Trickfish and Vanderkley, not for me..

[wildebassman]

I have a great Vanderkley 112ext, 300w, 8ohms cabinet. 

After saying good bye to my Markbass stuff I thought that a Trickfish Bullhead .5 would be the perfect match... after reading the great reviews and information from the dealer I ordered the amp.

 

Played the amp for two days trying my best to like it...but no, not for me and not with this cabinet.

I would say this amp is too polite for me, everything is there, bass, middle, treble, but without the clarity and zing I want to hear. There is a roll off in the highs and for me it was like, say, 2 dimensional.

 

Now the surge for an amp is on again. I play a Mesa Subway D800 through the cab now and it's a lot more "my" sound, but still I want a bit more definition, without harsness. It could be I should try out an Eich amp..

Any other recommandations?

 

Dennis.

[machinehead]

EBS Reidmar 750.  It's a great amp that always seems to be overlooked.

Frank.

[DiMarco]

Eich amps, Warwick LWA, Bergantino, Aguilar... They all sound too polite and neat. Total lack of any heft.
I am having my old tube and hybrid Trace Elliots repaired. No more modern amps for me.

Maybe you should check out a nice Ashdown ABM.

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by DiMarco
Typo.

[Cuzzie]

This will be a massive can of worms now, everyone will give you what works for them and as good as whatever they say things are, it’s good for them, not necessarily you.

If there is a pre-amp rack or pedal you like, why not have that as the basis of your sound and think of the amp as a power amp.

You can then either run it clean, or with a bit of flavour, or even just get a clean power amp like a Demeter Minnie, Joules M700, QSC, even a cheaper Peavey max etc.

[pete.young]

If you want super clarity, Euphonic Audio Classic i800 would be worth looking at.

[Lozz196]

19 hours ago, machinehead said:

EBS Reidmar 750.  It's a great amp that always seems to be overlooked.

Frank.

From what I’ve read clarity and zing is indeed EBS territory.

[wildebassman]

3 hours ago, DiMarco said:

Eich amps, Warwick LWA, Bergantino, Aguilar... They all sound too polite and neat. Total lack of any heft.
I am having my old tube and hybrid Trace Elliots repaired. No more modern amps for me.

Maybe you should check out a nice Ashdown ABM.

 

I think it's in the class D power amps and the neo speakers. My qsc was class D too but had 1600 watts on tap and the cabinet was old fashioned ceramic speakers. A friend of mine bought the epi ul310 and that cab didn't have the same heft in the lows, it was quicker but missed the foundation.

1 hour ago, Cuzzie said:

This will be a massive can of worms now, everyone will give you what works for them and as good as whatever they say things are, it’s good for them, not necessarily you.

If there is a pre-amp rack or pedal you like, why not have that as the basis of your sound and think of the amp as a power amp.

You can then either run it clean, or with a bit of flavour, or even just get a clean power amp like a Demeter Minnie, Joules M700, QSC, even a cheaper Peavey max etc.

In the days gone when we all had the heavy "proper" gear I had an Alembic f1x pre-amp, QSC 1602 power amp and an Epifani New York 310 cab... This rig couldn't be beat.. but the cabinet only weighed about 40 kilos.. now I have my 112 Vanderkley, a twenty year older back, nobody wants you to show with a 2000 peak set up any more, and yes it's all opinions. Still it's nice to get some sensible input.

Edited June 2, 2020 by wildebassman

[Cuzzie]

39 minutes ago, wildebassman said:

I think it's in the class D power amps and the neo speakers. My qsc was class D too but had 1600 watts on tap and the cabinet was old fashioned ceramic speakers. A friend of mine bought the epi ul310 and that cab didn't have the same heft in the lows, it was quicker but missed the foundation.

In the days gone when we all had the heavy "proper" gear I had an Alembic f1x pre-amp, QSC 1602 power amp and an Epifani New York 310 cab... This rig couldn't be beat.. but the cabinet only weighed about 40 kilos.. now I have my 112 Vanderkley, a twenty year older back, nobody wants you to show with a 2000 peak set up any more, and yes it's all opinions. Still it's nice to get some sensible input.

You could have an Alembic pre-amp and a power amp of choice - 2U rack trolley bag by Gator - very easy on the back esp with your VK cab

Edited June 2, 2020 by Cuzzie

[machinehead]

2 hours ago, Cuzzie said:

This will be a massive can of worms now, everyone will give you what works for them and as good as whatever they say things are, it’s good for them, not necessarily you.

If there is a pre-amp rack or pedal you like, why not have that as the basis of your sound and think of the amp as a power amp.

You can then either run it clean, or with a bit of flavour, or even just get a clean power amp like a Demeter Minnie, Joules M700, QSC, even a cheaper Peavey max etc.

A can of worms is right. 

The Peavey miniMax is cheap as chips and an excellent gigging amp.  Another is the Quilter BB800, also sensibly priced.  I'm happy gigging either through Barefaced BB2, Super Midget, or both together.

I don't find the sound suffers at all from being class D amps and neo speakers.  Then again, I worked for well over 40 years in heavy industry so my hearing might be shot.

Frank.

[Cuzzie]

But for suggestions 

Tech21 dUg 1000 Ultrabass

Tech21 Landmark 600

Form Factor Bi1000 or Bi400

Genzler Mag 800

No personal experience but like the look of the new Markbass Stu Hamm amp.
 

To name a few

[Al Krow]

Sounds to me that you've got a first class rig!

