Warwick Gnome Arrived Today

[ash]

I got a Warwick Gnome I Pro today which is rated at 280 watts. Like many here I bought it as a rehearsal and back up amp. It does sound fantastic, I have tried it through a vintage Vox cabinet and a Jennings both Celestion loaded. A Trace Elliot 10” cab and my Mark Bass NY 604. All sounded loud and punchy, incidentally all had an 8 ohm load making total power 180 watts. The 15” sounded best. Very loud. I used a Ric 5 string and the low B was fine, my old 77 Precision, a Precision with quarter pounders and my Yamaha Peter Hook with active eq. All worked well - I will gig it this weekend, probably for the last set to see if it perks up my ears. 

[eude]

10 hours ago, ash said:

I got a Warwick Gnome I Pro today which is rated at 280 watts. Like many here I bought it as a rehearsal and back up amp. It does sound fantastic, I have tried it through a vintage Vox cabinet and a Jennings both Celestion loaded. A Trace Elliot 10” cab and my Mark Bass NY 604. All sounded loud and punchy, incidentally all had an 8 ohm load making total power 180 watts. The 15” sounded best. Very loud. I used a Ric 5 string and the low B was fine, my old 77 Precision, a Precision with quarter pounders and my Yamaha Peter Hook with active eq. All worked well - I will gig it this weekend, probably for the last set to see if it perks up my ears. 

Nice update. I'd be really interested to hear how it performs in a gig situation!

 

Cheers,

Eude

[Obrienp]

On 01/10/2021 at 07:54, eude said:

Nice update. I'd be really interested to hear how it performs in a gig situation!

 

Cheers,

Eude

Yes, me too. Mine (just the basic model) has stayed in the gig bag so far. However, we are playing a gig in a marquee somewhere  in Lincolnshire this evening and with the expected weather, I am not sure I feel confident to use the Orange Terror with its valve preamp. I might just find out how the Gnome copes….into 12” cabs.

[Obrienp]

Well I didn’t use the Gnome in the end, despite pools of standing water. I must be crazy!

 

I went through the first half of the set thinking there must be a problem with the mains supply because the amp seemed under powered . When I came back for the second set,  I noticed that the PAD switch was on: Doh! It worked much better once I had corrected that! Fortunately, I brought a half metre square of foam matting so I was able to stand the rig on that together with the extension sockets to keep it out of the water. 

 

We will have to wait for Ash to let us know how he got on with the Gnome at his gig.

[Phil Starr]

I ordered a Gnome today, I preferred the TC BAM on looks but none were available when I checked, everyone seems to be quoting December 1st so I guess they are all hoping their ship comes in. Given delivery I decided to go with Thomann who say they have Gnomes in stock.

 

I want this for a specific reason, I've built a 1x6 cab for open mic and working with acoustic acts and I want to turn it into a teeny-tiny combo. The 1x6 handles 100W so this will be ideal. I had intended building an amp from scratch (OK from ready built modules) but factoring in the costs of a case and connectors this works out at a similar cost. I'll put up the design for people to copy when it's done.

 

I will of course try the gnome out with all my assorted speakers and will gig with it when I get the chance. November's gigs have all been cancelled.

[barrycreed]

Ordered a Gnome as well. It was between it and the Elf, and it was around €100 roughly cheaper, where I am, so I went for it, as it will mainly be used for home recording and practice, and eventually as a back up. For a gigging amp head, I might go for a combo or a Quilter Bass Block if one shoes up used sometime. I have a Quilter guitar head, and it's a great little thing.

[Obrienp]

On 06/10/2021 at 08:11, Phil Starr said:

I want this for a specific reason, I've built a 1x6 cab for open mic and working with acoustic acts and I want to turn it into a teeny-tiny combo. The 1x6 handles 100W so this will be ideal.

 

I will of course try the gnome out with all my assorted speakers and will gig with it when I get the chance. November's gigs have all been cancelled.

I used mine for an open mic on Tuesday evening and it was great. I put it through a Barefaced One10 and it was pretty loud, clean and bassy. I’m not sure how it will work with a 6” rated at only 100 watts. I find that with the One10 you can push it to start breaking up at around 3 o’clock with gain at 12 o’clock. One10s are rated at 250 watts and are safe to (clean) 500 according to their designer. Anyway good luck. I am sure it will be OK if you keep the volume and bass down.

