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Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0


alexclaber
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[quote name='alexclaber' post='554348' date='Jul 28 2009, 07:51 PM']Yes, I have. What a great little head - look forward to trying it at full blast with the various Barefaced cabs. It's now in my gigbag waiting for its first outing with one of my forthcoming Midgets - that will be a mini rig with a maxi sound! :)

Alex[/quote]

tis my shuttle that got me gassing for a Compact!

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[quote name='josh3184' post='554385' date='Jul 28 2009, 08:21 PM']tis my shuttle that got me gassing for a Compact![/quote]

It was trying CK's Shuttle 6.0 with the first ever Compact at the SE Bass Bash last September that got me interested. Funny thing is that my main rig is a U5/PLX so you'd think I'd prefer a Markbass head. My problem now is going to be what to gig with? A Big One, a Vintage, a Compact, a Midget/Compact. Decisions, decisions... :)

First thing first is to find how just how loud this micro-head can push the Big One!

Alex

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[quote name='alexclaber' post='554444' date='Jul 28 2009, 09:16 PM']It was trying CK's Shuttle 6.0 with the first ever Compact at the SE Bass Bash last September that got me interested. Funny thing is that my main rig is a U5/PLX so you'd think I'd prefer a Markbass head. My problem now is going to be what to gig with? A Big One, a Vintage, a Compact, a Midget/Compact. Decisions, decisions... :rolleyes:

First thing first is to find how just how loud this micro-head can push the Big One!

Alex[/quote]
I remember watching that momentous event happening last year Alex! Very interested to hear what you have to say once you try the various combinations out.. :)

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[quote name='silverfoxnik' post='554568' date='Jul 28 2009, 03:03 PM']Very interested to hear what you have to say once you try the various combinations out.. :)[/quote]

+1! I'm very interested in various Shuttle combinations as well, particularly Big One, Big Baby (with and w/o Baby Sub), 2 Midgets, Compact + Midget...

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I'd also be very interested to hear your findings Alex!

I've played quite a few gigs now with my own Shuttle and Compact rig and am really pleased with the combination- it always sounds great and can fill the room in small to medium-size venues without PA support no problem! It's such an easy rig to live with too- I almost [i]look forward[/i] to loading out after the gig now! :rolleyes:

The only occasions where I've started to really test the limits of this giant-killer setup have been whilst playing/competing with a particularly hard-hitting drummer friend of mine in large hotel conference suites, again with poor PA support (no subs= no fun...:)).

I'm currently wondering whether to pick up another Compact or even a Midget to team up with what I've got (matching speaker size arguments aside!), or get a Big One instead. Any info on how your new toy performs with the different models in the Barefaced fleet will be extremely welcome!

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Looking good, I am sick of shifting my Fafner and Black Widow combination up and down 3 floors from my flat so thinking a Shuttle and Compact is the perfect soloution. Think a midget would be perfect to either as a an addition or with the shuttle when playing really small acoustic gigs.
Out of interest Alex how well does the midget sit on top of the compact? Is the midget the same high as the compact is wide or do they not stack neatly?

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[quote name='d-basser' post='563901' date='Aug 9 2009, 12:09 AM']Looking good, I am sick of shifting my Fafner and Black Widow combination up and down 3 floors from my flat so thinking a Shuttle and Compact is the perfect soloution. Think a midget would be perfect to either as a an addition or with the shuttle when playing really small acoustic gigs.
Out of interest Alex how well does the midget sit on top of the compact? Is the midget the same high as the compact is wide or do they not stack neatly?[/quote]

The Midget is exactly the same height as the Compact is wide, and they're the same depth too so the corners interlock (though sometimes a forceful wiggle may be required to seat them into each other).

With something like the Shuttle 6.0 pushing it I think the Midget could hang in a rock band as long as you have PA support to fill in the lows, it really is very loud indeed!

