Eden Amps No More?

[BassmanPaul]

21 hours ago, Count Bassy said:

It is. Montrous in every sense. Wieght, volume, and the all important Heft!

It must be kinda like being in Paradise!

[Chienmortbb]

On 11/06/2021 at 12:01, uk_lefty said:

Good point. Suppose it depends if they can shift a load of Chinese made entry level stuff with a suitable margin too. I'd bet for every 800w bass head sold there's a significant number more 15-20watt bedroom starter amps sold. I'll need an electric guitar amp soon and I'd always choose a Marshall over anything else because it's Marshall. I'd bet it would be the same in bass terms for a lot of beginners, it's an attractive brand name, distinctive looks, not sure why they didn't keep it going for bassists even with Eden in their stable. 

Yes as a reformed guitarist my first bass amp was a Marshall 30 watt combo.

[Gearguy]

Eden bass amps were generic stinky poo. Made from the common solid state components available, Eden was a sterile, hard surface typical transistor design. NOTHING special in any way.  Eden failed not only because "NON" bass company Marshall had the bad idea to acquire them, but because their designs were basic , uninteresting, and hyped far beyond performance. With no organic appeal and a user base of jazzbos and weekend warriors, Eden was never embraced by the Pro bassists.

Good riddance.

[Count Bassy]

49 minutes ago, Gearguy said:

Eden bass amps were generic stinky poo. Made from the common solid state components available, Eden was a sterile, hard surface typical transistor design. NOTHING special in any way.  Eden failed not only because "NON" bass company Marshall had the bad idea to acquire them, but because their designs were basic , uninteresting, and hyped far beyond performance. With no organic appeal and a user base of jazzbos and weekend warriors, Eden was never embraced by the Pro bassists.

Good riddance.

Come on man. Spit it out. Tell us what you really think!

[King Tut]

6 hours ago, Count Bassy said:

Come on man. Spit it out. Tell us what you really think!

I think he's holding back . . . . !

[Steve Browning]

49 minutes ago, King Tut said:

I think he's holding back . . . . !

Reading between the lines, I suspect he's not a fan.

[funkydoug]

He doth protest too much… I detect an unresolved Eden issue.

@GearguyDid your Dad have a World Tour rig that he never let you touch??? 🤣

[lemmywinks]

Always liked Eden rigs although my only relatively recent buying experience was ordering a small practice combo for the house and it turning up completely lifeless.

 

Marshall are such a cheesy, legacy dependant brand now it's a wonder they even bother buying up companies like these, not like they are ever going to make serious inroads into bass amps so taking R&D shortcuts by acquiring tech is pointless really.

[E sharp]

The early USA Eden WT amps were great. I’m still rolling with a WT400 (the micro amp of its day), and bar the Aguilar DB751 I had, it has royally pi**ed over everything I’ve tested out. 

[Woodwind]

5 hours ago, E sharp said:

The early USA Eden WT amps were great. I’m still rolling with a WT400 (the micro amp of its day), and bar the Aguilar DB751 I had, it has royally pi**ed over everything I’ve tested out. 

I would love a wt400 or wt550.

Love the minimal look, the parametric EQ etc.

 

Would often turn up at the bass centre in wapping just to refresh my memory about how they sounded and would go off to count my pennies.

[Merton]

32 minutes ago, Woodwind said:

I would love a wt400 or wt550.

Love the minimal look, the parametric EQ etc.

 

Would often turn up at the bass centre in wapping just to refresh my memory about how they sounded and would go off to count my pennies.

There’s a WT550 in the classifieds at the moment 🤓

[lozkerr]

30 minutes ago, Merton said:

There’s a WT550 in the classifieds at the moment 🤓

Tempting, but I already have four Eden amps (EC8, WTX-264, Metro and WTP600). I'm just hoping that a VT300 doesn't appear in the Marketplace...

[E sharp]

8 minutes ago, lozkerr said:

Tempting, but I already have four Eden amps (EC8, WTX-264, Metro and WTP600). I'm just hoping that a VT300 doesn't appear in the Marketplace...

There was one a few years ago, and it took an absolute age to sell. As did the one at The Gallery. 
 

As good as they might be, I don’t think they’re that popular 

[lozkerr]

10 minutes ago, E sharp said:

There was one a few years ago, and it took an absolute age to sell. As did the one at The Gallery. 
 

As good as they might be, I don’t think they’re that popular 

Aye, I saw the one on here and I think the seller eventually pulled the ad. I can see its limitations - big heavy box, can't run it with no load, expensive to replace the power valves, no headphone circuit and unless you own a mansion, it's complete overkill for home use, so rehearsals and gigs only.

