What Amps Do You Use

[keith_h]

Graeme,
Yes the racks look very similar. I guess great minds think alike. :-)  
 
Keith

[fish]

Huge, I had them for some time now, and they actually work and stay in tune?

[hb3]

They're quite valuable then...hang onto 'em.

[pauldo]

fish -
Where did you get the Exploiter from?
Does one of the pickups have a small chip in it?
I had one very similar to that in Milwaukee for awhile and had to sell it.....

[fish]

Pauldo..had it since it was new....

[jazzyvee]

Hey a quick bit of advice.
I went to a local music store today to look at getting a QSC power amp.
 
Now my budget is not massive but I'd decided I could afford an PLX 1804 to drive my existing 2x 10 mesa powerhouse cab and a 1x 15 power house cab via my FX-1 and SF-2.
 
When I went into the store today to check out the prices and availability.
They had a second hand PLX 2402 power amp ( 425w into 8 ohms) at ?150.00 ( UK pounds)  less than a brand new PLX2 1804 (550w into 8 ohms)
 
I'm going back tomorrow ( Sunday ) to check out them with my f1-x and hopefully come out with one of them if I'm happy.  
 
I'm probably gonna take my Europa too to check out the clarity of the B-string.
 
I'm not looking for a loud bass rig as I'm mainly playing Jazz-Funk Rnb Soul and Funk. What I am looking for is great clear quality sound and no distortion whatsoever.
 
If you are familiar with the F1-x, Sf-2 and PLX combination could you give me a brief of your experience and considered opinion as to which amp would be the best.

[crgaston]

Hey Jazzy.
That is exactly what I use, but with different cabinets.  Go for the used one.  It only weighs 8 pounds more, and it's stable at 2 ohms (1200w), which makes it more versatile, IMHO. If one of your PA or monitor amps goes down at a gig, you can push 2 4 ohm or up to 4 8ohm cabs off one channel.  It also makes it possible to mix a 4 ohm and an 8 ohm cabinet on the same channel with no worries.  
 
If you're really after the super-lightweight rig, then maybe it's worth the extra 150 quid, but I had a similar choice to make when I bought mine, and I went for the more powerful used amp.  
 
Regarding clean tone...are you using the Superfilter in the effects loop?  I've found that with a bass with a high output, I need to be careful about overdriving the efx loop return.  Sometimes this means backing off on the input gain a little.  Keep in mind, though, that I just sent my F1-X off to have the transformer replaced (been using it for 11 years), so my observations might apply only to my own gear.  it should be back Monday, so we'll see if it still does it.
 
Hope this helps...

[David Houck]

James; love the pedal board housing!

[essenceman]

I presume, Mr Pascoe, that with the user name of Fish and a set of Taurus pedals you must be a big fan of a certain Mr Christopher Squire. Snap!Where's your Rick?

[fish]

My secret shame
 
Rob, you got me. I am a huge progressive rock fan in general. I do have one or two Rickenbackers.  The ?Fish? name was inspired from being a Marillion Fan.
 
However, before all that, (preteen) I was a big Dead fan. I always wanted a bass like Phil?s Alembic.
 
I am still working on saving up for that ultimate Series I
 
(Edit spelling error)
 
(Message edited by fish on September 24, 2006)

[essenceman]

It's nothing to be ashamed of, Dave. Yes have been my favourite band since 1970. Chris Squire is just awesome both to listen to and to watch on stage - I just don't like Rickenbackers to play. Maybe it's just that I've never found a good one. Like you, I'd love a Series bass. I've got an SF-2, which helps!
 
Just to get back to the theme of this thread I use an original Euphonic Audio iAmp (Serial Number 0033) and an SF-2 into Euphonic Audio 2 x 8 and 1 x 10. Great cabs and you can carry one in each hand! I've been using the EA gear for 6 years now, but I'm seriously thinking about going F1-X and power amp. Anybody know anything about the Yamaha P5000S?

[jazzyvee]

:-)
Hi I passed  your comments to my sound engineer who mixes the FOH sound for our tours and he felt that the 2402 would be the better choice of the two.  
 
He has a lot of experience with them and says they are phenominally clean with a a lot of headroom for PA use so for bass guitar it would be exceptionally clean and powerful at low levels.
He also says that model has much better protection for the amp and speakers. Also if I was on the road with the amp its going to be better since I wouldn't know what cabs I'd be connecting to and the fact that it goes down to 2 ohms without any problems is a much better buy.
 
