Eden WT-330 Time Traveler Head

Bought it new in late 2004. I was looking for a compact, powerful amp that didn't colour the sound of my bass. This amp (and the Eden 210XST speaker) make my Warwick NT bass sound the same as it does through good studio monitors.
The DI is excellent - very clean sound (unlike the Trace amp I had)
The EQ is basic but the frequencies are well chosen. I usually find I don't need it at all - my bass sounds great with everything flat, just a little of the Enhance knob (9 o'clock). Be careful with the EQ - a small tweak makes a big difference.
The adjustable compressor works well enough for me to have sold my dbx.
This amp doesn't have a tube preamp so I compared it with an Eden WT400 that does - I decided I preferred the slightly smoother sound of the 330. It also has a 'Warm' switch that gives an adjustable amount of tubey grind - think over-driven Ampeg. I usually leave it off but it's nice for vintage blues with my fretless.

If you like the way your bass sounds, this will make it sound better! But if you use a lot of EQ you might prefer the Eden models with parametric EQ.
It's loud - 330 watts into my 4 Ohm Eden 210XST will keep up with any drummer.
Very clean hifi sound (unless I switch in the 'Warm' effect)

Seems very well built. Being light and compact makes it less likely to get damaged.
I've had no issues with it.

Check the Eden Forum on their website to see how supportive this company is. I don't know another amp maker that provides so much information and individual attention.
BTW, ignore the rumours that the company has gone downhill after being bought out gby Washburn - as far as I can see, they are improving their product line, quality and support.

I've had lots of bigger, uglier rigs including preamp/power amp setups and several big-name brands, but this is the most natural sounding amp I've played through. It's a bonus that it's also small and light.

I think this amp was made in 2002/2003. It is solid state. Check out www.eden-electronics.com for all the specific features. I'm just going to highlight some of the features that I think are great.

1. This amp only weighs 13 pounds. It is quite small, (the dimensions are on the site) but I use the included rack ears and keep it in a standard size rack for protection. For such a lightweight amp, this is POWERFULL. At 8 ohms, you get 180 watts, and at 4 ohms, 330. According to the manual, 4 ohms is the minimum impedance level, but I emailed Eden and was told that it can actually run safely and efficiently at 2 ohms, creating 420 watts of power. This means, you can hook up 2 Eden D210XLT 4 ohm cabinets and get 420 watts!! I just use 1 D210XLT and this thing kicks ass, with 2 it would be fantastic.

2. The EQ controls. This amp doesn't have the popular Eden semi-parametric EQ that is present on all of the World Tour amps. In fact, this head is exactly the same as the amplifier in the CXC combos. It has bass, mid, treble and a contour controls, plus bass boost and treble boost switches. The lack of semi-parametric EQ can be seen as a good thing or a bad thing. I'll get into that in the 'sounds' section of this review.

3. Built in compressor. I don't usually use a compressor, but I have found that the built in one-knob compressor on this amp actually sounds quite good. If I know that I will be slapping, I set the compressor so that it engages lightly when I slap. This controls volume spikes without noticeably affecting my sound.

4. Great for live or practicing. This amp is designed to be safely used without a speaker cabinet connected. You can just hit the speaker mute button, plug in some headphones, and have a great sound for practicing. You can even plug in a CD player to the stereo AUX inputs in the back.

5. Great D.I. This baby has Eden's killer XLR direct out in the back of the amp. There is a level control knob and a ground lift switch in the back as well and a pre/post EQ selector on the amp's face. The nice thing about the D.I. is its reliability. According to the manual, if the amp's temperature reaches 130 degrees F, the built in fan turns on. At 190 degrees F, the amp will automatically cut back power until a safe temperature is reached. Though the speaker volume will drop, the D.I. level remains the same through all of this.

6. Color-coded knobs. This may not seem important, but it just goes to show what attention to detail Eden amps have. For this particular model, knobs are color coded for their use. All of the EQ related knobs and switches are red. The volume related knobs, Gain and Master, and blue. The compressor knob is gray. This makes it even easier to figure out the simple front panel.

For my needs, this amp has every feature I'll ever use. I find the simple EQ to be a plus (more on that in next section). The only reason this amp doesn't get a 10 for features in my book is the front panel slope. I guess this amp was designed to sit by itself on top of a cabinet, so the sloped front panel would make it easier to contol. However, in a rack, it is a pain in the butt. I use a 3 space rack for this 2 space head and I leave and empty space above it so that I can see the controls properly. With a tuner above it, the knob labels are obscured.

The first thing I'll comment on is this amp's EQ. As mentioned previously, this amp does not have the coveted Eden semi-parametric EQ, but in my opinion, this is a plus. Most Eden users (me included) run their amps with the EQ set flat. In fact, I usually bypass the EQ all together. This amp sounds fantastic without any fiddling around with the EQ. The only benefit I can see from having the semi-parametric EQ would be to kill annoying frequencies in certain live situations or recording. For me, I prefer the simplified controls when I do use them (on the rare occasion) it is just to make my sound a bit rounder, or mid-rangey growly, not to kill some 2kHz overtone.

