Bergantino B/Amp at NAMM

[Doug Parent]

Comp is at 2-3 and gain is at 10-12... Just enough to even out and thicken the tone.. Overdrive settings are about the same as well..

I thought the compression at 15-16 would be the "squishiest"

 

[SCT1422]

I thought the compression at 15-16 would be the "squishiest"

I just use alittle and it's plenty for me..

 

[kjones]

Comp is at 2-3 and gain is at 10-12... Just enough to even out and thicken the tone.. Overdrive settings are about the same as well..

Just to throw in my two cents, I'm a pretty light touched player and I find that OD around 6 allows me to be at that sweet spot where normal playing is just a bit thicker and digging in really gets good effect.

 

[Doug Parent]

I just use alittle and it's plenty for me..

I had to raise my input gain to start hitting it. It's saturating now. Nice growly vibe just what the doctor ordered.

 

[kjones]

Yeah we definitely discussed this while testing. Jim bases his effects assuming your input gain is set as recommended in the manual, meaning just tickling the light when you play as hard as you will during the performance.

 

[SCT1422]

I also use passive basses and on occasion I may use an active one...

 

[RocketMusic]

The settings are a little unintuitive for a compressor, but they work great once you understand them (at least, that was my experience).

You can think of the "Comp" control as the amount of compression, so a higher number means more compression. It's sort of like you're dropping the threshold, though I think what it really is is a gain setting into the compressor. So when you add more gain before the compressor, it ends up compressing more because you're that much more over the first threshold.

With a typical compressor, you usually also have a make-up gain control that let's you turn up the compressed signal to get back to the original level of the uncompressed signal. The Berg compressor's "Gain" setting works the opposite of that. Since the "Comp" control is itself a gain setting, you actually have to turn the "Gain" control DOWN as you compress more.

So it's a little confusing (at first) if you're used to the more common sort of compressor interfaces that have ratio, threshold and makeup gain settings. But once you get the hang of the Berg compressor, it really works great.

 

[Jim Bergantino]

The settings are a little unintuitive for a compressor, but they work great once you understand them (at least, that was my experience).

You can think of the "Comp" control as the amount of compression, so a higher number means more compression. It's sort of like you're dropping the threshold, though I think what it really is is a gain setting into the compressor. So when you add more gain before the compressor, the ends up compressing more because you're that much more over the first threshold.

With a typical compressor, you usually also have a make-up gain control that let's you turn up the compressed signal to get back to the original level of the uncompressed signal. The Berg compressor's "Gain" setting works the opposite of that. Since the "Comp" control is itself a gain setting, you actually have to turn the "Gain" control DOWN as you compress more.

So it's a little confusing (at first) if you're used to the more common sort of compressor interfaces that have ratio and threshold settings. But once you get the hang of the Berg compressor, it really works great.

Did you expect anything less from an Italian engineer? ;-} Heck, even JBL's speaker terminals reflect the direction/polarity of the protons while the rest of the industry reflects the direction of the electrons. Maybe James Lansing was Italian too!

 

[bucephylus]

Heck, even JBL's speaker terminals reflect the direction/polarity of the protons while the rest of the industry reflects the direction of the electrons. Maybe James Lansing was Italian too!

That polarity definition is actually a long standing issue in the electrochemical community, which tends to have an opposite reference than the EE community. So, if you are looking at the battery from the inside, it is one definition, whereas from the outside, it is the other. It's enough to make your brain hurt. My research group in grad school was primarily solid state electrochemistry. Every Tuesday we would meet and tear apart some important publication n the literature. Before you could even have the discussion, you had to be sure you understood the authors' reference on polarity.

And, BTW, I think the prowess of Italian engineering is pretty well demonstrated at this point.

 

[RocketMusic]

Did you expect anything less from an Italian engineer? ;-} Heck, even JBL's speaker terminals reflect the direction/polarity of the protons while the rest of the industry reflects the direction of the electrons. Maybe James Lansing was Italian too!

Fuggedaboutit.

 

[bucephylus]

Yeah we definitely discussed this while testing. Jim bases his effects assuming your input gain is set as recommended in the manual, meaning just tickling the light when you play as hard as you will during the performance.

