Getting back into it... Berg NV610

[Unrepresented]

I picked mine up used for a reasonable price. It required a drive to get it, but the cost of doing so was considerably less than new retail sticker price.

I'm happy with mine, although one of the casters went out at the last show, so it needs a little TLC to get it back to gig shape.

It wins against any 810 based on the ease of mobility alone. It's easier to load and transport than any 410 I've used, let alone an 810.

I can't compare it to the long history of Ampeg 810's and their variations throughout the decades but it does for me, exactly what I want it to, in a convenient package.

 

[JimmyM]

"Looks way cooler"???

Man, you need to review your priorities...

Or was this humor???

i've got my priorities quite well in order, my friend, thank you.

not sure, but it sounds to me like you're assuming that i would settle for less based on looks. sorry but i don't work that way. but after my initial first 20 years playing an ampeg rig, i spent the next 10 years playing an ugly rig of one sort or another, and those days are over for me. nowadays, there's no reason i can't have both good looks and great sound, so it's got to appeal to my sense of style or i don't want it. there is nothing sonically inferior about the current 810e's, especially the heritage. the berg got popular because the previous ampeg cabs weren't up to snuff imho. they were made out of osb and had dark sounding speakers. but they've fixed both problems, even in the imported cabs, and i hear nothing inferior about them.

 

[metron]

I would take the berg over an ampeg any day if only for weight and size savings. Ive been using one for years and have read lots about them and most say it matches an Ampeg if not bests them. This is not only with slm osb 810s. A/B comparisons with old flatbacks have been done. I have never read anyone say they prefer Ampeg.

I don't think the op asked for berg vs ampeg though. Amos - the berg is a great cab no doubt. can't comment on the bbe pre but the berg takes effects well. Being tweeterless it smoothes out highs very nicely. The only thing that might be a drag is the low end for the synthy stuff. It works great for electric bass but super deep synth lows get noticably rolled off. It definitely will deliver volume though.

 

[JimmyM]

i'd have a hard time even believing that it matches the flatback, let alone beats it. however, i will give you that it's very well liked by sealed 810 fans and it is lighter and smaller. if someone around central fla wants to do an ab comparo of a flatback to a nv610, i'm up for it. pm me.

 

[cripula]

i'd have a hard time even believing that it matches the flatback, let alone beats it. however, i will give you that it's very well liked by sealed 810 fans and it is lighter and smaller. if someone around central fla wants to do an ab comparo of a flatback to a nv610, i'm up for it. pm me.

I hope someone takes you up on it Jimmy. There's a lot of hype behind the NV610 - that for once is fully justified imho.

I don't have a flatback, but I have a 70s towelbar and an 80s 8x10. I like the Berg much more than either of them, and that's without taking it's easier handling, better portability, and substantial weight savings into account.

 

[metron]

i'd have a hard time even believing that it matches the flatback, let alone beats it. however, i will give you that it's very well liked by sealed 810 fans and it is lighter and smaller. if someone around central fla wants to do an ab comparo of a flatback to a nv610, i'm up for it. pm me.

Look around you might be surprised. Of course you have to read through your glasses of objectivity. It does need to be said though - the assertion that the Berg is popular because of Ampegs OSB 810 cab is fanboi talk.

 

[JimmyM]

Look around you might be surprised. Of course you have to read through your glasses of objectivity. It does need to be said though - the assertion that the Berg is popular because of Ampegs OSB 810 cab is fanboi talk.

we'll see about that.

 

[stflbn]

Coming off a hiatus myself and foolishly selling off everything, I can attest that it actually is rewarding re-gearing, while 'hopefully' keeping in mind the things you like or disliked and made use of or never used in your previous basses, amp and effects.

Almost... makes the loss of money from juggling the gear worth-while... almost... if you don't add it all up.


.

 

[Rev. Cornelius]

Jimmy: Your really enjoying this, aren't you.

 

[GBassNorth]

can you elaborate further? not sure exactly what that means.

JimmyM - first let me restate - I am an Ampeg man and I really do respect your opinions and knowledge on all that is ampeg. I'm still looking for the perfect fliptop for some stuido work I'm planning.