 

I found the Gnome and One10 to be the perfect mini rig. The Gnome and cables fit in the pocket of my bass’ gig bag. With the bass gig bag on my back and the One10 in one hand, I have a hand free to open doors, use keys, tickets,  etc and it is a really light, and easy carry: easily manageable on public transport. 

[Phil Starr]

1 hour ago, Obrienp said:

I used mine for an open mic on Tuesday evening and it was great. I put it through a Barefaced One10 and it was pretty loud, clean and bassy. I’m not sure how it will work with a 6” rated at only 100 watts. I find that with the One10 you can push it to start breaking up at around 3 o’clock with gain at 12 o’clock. One10s are rated at 250 watts and are safe to (clean) 500 according to their designer. Anyway good luck. I am sure it will be OK if you keep the volume and bass down.

 

I found the Gnome and One10 to be the perfect mini rig. The Gnome and cables fit in the pocket of my bass’ gig bag. With the bass gig bag on my back and the One10 in one hand, I have a hand free to open doors, use keys, tickets,  etc and it is a really light, and easy carry: easily manageable on public transport. 

What do you mean? Only 100W

 

Actually that's my thought in terms of bass on my back and one handed carry. As to my 1x6, well that's yet to be tried, I won't be surprised either way. It's pretty loud but of course lacks deep bass, that's the trade off. Whether that deep bass is essential to accompany an acoustic guitar is the test i suppose. It'll be fun finding out. In fact playing any music live is looking like fun at the moment.

[Woodwind]

On 06/10/2021 at 08:11, Phil Starr said:

 

...

I want this for a specific reason, I've built a 1x6 cab for open mic and working with acoustic acts and I want to turn it into a teeny-tiny combo. The 1x6 handles 100W so this will be ideal. I had intended building an amp from scratch (OK from ready built modules) but factoring in the costs of a case and connectors this works out at a similar cost. I'll put up the design for people to copy when it's done.

 

...

Phil I'd be really, really interested in your 1x6 design and thoughts, especially with the partnered gnome.

 

Will you make a dedicated thread?

 

My uses are very specific and I've often considered a 1x6, but don't know where to start.

 

Cheers,

Thomas

[Obrienp]

On 07/10/2021 at 18:38, Phil Starr said:

What do you mean? Only 100W

😀 Well I was thinking about headroom really. As I said, the Gnome starts to push the 250 watt RMS rated One10 to break up at about 3/4 volume. It is an 8 ohm speaker, so must be getting a max of about 120 watts at full volume from the Gnome. Therefore, I am thinking a speaker rated at 100 watts is going to struggle when you turn the Gnome up. As a comparison I had a MarkBass Micromark 801 that had a an 8” driver rated at 200 watts at 8 ohms and the amp delivered 45 watts at 8 ohms. It was comfortable at full volume but it did have a lot of headroom.

[Phil Starr]

14 hours ago, Woodwind said:

Phil I'd be really, really interested in your 1x6 design and thoughts, especially with the partnered gnome.

 

Will you make a dedicated thread?

 

My uses are very specific and I've often considered a 1x6, but don't know where to start.

 

Cheers,

Thomas

Will do, how quickly do you want to do it? I built mine to deliberately match a Kustom Guitar combo which I'd adapted for bass practice. It's slightly unusual construction as a result but I can just give you dimensions to copy right away. If you want to order parts i can give you a parts list too. If you are happy to wait I can get you some drawings done and eventually I will build the combo with the Gnome and have some photos of the build.

 

you can see some of this here https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/442331-a-house-jam-combo/ the cab starts on P2, there are also a couple of 'reviews' of the cab from the SouthWest Bass Bash here Bass Bash Starts at the bottom of P30

[Woodwind]

On 09/10/2021 at 11:37, Phil Starr said:

Will do, how quickly do you want to do it? I built mine to deliberately match a Kustom Guitar combo which I'd adapted for bass practice. It's slightly unusual construction as a result but I can just give you dimensions to copy right away. If you want to order parts i can give you a parts list too. If you are happy to wait I can get you some drawings done and eventually I will build the combo with the Gnome and have some photos of the build.

 

you can see some of this here https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/442331-a-house-jam-combo/ the cab starts on P2, there are also a couple of 'reviews' of the cab from the SouthWest Bass Bash here Bass Bash Starts at the bottom of P30

Hi Phil,

 

That's very kind thank you.

