Last Thursday (Sept. 13th) was a big day for Eden. After months of R&D, the WT1205 has finally become a reality. The very last test of the production units was for Special Projects Coordinator, Lane Baldwin, and Inside Sales Manager, Chris Browne to put one of the production units through its paces.

Now, Lane and Chris don't baby their gear; they both like to play LOUD. So loud, in fact, that the folks on the second floor could hear them very well indeed. They each had the opportunity to play through the unit individually, getting to know the controls and seeing just how loud it would get. Then, for the real kicker, they both plugged in at the same time for a bit of double-bottom jamming. In these, pictures, Lane is the one with the black six-string.

Chirrs and Lane used D410XLT, D410XST and D118XL cabinets in various configurations for their test. The ultimate test was to use all three at the same time. David's look of parental concern quickly changed to a look of horror when Lane cranked the Master Volume in this latter configuration. Soon after, it changed to parental pride, however, because the 1205 didn't even break a sweat. Chris pointed out that he was unable to turn it up enough to make the limit lights kick in. "It physically hurt before I even got close," he said. To which Lane is rumored to have replied, "WHAT?!?"

When Lane finally stopped drooling like a baby and grinning like an idiot, he offered the following comments:

To sum it up in one word: SWEET!

This may well be the quietest amp we've ever built. You have to really crank the highs to hear any noticeable hiss.

Switching via the included footswitch is dead silent.

The new Enhance Control allows finer tuning in the usable range.

The compressor sounds great at every setting. No noticeable breathing or pumping. Easy to set to limit only the peaks or to squash the signal like an elephant's foot.

The simplified tone control sections still let me make all the tonal changes I'll ever need. The 4-band EQ on Channel One is great and the sweepable mid control on Channel Two is going to work very well for my fretless.

The Dynamic Boost sounds awesome at low-medium volumes. I don't think I'll use it at performance volumes, however, as I don't need it. The tone is perfect without it at those levels.

I found it made more sense to set the Input Gain with the Turbo Boost on as it ensured I wouldn't clip when the boost was activated. Once I set the gain in that manner, I disengaged the boost and continued with my normal set-up procedure.

This thing is loud. Really LOUD.

Did I mention how sweet it sounds?

Chris is still grinning like an idiot - probably because he knows he'll be able to start shipping units to dealers this week. Even so, he managed to offer the following thoughts:

As much as I love the WT800, the WT1205 is going to be the answer for many bass players' requests for a flexible and powerful live system. I see this being coupled with an Eden D610XLT for that two-piece, does-it-all rig.

I’m seriously miffed that Lane gets to keep this unit for a week and I have to wait.

This thing blossoms!

At last!

World domination. The time is now.

One important thing to note is how hard everyone on the design and production teams worked. This has been a very diffcult project to bring to production, and the initial production run has been a monster! Everyone involved worked very hard to achieve perfection at every phase. Without their dedication, this unit still wouldn't be a reality. So, before you turn your new unit on, take a moment to offer some thanks to folks who built it for you. It's only fair. Word is that Lane has even promised a pizza party for them next time he's in Montrose.

One interesting thing to note is that the WT1205 is the first Eden unit to sport the new backlit logo (which looks great, by the way) and updated graphics. On the first run of chassis, the name and model number were a bit smaller than we expected. Therefore, on subsequent runs, we're going to bump up the size somewhat. That means that, if you get one of the very first units, you'll be able to prove it came out of the first production run. As further proof of early vinatge, David hisownself will sign each unit in the first run.

So, there you have it: The WT1205 is real. And they're going to start shipping this week. If you haven't placed your order yet, you might want to do so immediately. As of this writing, the first two runs are already sold out, and orders continue to come in almost daily.

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