Transparent amp wanted - no I don't mean see through.

[bass_ferret]

Anyway getting back on topic - transparency is having an amp that does not impose its own sound on the sound of your bass. If you use different basses on stage you want to hear different basses - not have everything sounding the same. I use an EBS HD350 and whilst I wont claim it is as transparent as going straight into a desk, I can clearly hear the different sound of my basses.

[MoJ]

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='28254' date='Jul 7 2007, 11:24 AM']I wouldn't dream of asking a local store to fix it for free. Why would I do that?[/quote]

All I can say is that from [i]some[/i] posts on here, Bassworld and Basstalk, there have been some people who've had to shell out carriage costs to get their product back to the store/manufacture of origin (sometimes both ways) even though it is still within the 1st year warranty. If you're looking at sending pretty much anything guitar related its mostly going to be big and/or heavy. I wouldnt want that.

Still, its your choice and at this rate will be the only choice. In the last music shop I worked in it was freqeunt that I would hear of a music shop closing down.

Andy

[kjb]

I ended up buying an Epifani UL502.

It sounds just what I was after, I get the sound that I wanted from it, and it is though not completely flat sounding, not very far off.

Here is a link to the same item from Wood and tronics, [url="http://www.woodandtronics.com/?page=shop/flypage&product_id=34&category_id=7a3f13da875f813925dcb70c64a23247&category=amplification_epifaniamplifiers&"]http://www.woodandtronics.com/?page=shop/f...amplifiers&[/url]

That's roughly £1000, add on to that price the cost of shipping, and all the hastle if anything should go wrong.

Here's a link to the same thing from the Groove shoppe in New York, [url="http://www.thegrooveshoppe.com/xcart/manufacturers.php?manufacturerid=8&sort=&sort_direction=&page=2"]http://www.thegrooveshoppe.com/xcart/manuf...ion=&page=2[/url]
I have dealt with these, and can highly recommend them, that price is about £800, add on the cost of shipping and import duty/VAT.

Both of these are more than I paid from the Gallery, I also got an Epifani gigbag, just to make it easier to carry home on the train.

Edited July 7, 2007 by kjb

[obbm]

[quote name='kjb' post='28385' date='Jul 7 2007, 07:53 PM']I ended up buying an Epifani UL502.[/quote]

Welcome to the club.

[alexclaber]

[quote name='chris_b' post='27865' date='Jul 6 2007, 12:18 PM']As I discovered, if you do find a really transparent head and cab, you'd better have a very good sounding bass.[/quote]

Yes and no. You better have a bass that you can get the sound you want from - that doesn't necessarily equate to a bass that sounds good to all people and with standard views.

[quote name='chris_b' post='27869' date='Jul 6 2007, 12:25 PM']....also, I think this transparent amp business is a bit of an "emperors new clothes"! What's so good about transparent? I'm sure my amp and cabs add all sorts of "gunk" to my sound, but I think it sounds great like that.[/quote]

That's great for you. I saw Ash on Thursday night (they rocked!) and their bassist is one I imagine would sound terrible through a transparent rig - through the Ampeg SVT 810 rig he produced a thunderous growl that filled exactly the right space. Conversely if I were to use his rig for my gigs I'd lose a huge chunk of my sounds and therefore my music - I need to be able to go from quasi classical guitar fingerpicking to full on reggae bottom just through plucking differently.

[quote name='chris_b' post='27871' date='Jul 6 2007, 12:27 PM']...... also, if you want transparent, make sure you get really good (expensive) transparent cables.[/quote]

All cables are very transparent. Really expensive cables come with a side order of bs and psychological trickery - the brain can easily convince itself that the sound is better when it is actually no different.

[quote name='lukeward2004' post='27903' date='Jul 6 2007, 01:40 PM']From experience, the EBS HD350 and its older brothers are supposed to be very clean and flat - my bass tutor has the HD 350 and it seems very transparent with no noticable tone colouring going on....[/quote]

I think the EBS heads have a similarly scooped out lower midrange and boosted treble to the SWR heads, that's certainly what I've heard. Clean but not flat.

[quote name='chris_b' post='27992' date='Jul 6 2007, 05:04 PM']The question I was asking is why is transparent such an important objective these days and why do so many people think transparent sounds "better"?[/quote]

It is only an important objective to those that want it. It may seem an unusually important objective to the online populace because it's not that easy to achieve, especially with speaker cabs, thus resulting in much discussion.

