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Alembic Club » Alembic Basses & Guitars » Archive through October 17, 2015 » Anyone use SF-2 with an Eden WT800C...need help « Previous Next »

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bassman8416
Advanced Member
Username: bassman8416

Post Number: 206
Registered: 5-2012
Posted on Sunday, August 09, 2015 - 8:49 pm:   Edit Post

Hi, I have been experimenting with this set up. Sounds great at home and then on the gig, as one would imagine things change....in a major way. I was trying some of the suggested settings in the owner's, particularly the band pass one that says Wall Shaking Lows with definition. I do get clipping on the Eden amp, yes with earth shaking lows, but he mid and highs are not good, lacking nice tonality. Wondered is anyone else uses the SF-2 with an Eden head and if so can you suggest a good starting point, setting wise? Going for the Phil Lesh vibe.

(Message edited by Bassman8416 on August 09, 2015)
bassman8416
Advanced Member
Username: bassman8416

Post Number: 207
Registered: 5-2012
Posted on Sunday, August 09, 2015 - 10:43 pm:   Edit Post

I just tried running the Sf-2 through the Eden pre effects loop and I am having much better luck, no clipping. Still open to some setting ideas....I guess its part of getting to know your sf-2...
harald_rost
Advanced Member
Username: harald_rost

Post Number: 243
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Monday, August 10, 2015 - 4:51 am:   Edit Post

Don't have a SF-2 but I'm using a F-2B with my WT-800. First I used the FB-2 as preamp and the WT-800 as power amp, without its preamp section first. But then I went from the F-2B mono output into the input of the WT-800 to use the parametric eq's from the amp additional. I had no problems but you have to be very carefully with the gain control at the WT-800. There is an input switch where you get -12dB which I found very useful for this setup. The gain control has to be setup according to the output signal of the F-2B which might be the same for the use of a SF-2. When you change the output you have to adjust the gain again. This is a sensitive play of balance in my experiment and needs some time. But all in all this setup gives you huge sound control. I love it for using my Series 1 and my Chapman Stick

Harald
hieronymous
Senior Member
Username: hieronymous

Post Number: 1557
Registered: 1-2005
Posted on Monday, August 10, 2015 - 9:30 pm:   Edit Post

My advice would be to get familiar with the input gain & direct volume controls. Assuming you want to build on your basic sound, make sure that that is working first. Then you can dial in some deep bottom end with one of the filters set to bandpass.

If you are using it with a non-Alembic, you could use the other filter as low-pass and - Alembicize it!
jazzyvee
Senior Member
Username: jazzyvee

Post Number: 4614
Registered: 6-2002
Posted on Tuesday, August 11, 2015 - 2:26 am:   Edit Post

I think Rusty used to have a setup with an Eden and SF-2, he might chip in when he gets to this thread
rustyg61
Senior Member
Username: rustyg61

Post Number: 1745
Registered: 2-2011
Posted on Saturday, October 17, 2015 - 10:28 pm:   Edit Post

Sorry I'm late to the party here, I haven't been on the forum in a while. Jazzyvee is right, I did used to have a WT 800 & used my SF-2 with it. I tied the SF-2 in through the effects loop. The WT 800 has a pre & post EQ effects loop, I used the pre EQ loop because I didn't want the signal going to the SF-2 to be colored by the Eden EQ. I started off with the direct gain on the SF-2 wide open & the filter gain off, then used the Eden EQ to get the best sound I could. After that I used the SF-2 to enhance the sound. The signal path was pre out from the Eden to channel A in on the SF-2, then channel B out from the SF-2 to power amp in on the Eden. I used channel A on the SF-2 in either low pass or band pass & adjusted the frequency to find the sweet spot to give the lows a good punchy sound. Do this with the filter gain around 6 or 7 so you can hear the change when you dial the frequency. Once you find the frequency that your speakers respond to the best, adjust the dampening ratio to make to lows fatter or tighter. Increasing the ratio makes them fatter & decreasing makes them tighter. Using these controls will allow you to get rid of a muddy bottom end & get a tight punchy "kick drum" type attack. I find the band pass setting most effective for that. Low pass will take a thin sound & make it much more full, but band pass will give you more distinct clarity in your notes.

I used the other channel of the SF-2 in high pass to enhance the mids & highs, using the same technique as the low channel, adjusting the frequency to find the part of the tone you want to enhance, then play with the ratio & filter gain to fine tune it. The WT 800 has great EQ controls on it, so I didn't have to add a whole lot with the SF-2, but it made a world of difference on the low end getting the punch I wanted. I played with the suggested settings in the SF-2 manual, but none of them were the tone I was looking for, & with some they caused distortion. I ran the direct gain on both channels at 100%, & the filter gains anywhere from 5 to 8. A cool feature of the SF-2 is the 3 way switches to change from low pass to band pass to high pass. I used to switch the high channel from high pass to band pass to get a nice midrange sound for certain songs without having to make any adjustments on the knobs, then flip it back to high pass for my regular tone. Learn to make small adjustments, especially on the frequency control. It is very easy to go right past the sound you are looking for if you make big adjustments. I usually only turn the frequency on the low channel no more than 1/8th turn or so, & it will make a huge difference from venue to venue finding the sweet spot where the low end is full but distinct & you can make out each note.

I now have a F-2B preamp & traded my WT-800 for a QSC GX7 power amp, but I still have my SF-2 & use it the same way to enhance my sound. The SF-2 is the missing ingredient to anyone's tone! Most of us have heard a killer bass sound before & wished that we could get that sound with our basses, well, with the SF-2 we CAN!

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