I'm not in a position to start building yet, but I'll send you a PM in due course 😎

[Phil Starr]

Well my Gnome has just arrived. Ordered from Thomann 6 days ago and no hassle at all, unlike my recent experience of DV24/7, You have been warned.

 

Anyway you have to try it as soon as it arrives (and as I'm typing this the fan has just come on, really quiet) First impressions are that it is a little mid forward and bass light with everything set flat but otherwise very clean sounding. Easily sorted with an eq tweak and I'm only talking about 1 o'clock and 11 o'clock. Actually bass boost on my active P which operates a little lower than the on board sounds better but that might just be my taste. 

 

I tried it with my 1x12 which is FRFR and has a huge horn driver crossed over quite low. Sensitivity is 97db/octave so it's efficient without being exceptionally loud. With that it sounds quite sweet as eq'd and rewarding to play, slightly less warm than my Peavey MiniMax but still sweet and punchy. I've turned it up as loud as my ears will take and it sounds great with no sound of overload anywhere on the neck. In the past I've taken this level to rehearsals and had to turn down to match the band, our drummer is a pretty heavy hitter so I'm thinking this would easily handle duties in the rehearsal room and as an on-stage monitor. Haven't tried the DI out but all reports say it does work well so I'd probably never need more than this so long as i had PA support. Small venues would be no problem either.  I also switched to my 1x6" practice speaker which is its intended long term partner. I needed to turn it up a little to get the volume from this little fella which is 93db/W and the speaker is naturally bass light, but very revealing, slightly less sweet and obviously needed a touch more bass boost but it is going to blow away people as a combination, they re going to be scouring the stage looking for my amp/speaker and won't believe me when I tell them. the Gnome will drive this speaker to roughness at really high volumes with the bass boosted but only from B downwards on the E string. this is at volumes where i'd be drowning out the acoustic guitar and our vocals though so I'm happy with that a 50Hz filter would be useful though. However that's all about the speaker, the Gnome is providing plenty of power. Both speakers are 8ohms.

 

The Gnome feels really nicely made, a bit more solid and heavier than I expected though others have reported the same. I prefer the look of the TC BAM but the aluminium shell of the Gnome is a utilitarian thing, it's going to help keep the little fella cool and it's doing it's job too, the top plate is warm to the touch but not alarmingly so. The fan seems to have picked up but is still quieter than any of my other amps.

 

So initial feelings are that  I'm very satisfied. It will absolutely do for open mic/acoustic sets and as a backup for my main amp. With a couple of 12's giving 4-5db extra i'd have no worries about gigging with it long term and it  sounds absolutely fine.

[Phil Starr]

A bit of an update, I've been using the amp for a couple of days in rehearsal with a single 6" cab, surely the ultimate bijou pairing. I wanted the Gnome for  just this sort of thing. We have a duo with amplified acoustic guitar and two vocals and I needed something super compact to carry with all our luggage or a weekend away which would produce a satisfying sound for rehearsal. Which it does in spades. Within 5 mins the amp was quite warm and fair enough to get the volume through a small speaker it was working about 3-4x harder than with a 'normal' bass cab. the funny thing was that as we turned up it stayed at a similar temperature and even between songs it seemed to stabilise at 'quite warm'  not quite q hot water bottle more like the forehead of somebody with a bit of a fever, so maybe 40C. The tone controls are OK the bass control seems to shelve so bass is enhanced without getting extreme boost at the bottom end, the mid frequency is lower than my Peavey or MB so it really enriched the bass without getting harsh. The treble is not particularly dramatic, I mean it works but you don't get searing treble and with this speaker moderate roll off wasn't making a huge difference, but this speaker is only flat up to 6kHz so maybe it is acting mainly above this frequency. I liked the mid control though.

 

The best sound I've had so far is with my Zoom Hartke emulation and a touch of compression and bass boost, it pretty much sounds like it does through headphones. the Gnome works well with flat controls and something else doing the eq/processing

 

So tonight I took it all to an open mic in Reading, the Butler if you know Reading. everything else through the provided PA but bass through the Gnome and 1x6. Maybe 50 people in the pub and it was a lively night with an enthusiastic and noisy audience. The pub is an awkward space with an L shaped bar area. I needn't have worried the Gnome and mini speaker were more than adequate My duo partner says the bass dominated the on-stage sound and and Nicole running the sound said it was about right out front. The amp was up quite high and the compression light was flickering but I reckon there were a few more db if I wanted them. I you remember that this was with a tiny 6" speaker then with a couple of decent 12's I think the Gnome would cope fine with a shed building drummer.

