...

[1976fenderhead]

Ok, tried the Reidmar, AB'd it with my previous favourites (Aguilar TH500 and MarkBass LM III) and thought it was loads better and louder, I should go for this one... unfortunately could only try with a couple of MB cabs (112 first and then 210), they didn't have the ClassicLine 112's I'm interested in, but with those cabs it blew the other 2 heads out of the water!

[morgano]

Was wondering if you have 'pulled the trigger' on anything yet? I've read through the thread - you seem to have tried every head that I have shortlisted - I'm now left in suspense with the Reidmar as the last one! Did you end up buying it? I was initially interested in the Reidmar but had read that it has quite a 'modern' sound, which I didn't think you were looking for.

[jimrs2k]

If your interrsted in real world experience of the genzbenz stuff i can help.
I have now giged my shuttlemax 9.2 almost every week for a bit over a year now, and i love it, its by far the most versatile amp ive had in 30 years of playing.
I pair mine with a fearful 15/6/1 + 15 sub and it will cover just about any gig i can think of, inside , outside, it has allways given plenty of sound, and many times ive been pulled from the FOH as i carried better on my own.
For one dont get caught up in the watts debate, its speakers that move the air, and some are night and day better than others, 200 watts going into 2 12's or whatever are allways going to be louder then 300 watts going into one 12"
The rated output in the GB manuals etc are all RMS.
Hope you find what your after and good luck.

[1976fenderhead]

[quote name='morgano' timestamp='1343636747' post='1752828']
Was wondering if you have 'pulled the trigger' on anything yet? I've read through the thread - you seem to have tried every head that I have shortlisted - I'm now left in suspense with the Reidmar as the last one! Did you end up buying it? I was initially interested in the Reidmar but had read that it has quite a 'modern' sound, which I didn't think you were looking for.
[/quote]

Hi there, I did pull the trigger on a Reidmar and two CL112's. I was looking for versatility, not so much an old school sound. I've been very split about the amp since I got it, experimenting with the EQ and AB'ing it with my old SWR 350x trying to make up my mind on which is best.

First I'll say that the other compact amps that topped my list were the Little Mark III and the TH500. All others weren't for me for one reason or another. The Reidmar won because I found the LM too muddy on the lows and because though it sounded ok flat and the filters were great, EQ did very little to improve it in anyway. As for the TH, I found it too middy and "telephonic". As for warmth though, the TH sounded the warmest and most organic, with the LM being in the middle and the Reidmar the coldest and most hi-fi, but very focused clear and defined. The Reidmar was also way louder than the others.

Now what I find of this amp is it doesn't sound great flat (which is ok and IMO, as it should be) but it's very hard to EQ. It took me a while to figure out what was happening, but I realised it's the fact that all controls interact with each other. I may set the bass at 11 o'c because noon makes my walls vibrate all over the place, but once I move treble from noon to 3 o'c, I find that there was a little cut on the bass which disappeared a bit, and now I can comfortably move it to noon! This didn't happen with my SWR! Same happens between mids and bright: I set mids to a certain level with bright off, then when I increase bright to my preferred setting, I find I have to cut mids. I would expect bright to interact a bit with treble, not mids! I actually find this is the closest I can get to valve warmth (scooped mids and high bright, which emulates valve harmonics a bit), as opposed to being cautious with bright as I was doing initially. I also find that increasing bright takes some energy away from the rest of the spectrum, especially lows (!).

Overall I find my 350x sounds better flat and is easier to EQ. I find the Reidmar more versatile, clearer, more defined and focused, all notes come through clearly, I can play fast stuff with the Reidmar and sound great, while playing the same stuff with the 350x I sound sloppy! This is all with compression off btw. That's the main reason why I'm keeping it: it makes me sound like a better bass player.

I miss the warmth of the 350x's valve preamp though... I will be trying to make up for it with some pedal. In the end, I suppose that's easier to do than to make the 350x's attack faster and clearer (compressors haven't helped with that).

I'm satisfied that the Reidmar is better for my usage than the 350x on its own.

In the end this amp is not the end all be all for me as far as compact amps go... I'm still curious and looking for one of the other two at a good price second hand to compare at home with more time with the Reidmar... Truth is, they lost to it in the shops... I may come to the conclusion, as a couple have mentioned here, that I'll never be fully happy with a compact amp (in my case, due to the lack of a proper valve preamp).

As for the cabs, I'm happy. Can't tell any difference for the Triad I had before (couldn't AB them because I sold the Triad before i got them) except for the tweeter which I always found too harsh on the Triad and kept between off and -12dB, and on the CL112's is just right (even though there's no attenuator, only on/off switch, no attenuator is needed). It seems as balanced to me as those on the Neo Line. I leave one tweeter on and one off and the bright knob ends up pretty much controlling how loud it gets...

Edited September 8, 2012 by 1976fenderhead

[Mobius3107]

I have two Aguilar GS112's, and i love the option of being able to just take one. One is loud enough and got enough punchiness for small venues, though two is much better. Either way, i dont think ill ever miss the years of dragging round a 410.

[Lozz196]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1340143497' post='1700063']
I`m yet to hear a bassist using a Markbass amp where I don`t like the sound. At present my GK MB Fusion 500 and Schroeder 410 are easy for me to manage, but once I have difficulty with these (the cab mainly, can`t see the Fusion being difficult) a Markbass combo will be on the cards.
[/quote]

Well update to this - not got the combo, but now have a Markbass Little Mark Tube 500 head. Paired with my (also new) Ampeg PF410HLF it sounds very nice.

[leebassplayer]

anyone had any gigging experience with the markbass traveller 210? i'm looking for a lightweight 210 cab for smaller gigs

[chris_b]

I know it's 10 lbs heavier but I think the Standard 102HF will give you a better tone.

[spaners]

my ultra lite rig
very deep pretty loud and sounds good (imho)
tc bh250 tc rs112 and my floor tuner (the amp has a built in tuner but my eyes are so bad i need the big floor unit )

[attachment=119506:P9180018.JPG]

i can carry everyting in one go now

[MoJoKe]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1348754762' post='1817773']
I know it's 10 lbs heavier but I think the Standard 102HF will give you a better tone.
[/quote]

I spent the weekend helping on the MarkBass stand at the Mansons show a couple of weeks ago, with lots of lovely goodies to play with and a couple of days to do it!!

I have owned a CMD151p for nearly 5 years and love it to bits, but the 121p (its the same LMIII head, but tiny and sooo flippin' light!) and particularly the Alain Caron signature amps are both absolutely amazing! The AC sig amp is more powerful with loads more headroom and has the added benefit of headphone/aux in sockets and a mute/EQ boost switch (can be pedal controlled at last!), but can't be expanded with an extension cab... but really no biggie as it is amazingly loud and stunning quality. With an iphone plugged in it was [b][i]easily [/i][/b]better than the stand opposite selling small PA kit, and MUCH louder!

The 102 has a much tighter sound, and would suit a slap player better, but the 12" combos both have a broader tonal range and therefore more general purpose...

Edited November 30, 2012 by MoJoKe

[Lozz196]

[quote name='Lozz196' timestamp='1347125369' post='1797249']
Well update to this - not got the combo, but now have a Markbass Little Mark Tube 500 head. Paired with my (also new) Ampeg PF410HLF it sounds very nice.
[/quote]

Update to my update, Markbass Mini CMD121P (1x12) combo and NY121 (1x12) extension speaker are now in the fold. Amazing sound, amazing portability, should have done this years ago, as I really am too rickety to be carting 4x10s about - even lightweight ones.