That Quiet Stretch of Summer

No gigs per se.  I've had time to make some changes in my equipment.  Perhaps in a somewhat planned yet spontaneous move, I traded in my beloved Eden WTB-1000 amp head for a Gallien-Krueger Fusion 550.  Yes, a completely different sounding amp.  I think I will like it a lot.  As I have recently learned, the Fusion 550 has actually been readily available for more than 4 years now.  For some reason, for just as long, there has been talk about the Fusion 1050, a similar model that boasts twice the wattage, a la the 2001 as compared with the 1001 solid-state workhorses.  The 1050 still has yet to materialize.  The 550 has a 3-12AX7 tube preamp and the ability to switch between 2 stored settings of preamp gain, eq, and output level.  The knobs are motorized, so that they move when the channel is switched.  A novelty, but it's kinda cool.  That could help a lot with my use of electric upright or the Ashbory, which both differ wildly from the levels of most all of my other basses.  The bottom line, to coin a phrase, was that I really was in need of more headroom, as my Eden was always on the verge of clipping.

I went over to my friend Charles Mishalany's house yesterday and with his assistance, we held an impromptu shootout in his garage.  He has a GK MB Fusion, a small lightweight yet very powerful amp.  He also has an Aguilara Tone Hammer 500.  I could really hear a difference with the Tone Hammer; less scooped and not as bright.  That's what Charley really likes.  He claims that it is an easy amp to dial in your sound on the gig.  Some amps need more tweaking, and then you end up sacrificing an important element, such as low mids or clarity.  I think I honestly do prefer the GK sound, although the MB Fusion and the Fusion 550 would be hard to tell apart on a blindfold test.  So that leaves me with a heavy head in a 4-space rack, toting around my 25 + pounds of power, versus tucking a 5 pound unit in my gig bag.  These are the choices I'm making this week.  My main concern is reliability.  I did my best to research it and could not find any unhappy GK customers with 550's going out during a gig.  The vents in the front and back with the temperature-controlled cooling fan make me happy.  I had read that the MB fan can get a bit loud, as it must always be on.  I believe that small amps, similar to my experience with small LCD projectors back in my A/V days, have a problem with heat.  That's probably not a correct assumption these days.  Many strides have been met in class-D amplifier design.

Charley is a great player and a good friend to have.  He's always willing to share some wisdom and it's nice to be able to talk about the gear with a comrad.  I even bought his 4-space SBK rack from him and he threw in a new package of rack nuts (rack nuts? that sounds painful!) and screws.

Charley and me outside his woodsy estate in East Cobb

Let the shootout begin!

Charley's GK MB Fusion atop his Bergantino 410 cabient

My new GK Fusion 550 atop my SWR golight 1x15

Charley's new Aguilar Tone Hammer 500

And one more thing: we went out to Woodstock's Hot Wheels to go roller skating on Saturday night.  It was tough, but I manged to stay up better than I had in the past.  Not very impressive; had to keep to the small area in the middle of the floor.  Baby steps.  I hope the boys can learn;  it's like riding a bike and it's a good skill to have.  Sabina was showing off for all of us.

I only fell twice...