Aguilar and Eden

[bassist_25]

I've been using two S series Aguilar 4x10s for the past year and a half. They've done me well and everybody I've come in contact with, from other players to experienced sound engineers, have really dug them. Plus, I'm the only cat around that I know of using Aggie enclosures, and truth be told, it is kind of cool to be different in that regard. The Ags sound great in most rooms I've encountered, my living room NOT being one of them.

On Friday evening, I was messing around, and decided to do a tonal comparison of one of my Ags and my 2x10 Eden. I've never really seriously A/Bed the two cabs. I left all of the EQing the same on my preamp from the last gig I played (I do very little tweaking from room to room) and plugged in the Aggie. In my living room, it sounds very nasally due to an upper-mid bump in the cab's voicing and the finger noise is sometimes unbearable. I could never EQ it all and get a tone that sounded good to my ears. These problems aren't really there in most of the rooms around here, so I've always accepted that the cabs don't sound that great in my living room. Big deal! It's what they sound like on stage that matters, right?

Next, I plugged in the Eden. I didn't touch anything on my preamp. Right off the bat, all of that finger noise that was driving me nuts with the Aguilar was gone. Don't get me wrong though - The Eden still packed all of the highs that the Aguilar did, but they were much smoother and refined. The Eden overall is a more polite cabinet with the Aguilar clearly being the more aggressive cab, maybe because the Ag has a horn and the Eden instead has a coaxial driver. It reminded me of a Fender Bassman amp I tried out at Music Emporium one time when the Deathmaster let me try out a Schecter. The Eden has a very round, but still tight, bottom with round highs that aren't in the least bit harsh. Where as the Ag has a high-mid voicing, the 2x10 has that signature Eden low-mid bump. One thing was for sure: If I had no experience with either cab out on a gig, I would have voted for the Eden, hands down.

I remember on my birthday last year, I went and sat in with the Hurricanes. Now, I've played through Jeff's Eden before and always really dug it, but this is the first time I played through it with my bass. It killed, and this was in Burgi's, a notoriously bass-unfriendly room! Now, I've always been of the philosophy that if someone's too busy worrying about trying out boutique amp B because they're not totally enamored with boutique amp A, then they're priorities are screwed up and they should be worrying about other more important things, like playing their damn instrument! I would never get rid of the Aguilars, because I still really like them, but I'm wondering if I am an Eden guy. Now, some people say that the most important thing is a musician's skill, and I don't totally agree nor disagree with that. In my experience, it's an interaction. That's why one guy uses a Fender Twin Reverb to help him communicate musically and another guys uses a VHT. For me, I always felt like I was communicating better through Eden equipment. For example, I like highs. I like horns. I like 1.5khz. I don't like finger noise. Edens seem to have the ability to reproduce highs without introducing lots of finger noise.

Well, I've rambled on enough in this post and I probably sound like a lunatic now. LOL I guess my point is that I've come to the conclusion of what I've been saying for years: I like Eden. Eden's where it's at for me in terms of bass rigs, at least as far as cabinets go. For a while, cabinets were the least important thing to me (though I still wanted quality ones), because we almost always had front of house support. Lately though, we've taken on three rooms where we use a vocal PA and that backline is what's communiating all of the music.

Anyways, I know we have some Edenites on the forum. What are your experiences with the equipment?

[slink]

I heard Jeff play at Burgi's, he had an Eden head and cab and was getting a great sound. Its hard to describe sounds but it was a round and warm sound if that makes any sense. Excellent player BTW.

So, you know what the Eden rig sounds like, I think you need to get someone of comprable skills as yourself to set in a couple songs on your rig and bass so you can hear your rig in a live situation. Live sound and living room can be world apart.

If you want to A B your Aguliar with my Epifani's and WT-550 PM me. The Epifani's have a sweet horn.

[bassist_25]

Jim,

I really liked the Epifani when we were testing out all of the cabinets in your garage. It definitely had the sweetest high-end. Again, I find that when you get to that level of cab, the differences are very subtle, especially when considering the hifi, flat response type of cabs (e.g., EBS, Sadowsky, Bergentino). Still, those differences may be what makes a player choose one piece of gear over another. I also have to keep in mind, these Aguilars are the discontinued S series cabs. They're not GSs or DBs, which would be comparable to Eden's XLT and XST lines. The S series are pro-level, but they're still mid-level in terms of quality.

