The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
Reply to Thread Bookmark Thread
Page 3 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Posts 51 to 75 of 124
  1. #51

    User Info Menu

    Expensive??? Anything not made in the Far East is expensive by definition. Yet, we are even cheaper in the sense that, after two and a half years, not a cent has been taken out of the business yet. The products are all hand made, and think of the utility: up to 70% lighter than anything else. No wonder most TOOB users are pro musicians. That should say a lot about sound quality. Do inquire about our direct pricing. Your perception may change.

  2.  

    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #52

    User Info Menu

    Markku, I'm just reflecting what I saw as prices on the website. It's a very competitive marketplace, but I agree that quality is worth paying for - that's why I use ( expensive) mambo amps, handmade in the UK. Yes, the utility is obvious. I said the products were expensive, that's a fact; I didn't say they weren't worth it. That's for the individual to judge.

    Some details about pro players already using the product would be very interesting.

  4. #53

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Franz 1997
    I gave in and ordered a BAM; it's such a good price it's hard to resist. Wasn't expecting too much, but so far I agree, it sounds very good with not too much tweaking needed. I've compared it to GSS 100w head ( which I really like) and this sounds about the same, quite 'warm' ( that word again..). One has to wonder how thay can be so cheap and work so well. But, they seem to get warm quite quickly; there might even be a little fan lurking in that tiny casing.

    About cab portability - I'm trying it through a GSS 10" cabinet, very compact and light @ 15lb and 12' x 12' x 11". Even I can carry that on a short trip. And it has croc skin covering..just like old Selmer amps. Speaker is a 100 db Ragin' cajun, a seriously loud guitar speaker, but very good with some treble cut, similar to a beta 10.

    For anyone interested, I was sent a Barefaced guitar cab to try, fitted with their 200w bass speaker. This is a very interesting cabinet; it does what it says on the tin and really fills the room, with massive bass and very loud. I think in this config. it works really well for almost any style except jazz - the bass is so massive it overpowers the mids, and so the cab lacks punch and presence. They are sending some other speakers to try in it. Maybe the original guitar speakers will work better, we'll see. But it certainly fills a room, if that's what you want, Very light, too

    Anyway, some progress towards that eventual goal of fab sound out of a 10lb set up...
    Thanks Franz , I apreciate the infos .....velly interlestin ...
    shame about the Barefaced cab , yes probably the wrong driver
    I'd love to know how that goes ,

    I'm gonna try the BAM200 into the new ZT extention cab
    I believe (but haven't confirmed ...)
    that the speaker is an eminance alpha 6a or possibly an alphalite 6a
    anyone know ?
    As used in the Bud and Blue
    so that should work ok , and be under 9lbs.....
    (and cheap)

    ps yes my Bam gets warm too , seems ok though ....
    yes there is a fan on mine , I can't hear it though

  5. #54

    User Info Menu

    Hi,
    Anybode use Tc Electronic BAM 200 with hollow body guitar?
    Regulary it is a bass amp.
    Best
    Kris

  6. #55

    User Info Menu

    Yes I'm using a Bam200 with an archtop ....

    with a baby Toob with an Eminance Alphalite 6 in it
    TOOB Metro GP 6.5

    I'm reducing the mids to about 9 o clock
    bass up to about 3 o clock
    treble on about 1 o clock
    working great for me ...

    i'm gonna try a preamp in front
    for a bit of hair ...

  7. #56

    User Info Menu

    Yep, I use one, and also a TC BQ250 which has been modded for reverb, with 8" and 10" cabs. Great amps, great value.

  8. #57

    User Info Menu

    The small bass amps, such as BAM, Elf and MB200, are actually great allround power amps, with a broad and flat frequency response plus adequate EQ controls. I have tried all of them with keyboards, violin and harmonica. On-board reverb would make them perfect for jazz guitar. Many players today use multiple effects, so a separate reverb stomp box is not a major inconvenience.

  9. #58

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Gitterbug
    On-board reverb would make them perfect for jazz guitar.
    Exactly. So why aren't they tapping into that market?

  10. #59

    User Info Menu

    1. It costs more to include reverb.
    2. Almost everyone already owns a reverb pedal.

    I don't use the onboard reverb on the amps I own that have it. I don't miss it at all on the ones that don't, and I prefer to pay less instead of getting something I won't use. Bass players tend to not use reverb, AFAICT, so if you want to sell to both bassists and guitarists, no reverb is probably the more economical way to go. Jazz guitar is a very small niche market.

