Roland Rock Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I seem to have developed a bit of an addiction lately: I had been happily using my Red Iron valve amp for years, then I bought a Streamliner 900 as a backup. Big Mistake. Now that I had that surplus amp equity, I kept browsing the Basschat marketplace, wondering what else I could acquire. I decided that I wanted ultra clean tones for my band and before I knew it, I had traded the Streamliner for a Shuttle 9.2, then jumped on a couple of bargains, an EBS HD350 and Glockenklang Soul. [size=4]I'll never let the Red Iron go, but want a cleaner sound for this band. I'll need to decide which of the others I like best for this band and then sell the other two. Some thoughts so far:[/size] [size=4]- I have yet to give the Glockenklang a good workout at gigging levels, but so far I think it has the best tone. The flat tone is really nice - clean, deep and musical. It does seem to be a bit overly hummy when near my single coil pickup, but I'll need to play with the band to see whether that will be an issue. [/size] [size=4]- I'm really impressed with the Shuttle. It is incredibly transparent yet versatile. I don't place much value on the size/weight thing, as I find the others fine to carry about anyway. On top of my 6x10 the Shuttle reminds me of this:[/size] [size=4] [/size] - The EBS is quite similar to the Shuttle. Great sounds and very versatile, but maybe with a bit more character. No mute button though [size=4]It's a nice position to be in. All three are really nice amps, and I'd be happy to keep any of them. I'm getting the feeling the the Glock will edge it though...[/size] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) Nice stack you have there, Sir. I just love the look of the Red Iron. I did some googling but there's not a lot of info about on them, apart from their own website. What is the power, valve configuration on it? Where did you get it? Oh so many questions, and I'm hungry to know more about them..... Cheers Geoff Edited December 31, 2013 by RandomBass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 [quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1388487665' post='2322483'] Nice stack you have there, Sir. I just love the look of the Red Iron. I did some googling but there's not a lot of info about on them, apart from their own website. What is the power, valve configuration on it? Where did you get it? Oh so many questions, and I'm hungry to know more about them..... Cheers Geoff [/quote] Cheers! Here's the story: Back in 2005ish I decided to sell off my EA rig and go valve. It was pre Basschat so I just went through the huge list of bass amp reviews on Harmony Central to see if anything looked interesting. A review of a 100w Red Iron amp ticked all my boxes. Paul Sanchez of Red Iron in Texas usually makes low wattage guitar amps, but had made this one bass amp. Here it is: http://www.harmonycentral.com/t5/reviews/productpage/product-uid/41936 So I ordered a custom 100w amp straight from Paul. 2x6SN7 valves in the pre and 2xKT88s for power. As far as I can gather, he hoards loads of quality components over time, then uses the appropriate parts for a build. It seems a bit eccentric and unorthodox, and the untidy wiring would probably make Mr Foxen wince :-D None of that matters though, as it sounds gorgeous! Deep and rich, plenty of detail and a nice bit of creamy distortion when you really dig in. It's not mega loud, but has been fine for countless gigs. It did break once, a mains transformer blew. Luckily I live very close to valve amp guru John Chambers, who made a replacement and did a few tweaks at the same time. He seemed quite confused and critical of the design, but like I say, who cares when it sounds so good! It originally came in a rustic wooden sleeve, but I found this to be a bit unnecessarily tall so made another one. Then I got bored of that, so made one a bit more in keeping with my cab: http://basschat.co.uk/topic/216904-new-casing-for-valve-amp/page__hl__red+iron__fromsearch__1 That's about it. It will always be my first choice for any rock, blues soul or funk that I play, but in my current band (reggae), I've decided that I need the ultra clean fundamental that a top quality SS amp can provide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Rock Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) Oh, and I've just grabbed the opportunity to crank the Glockenklang while the family and neighbours were out. A tiny bit of EQ fiddling later (slight bass boost, cut low mids and mid mids, flat high mids and cut treble. Bass flat and treble cut on my bass) and I have a crystal clear tone which seems to get better as you crank up the volume! Again, the word that kept popping into my head to describe the tone was 'musical'. I love the way the volume pot actually gets louder the whole way round. On the Shuttle, you seem to have reached 80% volume at 12o clock. I also think that there won't be any issues with buzzing. Looks like we have a winner! Edited December 31, 2013 by Roland Rock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Cheers for that, very interesting indeed. Your build thread is great too - the amp and 69'er make lovely looking (and no doubt sounding) pairing Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I would expect the Glockenklang to retain its focus better as you ask more from the power stage. This really seperates the men from the boys, IMO... This is always my issue with some class D and other amps. They can sound great at lowish volume... but then become a bit of a fight when you push them. I notice this a lot as I always have to push an amp..... It's a pet peeve... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1388508384' post='2322850'] This is always my issue with some class D and other amps. They can sound great at lowish volume... but then become a bit of a fight when you push them. [/quote] +1. This is exactly what I have found with the ones I have used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0175westwood29 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 [quote name='RandomBass' timestamp='1388509333' post='2322869'] +1. This is exactly what I have found with the ones I have used. [/quote] same here, valves amps like being pushed but ss due to the nature i suppose dnt, but then thats why you see the massive 1000w ss amps like my terror seriously never gonna get that thing past 9 o clock on the main volume. also ill take those unwanted heads of your hands for free so your not worrying ;-) andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Definitely. The Terror Bass 500 was the only one to have any serious clout to it, although I doubt I was really pushing it to it's limits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) Hello Chris. The first step is admitting you have a problem, so well done there. Step two is to give your gear away Edited December 31, 2013 by ezbass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bassman7755 Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 I'm a bit of a mico-amp aholic. I currently own a RH450 a GB shuttle 6 and a ibanez promethian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beer of the Bass Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) The Red Iron looks like an interesting one. I'd seen the photo-essay on John Chamber's site (which is fascinating for any valve amp geek), but hadn't realised this one was yours. The design and layout are unorthodox, but I guess if it works, keeps working and sounds good then all is well. I'm kind of regretting selling my last all-valve bass amp last year and I may have to rectify that... Edited December 31, 2013 by Beer of the Bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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