I agree about A/Bing the rigs in a live gigging environment. Now that I think about it, every Eden rig I've ever played through has been with an Eden head. I don't plan on switching out the components in my rack anytime soon, so I wonder what an Eden cab would soud like with my pre and power amp. Hmm... Well, I won't be running out tomorrow and buying a new cab, so I have some time to investigate. In the mean time, I may get that 2x10 that you sold me, Jim, to work in some live situations yet.

[orangekick]

I had an Eden rig for some time. I had a WT800 with a 2x10 and a 2x15 cab. It sounded great everywhere and the only reason that I got rid of it was that the rig didn't seem to like the volume that we ran at the time. The head was always clipping and a few times I lit up the surrounds on the 2x15 cab. I sold that rig and got an Aguilar DB750 and a GS 4x10. I have never heard a better bass tone for my preferences. Perhaps there's something inherently not right with the GS cabs. Do you know if the speakers are different from the GS series?

[bassist_25]

Thanks for the insight, Orangekick! That's strange though that the Eden seemed underpowered. Their cabs are super efficient and the WT800 has tons of power.

Actually, yeah the S series cabs have different drivers than the GS series, though both lines use the same horn and x-over. The S series uses proprietary speakers that were built by Emminence specifically for those cabinets. I'm not really sure about the DB line. I would love to try out a DB750 though, which is like the tube amp for people who still want a SS power section! Again, the cabs are good sounding, but my ears are definitely liking Eden stuff a little more when they hear it.

[orangekick]

Yeah, I have no idea what was up with that Eden rig. I may have just gotten a bad one. I just know that at the time I couldn't wait around to have it checked out, so I just sold it to someone who loved it. No worries there.

The DB 750 really did have a tube-like sound. It was one of the biggest, warmest sounding amps that I've ever played through. It had a great attack too. I recently tried the 2 channel AG 500 head and I have to say that I was floored by it. It's similar to the DB 750, but it's about a fourth the weight. I now must have one.

[bassist_25]

I've been anxiously awaiting the release of the Agro, which is going to just be the "dirty" channel of the AG500. I've been wanting to add a Sansamp RBI to my rig for the occasions that I could use some overdrive in my sound, but I'm thinking that the Agro is the way to go.

[TJ Kelly]

Paul, as you know I've had Eden gear for a few years now and I'm definitely sold on it's sound and reliability. Case in point, we played at Blair County Ballpark a couple of weeks ago and my amp took a major power surge. It melted a power strip in our effects rack and my amp was smoking from the back. It still worked but had a distored lowend. Turns out it was just a couple of chips and transistors and now sounds better then ever.

I've had a WT400, WT500, WT600 and 2 WT800s and they all sounded great. Real out of the box plug and play amps. I use a XST 410 which is a bit more hi-fi sounding than the XLT and for big rooms I'll add an Eden D115.

Good Stuff!

PS: while my Eden was being repaired I used a Hartke 3500 and it sounded pretty good as well. It helped that I was using my Sadowsky!

[bassist_25]

Damn Tim, you have a Sadowsky now? I think the next logical step in your quest for boutique bass greatness should be a Fodera.

I think if I go with an Eden cab set up, the coolest thing would be to run an XLT 410 and an XST 410. Of course, that would only be for the biggest rooms, as I imagine with the power handling and efficiency of as Eden's enclosures, one cab would handle most rooms that I'd be in, especially since we don't run insane stage volumes.

If I want to go with an Eden head, which I've also thought about, I probably would go for a Navigator. I already have a QSC power amp with plenty of juice, so the WT100 would be an excellent solution.

[slink]

Well Paul, Eden is my favorite flavor and the rig your talkin about is the best Eden has to offer. This will be a great sounding rig!!!

[BassFinger]

Damn Tim, you have a Sadowsky now? I think the next logical step in your quest for boutique bass greatness should be a Fodera.

Oh....don't give him any ideas!! Anyways, I think he should get a Ritter.