His parting words were... get the 2402 and the money you save get yourself a damn good flight case for it. lol
 
So I did. I tried it out today in the store. Unfortunately they didnt have any mesa boogie cabs in as they were providing equipment for a guitar festival and they were all out at the venue.  
So I had to use what was available which ended up being a Gallien Kruger 15 and a 2x10 ashdown.  Not what I would like but at least i got some idea.
Man was it crisp. First I just had the F-1x into the power amp and took the low and high outputs to the amp L +R ins.
 
After a bit of fiddling with the sound i got the magic crispnes and clarity that I was hoping for.  The sound was incredible even from the non mesa cabs so I can only imagine how good its gonna sound in my cabs.
 
I did notice that the effect of the low pass filter on my bass  was far greater  that when I use it on my mesa boogie walkabout amp.  The sound just seemed very very very very clean, clear transparent, punchy, bassy but a with very high quality. I think I'm gonna find it very interesting indeed. I didn't even dare dial in some of the sf-2  as the speakers were not dealing with the existing signal very well.
 
Im now probably gonna need some kind of limiter to prevent the speakers going pop unless i can find out how the limiters work on the pLX.
 
Anyway thanks for your advice and I'll let you know how it gets on when I next get a bass playing gig.
Jazzyvee

[jbybj]

James; love the pedal board housing!
 
I found it at a thrift store ($3), I think it was a breakfast tray. I reinforced it, covered the bottom in black carpet, wired her up and got me a 1-spot to power the whole lot. It has been a big hit with my guitarist buddies :-)

[crgaston]

Congrats, Jazzy!
The limiters and the hi-pass filters, as well as the  dual-mono/stereo/bridge-mono functions are all controlled by little DIP switches on the back.  There should be a diagram on the back of the amp which explains them.  If it's somehow been worn off, I'll be happy to photograph mine for you.  You can get a little more headroom by engaging the hi-pass filters at 30Hz, especially if you're playing 5-string.  I didn't like the filter in the 50 Hz setting, but if you're bi-amping you may want to consider it, depending on where your crossover point is.
 
I always leave my limiters on, but the amp will still clip if I hit it hard enough.  You can definitely hear it when it happens, so you are unlikely to blow anything unless you're both deaf and careless, which I'm guessing you're not.  Unfortunately, it's not an unpleasant distortion, so I have to make myself be careful.
 
Enjoy!

[jazzyvee]

I've found a manual pdf on the QSC web site so will print that off and  have a read of what is what on the amp.
I take it the limiters are to protect the amp but not the speakers then?
 
Would you recommend a compressor limiter in the signal chain to keep the peaks under control and away from speaker frying levels.
 
 I have a Behringer and an LA Comp/Lim at home that I could bring into the equation if that would help.
 
If so should I put it between the F-1x low and high pass outs and the power amp so I can alter the compresson on the highs and lows individually before they get to the QSC or is that overkill?
 
I hope this doesn't sound patronising, if It does I'm sorry.
But in the nicest possible way this forum has cost me a small fortune over the past year just trying to get the best sound out of my alembics.  
 
Considering about 3 years ago I only wanted a small bass rig and settled on a boogie walkabout and a boogie 2x10.  I've learned so much about  these basses and various views on equipment that allows them to breathe freely and naturally that I've taken on board a lot of your advice, especially on the component system and I think the combination I have now, F-1X/Sf-2/PLX,  is very popular amongst members and should give me the ability to experience the natural clean sound out of basses that I have been looking for.  
 
I don't have any problems with the sound from my boogie amp it is great and I will keep it as a backup and for smaller gigs.
 
Now i need to get my next bass playing gig sorted out and get that sound on to a stage.
 
Thanks again for your help in depleting my already limited bank balance.  
 
I don't actually know any alembic owners personally that I could have discussed things with, so what I have learned here from you guys could otherwise have been by making a lot of expensive mistakes.  
 
Now I don't need to get anything else.......... hahaha
No more extoling the the virtues and sound I'm missing by not having a series I or II.  I have a mortgage to pay. :-)
 
Respect for your knowledge and the selfless way that you freely give it.
 
now let me get off to google and find a speakon - to jack connector......
 
Jazzyvee
 
 
Jazzyvee