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Epiphone Allen Woody Rumblekat Bass Price Paid/New: After shopping around, I bought it new for $550 with hardshell case. Year Manufactured: According to the serial number it was made in 2006. I bought it in mid-2008. Spec's: Short scale Chambered body Humbuckers in neck and middle position (quite rare for a bass to have) Gold hardware Volume, Volume, Tone Controls Sound: 4/5 I special ordered his bass after thinking about the sound I want and how I could get it. I wanted more of a vintage tone with a little bit of the quirkiness that a lot of the cheap vintage instruments have. The first thing I did was put flatwound strings on it. This bass did miss the quirky aspect, but is very deep sounding. The pickup configuration on this bass is a little odd. Instead of the more traditional middle and bridge pickup layout on most basses (or even a neck and bridge like the Hofner Club Bass), this bass has neck and middle position pickups. I wanted to get away from EQ'ing my sound, so I decided to look into a bass that has pickups in the places that will give me the sound I want. Since I wanted deep bass, I needed a neck pickup at least, but I wanted some definition, so I opted for the more punchy middle. I think only three basses have this pickup configuration without going custom (This bass, the Hofner Club Reissue [discontinued], and the Yamaha Attitude II Billy Sheehan Signature Bass). The neck pickup solo'd tends to lose definition. The middle pickup solo'd sounds wonderful by itself. So I typically max out the middle and add the neck in for a little bit more bassy. The tone knob doesn't really do much, just roll of the highs a little bit, but neither of the pickups really get too much highs to begin with. Don't expect this bass to cop any tone in the book. Its not diverse at all, but I bought it with a single sound in mind: to be very deep. Instrument Quality: 4/5 For being a Korean instrument, this is a superb bass. The short scale neck is easy to get around without it feeling like a kids instrument. The fit and finish is quite good. The neck is straight and the frets are properly dressed. The electronics work wonderfully and there is no scratchy sound. The only issue is that I'm worried about the gold hardware becoming crummy. Other than that, the bass looks and feels amazing. Playability: 4/5 The neck is quick and the short scale makes huge intervals more manageable. There is very little neck dive (I attribute this to the light body and the strap button not being at the 12th fret), but it is very manageable. The body is light, which is one of the reasons I bought it. I was at a jazz gig playing my Sting Ray 5 for about 1/4 of it and my back was giving me flak. So I switched to the Rumblekat and I could've gone on all night. Overall Value: 3/5 I love this bass. It feels great, it gets the sound I want, and it doesn't hurt that it looks sharp. I wanted something a little more vintage-y sounding to replace my Italia Mondial. It sounds wonderful and makes playing a joy. For me the value of the bass is great. It has many of the features of I was looking for (short scale, neck and middle pickup, and light) in a reasonable price range. However, with the sound being so...niche, I guess is the best way to put it, I can easily see this bass being a mistake purchase for most players. If you're into the sound it gives, then go for it.
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Jun 14, 2008 02:19
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Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0-12T Price Paid/Price New: $1,100 / $1,299 Year Manufactured: 2008 Spec's (From Genz Benz's website): Ultra Light 3.75 lb Design Power: 375W/8 ohms; 600W/4 ohms Analog 12AX7 Tube Preamp Digital SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) High Current Class D Amplifier Active EQ w/Parametric Mids 3-Band Signal Shape Circuit (Footswitchable) Signal Mute Switch (Footswitchable) Tuner Out Extended Range Input Gain for Active/Passive Sensitivity Limiter Circuit LED Status Indicators Speakonฎ Speaker Outputs Internal Fan Cooling Full XLR Direct Out Interface Aux. Input Headphone Jack E ffects Loop Optional Footswitch available. Combo w/12 NEO and Bullet Tweeter 375W as combo/600W with EXT. Cab Compact 31 lb combo Removable Amp Chassis Rear-ported for Full Bass Responses Sound: 4/5 The amp sounds wonderful. It is full, deep, and able to get loud. It features a tube preamp, and this is my first bass amp with a tube in it, and its easy to dial in a little raunchyness from the pre. Still there is more than enough headroom to handle a low B and make the room shake. The 12" speaker reacts wonderfully and is able to push a ton of air. Equipment Quality: 4/5 The amp seems to have no issues and I trust Genz Benz as I have been using their cabinets for years. The only reason for a 4 instead of a 5 is because the mounting bracket for the amp was installed backwards. And its on this bracket that there's a hole for the fan. So when I purchased it, the fan would blow its hot air into a foam pad. I e-mailed Genz Benz about this and let them know about a possible quality control issue. The problem was easy to fix though. Usefullness: 5/5 This amp is currently my most useful. It is able to get an amazing sound and project it. The real reason is that on top of that, the amp weighs 32 pounds. Its ridiculous how light this amp is. I can take it up to and down from my third floor apartment easily and is more than enough for most smaller gigs. Overall Value: 5/5 It was expensive. No doubt about that, but really its a quality amp with a quality cabinet that sounds wonderful and is a feather in the sea of heavy as hell bass gear. Some might think its too pricey, but seriously, the amp is great by itself and the cabinet is awesome. They're releasing another 8ohm 12" cab for the shuttle series. That would work perfectly with the parallel outputs on the amp. I only see great things with this amp. And the weight is really just the icing on something like ice cream cake.
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Jun 21, 2008 08:54
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