Recommend some Class D heads to try

bassbuddy

bassbuddy

May 15, 2000
341
164
4,816
64
Cincinnati, Ohio
www.facebook.com
#1
Being an old fart, I love the development of all the new mini and micro heads. I've been using my Little Mark II for years; it's never let me down, and truth said I've been pretty happy with the tone. But gigs are down this month, spring is coming, and I'm a little bored, which means it's time to screw around with my gear. I might as well try some new heads to see if there's something I'm missing.

I play flats about 60% of the time, and even my roundwound tone leans old school (think seventies). Looking for warm, tight, and present. Probable candidates would be a Mesa Subway and an Aggie Tone Hammer. I would try Ampeg, but I just don't trust their build quality any longer (am I wrong?). Anything else I ought to be looking at?
 
  • Like
Reactions: kpc
#3
I have an Ampeg PF800, but I like my MarkBass LMT800 & Tech21 VT Bass a lot better. The "tube" aspect of the LMT800 does alter the tone slightly, it's really just changing the attack to my ears, but it is different. I'd like to try the Tech21 VT amp.... VT1969 or VT1000.

I too lean very "seventies" in terms of tone... I've never played anything by DarkGlass, but their amps look great.
 
#9
hahaha we just hang out and complain about what hurts :D

$800 ought to get you there. Close to new D-800/800+ range, maybe find used. 5 year transferable warranty if the seller has proof of purchase. Transferable without, but you loose some time on warranty. I just got a GB Streamliner 600 and tickled pink with it. Sooo easy to dial in. There's also a 900 Watt version. All tube preamp; you might like it if you can find one. Not cheap, but less than a new D-800/+

Hope you find something good!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marley's Ghost, Fredrik E. Nilsen, foolforthecity and 1 other person
#11
I should add that all of the amps I listed earlier are still being produced and can be purchased with a warranty. But if you are interested in used as well, Genz Benz made some excellent sounding Class D amps that you can still find here on the Classifieds, Ebay, or GC Used Section.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jshinal
#15
Wicked G said:
I should add that all of the amps I listed earlier are still being produced and can be purchased with a warranty. But if you are interested in used as well, Genz Benz made some excellent sounding Class D amps that you can still find here on the Classifieds, Ebay, or GC Used Section.
Click to expand...

Agreed. And in the GB range of discontinued amps... their Shuttle range is also excellent and can easily be eq'd to that 70s tonal range. I didn't gel with their Streamliner but found the Shuttles to be superb li'l powerful amps .
You've already noted the Aguilar TH500/350 and they do indeed have that warm tubey sound. But, get a grip...a real grip of the eq and drive/gain interaction and it'll go from clean to anything you like. . Except totally glassy brittle highs. It won't do that. No. Not never.
Which, to me, is fine as I'm never after those. :thumbsup:
 
  • Like
Reactions: RedVee and RolandMHall
#16
What kind of power are you needing? I've got a TE elf I run through a 212 cab at 8 ohms, or a 410/212 cab at 4 ohms, and it's suprisingly loud. Loud enough for a rock band with a heavy hitting drummer and the DI sounds great. It's got a nice beefy thick sound that works great with my p basses. I play pretty hard and don't activate the limiter, as some complain about, but I don't run any effects through it either. When I'm feeling lazy and don't want to drag out a lot of gear I grab this one.

It's 300 new and fits in the palm of your hand. It's the latest of the bare bones micro amps.

May not be for everyone, but it delivers a nice thick clear sound with a touch of tubey warmth. It's my backup amp, but it sounds as good as my regular amp, which is 200 watts at 4ohms as well.

image.jpeg
image.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: J_BassV, EatS1stBassist, Tom in Portland and 2 others
#18
I've owned/played a lot of the class D heads, including:

Markbass LMII, LMIII, LMT 800, and SD800
Aguilar TH500
Ampeg PF500 and Pro7
GK MB500 and GK Fusion 800
Genz Benz Shuttle 6
Mesa Subway

Out of all of them, I like the Mesa the best. The tone is the most three-dimensional and tube sounding of the bunch, and I found the EQ points to be the most optimal for what I want out of my sound (fat low mids, punchy high mids, warm but tight bottom, and glossy highs that aren't brittle or sharp).

After that, I liked the Little Mark heads a lot. They also had a tube like quality to their sound that matched my SVT quite nicely. The Aggie was cool, but I found it to not have as much juice behind it as I needed. It's tone also seemed thin in comparison to the former heads, and it had a chewiness and hairiness to its tone that I never was able to get rid of.

The Ampegs sounded great, but I couldn't trust their reliability based off of everything I read about them. I never had issues with them, but I was always uneasy when I owned mine. I didn't like the GKs at all. They were very fat in the lows and super brittle in the highs. I found them to get lost in the mix easy, and the fan on the Fusion was stupidly loud. The knobs on the Fusion were fussy to work with, too. That said, they were loud.

The Genz Benz was nice and sounded great, but it wasn't quite my sound. I also found it to be the least sexy of the bunch. How much should that matter? Probably not at all, but it didn't inspire me like some of the others did. Otherwise, it was a really nice head. I do want to try the Genzler Magellan sometime.

Let me know if you want any further insights.
 
  • Like
Reactions: murphy, franvarin, BassManKK and 2 others
#20
DNA, 1350 watts in a 7 1/2 lb package. Amazing tone. I used to play through an SVT-4 almost cranked while this head is at 12 o'clock. Plenty of headroom. Selling off all my ampeg stuff.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back