Nemesis NC410 - getting practical

[bucephylus]

OK, I took the NC-410 out for a set with the band last night. To say the least, it was enormously successful. We were playing in a pretty typical medium room, with all other instruments mic'd or DI'd into the substantial PA, and the kick mic'd but not the whole kit. The bass was not run into the PA and had to fend for itself.

No Problem. Clear, strong bass, great mids...pretty much all I could ask for. For all my nearly 4 decades playing experience, this amp has the most good solid tone for the weight and convenience I have yet encountered. Being able to get this kind of tone out of such a small and simple rig is just great.

The only issue I noticed is that the amp surface seriously heats up playing a straight set of tunes. You could fry eggs on this thing after a set. I'm glad it has the cooling fins. I suppose that, being already 10 years old, it has passed the reliability worrisome stage, but...

Anyway, this is pretty dead center for what I think a lot of bass players are looking for to do those standard club gigs. I am a bit surprised that there are not more designs on this platform. My only wish is that it should be a little more sturdy; but, I suppose that would add weight. Oh well, life sure is tough.

 

[Petebass]

Another satisfied customer. I told you it's under-rated

 

[bucephylus]

OK, last installment: I used the NC-410 for 4 sets Friday night. Flew in from Austin at 7 PM, drove home; boom, amp in the trunk, change, off to the gig. Easy in, Easy out, compliments, compliments, compliments for the tone from bandmembers, audience, etc. etc.

I am inclined to conclude that this is the most all round practical piece of amplification gear I've ever used. I've got bigger stuff I like more, but this will get the week in, week out call for duty. Its a keeper.

 

[tombowlus]

I'd be amazed if the Eden 2 - 2x12's didn't completely kick for you.

+1 That is one of my favorite Eden cabs (the 210XST and CXC-110 being the other two). I gigged with a 212XLT (paired with a Mesa Boogie Deisel 4x10) for years, and it served me well.

 

[innobidova]

It seems a shame Eden has sent the manufacturing over to China and decided to let it become a budget thing rather than improving it. A pro take on this profile doesn't exist and would most likely be pretty successful.

There's nothing shameful about companies as proficient as Eden trying to expand. It was an improvement to address the overheating issue, and I don't think they'd have moved to China if it meant having to deal with similar faults down the road. I'm considering the purchase of a new NC410, and I loathe any bit of disheartening speculation being tossed just for the sake of small talk. Please don't take this as a call out but rather a lowly expression of self-assuredness for my own sake. Toodles!

 

[bucephylus]

There's nothing shameful about companies as proficient as Eden trying to expand. It was an improvement to address the overheating issue, and I don't think they'd have moved to China if it meant having to deal with similar faults down the road. I'm considering the purchase of a new NC410, and I loathe any bit of disheartening speculation being tossed just for the sake of small talk. Please don't take this as a call out but rather a lowly expression of self-assuredness for my own sake. Toodles!

That's an OK call-out. I didn't really communicate what I meant. I have no idea what the Chinese manufacturing quality is - it might be terrific. I have zero data. What I meant to communicate (but did a bad job with) was that I'm sufficiently impressed with the format, that I would love to see a high quality US version with real attention to detail vs. more mass market focused. I hope that makes sense.

I would add that I took this "rig" out for the gig last night and worked as desired - perfect. The one thing I am trying to figure out with the amp is that if I put my BP8 preamp signal into it, it seems to choke the sound and make the resulting sound over compressed. It's not the settings on the BP8 because I don't use the compression - just something about the input on the NC. I'll have to work this out off line tonight or tomorrow to figure out what is going on.

 

[Jehos]

I gigged with one of these for a long while until I loaned it out once and it came back fried. Beware that the ones with fins can also overheat and die on you. I still have mine, just haven't been to a repair shop to have it fixed yet.

I agree with the other statements above that it's a huge amount of amp for your money. I loved playing with mine, and I bought it used for I think $400 several years ago.