In my own case, I've noticed over the years that my playing during the set tends to get more energetic than what I think it will be before we fire up. So, I typically have to back off a bit from where I am just starting to light up the input gain indicator while setting up. Poor discipline on my part.

 

[bucephylus]

Firmware 3.0 Update Notes:

So, I just installed FW 3.0. Is it just me or do the installation instructions seem a little confusing to anyone else? What I mean is that for me the Prog light almost comes on lit up. The instructions say to hold the Prog button in until the LED lights up. So, I keep feeling like I have to keep the button depressed. Anyhow, that happens right away. Then I get various results regarding the status of the Mute button and retention of Profiles and various settings. Some updates, the Mute button does not come on and there are some driver excursions that happen during the install. Others not. Also, some updates leave the HPF and profiles installed, whereas others, I have to go back through and re-install the configuration. No big deals, but just seems I keep getting surprised.

Anyhow, I tried out the compressor. It works.

This again is an effect that I won't tend to use. I tell you, I am really starting to feel a bit deficient as a bass player that these effects just don't do anything for me at all. Maybe, it is just too many years of not using effects; which haven't been part of my thing since college. And that was a wah wah pedal and a MuTron; so, that dates me. The compressor for my use takes out the dynamic range of the instrument. I'm not sure how that is useful; but doesn't help the way I play. YMMV for sure.

Part of the deal for me is that the amp set flat is just peas and carrots with my Tobias, which is my only 5 string. That bass is VERY difficult for me to amplify. It has an early TCT circuit, and I've posted my struggles with that circuit elsewhere. Now, it is working to spec, except that almost ANY added amp voicing just completely wipes out the goodness. I just got one of the Mesa Subway preamps, which sounds very cool with the rest of my instruments; except not so much with the Tobias. It's just a tough bass to amplify, but marvelous when everything is right. I swear, I come close to selling the darned thing on a daily basis because it is so finicky. Anyhow, the B|Amp set flat is the perfect yin yang for that particular bass. YAY flatness.

Edit: FWIW, the ONLY amps I have found to work well with that Tobias are the SVT, The Demeter VTBP-201 preamp into virtually any power section and the B|Amp. That's it.

 

[Jim Bergantino]

Firmware 3.0 Update Notes:

So, I just installed FW 3.0. Is it just me or do the installation instructions seem a little confusing to anyone else? What I mean is that for me the Prog light almost comes on lit up. The instructions say to hold the Prog button in until the LED lights up. So, I keep feeling like I have to keep the button depressed. Anyhow, that happens right away. Then I get various results regarding the status of the Mute button and retention of Profiles and various settings. Some updates, the Mute button does not come on and there are some driver excursions that happen during the install. Others not. Also, some updates leave the HPF and profiles installed, whereas others, I have to go back through and re-install the configuration. No big deals, but just seems I keep getting surprised.

Anyhow, I tried out the compressor. It works.

This again is an effect that I won't tend to use. I tell you, I am really starting to feel a bit deficient as a bass player that these effects just don't do anything for me at all. Maybe, it is just too many years of not using effects; which haven't been part of my thing since college. And that was a wah wah pedal and a MuTron; so, that dates me. The compressor for my use takes out the dynamic range of the instrument. I'm not sure how that is useful; but doesn't help the way I play. YMMV for sure.

Part of the deal for me is that the amp set flat is just peas and carrots with my Tobias, which is my only 5 string. That bass is VERY difficult for me to amplify. It has an early TCT circuit, and I've posted my struggles with that circuit elsewhere. Now, it is working to spec, except that almost ANY added amp voicing just completely wipes out the goodness. I just got one of the Mesa Subway preamps, which sounds very cool with the rest of my instruments; except not so much with the Tobias. It's just a tough bass to amplify, but marvelous when everything is right. I swear, I come close to selling the darned thing on a daily basis because it is so finicky. Anyhow, the B|Amp set flat is the perfect yin yang for that particular bass. YAY flatness.

Edit: FWIW, the ONLY amps I have found to work well with that Tobias are the SVT, The Demeter VTBP-201 preamp into virtually any power section and the B|Amp. That's it.

