Bag End vs. Eden

[kmh364]

Understood. That was exactly my point. I bought what I thought was the best sound in a PORTABLE package to compliment my Alembic(s). Is there better a 2x10? Probably, but the criteria that defines better will dictate the end choice made by the user, just like it did for me.

[adriaan]

Keith,
 
The mid control on the F1-X only lets you cut the mids, so you should be able to get a scooped sound from it. If you add to that the naturally scooped sound of a neck-through, I wonder what extremes you're going for.

[keith_h]

Adriaan,
I don't think I'm going to extremes. The sound I prefer is what most folks call the slapper tone and the midrangey bridge pickup fretless sound. I can get what I want out of the Navigator but it does take time due to it's semi-parametric equalizer. If I wish to make changes while playing it is much easier to screw up the tone than quickly dial in what I want. The Enhance helps with this since it cuts the mids and boosts the lows and highs plus it is switchable. The drawback is it is a preset so the equalizer needs to be tweaked depending upon the venue. Which take us back to it is easier to screw up the tone than find it.  
 
I'm not a tweaker and pretty much like to find the one to few settings that I can quickly dial in. Can you tell an SF-2 is not in my future? :-)  
 
Since the Navigator is serviceable I am in no rush to replace it. I want to make sure the F1-X will work for me before I purchase one (I won't use e-bay). Since there are some club members in NC with the F1-X I figure I would impose on them to try it out when I am ready to purchase.
 
Keith

[bsee]

Keith, that's a reason why I really like my Fender TBP-1 and wish that Alembic would update the F-1X.  The Fender has a variation on the enhance knob that seems to be a sliding filter for adjustment to the room.  It also has a nifty notch filter that will let you cut or boost a selected mid frequency by a variable amount.  The width of the cut/boost is preset, so it doesn't quite approach an SF-2 in band pass mode, but I find it to be helpful enough and a set-once kind of thing that I don't tweak for the room.  The flat tone isn't quite as present as the F-1X and I'm sure Alembic could do it better, but it does what I need for live work.  Even though the Alembic sounds better flat, the Fender gets the nod in my rig for better control features in a live setting.
 
In any case, if you're looking for a tone with midrange as the prominent band, the F-1X isn't really the most flexible choice.  The flat setting is somewhere between two and three on the bass and treble knobs with the mids pegged at ten.  You can't add mids, you can only take away bass and/or treble.  Since the thing puts out virtually no sound at all with the three EQ knobs zeroed, you'll have a very touchy little bit of knob travel to find what you're looking for.  Try it, though, the tone is very pure and may be exactly what you're looking for.
 
-bob