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Post by morrow on Sept 19, 2022 16:00:17 GMT -5
Always been curious about Darkglass and one popped up for local sale. An Exponent 500 , this is a fairly new addition to the Darkglass line , I really didn’t know much about them when I bought it. It’s quite an amp! Relatively clean , transparent base and you can use a software program to load in an array of pedals and effects , it’s really quite amazing! Despite being an old stuck in my ways geezer I’m enjoying the learning curve on this.You can instantly toggle from a nice thumpy rich warm tube sound to the most aggressive metal sound imaginable. You can load any five presets at a time. And store many more. The versatility is mind bogglin. Just using it at home at a fairly low volume. I’m about ankle deep into the software at this point , this is going to be fun!  |
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Post by LTB on Sept 23, 2022 23:05:34 GMT -5
Morrow, that sounds really nice! Is it rated 500 watts RMS as the name implies? I like Clean transparent tone.
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Post by Taildragger on Sept 24, 2022 13:58:44 GMT -5
Hope they did a better job with the "effects" software than TC Electronics did with a similar feature of their bass combo amps a few years back. I bought a BG-250 and never could get the effects to work even after wasting significant time both online (at their website) and talking to a live person on the phone. It would be charitable to call their customer service "helpful" or anything better than "indifferent". "Hey, we already have your money, so how could there be a problem?"
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Post by hushnel on Sept 25, 2022 18:36:01 GMT -5
Quite a while back I purchased the Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0. I have a variety of speakers cabs for various venues, It’s all I use now. Other than my Fender Rumble 40 I practice with.
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Post by morrow on Sept 26, 2022 12:12:55 GMT -5
Morrow, that sounds really nice! Is it rated 500 watts RMS as the name implies? I like Clean transparent tone. I’ve only used it at fairly low volume and just plan to use it at home as I’m happy with the gig rig. There are a nice selection of factory presets that include a nice warm tubey one , but you start any preset build with a clean slate, and a nice preamp selection . So you can leave the amp transparent , or colour it any way you wish. It’s really about programming exactly what you want to hear , and you have a lot of effects at hand. I’m only knee deep in the software but can easily create, load , and save custom presets. It’s pretty intuitive. And it’s easy to further tweak anything you’ve saved. So this is mostly aimed at pedalheads , I suppose. I wound up with a little pedal board after getting a Bass VI , I may decide to sell the pedals , or might hang on to them , we’ll see. And in the meantime I’m having too much fun with this little rig! Bluetooth connection , using a tablet to use the Suite , gotta say it’s neat controlling the amp from a tablet. |
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Post by morrow on Sept 26, 2022 12:41:02 GMT -5
Quite a while back I purchased the Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0. I have a variety of speakers cabs for various venues, It’s all I use now. Other than my Fender Rumble 40 I practice with. And Andy Field still services Shuttles , I sent my old Streamliner off for a visit to the spa when I heard he was still servicing GenzBenz amps. And it’s like a brand new amp ! And it’s reassuring to know somebody that believes in the legacy of their earlier designs. And incredible to have it serviced by the guy that actually designed it! I snagged an older SWR Headlite amp a while ago , and although everything is perfect , and the amp sounds great , there are some parts that are no longer made and future service could be a question. Somehow I seem to keep acquiring yet another amp. I seemed to have stopped buying basses though … |
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Post by hushnel on Sept 26, 2022 14:48:15 GMT -5
Quite a while back I purchased the Genz Benz Shuttle 9.0. I have a variety of speakers cabs for various venues, It’s all I use now. Other than my Fender Rumble 40 I practice with. I seemed to have stopped buying basses though … Same here. I’m covered. The old 1980 P-Sepecial, Guild Starfire, and the “Cuban” fretless I made from a solid block of Cuban Mahogany with an ebony fingerboard, cover everything. I have two acoustic as well, an older early 1980 Guild B50 fretless and a Ibanez PNB14EOPN shorter scale bass that actually sounds OK and an acoustic volume that mixes well with a couple acoustic dreads. We have a huge musical instrument flea market a couple times a year at Renningers Flea and Farmers Market in Melbourn FL. I’m considering packing up all the stuff I really don’t need and sell off most of the other stuff. Thanks to the Cordoba C9 parlor I really dont need any of my six stringed instruments, I’ve got six or so and most of them are very nice including two mahogany Martins, and 1999 Tele. I have a desire to own an unaffordable classical guitar, way above my pay grade. My hands have taken so much of a beating in my life, including crushing my left hand and told I’d never play again, the classical I can play all day without fatigue, not so much with the steel stings, other than the Tele. |
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Post by morrow on Oct 12, 2022 8:25:30 GMT -5
Well , I’ve been playing this for almost a month now . And I really enjoy it. I’ve become comfortable with the Darkglass Suite software , and can quickly come up with a preset I like and save for future use.
I wish the Suite had a tremolo though. Perhaps on the next update.
This amp can literally sound like anything if you’re willing to sit down and dial it in.
I have not taken the amp out to gig , I’m pretty sure I’ll just use this for spinning the dials at home. On the gig I simply dial in what I like , and leave it alone. Set and forget. I don’t use pedals on a gig.
But to be goofing around at home , it’s an absolutely amazing little rig. You can quickly retrieve presets you’ve stored.
Some organizational skills are required. You can only load five at a time. But I’m loving this amp. It’s a completely different game.
Serious fun!
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