So what;s wrong with a little "surprise" every now and then? ;-} The reason you lost your settings during this upgrade is that when a firmware update involves new features which are saved to NVM, the memory map of the NVM gets re-drawn and overwritten. It may take a few minutes to get everything back to where you had it, but we hope it would be considered a small inconvenience for a $200+ feature for free (although it appears you may not make use of it). As for the program LED lighting right away, this is true, but the most important thing for the firmware update to work is that the PRog button must be depressed during power up and a very short time there after, which is why we light the Prog LED to signal you can let go. And as for any excursion or sounds coming out of the speaker during updating, you're just hearing the DSP being reloaded in real time which can generate these noises. You could avoid this with any future upgrades by just disconnecting the speaker during the load.

Hope this helps answer some of your questions and concerns,.and hopefully you may get some use out of the added features, even if its just for fun. I also hear back from a lot of customers like yourself who still enjoy the B|AMP just clean!

Jim

 

[bucephylus]

So what;s wrong with a little "surprise" every now and then? ;-} The reason you lost your settings during this upgrade is that when a firmware update involves new features which are saved to NVM, the memory map of the NVM gets re-drawn and overwritten. It may take a few minutes to get everything back to where you had it, but we hope it would be considered a small inconvenience for a $200+ feature for free (although it appears you may not make use of it). As for the program LED lighting right away, this is true, but the most important thing for the firmware update to work is that the PRog button must be depressed during power up and a very short time there after, which is why we light the Prog LED to signal you can let go. And as for any excursion or sounds coming out of the speaker during updating, you're just hearing the DSP being reloaded in real time which can generate these noises. You could avoid this with any future upgrades by just disconnecting the speaker during the load.

Hope this helps answer some of your questions and concerns,.and hopefully you may get some use out of the added features, even if its just for fun. I also hear back from a lot of customers like yourself who still enjoy the B|AMP just clean!

Jim

Thanks, Jim. Didn't intend to take up your time with my belly aching, none of which mattered a whole lot. I probably shouldn't have posted it.

The amp is fantastic. Period.

Best,
Paul

 

[Jim Bergantino]

Thanks, Jim. Didn't intend to take up your time with my belly aching, none of which mattered a whole lot. I probably shouldn't have posted it.

The amp is fantastic. Period.

Best,
Paul

Hi Paul,

I didn't take it that way at all. Actually it gave me a chance to explain to others what takes place during a firmware update. It's all good and I'm happy to hear you're enjoying the amp.

 

[Doug Parent]

Hope this helps answer some of your questions and concerns,.and hopefully you may get some use out of the added features, even if its just for fun. I also hear back from a lot of customers like yourself who still enjoy the B|AMP just clean! Jim

Kudos Jim and thanks for taking the time to build that new feature in. I can see using this 100% of the time. It took me a few tries to adjust the input gain to hit the OL light and then the compressor had plenty of signal to work with.

 

[rodl2005]

So. .....one CAN use the drive feature AND the comp etc at the same time? If so. .. Can ya save this as a preset?

 

[Doug Parent]

So. .....one CAN use the drive feature AND the comp etc at the same time? If so. .. Can ya save this as a preset?

yes

 

[rodl2005]

Thanx. I got one incoming.
I had a Magellan 800 but. ..it just didn't "do it" for me.
Here's to hoping that this B-amp will.

 

[Jim Bergantino]

Thanx. I got one incoming.
I had a Magellan 800 but. ..it just didn't "do it" for me.
Here's to hoping that this B-amp will.

Hi Rod,

When saving a "Tone Scene" to either one of the two mem locations, the following parameters are saved for future recall:

Center frequencies and gains of all 4 tone controls
Bright frequency and gain (Programmable in Program mode) if engaged during the save
Compressor settings if engaged (Comp and Gain level)
Effects settings if engaged (including effect selected - O/D, Distortion, or Fuzz, Drive and post Volume levels)

Also, the compressor is Pre Effects in the DSP architecture of the B|AMP so you can send your compressed signal into the effects channel which will help the selected effect respond more evenly over a wider frequency and dynamic range.

Hope this helps!

Jim