The German brand, part of Adam Hall Group, started out over 35 years ago as one of the first “Boutique Amp” manufacturers and is now internationally recognized in the music and audio industry. Palmer specializes in tools for musicians with great sound quality and reliability, always featuring unique designs and solutions.
An example of the company’s simple philosophy on trying to address musicians’s needs with clever solutions is the new Palmer BatPack, a portable power pack that works like a power bank and is especially designed for powering effect devices on the pedalboard. Available in two models: BatPack 4000 (4000 mAh battery capacity) and BatPack 8000 (8000 mAhbattery capacity), both power packs are optimized for use with Palmer Pedalbays.
But these light-aluminum, full-metal devices also contain twelve mounting openings so that they can be used with other boards. Two insulated 9-volt DC outlets each provide 500 mAh. The long-life 7.4-volt lithium-polymer cells take four hours to charge in the BatPack 4000 or eight hours in the case of the BatPack 8000. When fully charged and depending on the power consumption of the connected pedals, the power supply will last for four (BatPack 4000) or eight (BatPack 8000) hours.
Remaining battery life is conveniently displayed on the five-segment LED. The BatPack is also fully functional while being charged. Devices such as smartphones and tablets can also be charged via the 5-volt (1 A) type-A USB outlet.
Compact preamp for e-bass
The Palmer Bass Pocket Amp is a multifunctional floor pedal and preamp that will appeal to bassists and is perfect for recording or as a practice amp. It can be used for either active or passive bass. The pedal works perfectly with a power amplifier or a channel strip on a mixer. The compact Bass Pocket Amp is also well suited as a pure headphone amp.
The sound can be adjusted very effectively, with regulators for bass (center@90 Hz), treble (center@7 kHz), and semi-parametric regulation for mid-range (150 to 8 kHz). Adjustable cabinet modulation enables a selection of three different frequency curves (flat, modern, vintage) and the mode switch lets the user choose between clean, overdrive and fuzz.
The input side has jacks for Bass In (reduction is possible for active bass guitars) and Bass Thru (feeds the input signal through). Stereo signals can be fed in via Aux In (mini-jack) and these can be listened to in stereo via the headphone jack (mini-jack). On the output side, there is a choice between a symmetrical XLR jack (DI out) with pre- and post-selection to avoid sound adjustment and cabinet simulations. The 6.3 mm jack can be connected to the amplifier directly. External processors can be fed in via the FX-insert interface – although the integrated saturation simulation should actually be enough in many cases.
The stable and noiseless foot pedal can be used to switch between two settings. If the sliding switch is in the bypass position, the Bass Pocket Amp will be taken out of the signal stream completely, along with all settings and simulations. If the MUTE position is chosen, the bass can be tuned noiselessly (Bass Thru is always active) or the instrument can be switched without causing irritating noises.
The Palmer Bass Pocket Amp is operated with a 9-volt adapter (PW9V) or a standard 9-volt block battery. Doubling the internal operating current to 18 volts improves the dynamics and performance of the headphone amplifier.
The BatPack is scheduled to be available in the 3rd quarter 2016, while the Bass Pocket Amp should be available 2nd quarter 2016.
www.adamhall.com | www.palmer-germany.com
