Micro Amps, your preference?

funkygeos

New member
Guys, which models do u prefer?

1)Markbass little mark 3
2)SWR Headlite
3)Genz Benz Shuttle 6
4)TC electronic RH450
5)Or other Micro Amps.....

What are the features u like for the one u chose?
 
ya switchable voltage makes a difference to travelling musicians. micro amps are supposed to be portable after all.

based on my limited experience i would say markbass. all markbass amps are not voltage switchable. i used to have that before switching to a shuttle. in terms of overall performance i preferred the markbass.

as for the features, apart from whatever you can derive from looking at the technical specs of the amps, most other things are a matter of preference. but the markbass was really loud even at comparable power ratings, and i don't think it was psychological.

based on tone i'd go for phil jones bass. used to own a pjb d-200 (and before that the bass buddy) and managed to A/B it with a LM. pjb wins hands down.

swr headlite has only been released this year, and we aren't too far into this year yet. its probably impossible to get locally.

the rebelhead is designed way differently from everything else so i think there is no comparison.

locally u might be able to get your hands on eden and iamp, but i've had no experience.
 
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i would get the TC Electronic stuff, those cabs are just as light as it gets. there seems to be a lot of hype about them. MarloweDK on youtube uses them, they sound pretty good. too bad they're so expensive.

i'm planning to invest in a good amp setup that's portable as well. thinking of getting an Acoustic amp to cop some Led Zeppelin tones, any recommendations?
 
rdm brings in EA amps. dunno how they sound like have not tried it but they are local and rdm brings in good stuff.

shinobi - u are u sing shuttle 6.0? with a 2x10 or a 4x10? does it come with ears or bags for transport?
 
I've had the privilleage of playing both the markbass and the genz benz stuff.

The markbass f1 really rocks. Very punchy sound straight out of the box.

The genz benz shuttle max 12 is a joy to eq with .. never have to fear the conditions cos you can eq your way out of it. and very loud and deep as well.
 
rh450

I just got my RH450, going to pick it up from the parcel office tomorrow.. I'll update on how I feel about it soon!
 
my shuttle has a bit of noise coming through when the treble is pumped. maybe its just my particular set. the LM was ninja silent.

@lordie no bag, no rack ears... not brand new, traded it with some dude in australia. running it through 2x10 cos no money for anything bigger :(

ea amps seem to be in a different price bracket from the entry level genz and markbass

@beer
the rh cabs are light? never tried carrying one but it looks HEAVY... i wouldn't read too much into an artist's gear preference (more like endorsement). tc went on a marketing spree in endorsing every other guy out there. not that tc or their endorsee's suck or anything, i'm just sayin.

MARKBASS FTW. too bad about the voltage cos of european regulations. but that won't bother most users here.
 
apparently the 2x10 cab is 21kg. but it sure is small though.

oh yeah got one big question to ask: are all amps bought overseas of unusable voltages here? e.g. even if i was able to buy one from the US or something, i wouldn't be able to use it here due to the different voltage?
 
RH

I just received my RH450. The RH's light as hell, and the ergonomic design of the handle makes it more handle-able.

Play around with it for the past 30 minutes.

Functions-wise it's really versatile, with its 4-band EQ and Tubetone, you can really get loads of sounds outta it. The youtube Tubetone demo videos doesn't do it justice. The 3 memory channels makes operation a breeze.

Imagine you want your notched slap-tone, click 1 and go. And you wanna go to the punchy growly finger style tone, slap 2 and go. Then you wanna do some fuzzy riffs with the Tubetone jam 3 and go.

Simple and fast.

I am still figuring my tone out, 30 minute's not enough! Haha.

@B33r I got it at a good price though I shan't say how much. HEHE. And for the RH450, I love its built in transformer. You don't even need to switch the voltage. You just plug it in, the system will automatically switch itself to the local voltage. Literally plug and play!

(The bugger who shipped it to me didn't pack the power and RCA cables in though. ZZZzzzzZZZZZ. I am trying to get him to throw in those too since he did not specify that he's not including them. And he left the manual for his new amp head in the box. He got a TecAmp Puma 1000. WTH)
 
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oh yeah got one big question to ask: are all amps bought overseas of unusable voltages here? e.g. even if i was able to buy one from the US or something, i wouldn't be able to use it here due to the different voltage?
definitely not all. markbass is one that famously does not make voltage switchable or selectable amps. they have some reason for it which ive never understood.

other than that it really depends. normally class D amps can, and it would make sense cos after all they are supposed to be portable. i have a shuttle and it can be manually adjusted. anything that runs on DC, it depends on the adapter. most adapters can select voltage.

btw class d amps are micro amps, or rather micro amps are class d amps.
 
it seems like the voltage issue has narrowed down my choices to only a few...Markbass and Genz Benz, maybe Hartke? maybe i'll go down to Davis one day to check the Markbass stuff out, since i'm not really after the hi-fi tone the GB probably produces.

or are there other alternatives i'm not aware of?
 
i've heard good things about Ashdown combos, and i liked the one i tried at Guitar Connection once. i've never heard about their heads though. do they make micro amps?

edit: ok i checked out the Ashdown site, some of their stuff looks interesting. but most importantly, are they available locally?
 
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I'm thinking of getting the Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0 combo that BGW is selling. Is it a good rig to go with for home practice?

Or should I shell out more for the Shuttle 6.0?
 
@cool-beans: that's what i was wondering too, but for some reason the Shuttle 6.0 isn't on his site. anyway considering that the 6.0 has tubes in it compared to the solid-state 3.0, i would probably save up for the 6.0.
 
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