[quote name='wateroftyne' post='28068' date='Jul 6 2007, 08:19 PM']My Focus just keeps going and going and going.... despite all I've thrown at it (which is a hell of a lot, believe me), it has never once gasped for breath...[/quote]

Sure but that doesn't mean it has equal power output under heavy load to an equally rated traditional head or power amp - the sensitivity of the Schroeder certainly gives it an easier time than if it were driving my rig. That's not to say I wouldn't like one though!

[quote name='kjb' post='28385' date='Jul 7 2007, 07:53 PM']I ended up buying an Epifani UL502...

...more than I paid from the Gallery[/quote]

Good choice! Great to hear that The Gallery did you a very good price. Maybe they should think about advertising slightly lower prices on their website?

FWIW my entire bass rig has come from the USA, at various times and through various routes, initially because Acmes are only sold direct from the US based manufacturer.

Alex

[Dragonlord]

[quote name='MoJ' post='28170' date='Jul 7 2007, 03:08 AM']In my current shop, we even have a few people who want us to repair things bought from places like Thomann, to which our response is not unlike you would expect if you'd bought from another shop. Take it back to them! Why should we have to deal with some thing that is not our problem, at our expense?[/quote]
Actually, if you're official dealers of some brands, you are obliged to. There are brands that offer an international warranty, so you should know that when you started carrying them. If you're not talking about such brands, of course the claim is ridiculous.

Anyway, prices in Greece used to be similar to UK's until recently (and they still are in many stores). But, with many greeks buying from thomann etc, they were forced to drop the prices... now you can even find some items cheaper in Greece than in Germany - how can they do it now and they couldn't a couple of years ago? As far as I'm concerned, thomann is the best thing that's happened to the greek music market in the last several years. And of course when I find a good deal locally I prefer to buy from them - even if it's a little more expensive than thomann, I try to buy from here to support the local market and of course to have support if something goes wrong. But when they ask for 50% more they can kiss my bass.

[MB1]

MB1.

I kinda get the feeling its no good having a transparent wallet if you wish to go amp transparent?.

I agree with the mark king statement i have a kingbass and use ashdown amplification and i cant get it to sound anywhere near as thin as mr kings.

[kjb]

[quote name='MB1' post='28789' date='Jul 8 2007, 09:08 PM']MB1.

I kinda get the feeling its no good having a transparent wallet if you wish to go amp transparent?.

I agree with the mark king statement i have a kingbass and use ashdown amplification and i cant get it to sound anywhere near as thin as mr kings.[/quote]

Do you want it to, would you want it to.

[MB1]

[quote name='kjb' post='28797' date='Jul 8 2007, 09:21 PM']Do you want it to, would you want it to.[/quote]


NAY NAY AND THRICE NAY!I DONT WANT IT!SUITS YOU SIR!
(He does know theres batterys in that kingbass????????)

[MoJ]

[quote name='Dragonlord' post='28779' date='Jul 8 2007, 08:50 PM']..with many greeks buying from thomann etc, they were forced to drop the prices... now you can even find some items cheaper in Greece than in Germany...[/quote]

I have found that there are a few items on Thomann that arent really any cheaper than here in the UK, but that is a [i]few[/i] items. A lot of the time we would be selling things for [b]less[/b] than we bought them in at. We are by no means a small shop and do sell a fair bit, and are main dealers for quite a few brands so we have some buying power and get good rates, but it should be obvious to anyone that its not good business sense to sell at less than you bought unless you are the end user and selling second hand.
Even had one customer recently who complained that after haggling, our bottom price was a couple of pounds above Thomann's, even when you spend more than that for shipping.

I will leave at saying that my bug bear is when customers try in the shop and then buy else where online. I dont go in for the big, pressure sell personally, as I dont like it when Im a customer so there isnt a waste of effort for me. It does mean that soon there wont be anywhere to do that if we all carry on that way. Dont get me wrong, I want the bargain price too, but we need to strike a middle ground, or complain to the manufacturers, not the shops.

Back to the original thread...
Andy

[Dragonlord]

Yeah, the truth is that there are also only a few items here as well that sell at the price of thomann or lower, but it's getting better all the time. As for trying at a shop and buying elsewhere... I'll admit I've done it. It was with a guitar that cost 522 euro shipped from thomann, and the greek dealer asked 750 for it. Yeah, I appreciate the fact that he let me try it, but that does not justify 230 euro more in any way. If the difference is reasonable I have no problem to go with the local store that lets me try out stuff etc.