DrScythe Reviews III - Kuassa Cerberus

Intro

You could ask yourself: why even bother with bass amp modeling? Often enough the bass is recorded and mixed as a DI track. Even live some bass player don’t use an amp. So why spend time on creating a versatile piece of software for basses? Then on the other hand there are still a lot of bass amps out there so there are also a lot of people who’d like an amplified bass sound. Like me. And I am so happy that the team of Kuassa decided to create this. I know that giving away the final verdict at the beginning is kind of pointless but I would like to make something clear at the beginning: I bought this and I am just so satisfied with it that I wanted the world to know about it. So here we go…

I decided to do this review with the help of the screenshot so can easily see what I am writing about.

Functionalities

1. I’d call this the ‘management panel’. Input, Input level, Presets, Gate, Quality-Switch – you can see them so I won’t list everything in detail here. I love the option to compare presets and the master CAB-switch. While it works I’d say that the preset window is somewhat clumsy in terms of handling but I don’t know any better examples (or at least none with other flaws) so I’ll let it pass. Personally I tried the Dry-Wet-option once but to be honest: it only makes sense if you really change the sound via Cerberus.

2. Now it’s time for what you could control on the real thing (if it were the pictured rack device). VALVE gives you an extremely rich and fat tone and if you crank up gain it will slowly begin to become something on the border between heavy saturation and overdrive. It will keep an extremely low punch if you don’t cut out the bass via EQ or Cabs what is really great. FET behaves a lot more, well, behaved. It’s clean to hell and back. It can feel a little sterile at times but you have to force that. It’s a lot more flexible if you’re willing to use all the other controls (including those on your bass). DRIVE is self-explanatory. It features a slightly generic sound but it’s usable. Personally I would put TSE B.O.D. in front of VALVE or FET and call it a day. COMPRESS does is job subtlety but effective. You can use it as a nice support up to noon and from there it acts more and more like a ‘drunk bassist’s best friend’. I don’t use CONTOUR myself a lot. It feels like a scoop at the mids which cleans up a little but I prefer shaping my tone with the EQs.

3. What more of an EQ-section do you need? LO effectively controls the bass its working point was chosen very well. The Boost really adds a lot of punch. I wouldn’t use it unless your bass sounds really thin or you want to have fun. But for recording tasks it just blows up the whole bass too much. Maybe if you’re using a pick and a pickup close to the bridge. LO MID and HI MID will help you massively adjusting Cerberus to your liking or manipulating the sound to quite extreme settings, especially when using the FET mode. HI and its boost option can be used for slightly dull basses and I really like to use those when playing with my Epiphone T-Bird Pro. Especially while recording because I can remove too bright sounds quite easily but not recover them from a rendered but dull signal. Excellent work here!

4. To answer the introductory question of No 3: A graphic EQ! I am not particularly fond of those but after I tried a Mesa Mark V I know that they can be really helpful. In this case I have to say: I don’t need it. It works fine but I am happy with what the regular EQ does and so I never switch it on but for reviewing purposes. If you want to know something specific about it you might want to check it out yourself as you can download Cerberus from kuassa.com

5. CAB and MIC selection and a MIX bar. I like most of the included cabs and mics although I mainly use the 8x10 one (which most probably is a SVT-cab-simulation). This section is quite unspectacular but functional so…that’s it. Better to hear some stuff later on.

6. The mics can be positioned freely although one can hear the changes quite intensely. So I think it would’ve been better to just offer 3 or 4 distances and the two angles. Maybe a choice between cone and cap but that’s all you need. But it feels and looks nice. So no complaints here ;)

7. If you don’t like the included cabs you can load yours here. There’s also a Limiter and a Master Output Level. They all work perfectly fine. There’s not much to say about here because I don’t know which IRs you would want to use and I only checked the function once.

Sound

So now over to some samples. I used my father’s 1974 Framus S-380 (Jazz Bass) and my own C-tuned Epiphone T-Bird Pro. Settings were as shown.

First the pure DIs

Preset01



Preset02

Preset03

Preset04

Preset05

Preset06

Preset07

Preset08

Link: http://www.kuassa.com/products/cerberus-bass-amplifikation/

Conclusion

I love it. Do I need to say more? It’s really fantastic. VALVE, slight compression, Contour off, EQ adjusted to T-Bird or Framus, 8x10, done. Pure fat and warm growl.

Overview

Pro	Neutral	Con
Sounds (!!!)	Preset management	Nothing
Ease of use	Drive a little boring
Lots of options Looks Available as Standalone Price and value

PS: I used it on every DrScythe-song since 'Destiny':

DrScythe Reviews II - D'Angelico EX-SS black'n'gold

Premise

If you haven’t read my review of the D’Angelico EX-SD you might wonder how I got this beautiful guitar. Well, first of all I don’t own it. It was lend to me by FACE - the European distributor for D’Angelico guitars – after my third place was sort of a runner-up in the endorser search over at Germany’s largest musicians community musiker-board.de. When applying for the game you had to name the guitar you’d wish to play in case you win and I instantly loved the EX-SS most. My favorite color was the transparent grey with black hardware. But the classic black’n’gold look of the instrument they send me is a classic for a reason: it looks great…

Links to the endorser search and the German review:

http://www.musiker-board.de/threads/dangelico-musiker-board-endorser-gesucht.625092/

http://www.musiker-board.de/threads/gitarre-dangelico-ex-sd-cherryburst.638069/

First impressions

Well I had to play Matrjoschka first. Giant box -> guitar box -> guitar case. And there she is. What a beauty. Just lying there elegantly. And there are other types of ‘existing’ in a guitar case for a guitar. I remember my Mockingbird hanging sloppily in her rectangular case. And even the Dean Soltero in its matching case didn’t look so well when being ‘parked’. Even the EX-SS’ little sister the EX-SD lacks this elegance…

I can’t resist no longer and get her out. The neck feels a little weird at first if you expect a pronounced C-shape. It’s a little flattened and actually feels really great. It appears to be slightly wider than usual necks but I didn’t measure (and to be honest: I care about how it feels – not its measurements).