Alex

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well although the Midget has been rather on hiatus these past few weeks, I did get the opportunity to try the Shuttle 6.0 with the Big One at band practice last night. Very impressed with the Shuttle - valve preamp seems to add a certain juicyness to the sound. EQ is nice - as this was a fresh woofer which hasn't loosened up yet I had the LF boost in though I know it won't need that once it's settled into its long-term specs. Out of curiousity I tried cranking it up until it started squishing (really great compression/limiting/clipping curve once you get within about 2dB of full power that allows it to handle another 6dB of input before true clipping happens) and it got way louder than I'd need in my band, completely overpowering our Bonham influenced drummer. I'm sure it would be possible to take it to its limits if you were against a really hapless guitarist but once you're at that SPL it makes everything such a nightmare for vocalists and soundmen that I'd say re-education is a better solution than more power.

My bass is an unusual beast, a 36" scale chambered passive 5-string, so I like my rig to be very responsive to what my hands are doing and to the effects of the 4-way pickup switch and passive tone knob. The Shuttle/Big One seems to achieve that really well without being quite so demanding as my U5/PLX/Big One which really shows up every nuance of technique and has stupid dynamic range and endless bottom. The tighter warmer punchier more compressed tone of the Shuttle seems a very good thing in practice.

Tonewise I cover a pretty wide range - yesterday there were some 16th note fingerfunk grooves happening, some punk 8th note things, some full on dub/reggae moments, some strumming power chords around the 12th fret, some prettier fingered chordal moments, plus I brought my Bass Blowtorch along and we had one awesome jam akin to Prodigy by a live band with synthy fuzz 16th note root basslines (tiring on the right hand) as well as some RATMesque grindy groove stuff down on the B/E-strings. Didn't touch the EQ on the amp once (and I have no EQ bar passive tone on the bass) and it nailed them all. Am a happy camper and very pleased with how this little amp is man enough for a cab that can handle so much more power but doesn't actually need it unless you're mad/deaf/doom.

Alex

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Cool stuff, Alex

Looking forward to seeing some of this stuff at the Bass Bash.

Had GAS for the Shuttle head (A/B/C'd an LMIII, a Shuttle 3.0 and a GK MB2-500 with my EBS cab, GK won me over, but would be interested to see how the valve pre on the 6.0 works - IIRC the 3.0 is a FET pre, didn't get on with it for some reason). Not really had a chance to stretch the legs on the rig yet - not been gigging for a few weeks, but I'm excited about going to the Bash (my first!!).

Just hope that my Genz Benz GAS is not re-ignited, then I dunno what to do - really don't want to move the GK on yet :)


Keep up the good work - best of luck with the Midgets

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Briefly tried the Shuttle 6.0 on the latest Barefaced Vintage today. Preposterously loud when the signal light is barely blinking. Calculated max SPL of the rig is about 130dB (and I wouldn't be surprised if that's eminently possible in reality) which is just stupid loud, stupid stupid LOUD. Sadly I think the Vintage weighs a smidgeon too much for the whole rig to come in under 50lbs but it's close!

I've attached an low-frequency RTA of the Shuttle 6.0 with EQ set flat and LF boost on and off. Nice highpass filtering built in, not dissimilar to the 35Hz 4th order LR highpass you usually run on live sound systems (subs included). What's notable about the LF boost is it actually shifts the highpass filter upwards which makes it possible to get big bottom from your cab without over-excursion. Be interesting to see how everything else compares at the bash!

Alex

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[quote name='Uncle Balsamic' post='588035' date='Sep 2 2009, 09:50 PM']How loud do you reckon a Markbass LMIII with the big one would be?[/quote]

Good question! I don't honestly know. The Markbass heads are very well proven with the Compact but if the LMIII makes annoying farting noises at the limit (like the LM800) then it depends on how often you reach that limit. The Big One is horribly good at showing up the deficiencies of amps at their limits - the perils of low colouration cabs with extremely high power handing! Won't be quiet though.

Alex

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