All that said, my first practice amp was an ampeg combo and I just kinda got hooked on the tone. Nothing else really sounds exactly like an Ampeg rig to me. I tried some other tone monsters (i.e. the Aguilar DB750/GS412 combo and the Mesa 400+/Mesa610, etc.) but never found anything that spoke to me like an ampeg. So I traded in my main rigs and bought an new Ampeg SVT-VR (looked for a mint condition blue line but gave up after a few months). I paired up the SVT-VR with my Berg HT322 (a really great smaller cab) and liked how the Berg let the Ampeg sound come thru without coloring it too much but the HT322 was much too hifi for the SVT-VR, I wanted that classic early '70s rock tone.

So after reading a number of posts on TB that compared the NV610 favorabily with the Ampeg 810 I took a low cost plunge on a used rat fur NV610 in mint condition. Knowing how much I like the classic Ampeg sound I figured if I didn't like the Berg I could flip it out for what I paid.

I played thru that for well over a year and really liked the sound and volume I got with it. About a year ago I wondered what I was missing by not having an 810 so I went to Guitar Center and bought one new (this was in the last year and it was new, so I assume it was an 810e) I hooked it up along side the NV610 and played the hell out of both of them with the SVT-VR for the better part of a week.

I used every type of guitar I have (vintage P bass, Pedulla fretless, Alembic, Stingray's, Jazz basses, Reverend rumblefish, single coil teles, acoustic electric, 4 strings, 5 strings, active, passive, round wounds, tapewounds, flat wounds - heck I even ran my stratocaster and les paul guitars thru them).

In nearly every case the NV610 had the same Ampeg snarl, growl, punch and feel of the Ampeg 810. I even set them to the same sound levels in a studio environment, turned my back on them and had my wife swap cables back and forth. It was difficult to tell them apart, in fact I wasn't even sure which one was the Ampeg or the Berg. But I did notice that one of them consistantly had a slightly more distinct or slightly more well defined tone. That's the one I chose - it was the Bergantino NV610.

So in my experience the NV610 is an Ampeg 810 knockoff in every regard except looks and bulk. I do like the looks of the Ampeg better and wish my Berg grill matched my SVT-VR grill. I've thought about getting some Ampeg grill cloth and putting it on the Berg but haven't done it yet.

The only test that I never got a chance to do was an Ampeg 810 vs Berg 610 outdoor full volume chest pound. I do wonder if the Berg with 2 less speakers and the associated lack of surface area could keep up the the Ampeg.

Again, I'm an Ampeg guy and the reason I bought the Berg was it sounded like the Ampeg and was lighter and less bulky. The tonal differences we're not huge. Had it not sounded like the Ampeg I wouldn't have kept it.

 

[Devo-lution]

/Hippie mode/ Why can't we all get along? Why don't we see there is inherent beauty to both cabs. Each one is beautiful in its own way /Hippie mode off/

 

[Surly]

There is a lot of love for the Berg's all over this forum. Nobody has been unhappy with them.

 

[Tim1]

Having owned both, although not at the same time, I suspect that the Berg might fart out a little before the Ampeg. I have noticed a couple of times with my Berg 610 when running the VR into it that if I really push it the speakers seem to protest a little. Now I am talking real loud here, and other cabs would object also but my memory tells me that my old 810 handled being pushed hard a little easier. That said, given the choice I woild take the Berg over the Ampeg - and I would take the Berg NV215 over the NV610 any day too!

 

[JimmyM]

JimmyM - first let me restate - I am an Ampeg man and I really do respect your opinions and knowledge on all that is ampeg. I'm still looking for the perfect fliptop for some stuido work I'm planning.

All that said, my first practice amp was an ampeg combo and I just kinda got hooked on the tone. Nothing else really sounds exactly like an Ampeg rig to me. I tried some other tone monsters (i.e. the Aguilar DB750/GS412 combo and the Mesa 400+/Mesa610, etc.) but never found anything that spoke to me like an ampeg. So I traded in my main rigs and bought an new Ampeg SVT-VR (looked for a mint condition blue line but gave up after a few months). I paired up the SVT-VR with my Berg HT322 (a really great smaller cab) and liked how the Berg let the Ampeg sound come thru without coloring it too much but the HT322 was much too hifi for the SVT-VR, I wanted that classic early '70s rock tone.

So after reading a number of posts on TB that compared the NV610 favorabily with the Ampeg 810 I took a low cost plunge on a used rat fur NV610 in mint condition. Knowing how much I like the classic Ampeg sound I figured if I didn't like the Berg I could flip it out for what I paid.

I played thru that for well over a year and really liked the sound and volume I got with it. About a year ago I wondered what I was missing by not having an 810 so I went to Guitar Center and bought one new (this was in the last year and it was new, so I assume it was an 810e) I hooked it up along side the NV610 and played the hell out of both of them with the SVT-VR for the better part of a week.