 

I'd still like to try one, though!

[Oopsdabassist]

12 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

Reading between the lines, I suspect he's not a fan.

As First posts go, that's a doozie, and a nice zombie thread rez too!

[vinorange]

1 hour ago, lozkerr said:

Tempting, but I already have four Eden amps (EC8, WTX-264, Metro and WTP600). I'm just hoping that a VT300 doesn't appear in the Marketplace...

I have a VT300. Ive had a Metro combo (well 2 actually), a WT550, a WT800 and even a recent WTP600. You could say I’m an Eden fan. The recent WTP600 was a real throw back to the proper Edens from the 90s.

To dispel a myth, the VT300 is about 20kg, is very serviceable (thanks to valve biasing on the rear panel) and it sounds fantastic. It even sounds fine for low volume practice and of course it has a bit of grunt n grind to it which the other Edens generally don’t. It sounds great with passive basses whereas the others lend themselves to active a bit more. It’s my personal fave of all the amps I’ve owned. 

[agedhorse]

23 hours ago, Gearguy said:

Eden bass amps were generic stinky poo. Made from the common solid state components available, Eden was a sterile, hard surface typical transistor design. NOTHING special in any way.  Eden failed not only because "NON" bass company Marshall had the bad idea to acquire them, but because their designs were basic , uninteresting, and hyped far beyond performance. With no organic appeal and a user base of jazzbos and weekend warriors, Eden was never embraced by the Pro bassists.

Good riddance.

Yeah, too bad it took them forty-something years (and tens of thousands of amps) to "fail".  Plenty of pro bassists used them as well.

[lozkerr]

2 hours ago, vinorange said:

I have a VT300. Ive had a Metro combo (well 2 actually), a WT550, a WT800 and even a recent WTP600. You could say I’m an Eden fan. The recent WTP600 was a real throw back to the proper Edens from the 90s.

To dispel a myth, the VT300 is about 20kg, is very serviceable (thanks to valve biasing on the rear panel) and it sounds fantastic. It even sounds fine for low volume practice and of course it has a bit of grunt n grind to it which the other Edens generally don’t. It sounds great with passive basses whereas the others lend themselves to active a bit more. It’s my personal fave of all the amps I’ve owned. 

I'm an Eden fan, too. If you're selling, I'm buying 😉 I love the Eden sound. Twenty kilos isn't outrageously heavy. I couldn't use it as a practice amp though - I live in a tenement flat, so I have to use my WTX-264 as a headphone amp.  But the sheer volume my Metro cranks out has got me hankering for an Eden valve power amp.

 

We got back to regular rehearsals a few weeks ago. Our normal venue is a college recording studio, which sports a Phil James bass combo with 4 x 5" speakers below a weedy Class D amp which I cranked up to eleven. My bandmates, quite rightly, complained about the lack of bass on the rehearsal recordings. After a few rehearsals, I took the Metro along.

 

Instantly, the reaction changed from 'no bass, wotcha daeing Lozz' to 'sh!t, the bass is drowning everything'. I'd had the weed up to eleven and the Metro was less than half-way up.

The Metro is valve pre-amp and solid-state power amp. That's why I'd love to try an Eden valve power amp. I think it would take the roof off.

Edited October 5, 2021 by lozkerr
Missing word

[vinorange]

The Metro combo was my go to for many years. For a 2 x 10 it had huge presence and it was a very hi-fi sound. I guess the only thing I always hankered after was a bit of dirt which it very definitely didn't have. I don't know why but active basses sounded wonderful and passive less so. My gig set up was a Modulus VJ4 with an East preamp through the Metro. I had many comments about the sound - which was wonderful. I have neither the Metro nor the Modulus (stupid me.....)

[Paddy515]

My Metro comes out for gigs within big spaces with an Eden Glowplug valve pedal in front to add some heft. Does the job sooooo well, especially with the 210 extension cab on top!!!!

[vinorange]

There should be an Eden Metro Appreciation Society (it even has a good acronym - EMAS).

 

[thodrik]

The Eden model on the original Bass Pod was my favourite setting when I was a teenager. I always wanted to try a proper World Tour amp as a result. I still never have though!

[lozkerr]

59 minutes ago, Paddy515 said:

My Metro comes out for gigs within big spaces with an Eden Glowplug valve pedal in front to add some heft. Does the job sooooo well, especially with the 210 extension cab on top!!!!

Ain't that the case! I have a Glowplug too and it makes quite a difference. I use a 118 extension cab, and it really fills out the sound.

 

I second the EMAS proposal!