Bergantino B/Amp at NAMM

[ted burik]

Thanks, Jim! Just loving the B/Amp and all of my Bergantino cabinets!

 

[bebass]

Please let us know what setting you use for Crossroads, and how much you felt it nailed Jack's tone (or not).

OK. Just playing around but not LIVE I liked Dist1 set 5 and 5 for Crossroads. This was with a Peavey Cirrus 4 string and the Bergantino HG310 cab pair. But, unfortunately, I didn't sound like Jack.

 

[kjones]

OK. Just playing around but not LIVE I liked Dist1 set 5 and 5 for Crossroads. This was with a Peavey Cirrus 4 string and the Bergantino HG310 cab pair. But, unfortunately, I didn't sound like Jack.

No worries, no one does.

But, thanks for your guidance. It's a song I play from time to time.

 

[bebass]

No worries, no one does.

But, thanks for your guidance. It's a song I play from time to time.

I wish Jim could put in a setting called "Sound & PLAY like Jack Bruce"

 

[Jim Bergantino]

I wish Jim could put in a setting called "Sound & PLAY like Jack Bruce"

Working on it! ;-}

 

[Matt Morgan]

I think my "tone chasing" days are over. I just received my new B|amp and set of REF210 and REF112 cabinets. Just fantastic. More to follow as soon as my head stops spinning.

 

[Matt Morgan]

Pics as required...

 

[JoePP]

Hey there everyone,

I wanted to share some exciting news. I've had the fortune over the last couple of weeks to work very closely with Jim, lend him my ear and help him develop the next set of drive circuits. First off, why was I chosen? Simply put, I asked. Being in 4 bands (1 original and 3 cover) I have the opportunity to practice, rehearse and gig out very often. I'm also a firefighter which translates into…I have a lot of time on my hands and, I think, Jim wanted to take advantage of that.

Jim really gave me complete liberties to start from scratch. One thing I didn't want to change was his overdrive circuit. I'm a tube guy and I really think his existing OD does an incredible job of capturing that vibe….from soft clip purr of a push preamp to the sag of power section at song. However, the approach to the two distortions were somewhat different.

For the first circuit (I'll call it Dist1 for now), we wanted to capitalize on the clean punch of the fundamental not getting lost when you engage the distortion. So that's really what it emphasizes…the clean. As you turn up the drive the harmonics continue to get louder and well as the clean. There is a balance that you can definitely get with the drive and volume but think of distortion 1 as really emphasizing the clean tone much like a good studio two track on bass engineer may in a recording scenario. You have all that fundamental and the "dirt" just adds some nice life and harmonic complexity to the tone. An example of this would be the bass tone in this video. I think it captures perfectly what Dist1 can do at a mild setting. It can get much hairier though if needed, trust me.

Distortion 1 example:



I've tested this numerous times in the band context and, the way Jim has designed this drive circuit, you lose ZERO low end when you add the dirt…..as in nada.

For the second circuit, we wanted to get a little more in the fuzz territory without going full fuzz. More of the high end of the gain being like a Beastie Boys "Sabotage" style. The lower drive setting of (we'll call this Dist2) 2nd circuit can sound more like this P bass in this Big Data song. Just wanted to give you these songs for frames of reference.

Distortion 2 examples:





With Jim's Dist2, both these tones are easily achievable. It can go from very mild to flat nasty and killing small animals at 50 feet, etc. The exciting thing about this drive as well is there is really no loss in low end. Dist2 definitely does emphasize the distortion leg more but there is plenty of clean tone mixed in so when you "step on it" it's not a "bass be gone" situation. Plenty of presence and fundamental in the mix.

I'm super excited for all three circuits. You really have 3 distinctly different circuits that go from mild, pushed tube to wild all out jagged gnarliness. But all 3 of these circuits have a workmanlike approach to being totally useable in the mix. The over the top fuzz, etc. is going to have to be attained by using a pedal, etc. Remember, we're talking about the simplicity of a 2 knob overdrive. Certainly some compromises had to be made but I cannot wait until you guys hear these new distortions.

