9 minute read
AMPLIFIERS
Phil Jones Bass X4 NanoBass Combo
By Kevin Johnson, Bass Player, June 2022
Amp designer Phil Jones’s latest creation is the X4 Nanobass, which his company calls the most compact and portable combo he’s ever designed. The unit features a single four-inch driver and weighs just 5.3 pounds. It has a headphone jack for silent practice and two options for playback from external sources. You can plug in manually, while Bluetooth capabilities let you stream from a mobile device. An independent level knob allows for setting the output, and there’s a threeband EQ. Even at its diminutive size, the X4 feels very sturdy. The sound is clean and clear, even articulating a low B-string very nicely: goosing the bass knob adds a surprising amount of heft and warmth. Ultimately, the X4 is a convenient practice tool that sounds great, and having a great sound is a key to inspiration in your practice sessions. Consider it an investment to have your tone in a combo you can bring anywhere. $359.99,
pjbworld.com
Positive Grid Spark MINI smart guitar amp and Bluetooth speaker
By Christopher Scapelliti, Guitar Player, September 2021
The new Spark MINI practice combo is a more compact version of Positive Grid’s desktop Spark smart guitar amp, but don’t be fooled by its size — it packs all the same features into a cube weighing just over three pounds. It’s a 10-watt stereo combo with 33 amp models and 43 useful guitar effects, powered by Positive Grid’s BIAS tone engine. No doubt you did a double-take at the term “stereo combo.” Remarkably, Spark MINI delivers nearfield stereo sound from a pair of two-inch speakers angled eight degrees from one other. So how does it do so much with just a handful of controls? The answer is the free Spark app, which gives you a full set of virtual controls to fine-tune your tone, dial in presets and effects, and gain access to new presets from the online ToneCloud community. For being small, versatile and delivering loads of great tones, it gets our Editors’ Pick award. $229, positivegrid.com
PRS HDRX 50 Amp Head and HDRX 212 Cabinet
By Chris Gill, Guitar World, February 2022
For many electric guitarists, one of their top three bucket list amps is a Marshall JMP 100- or 50-watt plexi head from the late Sixties. Some of the most beloved performances of all time by players were recorded using Super Lead amps from this era. Fortunately, PRS recently introduced its new HDRX series amps and cabinets, based upon one of Jimi Hendrix’s personal amps that he allegedly played at Woodstock. Hendrix’s amp features a special “touring circuit” modification that is replicated here, and new features like a high-mid gain boost make the HDRX amps much more than a replica. The HDRX 50 is outrageously loud and, like any good non-master volume amp, needs to be cranked up to sound its best. While the PRS HDRX amps deliver the beloved classic tones that guitarists know very well, it is more versatile and high-performance than its original inspiration, which should make them bucket list amps in their own right.
$2,900 (HDRX 50 head); $899 (HDRX 2x12 cabinet), prsguitars.com
PRS HDRX 100
By Art Thompson, Guitar Player, September 2022
Paul Reed Smith has focused his attention on an amplifier that was a mainstay for Jimi Hendrix, the circa-1967/68 Marshall Super Lead, recreating an amp that Jimi purportedly played at Woodstock and is now housed at the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Washington. The HDRX 100 uses four Electro-Harmonix EL34s power tubes and has three JJ ECC 803S (12AX7) tubes in the preamp. Sharpeyed readers will notice the absence of a standby switch, which PRS says is unnecessary due to the “historically correct high-power value filter caps.” The HDRX sounds killer: With the volume controls set around noon or higher, there’s a lot of grind on tap, and it’s imbued with awesome dynamic feel and an in-your-face presence. If you want an amplifier that replicates what Hendrix plugged into at Woodstock, it delivers. It’s a beast unto itself and a thrilling ride to an era of guitar amplification when it was all about going big. $3,199, prsguitars.com
Trace Elliot ELF C110 Combo
By Mike Brooks, Bass Player, March 2022
Trace Elliot’s ELF range offers lightweight solutions to bassists of all levels, with amp heads, lightweight cabinets and two combos. The 1x10 ELF combo is well-dimensioned, with the amp housed towards the rear so that the controls are out of the way, creating a tidy package. It comes with a durable dust cover, is ruggedly constructed and sports a heavy-duty leather handle on the top and a metal grille on the front of the unit. The amp section is simple to operate and clearly laid out, with controls for Gain, a three-band EQ and volume: Simplicity is truly the name of the game here. It packs a solid punch, and is capable of projecting solid bottom end, midrange character and biting clarity in the upper frequencies. The EQ frequencies have been sensibly selected and will address the needs of bassists who need a strong, robust tone in a wide variety of performance settings. $749, peavey.com