  11. #60

    User Info Menu

    To each his own. I prefer not to have to plug in pedals on simple gigs, yet I like a bit of reverb, especially in certain rooms. Jeff Genzler put out a product in his old company that was pretty awesome. 175/300 Class D tiny and lightweight, two channels, with dig verb. I have one. He was so successful that Fender bought him out.
    TC Electronic BAM200 Head for Jazz Guitar-genz-benz-jpg
    Last edited by Woody Sound; 01-23-2020 at 11:33 AM.

  12. #61

    User Info Menu

    As mentioned above, it wouldn't be worth a company like TC offering a reverb model to the small niche of jazz guitarists - it's a fair bet that their business model is to offer fully-featured bass amps to all bass players, and - judging by the extraorinarily low prices - to flood that market if they can. Also as mentioned above, the eq centres for bass amps coincide well with the sort of darker yet solid sounds that many jazz players are looking for, which is a happy accident for us. Some won't remember this, but in their early 60s catalogue, Gibson offered an amp geared to both bass players and jazz guitarists, with the ( large, tube) amp on a heavy tripod and a big speaker cab. Must have weighed a mere 80lb..

    I was concerned about the assembly quality of the TC amps, bearing in mind the almost-joke prices, but my expert friend says that the quality is high and the circuits are very innovative. The one snag is the tested continuous rms power of the BAM200 about 80% of the advertised figure - but then that's true of many amps, both SS and tube. And hardly surprising, given how tiny it is. The bigger BQ amp puts out what it says on its tin.

    Man, I do write some geeky posts..

  13. #62

    User Info Menu

    I really don't think it would cost, in bulk/design, to add a decent reverb chip. Much less than a significant price point jump. OCICBW.

  14. #63

    User Info Menu

    I have told this before. Wrote to Fender around 2016, suggesting they derive a new Jazz UL from Rumble 200 bass amp by removing some bass voicing stuff and adding a reverb. They responded "right on" but nothing happened. Made the same suggestion twice to Gallien-Krueger re. MB200 - no reply. Adding and removing digital chips should be an easy and cheap operation, nothing compared to a new niche product's marketing expenditure. Case in point: DV Mark Micro 50 variants. The Jazz version has one channel vs. the other versions' clean and crunch. Yet, it weighs the same and costs more than the others. BTW, at NAMM DV Mark showed a Micro 60, so new their website or show info has no mention of it yet.

  15. #64

    User Info Menu

    They have a few bass heads that have tone print capability. I haven't tried one, but wouldn't that solve the reverb issue? You probably would have a choice of reverb tone prints, too.

  16. #65

    User Info Menu

    I/ve chequed BAM 200 today in music shop in Warsaw with different guitars.
    Pat Metheny model Ibanez,Telecaster/made is USA/ and new Yamaha trancacoustic nylon guitar/it has reverb,chorus and volume in preamp/..
    It was set up with 12" cabinet...
    The sound was exelent with Yamaha nylon strings guitar and Ibanez hollow-body.
    Telecaster sound quite good if you work more about equalisation.
    The prise of this amp is really nice...:-)
    Best
    Kris

  17. #66

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by Dave24309
    They have a few bass heads that have tone print capability. I haven't tried one, but wouldn't that solve the reverb issue? You probably would have a choice of reverb tone prints, too.
    I thought of that; I searched their available toneprints library for a reverb, but no luck. Also, considerably more expensive ( but still, pretty cheap compared to other heads)

  18. #67

    User Info Menu

    OK! I got one of these today.

    Initial impressions: this is just great. I'm using my Loar with the Krivo pickup played a socially distanced jam with a friend today (on bass) and - just the clearest, warm yet defined jazz tone. None of that annoying glossy compression I get out of my AER (that sounds great for piezo.)

    This amp sounds also very good with my K&K definity equipped guitars, although I'll give them a proper go with a preamp soon.

    Very impressed. Not the loudest, but that might be my speaker and also low level passive pickups. I didn't detect any distortion, so the headroom isn't bad.

