WP-100 Eden Navigator Bass Preamp - Review
jim karl
Navigator, Read on.
I just got my new Eden Navigator preamp this past week and used it on my
first gig. To give you some background I was using a American Fender
Jazz Deluxe with active eq, Crest LA 901 power amp, Ampeg SVP Pro
Preamp, and an Eden 4x10XLT, and a Korg 30B floor multi effects unit).
I also upgraded my power amp to a Crown PowerBase 2 (got a good deal
since they were being discountinued)
The Navigator arrived, $645 to my door (purchased from Bass Central -
Thanks Beaver!)
I plugged it in and immeadiately noticed a high pitched "microphonic"
sound - especcially when tapping the front panel - Bad tube, my years of
experience tell me. I contacted Bass Central - They gave my a 800 # and
contact at Eden. Talked right with the tech guy, he agreed it sounded
like the tube and next day'd me one out. No charge, no proof of purchase
- Very professional, courteous, and responsive they are (Eden - Thanks
Matt) Still, one has to wonder how a bad tube passed through quality
control. (I realize there are lot's of microphonic tubes out there, but
my point is you would think that would have been noticed at the checkout
point....) Anyway, new tube arrived. It was a Sovtek 12ax7. I guess I
was a little disappointed as I expected a high end unit like this to
have a lower noise tube - like a true 7025 - Especially for the price of
the unit. I had to unscrew 20+ screws (I had the rack mount ears on as
well) to open the case up. Thanks god for the power screwdriver! I would
have had a seperate lid for the top, as opposed to an integrated
lid/side top. Tube was simple to replace at that point, however the top
screws are very short & tiny, cheaper metal, and I ended up stripping a
few (Warning- Don't use a power screw driver for the top screws!!!) One
got stripped to the point that I can no longer remove it from the lid
and case - The case lid is permantly attached now until I can drill it
out. No too happy about having a brand new preamp that needs a screw
drilled out to ever open it again. (I wonder I that voids my warrenty?)
Anyway, I put it all back together and I'm back in business.
First gig test - One of my goals was to back off the foor pedal for
using eq, compression, etc, and just use it for chorus, flange, octave
type effects - And let this preamp do it's job with the eq.
At first, I thought it was a bit noisey, but that was because my first
reaction was to turn up all the para boosts (5 of them) to 4 or 5
o'clock - Like with most amps/preamps. On my Ampeg SVP you had to put
the bass on 10 to get any real bass, and the highs were always set to 3
or 4 oclock. I think part of this noise is due to the tube. I strongly
recommend that change to a cleaner 7025. It couldn't add much more than
$10-$20 to the cost. I may replace this myself in the future
Back to EQ - I quickly realized that the navigator sounded great with NO
EQ AT ALL. It sounds good with everything flat (12:00) but I'm a nut for
Para eq- The Para is VERY powerfull - More so than any preamp I've used.
Boost settings at 1:00 or 2:00 (max) was all I needed (with the
appropriate freqs picked out for each control) to cut through, and
punch, clarity, sizzle and Ooommmph! The way I had it setup, it was
quite literally one knob for each of the above. I believe you could make
most any bass, even the cheapest, sound good with this thing! Even if
you never cut/boosted - It will sound good.
I loved the front panel DI out control - This gave the flexibility to
kill the sends to the PA, while I adjusted my onstage sound, then kill
my onstage (with the main control) to hear what was happening in the PA,
before starting the gig. Most of my previous preamps (that had a DI
level control, had them on the back - hard to get to and often out of
reach in my rack. The Navigator had lots of outs, sends, returns, and
ground lifts on the back, but with my rig I just used the left main out
straight to my amp (plus the Direct Recording out to the mains.)
Compression was very nice with threshold and ratio controls - I had it
setup for slapping.
Enhance control enhanced lows and highs (or scooped out the mids?)
Worked great for an instant (and switchable) tone change.
Both were controllable from a footswitch with a mute and turbo as well.
Footswitch uses standard midi cable to control - Though was a bit short
for my stage layout tastes.
Tube/drive control didn't seem to have any effect for me, but I play an
extremely clean style. It's really geared for use when overdriving the
preamp inputs. I'm sure it would have more effect for those trying to
get overdrive tones.
There also is a limiter for 1.4 or 2.8 volt outputs, but the switch is
internal. I don't know why they didn't just push it through the front or
back panel to make it easier to change. (I'll have to get my drill out
if I need to change it, because of that stupid stripped screw...)
Bottom line - I love it. Before, I had an ok sound, but I think I was
always over eq'd to get it- Always using the eq on the bass, eq on the
pedal board, and on the preamp - Why? mostly because the SVP preamp
didn't have the tonal control I was looking for with my current
cabinet/bass combination. Always sounded good when I played my Rick
through it, but the Jazz never matched it very well.
Now, I don't use the bass eq (except for solos and such), the pedal
board is cleaner and only used for spontaneous effects, and the preamp
sounds wonderfull!
My Ratings:
Quality/Construction: 6
Pros: Excellent interior and electronics layout. Solid.
Cons: The bad tube makes me wonder what's happening in quality control.
And the small top screws that strip too easily makes for a one time
enclosure surgey. Limiter control is not acessible from the front or
back panel. Rack ears have to be removed to open case.
Sound: 9
Pros: Best sounding preamp I have ever played through - Ever. Smooth
compressor, and very useful enhance control.
Cons: Hiss at higher eq boosts (which you probably will never need to
use with this preamp, but if you do you might want to put a lower noise
7025 tube in)
Features: 10
Pros: Accounts for every possible connections/ins/outs on the back.
Various ground lifts are a nice touch. Some might find the tube
character control usefull. Mute/Enhance/Compresor/Boost
activate/bypasses available from footswitch as well as front panel. Lots
of leds to look cool and provide functional feedback as well.
Cons: Midi cable for footswitch could be longer.
Customer Support: 10
Pros: Very responsive on the phone. Eden also responded to several pre
sales questions both fuinctional and technical on the web trough email.
Cons: None
Price: 7
Pros: Lots of features for $$$
Cons: Not the lowest cost preamp on the market, and you can easily spend
more ( alot more) than I did if you don't shop around for prices. Be a
thrifty consumer and shop around!
Overall: 8.4 A GREAT sounding, flexible preamp. I highly recommend it
if you're looking to step up from lower cost/end models. I assume my
quality issues (tube and screws) were mostly a one-of issue for me and
won't be as bad for you.
Jim Karl
Mutual Fun
jim...@erols.com
Peter Duncan
When I got home from the store, I found that the right driver in the
cabinet was blown. Had to drive back to the store to pick up another
cabinet.
Once that was all done though, my rig has the phattest sound. I have
been looking for this sound for years. As many have mentioned, the amp
sounds good with EQ flat. I am playing a Zon Sonus V, and I just love
the sound especially for slapping. My band members even noticed how much
more pronounced my tone was, and the Eden equipment I have handles my
low B really well.
I play at the Bitter End in NYC regularly (tough gig to get!!) and all
my controls were exactly at 12:00, including gain, and master. I like
the portability of the WT400 also, as it is about the size of a VCR,
maybe smaller, and has it's own laptop computer style carrying case.
Anyone out there thinking of a bass amp system, I strongly urge you to
save the extra bucks and get an Eden system.
Peter D.
--
"Own your life."
Check out my band's website!
http://www.jdband.com