Trace Elliot TE-1200
By Bryan R. Tyler, Bass Player, October 2022
With the TE-1200, Trace Elliot has made a return to concert-level power while staying focused on portability. The new amp is impressive straight out of the box. The backlit knobs are evenly spaced and turn smoothly with center detents on the EQ controls, clearly designed to make hassle-free changes mid-gig, and the rear panel boasts all the output options you could ask for. It is rated at 1200 watts continuous RMS, meaning you’ll get consistent, high power output: an included footswitch lets you toggle several of the amp’s features (pre-shape, compressor, mute, effects loop). The amp is dead silent, and even at high volume there’s no hiss. This also means you can play or practice at low volume with no issues. Small enough to easily fit on top of a 1x12, the TE-1200 is equally at home at a coffee-shop gig as it is on a large stage: just be careful not to overpower your lower-wattage cabs. $999, peavey.com
Charvel Pro-Mod San Dimas PJ V
By Joel McIver, Bass Player, October 2022
Charvel relaunched its San Dimas bass range in 2021: now the five-string has been beefed up with a DiMarzio pickup in bridge position. There’s an alder body for familiar tones and weight, a graphite and maple neck that is almost comedically fast under the fingers, and a focus on general practicality that makes the San Dimas easy to work with. A range of solid hardware — a hi-mass bridge, open-gear tuners and heavy-feeling controls — is designed to work without any fuss. The treble and mids pots perform in a bitey, aggressive manner, while the bass boost is truly huge, especially when you hit hard on the low B string. Zero in on the new pickup, noting that DiMarzio themselves caution that it is not intended for high overall volume; instead, it allocates punch to the center of the tone. The results are solid, sleek and professional, offering 99 percent of all the tones you would ever need. $1,099.99, fender.com
Cort Artisan B5 Element
By Mike Brooks, Bass Player, April 2022
The new B5 Element from Cort draws on the most popular features of the brand’s Artisan range, adding into the mix a Bartolini electronics package, Hipshot and MetalCraft hardware and a roasted maple fingerboard. The five-piece walnut and panga panga laminate neck is connected to the body courtesy of a four-bolt attachment. The bass comes with a full Bartolini MK-1 package, comprising a pair of soapbar pickups. A threeband EQ circuit offers cut and boost across their respective frequencies, and there’s also an active/passive selector. Its forthright character is very apparent, and no matter which playing style you wish to employ, a throaty midrange punch is noticeable. The bass has a pleasing bounce in its core tone, and at this price, there is very little to complain about. The B5 Element puts other, more expensive instruments to shame, so if you’re looking for an affordable five-string, we highly recommend it. $649.99, cortguitars.com
Ernie Ball Music Man DarkRay 5
By Chris Gill, Bass Player, October 2022
The new DarkRay five-string combines features of Ernie Ball’s Music Man StingRay with built-in Darkglass Alpha (distortion) and Omega (fuzz) circuits and a new two-band EQ preamp, also designed by Darkglass. The neck is crafted from roasted maple and features 22 high-profile/wide stainless steel frets, and there’s an ebony fingerboard and a solid, top-loaded steel bridge. The original StingRay bass is known for its distinctive midrange character. The DarkRay, however, lives up to its name by delivering an inherent tone that is warmer and richer with the preamp-only setting engaged and the treble and bass EQ controls centered, although the StingRay growl comes out in the Alpha and Omega settings. The noise-free specs of the Darkglass electronics provides an excellent clean base that keeps harsh overtones and attack transients under control. This bass is perfect for players who love the StingRay’s feel, tone, and character but want even more tones and textures. $2,799, music-man.com
Fender Player Plus Active Meteora
By Joel McIver, Bass Player, June 2022
This new active Meteora has been slotted into Fender’s Player Plus line of high-functionality instruments with a user cost in the low four figures. It’s inspiring to play a bass that has no neck dive: The extra mass at the back and bottom of the Meteora keeps that headstock where it should be. That body has bits of Jaguar and Mustang in there, and once you’re playing, it makes total sense. The neck finish is grippy enough for your fretting-hand thumb to feel at home, but there’s enough glide to make speedy upper-register fills doable. There’s a lively set of tones, with tons of range and enough power to defeat more or less any band mix. The bass boost is monstrous, and while the top end is less violent, there’s plenty of glassy edge. Whether or not you like the body shape, you’ll enjoy the amped-up power and tone range, as well as the player-friendly feel. $1,199, fender.com