Checking the tuning, strumming an E chord – fantastic! The typical boxy sound of a thinner semi-body but it comes with way more attack and sustain and in general louder than I expected. And way more acoustic touch to it too. The Semi-Hollows I own(ed) so far are/were way quieter and had less attack. This mystery is easily solved when looking at the construction details later. But for now the

Info and built quality

http://dangelicoguitars.com/guitars/standard-series/ex-ss/#DAEXSSBLK

Body - 1.75" Semi-Hollow

Body Shape - Single Cutaway

Top Material -Laminated Flame Maple

Back Material - Laminated Flame Maple

Size - 15"

Pickup - 2 Kent Armstrong Humbuckers

Binding - 5 Ply

Pickguard - Stairstep

Bridge - Tune-O-Matic

Tailpiece - D'Angelico Stairstep

Controls - 2 Volume / 2 Tone / 3 Way Toggle

Tuners - Grover Super Rotomatic

Nut - 1 11/16"

Neck Material - Hard Maple 2-Piece Walnut Center

Scale - 25"

Fretboard Material - Rosewood

Inlay - Mother of Pearl

Output Jack - Switchcraft USA

Case - Deluxe Hard Case

Truss Rod Cover - D'Angelico Stairstep

The overall design is very harmonious. Compared to what’s called ‘Art Deco’ elsewhere the elements (trussrodcover, pickguard, tailpiece, knobs, and tuners) used here are also designed in this style and adding up to the point that I must say: this guitar would look great in the Orient-Express (and I might add that I say that based on a personal experience). 

A very nice detail for lovers of bindings like me: the multiple layers are visible from all sides not just the front. Another point added to the ‘elegance’-list.

Let us now resolve the mystery of the louder sound: there’s not a full sustain block hidden beneath the top but a smaller one just to support the bridge which otherwise couldn’t be mounted with screws. So more sound, less feedback resistance? Nope, it’s just as resistant as my Ibanez AS-53. Both not quite on par with solid body guitars but there are several examples for using hollow bodies (Killing Joke anyone?).

The built quality is excellent. Frets, nut – overall setup is well done. The only thing I would mildly criticize is the lack of strap locks. If you spend 1,5k on a guitar you want it secured don’t you? I install those very cheap (guitar) life savers on all my guitars and they never let me down so far. Back to the good things: the included case. Well made, basic cable, key and tool included. Nice.

Handling

As I already mentioned the neck profile let’s begin there. The flat C should suit anyone who’s not after a pronounced V or an Ibanez-style Wizard neck. Well rounded edges keep it very comfortable even for my short fingers. The whole instrument lies good on the lap and also hangs well balanced on the strap. I guess the larger body works against the pull of the headstock in both positions. The knobs and the toggle feel very good. Just the right amount of resistance. As usual with this type of setup on a larger guitar the knobs for the bridge are slightly more far away than what I would call comfortable and on the way to the bridge volume you’re running into the pickguard. Not too much of a problem for me but there are people who’re using the controls constantly and those might want to check this out before buying if they want to keep the pickguard on there.

Author’s note: I use 13-56 strings for standard tuning so the 10-46 which are used here feel like rubber to me. But as this is not an issue caused by the instrument itself I didn’t want to describe it as a part of the handling

Sound

I already stated that it sounds way more acoustic and louder than my Ibanez AS-53 or other Semi-Hollows I played and owned. The notes quickly ‘bloom’ to their fullest and then split up into overtones and a slowly decreasing base note. The Kent Armstrong pickups translate this very well balanced sound perfectly. Just like the EX-SD the bridge pickup seems a little too tame but with modern amplifiers that won’t be a problem in terms of achievable gain and could even help with keeping details like the picking attack when using high gain. Although the pickups suit the guitar very well I’d love to hear the EX-SS with some Bareknuckle Mississippi Queens or other Humbucker-sized P90s.

I wanted to use the guitar in a song right away and during the recording it just got the name ‘Lucy’. It wasn’t a conscious decision it just came to my mind and the damage was done…

Here’s the song:

Conclusion

D’Angelico says that the EX-SS shines ‘when kept clean or boosted with overdrive and is ‘ideal for R&B, jazz, rock and all the nameless places in between’. That’s right. And you can also use high gain for fat leads or metal stuff. It sounds great. Although you couldn’t tell by the looks it’s an incredibly flexible guitar if the amplification of your choice is flexible enough. If you like this guitar you will most probably be able to use it in any context especially since ‘music’ isn’t about using the correct gear but about the musician being inspired and implementing his ideas. And to me ‘Lucy’ does this perfectly. I’m going to miss her…