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Double Bass AER Compact 60 for upright bass?

Les Fret

Les Fret

Sep 9, 2009
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nextlevel-slapbass.com
#1
Has anyone used this amp for upright bass? The music school where I teach has one and I play on it with my electric bass and acoustic guitar. But I am wondering how this amp behaves on stage with upright bass in a small acoustic ensemble? Looking for an amp that I can use for both my acoustic 12 string guitar and my upright bass in a new project where I double on these two instruments. Does it have enough lows and headroom for upright?
 
#4
I have used it for upright a bit in the past and I would say that it could work in a low volume situation. There is a surprising amount of volume for a 60 watt amp, however, the louder you go the worse it sounds - you lose lows and get mostly treble. The 'color' button helps to round out the sound. It also sounds best on the floor.

I would never suggest it as a main amp but for certain gigs it could work.
 
#5
Borrowed the AER this weekend and used it on two gigs with my upright. The sound of the amp is really good for upright, electric bass and acoustic guitar.

However on the two upright gigs I noticed that the speaker couldn’t really handle strong accented attacks on the strings. It were not loud gigs at all. Sounded good with normal playing but when I made a strong accent the speaker was overloaded and started to crack. The clipping light was still not on though. Is that normal for a 8” speaker? And for a single 10” speaker? Or doesn’t the AER have enough headroom?

And are the any other options for me for an amp or combo that can be used for both upright bass and acoustic guitar? Clarus SL maybe?
 
#6
60 watts is not much, so you can expect that kind of problems when using accents on low notes. You need power for accented low notes mainly, since the lower the note the more power to amplify it cleanly is needed.
You can use a limiter or mostly limiting compressor to avoid that, but with decreased dynamic response and softened attacks when you play loud.
 
#7
DoubleMIDI said:
60 watts is not much, so you can expect that kind of problems when using accents on low notes. You need power for accented low notes mainly, since the lower the note the more power to amplify it cleanly is needed.
You can use a limiter or mostly limiting compressor to avoid that, but with decreased dynamic response and softened attacks when you play loud.
Click to expand...

ok, thanks. So what you think would be the minimum wattage to avoid these problems? and is it only a matter of wattages or also a matter of speaker size? Is a 8" or 10" simply not enough for strong attacks on upright? I am only used to bigger rigs (2x10" or 1x15" at least). But for upright I am looking for something lighter and smaller.
 
#8
What I have used
A) old Polytone Mini-Brute II, 80 watts, 1x12", not enough power beyond drummerless gigs or with a quiet drummer
B) Genz Benz Shuttle 3.0-10T, 185 watts, 1x10", works for the rhythm group of a big band, winds cannot hear me at the other end of the stage.
C) ACES top (really old), 150 watts with 70 watts 15" fender cab, works for small to medium combo classical jazz, but have to care not to overload the driver.
D) Carlsbro Delta 600 with 15" fender cab (replaced the driver), 600 watts (400 with the 8 Ohms cab), 1x15", loud enough for anything I can think of, but needs a high impedance preamp and the 15" driver is too large. This is rather an electric rig, but can work as a backup.

I would recommend at least 150 watts for a solid state amp. The more the better, but 400 watts would be plenty. Driver between 12" and 8" unless you have a special cab like the news from Mike Arnopol or a Phil Jones combo. For anything smaller than 12" you might need more than one driver or an extension cab (to keep things light if you don't need it).
 
#11
Les Fret said:
Thanks for the input. I have a Bergantino 2x12" 600watt cab. Great cab but never used it for upright. Maybe I can pair it with a Clarus SL or something.

But maybe in the acoustic quartet I am better off with a smaller 1x12 combo. Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

That Bergantino 2x12 is a beautiful soundindg cabinet. At this point I’m
looking at smaller cabinets than a 1x12, but the Audiokinesis TC 112
is a outstanding DB and Doubling Cab.
Currently I use the Audiokinesis Birdhaus 4x6 or MAS 4x5 for Upright or Electric.

Ric
 
#13
Ric Vice said:
That Bergantino 2x12 is a beautiful soundindg cabinet. At this point I’m
looking at smaller cabinets than a 1x12, but the Audiokinesis TC 112
is a outstanding DB and Doubling Cab.
Currently I use the Audiokinesis Birdhaus 4x6 or MAS 4x5 for Upright or Electric.

Ric
Click to expand...

What is the reason you specifically look for smaller than 12”? For me I think a 1x12” would be ideal. Somehow I have in my mind that smaller speaker means less headroom and a thinner sound. But that might be just in my mind.
 
#14
Les Fret said:
What is the reason you specifically look for smaller than 12”? For me I think a 1x12” would be ideal. Somehow I have in my mind that smaller speaker means less headroom and a thinner sound. But that might be just in my mind.
Click to expand...

Les,
Frankly, the gigs I play are on such tight stages that I'm lookin for the smallest cabinet with the biggest sound.
I think that the MAS 4x5 is an incredible cabinet for DB and amazing with EB. So is the Audiokinesis Birdhaus 4x6
and they fit into very small spaces.

Ric
 
#15
Hello,

Up this topic, I would like to have some opinion about the bugera ac60, a copy of the aer. A lot of positive feedback from players, but not found double bass players.
In the french comments on the thomann, some players have played the original aer, and said that the bugera is really good.
It's inexpensive, a good deal ?

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
 
Last edited:
#16
Mister Cbass said:
Hello,

Up this topic, I would like to have some opinion about the bugera ac60, a copy of the aer. A lot of positive feedback from players, but not found double bass players.
In the french comments on the thomann, some players have played the original aer, and said that the bugera is really good.
It's inexpensive, a good deal ?

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
Click to expand...

I don't think you can expect it to be the same as the AER for 189 euro which is 5 times as cheap as the AER. It is striking to see that they can just copy the design. I think Bugera is from Behringer which are notorious copy cats.

I have tried the AER compact 60 a few times on gigs with my upright. The sound is good but it doesn't have enough headroom. One 8" speaker is not much of course.
 
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#17
Les Fret said:
I don't think you can expect it to be the same as the AER for 189 euro which is 5 times as cheap as the AER. It is striking to see that they can just copy the design. I think Bugera is from Behringer which are notorious copy cats.

I have tried the AER compact 60 a few times on gigs with my upright. The sound is good but it doesn't have enough headroom. One 8" speaker is not much of course.
Click to expand...
Hello,

As I said in the comments of thomann, some users own both ( aer and bugera) and loves the bugeras, some players said that he prefers the bugera ( effects section is very good).
I'm not looking for a high end combo, AER is too expensive, I have no problem with Bugera and Behringrer.
But I've found not a lot of opinions of db players.

Maybe a 2x8 or a 1x10 would be better
 
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