I used every type of guitar I have (vintage P bass, Pedulla fretless, Alembic, Stingray's, Jazz basses, Reverend rumblefish, single coil teles, acoustic electric, 4 strings, 5 strings, active, passive, round wounds, tapewounds, flat wounds - heck I even ran my stratocaster and les paul guitars thru them).

In nearly every case the NV610 had the same Ampeg snarl, growl, punch and feel of the Ampeg 810. I even set them to the same sound levels in a studio environment, turned my back on them and had my wife swap cables back and forth. It was difficult to tell them apart, in fact I wasn't even sure which one was the Ampeg or the Berg. But I did notice that one of them consistantly had a slightly more distinct or slightly more well defined tone. That's the one I chose - it was the Bergantino NV610.

So in my experience the NV610 is an Ampeg 810 knockoff in every regard except looks and bulk. I do like the looks of the Ampeg better and wish my Berg grill matched my SVT-VR grill. I've thought about getting some Ampeg grill cloth and putting it on the Berg but haven't done it yet.

The only test that I never got a chance to do was an Ampeg 810 vs Berg 610 outdoor full volume chest pound. I do wonder if the Berg with 2 less speakers and the associated lack of surface area could keep up the the Ampeg.

Again, I'm an Ampeg guy and the reason I bought the Berg was it sounded like the Ampeg and was lighter and less bulky. The tonal differences we're not huge. Had it not sounded like the Ampeg I wouldn't have kept it.

interesting. well i'm looking forward to trying one in the nf. so far nobody's taken me up on the offer to ab with my flatback, though.

btw, don't get me wrong...i'm not saying that the berg isn't a great cab by any means. but to beat the flatback is a pretty big claim.

 

[Mark Reccord]

interesting. well i'm looking forward to trying one in the nf. so far nobody's taken me up on the offer to ab with my flatback, though.

btw, don't get me wrong...i'm not saying that the berg isn't a great cab by any means. but to beat the flatback is a pretty big claim.

I have done the direct comparison between an old squareback in great condition, an SLM 810e and my NV610 all driven by my '76 SVT. We came to the conclusion that the NV and the squareback were essentially sonically identical with the only difference being that the NV dealt with a B-string a bit more gracefully at stupid volume. Both cabs sounded a lot better than the 810e. Like unbelievably better. The NV wins for me because it's smaller, lighter and easier to move around. Though I'm finding that a bit tough these days with a screwed up back.

Haven't tried a Heritage yet, but for it to come close to either of the other cabs, they would have had to vastly improve it with respect to their other recent 810 cabs.

I'm going to be in Florida in May, but I don't think they'll let me carry the NV610 onto the plane.

 

[GregC]

interesting. well i'm looking forward to trying one in the nf. so far nobody's taken me up on the offer to ab with my flatback, though.

btw, don't get me wrong...i'm not saying that the berg isn't a great cab by any means. but to beat the flatback is a pretty big claim.

I bet Bass Central has at least one NV610.

 

[metron]

I have done the direct comparison between an old squareback in great condition, an SLM 810e and my NV610 all driven by my '76 SVT. We came to the conclusion that the NV and the squareback were essentially sonically identical with the only difference being that the NV dealt with a B-string a bit more gracefully at stupid volume.

Your comparison was primarily the one I recall. I found another NV flatback 810 comparison where the person preferred the 810 solely because it was taller. If they perform about equally then it's no wonder why the NV 610 is a winner. It is better than the flatback 810 because it does the same thing and is smaller and lighter.

So in conclusion, Amos you should get the Berg NV 610 over the Ampeg 810 because the only thing you will be missing is height, weight, grillcloth, and a legendary brand name. Sorry I still can't comment on the BBE effect loop.

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

When exactly *did* Ampeg go bad?
When exactly did they become born-again-good?

 

[JimmyM]

I bet Bass Central has at least one NV610.

bass central also yells at you to turn down when someone's on the phone, and someone's always on the phone

 

[JimmyM]

When exactly *did* Ampeg go bad?
When exactly did they become born-again-good?

the second part is easy...late 2008 when they fired the former head idiot jaime engen and put pyotr belov in charge.

the first part is not so easy...in 98 they switched to osb for the cabs. in 2000 they switched speaker cones in the 810e. the osb thing was finally rectified in 2005, but the speaker cones didn't improve until like 2006 or 2007 when the first imported cabs came out.