Part of the reason I enjoy the simple EQ set to flat is probably the basses I use. This amp is perfect for a hi-fi clean funk/fusion/jazz sound. I use mainly Cort basses. I have an Artisan 4 string which has a wenge wood neck through a maple body. It has 2 humbucking Mighty Mite pickups and bass/treble controls. This bass and amp work well together to get a great Jaco-like growl from the bridge pickup and a decent slap sound when the pickups are blended. I also use a Cort Curbow fretless 4 and fretted 5 string. The fretless has one mighty mite pickup but has bass, mid, and treble controls, plus a slap switch that cuts the mids and boosts the lows and highs. I generally don't use this (as I don't like to slap on a fretless) but I can get a gorgeous sound with this bass and the amp. Sometimes I'll hit the 'warm' button on the WT-330. This adds a bid of tube-like growl to the sound, perfect for a woolly fretless tone. With the 5 string fretted curbow, this amp really kicks ass. With the D210XLT cab, I have enough low end and transient response to get an awesome funk tone. When I with my jazz/latin/funk band, I usually have all the tone controls on the Curbow 5 set to max and I cut through the mix perfectly (drums, piano and sax). For contemporary worship music, I'll drop some mids on my bass and sometimes engage the bass boost on the amp to get a HUGE sound on the low strings. This amp has more than enough headroom at 330 watts to handle the low notes well and the 2x10 cab (thanks to its dual ports) can deliver whopping low end while still being very responsive. This amp has a tendency to deliver such an accurate sound that if you have the treble up on your bass, it seems noisy. I found a great way to counteract this is to use the tweeter attenuator knob that is found on many cabinets. For a clean, crisp, hi-fi sound, this amp definitely shines, although it doesn't do everything great.
A have a bass I picked up at a pawn shop for $100 CDN. It is a p-bass copy with a broken volume knob that is either full on or full off. For some reason (probably the broken pot) this passive bass is louder than my other basses (all active). When I play this bass through the Eden, it sounds bland and uninteresting no matter how I set the EQ. This amp doesn't tend to color the sound very much, so you have to rely on having a good sounding bass to get a great sound. The p-bass copy would probably sound alright through an SVT or Marshall bass amp that adds some tone. That being said, the Eden is probably not a great amp for a punk rocker bassist who wants a dirty, grungy tone. But for me, I LOVE IT!!

One of the reasons I bought this amp was because it seemed so rugged. I compared it to other similar powered/sized heads like the Mesa/Boogie Walkabout and the Ampeg Portabass head. The Mesa/Boogie sounded pretty good, but the knobs on the front were really flimsy and the metal casing didn't feel very substantial. The portabass head had better feeling knobs (although very small knobs) but didn't have quite the power I was looking for. This amp has great feeling, sturdy knobs. (the knobs feel like they click when you turn them because of many, many detents in the radius). The black and gold metal casing seems incredibly rugged and the only weak spot in the overall build of it seems to be the fan cover, which is just a thick wire frame screwed onto the casing. (although in a rack, there is no need to worry) I've had this amp for about 6 months and it has never showed a hint of a problem. So far, I haven't had occasion to use this on a gig (bass amps are usually provided, all of varying quality) but have used it many times in rehearsals. I have played at substantial volumes with a drummer, piano (in this case, and amplified digital piano) and sax player and the amp never seemed to sweat even in the slightest.
One thing to keep in mind about this amp: it is very hi tech and therefore has a lot of complex components. This isn't a simple amplifier. It has a compressor, a heating control circuit, many connectors and switches. While I haven't opened it up, I'm sure there are many circuit boards inside that wouldn't take kindly to a severe dropping. I'm carefull with my equipment anyway, and with this inside an SKB 3 space rack, I have every confidence in its continued reliablity. Oh, it has an extra fuse holder just in case the primary fuse blows.

This amp comes with the Eden 2 year warranty which covers the orginal owner only. The only instance I contacted Eden was to inquire about the minimum impedance level of the amp. I wrote an email to the company late on a Sunday evening. I got a reply the next day in less than 12 hours. Now that's support! The reply wasn't overly friendly, but it told me what I needed to know.

I've been playing bass for about 7 years. I'm studying bass performance at university for a bachelor of music. I wanted a professional amplifier that would last me a long time. I spent nearly $2700 (CDN) on this rig and I don't plan on replacing it any time soon. I had considered getting one of the World Tour models if this amp were stolen, but I realize that for the price, power, and portability, this amp is exactly what I need. (although I might try out the Markbass stuff....) As mentioned before, I compared this to the Mesa/Boogie Walkabout and the Ampeg Portabass and this one was definitely the best of the three. My favorite feature of this amp is the color-coded knobs. With the gold panel front and the colored knobs, this amp is super simple to use even in really low light, although I generally don't even have to tough the EQ. If you are looking for a high quality, portable head of reasonable power, and don't need distorted punk tones, you owe it to yourself to check out the Time Traveler head (and the D210XLT cabinet is amazing too!)