That in concert with the other firmware upgrades like bluetooth footswitch, 3 memory slots, overlapping semi-parametric EQ, etc. just make the B|Amp such a winner. The pedalboard has been staying at home lately. Bass>Amp>Speakers

Again, I'm very honored to have participated in this project and really hope you guys like the direction that the new distortion circuits went. I tried to play them with as many passive and active basses that I could (J's, P's, Spector's, Yamaha's, etc on and on) through a variety of different cabinets and headphones. Realize all basses react a little differently to drive but there should be enough adjustability to get some great tones from every bass on the planet.

I'm sure Jim can chime in on the more technical stuff if he wants. I pretty much just lent him my ear and thoughts over the last couple of weeks. The process was just mind blowing actually. I'd give him feedback, either via email or phone and I have another file to try in about 5 minutes. At one point, when something wasn't quite right, Jim sent me another in the middle of a gig and I did a "hot swap". Just amazing. Jim has been such a pleasure to work with. As most of you know (and I found out), he lives, eats, sleeps and breathes this stuff…..weekends, late night, it didn't matter…he was tweaking. It was honestly like having my own personal distortion wizard on retainer.

Funny, I just emailed Jim about the new distortion circuits after spending some time last night playing with them thoroughly, and then came back to catch up on some of the B|Amp threads here. When I saw this post I thought "Jeez husky you just completely freakin read my mind in your description of the overdrive and distortion effects!"

Jim has been kind enough to entertain my obsessive/compulsiveness for tone tweaking as well over the past several months, sending files on occasion for me to play with and provide my two cents. You and he have definitely hit it out of the park with these new Dist effects! As I've told Jim on many occasions, it's been such a kick to participate in nit-picking and tweaking an already perfect amp to various new levels of uber perfection. I've been a big fan of the overdrive since it was originally released, and use it now as an always-on effect. I'd been thinking recently about adding one of the Darkglass pedals for some switchable distortion effects for certain songs, but I think I've found exactly what I'm looking for in these two new circuits. My comments to Jim earlier from my review last night were: ...I was dialing in some fantastic sounding settings on each of them from mild drive to full on distortion and they all sound great! I now have three really good presets, a nice cooking overdrive, a mild vintage sounding distortion, and a grinding modern sounding one.

The B|Amp is by far the best sounding and most versatile, feature-rich amp on the market. It was already a tremendous value from the start, but is becoming ridiculously so with all the additional features and now-proven ongoing upgradeability through simple firmware updates. I can't wait for the footswitch and the additional Mem channel, to be able to access all of this versatility on the fly. It's so cool to be a part of this, and to have such a tremendous state of the art bass amp! Thanks Jim!

 

[Stu_Bass]

I wish Jim could put in a setting called "Sound & PLAY like Jack Bruce"

I'm going to invent the "Jaco Box". It won't make your bass sound like his or make you play as well as him it will simply play audio files of him and you can stand there and pretend you are Jaco.

 

[JoePP]

I think it's a good idea but would opt for individual control of each band as it allows more options. I would be okay with it and think you should follow the overall consensus but my vote goes for maximum versatility.

Jumping in a little late on this topic, but I agree with Stu in that a fully parametric EQ, with individual Q width selections for each tone filter, would be the most versatile. I can think of a scenario of a midrangy, muddy/honky bass (like a lot of Fenders I seem to love for some reason!) where a wide deep mid cut is needed to smooth it out, then a narrow upper bass boost to bring back some of the fundamental in the G string that was cut off, and a medium upper mid boost to give it some bite. It sure would be fantastic if the Tone Control Q Select screen in the program menu were instead 4 separate screens - BASS Q Select, LMID Q Select, HMID Q Select and TRBL Q Select. I know Jim has stated previously that there are some limitations in the infrastructure that make this difficult, but this is the B|Amp Infinite Wish List forum right?

 

[ustabawannab]

I think my "tone chasing" days are over. I just received my new B|amp and set of REF210 and REF112 cabinets. Just fantastic. More to follow as soon as my head stops spinning.

Wait till those drivers get a little broken in. They open up so nicely.

