 |
|
|
"Absolutely the best. Accept no compromise!" - Danny Thompson
|
|
|
Raven Labs | Press & Reviews
|
|
| Bassist Magazine Review Workshop - Raven Labs Professional Master Blender By Steve Lawson • from the January 2000 issue of Bassist Magazine |
|
|
|
|
| "Dear Steve", Writes Paul Simons (and that’s Gadget Guru to you, sonny!) "I recently bought a no-name P-bass copy in Cash Converters for £150. It sounds great and has the added bonus of someone having attached a piezo pickup to the bridge. Only problem is, the piezo has a separate output, in the form of a jack socket on the end of a short lead. I’ve tried plugging both outputs into the two sockets on the front of my amp but the levels are all over the place and I can’t EQ them separately, which means the piezo sounds a bit tinny. Aside from running two rigs, what can I do to run two signals?" Why wouldn’t you want two rigs?? Seriously, though cost and space are obviously major factors, using two amps for a set up like yours gives you some amazing sound possibilities. There are lots of basses that are designed specifically to allow you to process the two pickups separately, most noticeably the various stereo Rickenbackers and Alembics. With those you get the option of running in stereo or combining the signals for mono, so you can use one amp or two depending on your situation. The reason it works so well is the huge difference in tone that you get from either magnetic pickups compared to piezos, or just from bridge pickup to neck pickup - run the neck pickup into a big boomy bass cab for bottom end and the bridge pickup or piezo into a guitar cab EQ-ed for lots of top end and distorted like mad - time to sack the now redundant guitarist! However, from the tone of your letter, I’m guessing that you don’t want to run two amps, so the best option is a preamp that allows you to blend the two signals into one output. A few months ago we reviewed a couple of amazing boxes from Raven Labs - the PHA-1 headphone amp/preamp and the MDB-1 mixer DI. Well, Raven Labs have now combined the two (sort of) into the Master Blender, a two channel preamp that’s just begging for the Gadget Guru treatment, so here goes… What is It? |
|
 |
|
| What does it do? It eliminates the need for two separate amps, and facilitates EQ-ing both signals separately before combining them or sending them to separate power amps or channels on studio desk. It’s perfect for any instrument with two outputs, be it a stereo electric bass, a double bass with a mic and a pickup, or a Chapman Stick. Where can I hear one? Er, you can’t specifically, but the sound of two separate channels of bass, recorded and EQed separately is all over the place. Double bass genius, Danny Thompson has recently taken delivery of a Master Blender and is experimenting with it on tour with Richard Thompson - for double bass, the option to blend pickup and mic signals as well as the presence of a phase shift on each channel to help eliminate feedback is a God-send. What should I be wary of? Not much - the versatility of the unit is amazing, allowing you to route the sound in loads of different ways, taking either two mono signals or a stereo lead and then sending a signal to either a combined jack output, XLR out or individual channel outputs. The Master Blender also allows for an overall effects loop or individual ones for each channel. And it runs on batteries or a mains supply! What can I get one and what size dent will it make on my wallet? The Master Blender ain’t cheap - £239 - but compared to buying a new rig it’s not bad at all and it’s quiet enough for studio use. Raven Labs gear is beginning to pick up quite a reputation so expect to see these in just about every music shop in the very near future. |
|
|
|
|
|
© 1998-2004 Raven Labs
|
|