 

Finally if you are in Reading on a Friday go and check out the Butler's open mic. The standard was insane for an open mic, some of the singing was exceptional, there were at least six singers I'd have loved to gig with. the audience were enthusiastic too, it was a great evening.

 

Aha looks like the host recorded us, this was with everything set flat with a tiny touch of the top trimmed with the tone on the j bass https://fb.watch/8P3Y8FUcuU/ apologies for the audience singing

Edited October 23, 2021 by Phil Starr

[eude]

Thank you very much for the update!

Having listened to the video, that's a hell of a lot of sound for a tony amp through a teeny tiny cab!

I expect you're right, with a couple of good 1x12 cabs that little amp would be a force to be reckoned with, frustratingly, although there's a 1x12 Gnome cab coming, it's a 4 ohm job. There is an 8 ohm 1x10 though...

 

Eude

[Woodwind]

On 23/10/2021 at 01:18, Phil Starr said:

A bit of an update, I've been using the amp for a couple of days in rehearsal with a single 6" cab, surely the ultimate bijou pairing. I wanted the Gnome for  just this sort of thing. We have a duo with amplified acoustic guitar and two vocals and I needed something super compact to carry with all our luggage or a weekend away which would produce a satisfying sound for rehearsal. Which it does in spades. Within 5 mins the amp was quite warm and fair enough to get the volume through a small speaker it was working about 3-4x harder than with a 'normal' bass cab. the funny thing was that as we turned up it stayed at a similar temperature and even between songs it seemed to stabilise at 'quite warm'  not quite q hot water bottle more like the forehead of somebody with a bit of a fever, so maybe 40C. The tone controls are OK the bass control seems to shelve so bass is enhanced without getting extreme boost at the bottom end, the mid frequency is lower than my Peavey or MB so it really enriched the bass without getting harsh. The treble is not particularly dramatic, I mean it works but you don't get searing treble and with this speaker moderate roll off wasn't making a huge difference, but this speaker is only flat up to 6kHz so maybe it is acting mainly above this frequency. I liked the mid control though.

 

The best sound I've had so far is with my Zoom Hartke emulation and a touch of compression and bass boost, it pretty much sounds like it does through headphones. the Gnome works well with flat controls and something else doing the eq/processing

 

So tonight I took it all to an open mic in Reading, the Butler if you know Reading. everything else through the provided PA but bass through the Gnome and 1x6. Maybe 50 people in the pub and it was a lively night with an enthusiastic and noisy audience. The pub is an awkward space with an L shaped bar area. I needn't have worried the Gnome and mini speaker were more than adequate My duo partner says the bass dominated the on-stage sound and and Nicole running the sound said it was about right out front. The amp was up quite high and the compression light was flickering but I reckon there were a few more db if I wanted them. I you remember that this was with a tiny 6" speaker then with a couple of decent 12's I think the Gnome would cope fine with a shed building drummer.

 

Finally if you are in Reading on a Friday go and check out the Butler's open mic. The standard was insane for an open mic, some of the singing was exceptional, there were at least six singers I'd have loved to gig with. the audience were enthusiastic too, it was a great evening.

 

Aha looks like the host recorded us, this was with everything set flat with a tiny touch of the top trimmed with the tone on the j bass https://fb.watch/8P3Y8FUcuU/ apologies for the audience singing

Is the bass sound in the video just from your micro cabinet?

Blimey, that's superb!

[Phil Starr]

Yes it's just the micro cab, 1x6. you can just about make it out at the back of the stage area.

 

The cab was built as a bit of a proof of concept. I frequently roll off the bass when I'm playing depending upon the venue and what else is going on in the mix. It's pretty obvious that most of what we hear as bass is the second harmonic 80-160 Hz so I wondered what a speaker with a flat response to 80Hz but very little below that would sound like. I also wanted something really portable and not too intrusive to play when I meet up with an old university friend. I had the Fane kicking around waiting to become a midrange driver and when @Pea Turghasked for a 6" to fit in a practice amp I did some modelling in WinISD and built my own too. Three or four bassists have tried it now and the response has been great. (should that be the response to the response?)

 

I'd taken the Lockdown 110T to the pub too but didn't need it, I'd hoped to swap it in but the place was really busy and we only played three songs.