 

[Stu_Bass]

Jumping in a little late on this topic, but I agree with Stu in that a fully parametric EQ, with individual Q width selections for each tone filter, would be the most versatile. I can think of a scenario of a midrangy, muddy/honky bass (like a lot of Fenders I seem to love for some reason!) where a wide deep mid cut is needed to smooth it out, then a narrow upper bass boost to bring back some of the fundamental in the G string that was cut off, and a medium upper mid boost to give it some bite. It sure would be fantastic if the Tone Control Q Select screen in the program menu were instead 4 separate screens - BASS Q Select, LMID Q Select, HMID Q Select and TRBL Q Select. I know Jim has stated previously that there are some limitations in the infrastructure that make this difficult, but this is the B|Amp Infinite Wish List forum right?

Yep, while narrow cut and wide boost are the most likely scenarios individual choice is the most versatile.

 

[SteveC]

I have a question for you all. I am looking for a new amp. Almost all my gigging is done DI/IEM/FOH. We have a nice system at church. Flown mains, dual stereo subs, Presonus Studio Live board, iPhone control of IEM mix, etc. It's awesome. I know a lot of people hate their IEM sound. I love mine. My basses sound fantastic via IEM and the FOH sound is ridiculous.

I practice at home using an amp (currently GB Shuttle) and occasionally have gigs that are smaller, background music kind of things. I'd like to have my "church" sound at home and these gigs as well. I have been looking gat Bergantino and Genzler. I am also looking at maybe using a small mixer or channel strip into an active QSC K15 or something similar.

I read that the B|amp is a pretty "flat" amp. Gentler may have a little something "baked in" and a more "FOH" solution may or may not work and be more to set up.

Do you (Jim or others) have any thoughts on a "traditional" rig (the B|amp isn't very traditional) vs. a FOH type approach. The more I research, the more it seems I don't know what to do.

 

[kjones]

I think a lot of it is more what you and the sound guy are comfortable with.

My rule of thumb is pretty easy. I rely on the B|Amp and whatever cab selection are appropriate for the venue. If the band's gear are inappropriate to cover the house, I use the amp and cab for stage purposes and go out the DI on the back of the amp into the FOH. I use the B wherever I go and just modify the situation as it demands.

I grew up in a time where IEMs were not even thought of yet. I like having my ears free, as I can hear what's going on in the room and can even talk to the other players. If they made me use IEMs, I would, but it's not my choice. You should do what works for you.

I'm sure you know there's also a headphone jack on the back of the B, so it's essentially a one-stop solution.

 

[SteveC]

I don't use IEM's on those small gigs as no one else does either. It's usually fill in so what I'm looking for is a similar sound to my IEM's (and I know that IEM's and cabs are obviously different) but in a traditional amp I can take to a fill in gig and use at home.

 

[David A. Davis]

@SteveC , what are you using on your board right now?

 

[SteveC]

@SteveC , what are you using on your board right now?

Our FOH is a Persons Studio Live 32. I use a Radial JDI. No effects. I think theres a little compression at the board, eq is pretty flat I believe.

 

[David A. Davis]

You could go powered monitor and use the set up you have or use a B|amp as a preamp/di for IEM's (nothing wrong with running the B|amp without a speaker load).

 

[SteveC]

You could go powered monitor and use the set up you have or use a B|amp as a preamp/di for IEM's (nothing wrong with running the B|amp without a speaker load).

True. Or if I go B/amp I could use a Bergantino cab as I think they are pretty "flat" if you want them to be.

 

[JoePP]

I currently use IEMs, and use a B|Amp with two HDN212s stacked vertically onstage. I send my bass IEM signal from the line out on the back of the B|Amp to to a little 6 channel Yamaha mixer on my pedal board, to which I also send my vocals and a monitor mix from the sound guy. I don't use/have any eq on the channel my bass signal goes into. I use the channel that's left which just has gain and volume. On the little Yamaha I can blend my bass, my vocals, and the monitor mix which is usually just the lead singer and lead guitar, and send that to my IEM transmitter. Since the top of my speakers are up high at ear level, I can easily get an accurate representation of what they sound like. When I check my tone back and forth between my IEMs and the speakers, they are pretty darn close. Just a little less low end in my IEMs (which I prefer because I can feel the lows through my feet and hitting me in the back). So yes the HDN212s are very flat, and will give you an accurate representation of what is going to the FOH and to your IEMs.
Hope this helps!