LeftyBassist.com

I stepped into Guitar Center yesterday and walked out with what I think may have been an impulse purchase... I bought a used Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 for $380 and I'm not confident that I made a suitable choice. While I've not been 100% happy with my current amps, I've been a loyal user to them for over 15 years. My primary amp for larger gigs has been a '98 Eden WT-800a and my primary amp for small gigs has been a '97 SWR 350. I like the way these old amps sound for the most part but have been considering a medium watt d-class head to enhance that type of sound and to specifically replace my SWR 350 for small to med sized gigs. In order of interest, I've also considered Aguilar AG500, Aguilar Tone Hammer 500, Orange Terror Bass. and Carvin BX500.

At the store, I utilized the Genz Benz's full 600 watts through a 4ohm SVT 8x10 and it displayed an impressive amount of headroom and had decent tone. I brought it home to my 4ohm Ampeg Portabass 2x10 cab and I'm really having to do a lot of tweaking to get a decent tone. I know there are folks out there that really love this head, so I'm wondering if it's just too modern for my taste or speaks to my cab's shortfalls? I play passive basses and dig a more vintage tone. Has anybody else had a similar experience? Beyond the sound, I'm also wondering I'll if can feel confident about this amp's reliably and ease of repair?

I have 30 days to try this amp out and return it without any strings attached, so I was hoping for some subjective input before my time is up.

Thanks for reading!

I briefly owned a Shuttle 6.0 and my experience was similar; I couldn't get a tone from it I was happy with into my Bergantino NV610. I also predominantly play passive basses.

I've read online plenty of people who love it, so I think it's more of a taste issue than a quality of amp issue.

Check with Graves, I know he owns/owned both the AG500 and Tonehammer heads from Aguilar.

Thanks for your input Andrew! It could be a taste thing, but I'm starting to think that I would get much better results with a better/more efficient cab. My Ampeg PB210 cabs are known to be super inefficient and I've been told that I may be experiencing some weird power compression. This also may explain why the 810 SVT (which is super efficient) sounded so much better. I think I may be time to just upgrade to a batter 212 or 410 cab too!

I will ask Graves for his thoughts on the AG and TH in the meantime.

maybe I'm not comparing apples to apples, but here goes anyways ...
I have a Shuttle 3.0 10T. I liked using it with my active basses, using any cab i had lying around the house.
I only briefly tried it with one passive bass - a PBass strung with flats - and found it to be a bit 'unremarkable'. Definatly not a vintage tone IMO. I remember thinking that I wished I had cabs that used inefficient 15" spkrs It just felt like that would have produced more of a classic thump.

Same here. I have a Shuttle 6.0 into an Aguilar GS and I don't love it.
I change basses quite often, and it takes forever to find a decent tone.
I've been considering selling it and getting something different, haven't figured out what's the right choice yet.

I also had a similar experience with the Genz Benz head. I'd been searching for a good compact amp for some time. I had a GK briefly and an Orange Terror Bass 500. I also test drove a Shuttle 6.0 for the weekend and found the same thing re: needing alot of teaks for the right tone. I finally took the plunge and purchased an Aguilar Tone Hammer 500 and I'm over the moon about it. It sounds incredible through one or both of the DB212 cabs I have and I practically set it up flat with my T-Bird and Rick. It sounds great through an Ashdown 610 cab I have as well. It's got tons of headroom and lots of tonal variety if you need it.

I mean, for larger venues I'll still pull out my Fender Super Bassman every time - that thing is my new favourite amp of all time - but when I gotta small to medium gig I pull out that TH500. I even bring it to big shows where I'm using the SBM as a back up amp in case a tube goes or something.

That's my two pennies worth.

I have the same Ampeg cab that I use for rehearsals with a Markbass LMII and I must say I have never liked its sound yet I love this head plugged into my Avatar 4x10...

Yeah, I'm trying a p-bass with flats and getting ok results. Furthermore, I have yet to find a nice tone with with my Hofner and flats! Getting the best results with my active Stingray, go figure!?!? Despite all this, I'm really beginning to think that my cabs have always been the weakest link in the equation.

Sigh, I really think it's time to retire the Portabass cabs.

Lots of knob turning indeed, especially when I switch from bass to bass... I tried the TH350 at Sam Ash a few months ago and really liked it. It was paired with an 8ohm Aguilar db410 cab which is rated at 700 watts; seems like a serious mismatch in power btw. Although the head was only producing 175watts, I was blown away by the amount of head room and clarity! Beyond that, it sounded warm, full and had a vintage-like quality that I dig. Truely a great sounding rig, but I've since wondered how much of that sound was attributed to the cab? At a whopping 98lbs, I could never see my self getting that cab too.

If I return the GB 6.0, the TH is at the top of the list for sure. Btw, have you ever compared the TH to the AG500?

Wow, I'm actually a bit surprised by the lack of Shuttle 6.0 love here... I've never tried one myself, but a couple of guys who I've talked to LOOOOVE them. Ed Friedland talks about them like they're touched by the hands of god or something.

Have you ever tried the Streamliner? People seem to love those too.

I have a TH500... and I absolutely friggin LOOOOVE mine. Paired with a set of the DB112's, it's literally the best amp/cab combo I've ever played through. Interestingly, as you'll read in the review, I wasn't very happy with a single DB112 paired with the TH500... it was when I added the second cab that made it really shine.