  19. #68

    User Info Menu

    I assume the 200W rating is at 4 ohms and it's around 100W at 8 ohms.

    I've had some SS amps that were quieter than tube amps with the same wattage, so I've come to think you can't have too many watts in a SS amp -- they have a volume knob for turning it down.

  20. #69

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    OK! I got one of these today.

    Initial impressions: this is just great. I'm using my Loar with the Krivo pickup played a socially distanced jam with a friend today (on bass) and - just the clearest, warm yet defined jazz tone. None of that annoying glossy compression I get out of my AER (that sounds great for piezo.)

    This amp sounds also very good with my K&K definity equipped guitars, although I'll give them a proper go with a preamp soon.

    Very impressed. Not the loudest, but that might be my speaker and also low level passive pickups. I didn't detect any distortion, so the headroom isn't bad.
    I had been using one for a few months, until it all stopped. I even got an amp-builder mate to squeeze a basic reverb into my amp ( obviously not spring reverb ) . It's amazing how good they are for the money , and one's dream of being able to gig ( when and if...) with your amp in your pocket is finally realised..

  21. #70

    User Info Menu

    I'm glad to see this thread come alive. With every experience logged in, the BAM200 just reaffirms my conviction: it's a helluva small general/power amp for any conceivable application. Two weeks ago, my band's pianist was sold on it, together with a TOOB METRO 6.5FR speaker cab. Today, the same combination, plus an external reverb box, won the heart of an acoustic guitar specialist. He actually went through six guitar-speaker combinations in front of two video cameras and a Zoom recorder, so you can expect a demo video shortly.

  22. #71

    User Info Menu

    The thing that really impresses me about it is how full and warm it sounds without reverb.

  23. #72

    User Info Menu

    For some of my solid guitars I'm now alterating between the Tone Master Deluxe Reverb and the BAM200 through a Toob 6,5"BG. with a T-Rex Duck Tail pedal in front, set for a minimum delay it's a great little amp - very warm and full sounding, and a steal at the price.

  24. #73

    User Info Menu

    Quote Originally Posted by christianm77
    The thing that really impresses me about it is how full and warm it sounds without reverb.
    My impressions every time I play through a bass amp..! The Bam is high on my gear lust list also. Especially since I recently bought a tiny handmade ported cabinet with an Eminence beta speaker inside. Only reason I haven't bought the Bam yet is that the cabinet is in a different city at the moment!
    Last edited by Alter; 09-28-2020 at 05:18 AM.

  25. #74

    User Info Menu

    Not wishing to throw a spanner in the works, as it appears the BAM 200 is broadly fitting
    the bill, Having listened to a number of demos from Bass players on You Tube it did not
    sound impressive . Perhaps with guitar it is improved. Having recently acquired a Henriksen
    Blu with a 6" speaker , I am greatly impressed by it . I tested against my Mambo 12" , Evans
    AH200, Fender Vibrolux and a Polytone 15". The Blu more than held its own , it surprised
    me with a clearer tone than the Mambo. A comparison is unfair in the price range however.
    but the light weight, Blue Tooth facility and extraordinary volume and quality of the Blu
    makes it a good buy IMO. I was fortunate in having a similar opinion from three other Forum
    friends , two of whom are Professional Guitarists. Their endorsement was good enough for me.
    Franz 1997 has ordered a BAM200, and he is very knowledgeable I look forward to his comments.

  26. #75

    User Info Menu

    Alan, I think we're comparing apples and oranges here a bit...the BAM is a bass amp head, no idea how it sounds for bass, but it's a good jazz amp head because it emphasises the guitar fundamental frequencies around 400/ 500Hz ( not too far from guitar top B & E strings) and thus does give 'instant warmth', at the cost of the extended treble range which most guitar amps give you. It's tiny and cheap and many people like it. The early 60s Gibson "bass and jazz" amp head had exactly the same idea. BAM puts about around 80w into 8 ohms, which is fine for many jazz gigs. It's not particularly versatile and has no bells and whistles, but that's fine.

    Glad to hear you like the Blu; if you find that it beats all those "industry standard" amps then Hendriksen must be doing something right!! Yes, you'd get a more versatile sound from the Blu I guess, they have that 5 band eq which is 2 more eq bands than most amps. But I don't think you can compare the BAM and Blu meaningfully. Let alone the price