[yorks5stringer]

For anyone not into DIY, Warwick are releasing a 1X10, a 2X10 and a 1X12 cab, all with tweeter to match the Gnome amp. Prices are between £170 and £240 so not crazy and the 2X10 is 16Kg. Lead time is 14-18 weeks.

Edited October 26, 2021 by yorks5stringer

[lemmywinks]

The Gnome 1x10 lists the frequency range from 90hz though, would this be useful for bass?

[Rothko]

Given there's a lot of interest with HPFs these days, with Phil above building his micro 6" cab down to 80Hz, this might make a lot of sense. Small stage amps for monitoring really don't need any deep bass at all. I'm not technical enough to know if the quoted 90Hz is a hard cut-off or what though.

[Linus27]

I just want to add that I bought a Warwick Gnome I Pro last week and I absolutely love it. Not sure exactly on the output as some places say its 280w and others say 300w but its bloody loud. I bought it as a backup to my Ampeg PF500 and Ashdown Mi550 but ended up using it at last Friday's gig through my Barefaced Two10 and not only did I have to turn it down, the volume was set at half of what the Ampeg runs at. Ok so that's not scientific but gain was at 12 o Clock and I started with the volume at 11 o Clock but eventually turned it down to 9 o Clock. The Ampeg usually runs at 12 o Clock for gain and volume so it's a very powerful little thing. The tone is also really punchy, I love it and will continue to use it as my main amp if possible.

 

As for the Gnome cabs, the plan is to get one when they become available. Not sure on the 2/8/4 as a practise rig or go for the 2/10/4 to try as a main rig.

Edited October 26, 2021 by Linus27

[Obrienp]

One10s seem to be a match made in heaven for the Gnome. I have the basic 200 watt model but it sounds incredibly loud through either one, or both my One10s; so much so that I am thinking of moving one of them on because it is surplus to requirement with this amp.

[Phil Starr]

17 hours ago, lemmywinks said:

The Gnome 1x10 lists the frequency range from 90hz though, would this be useful for bass?

That won't be a dead cut off frequency, probably a -3db point (or sometimes manufacturers use a -6 or -10db point). The roll off is anything between 12-24db/octave. Sealed cabs roll off more slowly usually but there will generally be less bass anyway with a sealed cab. The designer can manipulate that a little, I forced the -3db point to 70Hz with my micro cab at the expense of a slightly faster roll off.

 

It's much more complex than a single variable but one trade of you can make is making the cone lighter trading efficiency for a higher roll off point.

 

you won't get rolling thunder out of a cab if f3 is 90Hz but most of the information is in the frequencies above 80 hz so it will still be useful. Placing it on a hard floor and against the wall or even in a corner will help add some of the bass back in.

[eude]

18 hours ago, Rothko said:

Given there's a lot of interest with HPFs these days, with Phil above building his micro 6" cab down to 80Hz, this might make a lot of sense. Small stage amps for monitoring really don't need any deep bass at all. I'm not technical enough to know if the quoted 90Hz is a hard cut-off or what though.

I also think Warwick might be a little more honest with their ratings too than others perhaps?

Their previous cabs, and the series before that had a bass roll off higher than we're told we need for a low B, and yet I never heard anyone saying their cabs lacked low end.

I'd be really tempted to try their 1x12 cab, but I do wish they did an 8 Ohm version...

[lemmywinks]

3 hours ago, Phil Starr said:

That won't be a dead cut off frequency, probably a -3db point (or sometimes manufacturers use a -6 or -10db point). The roll off is anything between 12-24db/octave. Sealed cabs roll off more slowly usually but there will generally be less bass anyway with a sealed cab. The designer can manipulate that a little, I forced the -3db point to 70Hz with my micro cab at the expense of a slightly faster roll off.

 

It's much more complex than a single variable but one trade of you can make is making the cone lighter trading efficiency for a higher roll off point.

 

you won't get rolling thunder out of a cab if f3 is 90Hz but most of the information is in the frequencies above 80 hz so it will still be useful. Placing it on a hard floor and against the wall or even in a corner will help add some of the bass back in.

 

Just seemed a little worrying to me as the other cabs in the series have more conventional frequency ranges.

 

Been thinking about a second 1x10 to partner with my EA cab and these have Speakons and also a daisy chain output unlike the Eden I was considering.