Genz Benz Shuttle 6

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EQing and Recording the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 Bass Amplifier

The Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 is an ultralight 3.75-pound bass guitar amplifier rated for 375W/8ohms and 600W/4ohms. Dimensions are just 2.5"H x 10"W X 10.50"D so it's small enough to tuck into a gig bag. Aside from this portability, the Shuttle 6.0 provides powerful tone-dialing capabilities with its tube preamp and active equalization -– especially parametric EQ control of mid-range signals between 150Hz and 2KHz. The first part of this article presents examples of typical tones available on the Shuttle 6.0 plus a video demo. The second part explains how these tones were set and recorded.

Each recording provides a D.I. signal isolated in the Left channel and a mic'd signal in the Right channel. D.I. signals are provided for both pre- and post-EQ. Mic signals are provided at 3-inch, 6-inch, 12-inch and 18-inch distances from a Genz Benz NEOX-112T bass speaker cabinet. Mics were a Sennheiser MD 421 II dynamic microphone and an AKG Perception 400 condenser microphone.

Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 bass amplifier – front panel

Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 bass amplifier – back panel

Genz Benz NEOX-112T bass speaker cabinet; images from Genz Benz

Thick, Deep Tone for Blues

Amp Settings

Shuttle 6.0 had two NEOX-112T speaker cabinets attached with Speakon connectors; plastic plugs were inserted into the four unused quarter-inch jacks to prevent airflow noise. Tweaters were set to 25% on. All buttons on the amp were in the out position. Other amp settings for this tone were:

  • Gain 12:30
  • Volume 12:00
  • Low 1:30
  • Mid 10:00
  • Mid Frequency 1:00
  • High 12:00
  • Master 12:00

Bass Settings

Instrument recorded was a Fender Aerodyne Jazz Bass with modifications:

Tones with D.I. Set to Pre-EQ

Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 – Thick, Deep Tone for Blues – D.I. w/Pre-EQ Signal
Distance from Speaker Left = D.I. ... Right = Dynamic Mic Left = D.I. ... Right = Condenser Mic
3"
6"
12"
18"


Tones with D.I. Set to Post-EQ

Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 – Thick, Deep Tone for Blues – D.I. w/Post-EQ Signal
Distance from Speaker Left = D.I. ... Right = Dynamic Mic Left = D.I. ... Right = Condenser Mic
3"
6"
12"
18"


Woody, Upright Tone for Jazz

Amp Settings

Shuttle 6.0 had two NEOX-112T speaker cabinets attached with Speakon connectors; plastic plugs were inserted into the four unused quarter-inch jacks to prevent airflow noise. Tweaters were set to 25% on. All buttons on the amp were in the out position. Other amp settings for this tone were:

  • Gain 12:30
  • Volume 12:00
  • Low 12:30
  • Mid 10:00
  • Mid Frequency 1:00
  • High 12:00
  • Master 12:00

Bass Settings

Instrument recorded was a Steinberger Spirit 5-sring bass with modifications:

  • Bass was converted to fretless.
  • Pickups were a Bartolini 72M45C-B neck pickup and a Bartolini 72M45C-T bridge pickup, plus a Bartolini 3.4 Preamp powered by a 9v battery. Onboard bass volume was 100% on neck pickup and about 70% on bridge pickup. Onboard tone control turned bass slightly up and treble slightly down. Mids were biased about 75% in the bassier direction.
  • Strings were Status Graphite black nylon tapewound strings.

Tones with D.I. Set to Pre-EQ

Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 – Woody, Upright Sound for Jazz – D.I. w/Pre-EQ Signal
Distance from Speaker Left = D.I. ... Right = Dynamic Mic Left = D.I. ... Right = Condenser Mic
3"
6"
12"
18"


Tones with D.I. Set to Post-EQ

Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 – Woody, Upright Sound for Jazz – D.I. w/Post-EQ Signal
Distance from Speaker Left = D.I. ... Right = Dynamic Mic Left = D.I. ... Right = Condenser Mic
3"
6"
12"
18"


Video Demonstration of EQing the Shuttle 6.0

Length: 9:48

  1. 0:00 Introduction
  2. 1:00 Tube Preamp
  3. 3:21 Active Equalization
  4. 5:45 Signal Shape



Technical details for EQing the Shuttle 6.0 are in the manual, pp. 2-3.

How the Recordings Were Made

Microphones

Sennheiser MD 421 II dynamic microphone (left) and AKG Perception 400 large diaphragm condenser microphone (right)
Sennheiser MD 421 II dynamic microphone (left) and AKG Perception 400 large diaphragm condenser microphone (right)

The sound samples above used a Sennheiser MD 421 II dynamic microphone and an AKG Perception 400 large diaphragm condenser microphone. The AKG pick-up pattern was set to cardioid and the preattenuation pad was switched on. Mics were placed at an off-axis angle to the cabinet grill. For detailed information on mic'ing a bass speaker cabinet, see How to Mic a Bass Speaker Cabinet.

Recording Gear

Signals from each microphone was routed through an ART TubeMP pre-amplifier, which also provided phantom power to the condenser microphone. D.I. and mic’d signals then routed through a dbx266XL Compressor/Gate, which applied compression to both channels at a 3:1 ratio and automatic gain reduction. Signals then routed through a Mackie 808S mixer (no EQ applied) and into a Marantz Superscope CD Recording System PSD300.
Mic'ing output from the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 on a NEOX-112T cabinet
Mic'ing output from the Genz Benz Shuttle 6.0 on a NEOX-112T cabinet
Recorded format was in stereo WAV files. Sound volumes were amplified as needed in the signal chain as D.I. was changed from pre-to-post and as mic distances changed. Amps settings remained the same for all recordings.

Sound File Output Processing

The recorded CD was ripped to a laptop computer. Declipping and auto-amplification for volume normalization was applied to the stereo sound files with Audacity sound processing software. After export to new WAV files, Power MP3 WMA Converter software converted the format to MP3 with Very High Quality, 192kbps Variety Bitrate Encoding. Sound files were then uploaded to WikiMusician.



Contributors to this page


DaveB

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