The head sounds fantastic with active and passive basses... and, like most amps, the gain control is really key to getting a great tone from the head. I usually turn the gain up as loud as possible before it starts to break up when I'm playing my hardest... I've just been able to get better tone this way.

Anyway, here's some links to my reviews if you're interested...

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/aguil ... st11080929

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/aguil ... st11167338

Let us know what you decide!

Yes, Ed is a GB endorser for sure!

I have not tried the Streamliner, but I have tried a TH350 at Sam Ash and really enjoyed it. I tried it with an Aguilar SL 112 and was not blow away, but I also tried it with an Aguilar DB 410 and was taken back by how good it sounded. It seemed to check a lot of boxes, but I wonder how much of that sound was attributed to the DB 410 cab? At 98lbs, that's just way too heavy for me... I suppose the DB 112 at 45lbs is a much more reasonable option. Either way, the TH did impress. Can you give me an idea how loud your rig is in both 112 & (2) 112 configs? One thing I've learned for sure is that I need to replace my Ampeg PB210 cabs. They are great to an extent, but now I'm really noticing their limitations.

Speaking of gain, I agree that it's key in getting a desirable tone. That being said, I'm actually having trouble engaging the gain with the BG Shuttle 6.0, even if I open the gain & gain volume at full blast. I've heard other people say they have the same issues, but I'm not getting what I would expect even with my active Stingray either. This is a used unit, so I wonder if there is a problem or if this is normal?

Thanks for your feedback Chris!

NO problem man!

There is a significant difference in both sound and volume with one or two cabs...

If I was only relying on my amp for volume and not running through any kind of PA, I wouldn't play anything bigger than my bedroom or a small coffee shop with a single cab.

You can hear it ok... but it can't move any serious air for the nice bottom end you'd probably look for.

With two cabs, it's a HUGE difference... much louder, clearer, punchier, and, frankly... just plain awesome. Still probably not big enough to rely on it by iteself for anything bigger than a medium sized club, but... anything bigger than that, and you're probably running through the house anyway.

There are two reasons for this... besides the obvious reason that you have two speakers instead of one, you're also running the TH500 at 4 ohms, and, in my experience, it sounds a lot better when you're running it a little harder.

I'm not much of an expert on the physics behind this kind of thing... but I do trust my ear, for whatever's that worth.

Thanks again Chris.

A friend of mine just got two Aguilar DB112s and a TH500. I hope to try out his rig soon! Furhermore, I want to a/b his head againt the Shuttle 6.0.

Update: After much debate and research, I just ordered a 4ohm Schroeder 1212L yesterday. It was a tough choice to say the least, but a conversation with Jorg Schroeder helped seal the deal.

I've been able to find some usable tones with the GB Shuttle 6.0 and have been predominately happy with it... But I'm now considering returning it for a for Shuttle 9.2 or Streamliner 900 so I can really give the 1212L a run for it's money and perhaps make better use of the tube gain. That being said, I was never able to A/B the TH500 with the Shuttle 6.0, so that's still up for debate. Jorg stressed that his cabs are super efficient, so I need not worry about significantly under powering his cabs and risk blowing a driver. Anybody in here ever use these cabs and can recommend a good head to match with it?

Not only are his cabs very efficient, I've found the 1212L to be very mid-forward. I.e. it'll cut through any live mix you can throw at it. It's a very modern sounding cab to my ears. I'm sure you're going to love it!

I had a neighbor selling one and got to try it out in a non-band context. i thought it sounded great, but it was not what I was looking for at the time. I usually prefer a more traditionally flat or slightly scooped sounding cab.

I own a Genz Benz 9.0 and have encountered similar results. I have a very similar setup to yours with a '98 Eden Navigator head and Eden 410XLT cabinet. I wanted a powered head with suitable EQ flexibility and light weight, since the Navigator requires a separate power amp to drive it and I've been using my ancient 200w GK 400RB (as the power amp for it. First off, the Shuttle 9.0 is supposed to be output up to 900w@8ohms and 500@4ohms, yet I'm finding there's little discernible volume increase from my old GK setup. At nearly double the wattage, I'd expect more volume/headroom, no? (FYI, the Eden 410XLT can handle up to 700w@8ohms, so it shouldn't be the cabinet). Second, the Navigator's simply more organic and natural sounding, and with an excellent on board compressor, deeper, deeper EQing options, and more routing options, its much more versatile. The Shuttle's fine for a grab and go quicky setup gig, but it's definitely more sterile/hi fi sounding. So at present, the Shuttle's powering the Navigator and I'm blending the two amp signals.

If the 1212L is super hi-fi sounding, I could see how a more organic sounding head would be a good match. That being said, I really love how my Eden WT-800a sounds, so I'm really hoping that it could be a good match. I can't use the bridged feature since it requires an 8ohm load, but it sounds like 400W should be plenty. If the Shuttle might be too modern, would a Streamliner be better?... I also like how the Mesa Boogie Walkabout sounds, super warm.

I meant to ask before.... You mentioned that you didn't notice a considerable increase in volume with twice the power, is that through a Schroeder 1212L?

No, that's through my Eden 410XLT. Some heads are better voiced for some cabinets, so I guess I'm not surprised the Eden head sounds better than the Genz Benz through an Eden cabinet. Still, the volume issue's puzzling. I'd be curious to hear the Genz Benz through one of their cabinets to see if that's the best combo/sound.