But if you're finding your sound too polite and want more clarity and zing, I'd recommend putting a Tech 21 VT Bass DI in front. The tone shaping plus "Bite" selector can give you exactly the clarity and zing you're after - a bit like lifting a blanket off your rig! But it can do a lot more besides.

The "Bite" is very much a key ingredient of the VTBassDI. It provides a ‘presence’ boost by boosting the upper mids and treble so that the tone becomes more pronounced and 'present' especially in a mix. The pedal also has a subsonic filter (i.e. hpf) to tighten up the sound.

It's a great little preamp and very much an all time favourite of Tech 21 pedal users from the feedback I've read and with good reason.

[chris_b]

On 01/06/2020 at 20:28, wildebassman said:

I play a Mesa Subway D800 through the cab now and it's a lot more "my" sound, but still I want a bit more definition, without harsness. It could be I should try out an Eich amp..

Any other recommandations?

If you like the D800 and want "more" I'd suggest the D800+.

I briefly owned a D800, which I liked a lot, but the Aguilar AG700 won out in the end.

[gjones]

Have you turned it up loud with a band? 

I wouldn't get rid of an amp after noodling on it for a couple of days. 

My gear sounds very different when it's turned up loud and I'm playing with a band.

[Rich]

14 hours ago, wildebassman said:

I think it's in the class D power amps and the neo speakers. My qsc was class D too but had 1600 watts on tap and the cabinet was old fashioned ceramic speakers. A friend of mine bought the epi ul310 and that cab didn't have the same heft in the lows, it was quicker but missed the foundation.

In the days gone when we all had the heavy "proper" gear I had an Alembic f1x pre-amp, QSC 1602 power amp and an Epifani New York 310 cab... This rig couldn't be beat.. but the cabinet only weighed about 40 kilos.. now I have my 112 Vanderkley, a twenty year older back, nobody wants you to show with a 2000 peak set up any more, and yes it's all opinions. Still it's nice to get some sensible input.

Yes, likewise... back in the day I had a Trace GP12SMX pre with a power amp whose name I can't remember and an SWR Triad cab. It was the most amazing sound but the cab alone was 95lbs... mind you, that Triad sounded great with anything, including the Eden WT400 I replaced the Trace with. Best sounding cab I've ever had by a country mile, but a total backbreaker. Twice the weight of my entire current rig.

[Lozz196]

11 hours ago, gjones said:

Have you turned it up loud with a band? 

I wouldn't get rid of an amp after noodling on it for a couple of days. 

My gear sounds very different when it's turned up loud and I'm playing with a band.

That is a really good point, often gear that sounds so-so at home levels or isolated sounds brilliant in the mix.

[BlueMoon]

I run EBS together with Vanderkley (2x12).....very punchy, clean sound.

[Chopthebass]

I recommend the Bergantino Forte HP. Best Class D I have ever used.

[Muzz]

17 hours ago, gjones said:

Have you turned it up loud with a band? 

I wouldn't get rid of an amp after noodling on it for a couple of days. 

My gear sounds very different when it's turned up loud and I'm playing with a band.

The smaller 1212L, 1210L, 1515L Schroeder cabs being a case in point: barky and boxy on their own, fantastically effective at volume in a band scenario...

Edited June 3, 2020 by Muzz

[wildebassman]

On 03/06/2020 at 01:36, chris_b said:

If you like the D800 and want "more" I'd suggest the D800+.

I briefly owned a D800, which I liked a lot, but the Aguilar AG700 won out in the end.

Played the ag700 too, liked it best compaired to the TH amps, but I also use my amp at home and those fans were freaking noisy. Otherwise great sounding amp.

Leaning towards the D800+. 

Andy, one of the engineers of tthe Mesa 800 amps told me that the D800+ is a bit clearer and less dark sounding than the D800, that and the extra options makes me even more curious to give that amp a try.

Edited June 4, 2020 by wildebassman

[MOSCOWBASS]

18 hours ago, wildebassman said:

Played the ag700 too, liked it best compaired to the TH amps, but I also use my amp at home and those fans were freaking noisy. Otherwise great sounding amp.

Leaning towards the D800+. 

Andy, one of the engineers of tthe Mesa 800 amps told me that the D800+ is a bit clearer and less dark sounding than the D800, that and the extra options makes me even more curious to give that amp a try.

I have a D800 which is great, but I wanted more bright lively sound, so I bought a D800+ di pedal. It goes into the d800 aux in and is effectivly a d800+. Gives me a choice of both worlds and at the time of buying the d800+di it worked out cheaper than selling the d800 and buying a new d800+ amp. I think these amps have a great "feel".

[machinehead]

On 03/06/2020 at 18:02, Chopthebass said:

I recommend the Bergantino Forte HP. Best Class D I have ever used.

I don't know what they cost in Canada, but at the UK price, they should give you a spare one with it.

Frank.

[wildebassman]

12 hours ago, machinehead said:

I don't know what they cost in Canada, but at the UK price, they should give you a spare one with it.

Frank.

🤣🤣👍indeed!

[gary mac]

On 03/06/2020 at 00:43, gjones said:

Have you turned it up loud with a band? 

I wouldn't get rid of an amp after noodling on it for a couple of days. 

My gear sounds very different when it's turned up loud and I'm playing with a band.

Was about to say the same 

[fretmeister]

Eich are super clean. Not much character at all.

Great as a Poweramp or pedal platform but soulless on its own.

[Defo]

Try getting a Tecamp Puma second hand?