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 New at Gollihur Music - Genz Benz! These lightweight, powerful and flexible amps have boutique features and sound at less-than-boutique pricing.
SHUTTLE® MAX 9.2 or, the "Bass Forum" Special Edition Shuttle Amp
I'm always on the lookout for new and exciting gear for upright bassists. I've long had Genz-Benz on my radar, and lately they have been getting a lot of buzz for some of their newer products. After checking the Shuttle combos and the new Streamliner heads out, we decided we just had to have them! So I'm proud to say that we are now a Genz-Benz bass amp dealer.
We've had plenty of fun trying out all of our new Genz-Benz gear; it's well-made, well-designed, and sounds great. Bob's even adding a Streamliner 900 to his gigging rig - it's a really straight-forward, easy-to-dial-in amp.
The Streamline 9.2, however, is the other side of the coin, with a two channel switchable/blendable FET/Tube preamp, adjustable signal shape circuits, and more knobs than a Bob and Doug Film Festival. All being driven through a monster 900w power amp, in a small chassis weighing less than 9 lbs.
The amp was, we're told, developed in response to a small (but vocal) group of players on online message boards who craved more, more, more - meaning, more tone shaping, more features, more "toys." And Genz-Benz responded - the ShuttleMax 9.2 provides that, for sure. Let's dive in!
Starting at the front end, you've got a high impedance input which provides a good interface with everything from your upright bass, to your passive 4-banger "slab" bass, to your electric upright, and active electronics-equipped 6-string bass guitar. Its built-in active high-pass filter gets rid of some of the ultra-low "junk" and has an RFI filter to reduce noise, providing cleaner, more balanced input.
The input goes to a pair of independent preamp sections; one is a warm tube preamp, the other uses FET circuitry for clean - but not clinical - solid-state goodness. You can choose to use one or the other independently... or for those who like their custard cones "twisted," blend the two together.
Each preamp channel features its own separate gain, volume and EQ controls. So, among many uses for this flexibility would be switching between two different tone settings for different song types, setting one channel with more "cut" and a bit more volume for when you take solos, or having different tone settings for different basses. The tube preamp has a "low/high" switch if you care to infuse some additional tube drive into your tone. The FET channel also has a similar switch to provide a good gain match to your instrument while avoiding unwanted input distortion.
Since I mentioned the tone controls, let's see what's there. Each channel features its own 4-band active EQ; Low, Low Mid, High Mid, and Highs. The two midrange controls are both sweepable, so you can dial in the specific frequencies you wish to attack - and speaking of which, all the EQ controls feature 15db of cut and boost, providing plenty of tone shaping power.
If that's not enough EQ for you, the amp also features the same set of three signal shape circuits featured on the Streamliner and Shuttle amps: Low Frequency Boost, Mid Scoop, and High Frequency Attack. However, on this amp, also included is a level control for each preset, so you can adjust HOW MUCH Boost, Scoop or Attack gets blended into your sound.
I hope you're not too tired of reading, because there is plenty more - turn the amp around to the back, and you've got three separate effects loops; one for the tube channel, one for the FET channel, and one master effects loop. You've also got an AUX IN for mixing in your Mp3 player for jamming along, and a headphone jack for quiet practice. A dedicated tuner out (the mute button on the front of the amp does not effect the tuner out, so silent tuning onstage is easy) is also there. Finally, a DI (Direct Output) on a balanced XLR provides pro-level connections to house PA systems and mixing boards in the studio - and of course, it includes a ground lift, pre-post switch, and mic/line level switching.
Phew! Anything else? Oh yeah - a really nice footswitch is included, and has buttons for channel switching and mixing, and switches for each of the three signal shape circuits. There's also a jack for an optional footswitch to activate the mute circuit. Finally, a pair of Speakon jacks to plug in your speaker(s).
As you can see, there is a lot going on under the hood of this amp. That's a lot of words up there, and I've really only just touched on how the amp's myriad features can be used on a gig or in the studio. For more depth of understanding, click on the "view manual" link on the top right area of this page to delve even further in. Or give us a call to discuss your needs, and we'll see if this is the right amp for you.
FEATURES
- Dual Channels---FET and TUBE Preamps
- Switchable or Blendable Preamps
- Input Mute Circuit
- High and Low Gain Switch per Channel
- Active 4 Band EQ with Dual Parametric Mids
- High Current Class D Amplifier Design
- Adjustable 3 Band Signal Shape Circuits
- 3 DPM™ Power Management
- LED Status Indicators
- Patent Pending P.H.A.T topology
- Speakon® Speaker Outputs
- Internal Fan Cooling
- Full XLR Direct Output Interface
- Aux. Input
- Headphone Jack
- Three Effects Loops (FET Ch; Tube Ch; Master)
- 115/230 Volt Switchable
- 5 Position Footswitch Included
SPECS:
- Power Output: 500W @ 8 ohms; 900W @ 4 ohms
- Preamp Type: FET/TUBE
- Weight: 6.75 lbs
- Dimensions: 3 1/2" x 13 1/2" x 13"
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