Epifani UL 901 Head £750
A thousand watts from a box less than six pounds in weight? Joe Daly trips the light fantastic
Lightweight, loud and cheap – but that’s enough about Joe Daly. What about Epifani’s new amp?
Headquartered amid the swarming boulevards of New York City, Epifani has forged a reputation for manufacturing high-performing equipment with the professional player in mind. The company’s cabinets and amps are notable for simple, elegant interfaces that avoid unnecessary clutter in favour of spare, intuitive controls, which allow the equipment’s robust performance to speak for itself. In 2004, Epifani rolled out the UL 902, a sturdy digital amp that delivered impressive clarity with a thundering 1800 watts of power, although its EQ capabilities were somewhat limited. With the 901, Epifani have translated 15 years of research and player feedback into a raft of technological and functional improvements that notch a new high in their range of amps.
As with other Epifani gear, the weight (or lack thereof) is the first thing you’ll notice on the 901; it’s light! The amp weighs less than three kilos (six pounds), which meant we were able to carry it in the same hand as our gig bag. From a lesser-known company, this might raise doubts as to the amp’s potency – but the 901 puts any such worries to rest with its impressive 1000-watt capacity. It’s not just raw muscle though; the auto-sensing power supply automatically detects the right voltage, regardless of where in the world you might be playing.
On the front panel next to the input jack sits the Active/Passive switch, a neat little feature that, when engaged, delivers a 10dB boost for passive basses. Conversely, it reduces the intensity of the output signal on active basses, thus avoiding the need to tweak the other knobs in order to eliminate signal distortion. We wanted to test this feature on an active instrument, so put aside the Fender P-Bass we used for most of our testing and pulled out a Yamaha TRBX 304. We found that engaging Active mode allowed us to hammer away through both low and high ranges without any unwanted frequencies.
Company founder Nick Epifani noticed that players with earlier models were bypassing the parametric EQ channel in favour of the Gain, threeband EQ and the Mid Cut channel, so for this iteration these and the Master Volume are the only knobs on the front panel. The Gain knob allows you to temper your attack incrementally; a handy LED indicator to its left lets you monitor distortion at a glance as you ratchet up the intensity, glowing green while the head’s output is clean, and flipping to red when the sound begins to become clipped.
The wheelhouse of the 901 lies in the three-band EQ, with its standard knobs for Bass, Mid and Treble. It’s said that vanilla is the ideal flavour for assessing the quality of ice cream; likewise, one can reliably gauge the craftsmanship of an amp by playing with the EQ set flat, and when we do, a smooth, creamy tone fills the room. With other amps, zeroing in on a tone like
“ONE CAN RELIABLY GAUGE THE CRAFTSMANSHIP OF AN AMP BY PLAYING WITH THE EQ SET FLAT, AND WHEN WE DO, A SMOOTH, CREAMY TONE FILLS THE ROOM”
this would require a bit of sonic foraging, but with the 901, a warm and utterly intoxicating tone is your starting point. From there, a vista of colourful textures is at your disposal.
The dominant characteristic of the 901 is its consistent punch throughout high and low ranges, which is most easily controlled with the Mid knob. Running the Mid up to three o’clock gives us a muscular attack that fits metal and hard rock rather neatly, while retaining enough clarity for more nuanced playing to shine through. Leaving it at 12 o’clock produces gorgeous, smoothly-contoured blues tones.
The Mid Cut system allows you to boost or cut your midrange frequencies for a rich, deeply-scooped sound that begs for a slapping like an unwanted hand in the cookie jar. Rolling the knob fully counterclockwise will cut out midrange frequencies up to 8dB at 800Hz. If we’re being finicky, when the unit is powered up and we engage the Mid Cut button, the sound of the click is audible, which could be a bit distracting when playing live. In fact, the four push buttons all feel a teensy bit fragile. Finally, to the far right sits the Master volume knob. In a large practice room, even at at volume of around three, rich, velvety textures fill the entire room without sounding too echoey.
As on other models, the back panel offers a voltage selector, a combo Speakon 1/4” jack, a tuner out, a 1/4” footswitch, and 1/4” effects send and return jacks with a mix control knob. Additionally, a lowimpedance DI output allows you to send the signal directly to a mixing console, instead of running through a cab.
The UL 901 is a versatile and refreshingly easy-to-use amp that’s designed for gigging bassists and studio players who have a clear idea of what they want and who like to get there quickly. Beginners or casual players would be hard-pressed to appreciate all that this delivers, let alone justify the cost of such an elite piece of equipment. However, as it’s so compact, versatile and erupting with power, the Epifani UL 901 is an impressive new option for serious musicians who prefer playing their instrument over wasting valuable time twisting knobs.
“CUT YOUR MIDRANGE FREQUENCIES FOR A DEEPLY-SCOOPED SOUND THAT BEGS FOR A SLAPPING LIKE AN UNWANTED HAND IN THE COOKIE JAR”