Damn!! After I read this I realize I play through a 'crap' bass rig. I need to make some investments.

[metalchurch]

Don't feel bad, I'm just trying to keep up with these brands and the abbreviations of them. I was reading, and it looked like this:

S-Series Aguilar Eden Aggie Ags Edenites DeathMaster Epifanis WT550 EBS Sadowsky Bergentino GS's DB's XLT XST WT800 Aguilar DB750 Finger Noise GS 4-10 SS PowerSection AG500 Sansamp RBI QSC A/Bing etc...

I know what a QSC, and a Deathmaster is, but the rest I'm lost on.
Sounds like some good stuff. I'll have to look this stuff up.
I needed a mediator or translator to read those, but cool none the less.
Even if I don't understand it, I still like to read Gear talk.

[bassist_25]

Don't feel bad, I'm just trying to keep up with these brands and the abbreviations of them. I was reading, and it looked like this:

S-Series Aguilar Eden Aggie Ags Edenites DeathMaster Epifanis WT550 EBS Sadowsky Bergentino GS's DB's XLT XST WT800 Aguilar DB750 Finger Noise GS 4-10 SS PowerSection AG500 Sansamp RBI QSC A/Bing etc...

Hey Joe, here's a glossary of terms.

Aguilar - Bass amplifier and cabinet manufacturer based out of New York. Their stuff generally has an old school warmth-meets-hifi cleaness to them.

S Series - Now discontinued rear-ported cabinet line put out by Aguilar. Included a 2x10, 4x10, and 8x10.

Eden - High-end amp and cabinet manufacturer. Easily spotted by their heads being a gold color and their cabinets having gold horns.

Aggie - Another way to refer to Aguilar.

Ags - Another way to refer to Aguilar.

Edenites - Loyal Eden users.

DeathMaster - Music Emporium's resident bass dude. Also known as Deathmaster Funk Jae.

Epifani - Another boutique amp company, comparable to Aguilar and Eden.

WT550 - Bass head put out by Eden.

EBS - High-end bass amp company from Europe.

Sadowsky - Custom boutique bass guitar and bass amp company. Known for making Precision and Jazz Bass copies that are superior to actual Fenders.

Bergentino - Boutique bass cab company.

GS - Aguilar's standard cabinet line. Includes a 4x10, 4x12, 1x12 (both with and without a horn), 1x15, 2x10, and 2x12.

DB - Aguilar's newest sealed cabinet line. Boxes and grills come in a variety of colors. Includes 4x10, 2x10, 8x10, and 1x12.

XLT - Eden cabinet series.

XST - Eden cabinet series.

WT800 - Eden bass head.

DB750 - Aguilar's flagship head.

Finger noise - The extra sound that shows up in the higher bass frequencies, coming from fingers sliding on and contacting the strings. Good muting technique eliminates a lot of finger noise.

SS Power Section - Solid-state power section, as opposed to a tube power section.

AG500 - Solid state bass head put out by Aguilar. Comes in single and dual-channel models.

Sansamp RBI - Preamp/distortion unit put out be Tech21. It's probably the closest thing that sounds like an Ampeg SVT without actually being an Ampeg SVT. There's a foot pedal version called the Bass Driver.

QSC - Power amp company. Also puts out powered PA speakers.

A/Bing - Comparing two pieces of equipment.

I never really how geeky and abstruse our little bass language is. LOL

[BassFinger]

Actually I'm working on either a Eden WT-400 or Eden Navigator deal. I heard Jim's setup and loved it. Love the Eden sound!

[bassist_25]

Bill, you'll most definitely dig it! I've never heard a bad sounding Eden rig. I think that Eden will work really good with your playing style too. Another thing that I've noticed is a lot of guys using Eden heads with SWR cabinets, and they really seem to dig that setup.

[TJ Kelly]

Actually I'm working on either a Eden WT-400 or Eden Navigator deal. I heard Jim's setup and loved it. Love the Eden sound!

Do it Bill you know you want to!

Seriously the 400 is a kick butt little amp. I'd be happy to bring my rig along some night we're off and let you try it out! I'd need some notice so I can bring it home from the band truck though!

[TJ Kelly]

Bassfinger check this out if your deal falls through:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=351723

Tim