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Double Bass Which Berg for upright, HT112 or AE112?

B String

B String

Apr 11, 2002
5,318
1,268
Los Angeles
#1
I have an HT112 now. I like it, although its a bit heavy for its size. It also hasn't got enough lows to be a good doubling cab.

I'm thinking of getting an AE112 a guy is offering to replace the HT112. I haven't played used one, so I'm going on faith.

What's the consensus? The Berg HT112 or the AE112?
 
#2
I have not tried my AE112 on upright, but my guess is that I would slightly prefer it to my HT112 (with most amps). The HT112 is a bit of an odd bird, IME, when it comes to upright. With some heads, it sounds great, and with others, it's a tad too dark, and with yet others, it's too mid forward. I believe that pairing it up with an AI Focus was one of the better combinations we had down at Phil's GTG in Columbus some years back. But the HT112 was not the darling of the show by a long shot. The IP112, on the other hand, was amazing with upright (the Summit TD-100 was great with the IP112!).

The AE112 is more open through the mids and more extended down low, relative to the HT112. When I get a chance, I'll give it a try with my upright.

Tom.
 
#3
tombowlus said:
I have not tried my AE112 on upright, but my guess is that I would slightly prefer it to my HT112 (with most amps). The HT112 is a bit of an odd bird, IME, when it comes to upright. With some heads, it sounds great, and with others, it's a tad too dark, and with yet others, it's too mid forward. I believe that pairing it up with an AI Focus was one of the better combinations we had down at Phil's GTG in Columbus some years back. But the HT112 was not the darling of the show by a long shot. The IP112, on the other hand, was amazing with upright (the Summit TD-100 was great with the IP112!).

The AE112 is more open through the mids and more extended down low, relative to the HT112. When I get a chance, I'll give it a try with my upright.

Tom.
Click to expand...

Thanks Tom. The thing I like about the HT for upright is that it hasn't got a huge low end to fight with, like my Epi UL112. The HT112 is more focused yet warm. I'm sort of surprised more guys haven't tried the AE112 with the upright.

Instead of my Focus, I'm going to try the Genz 9.0 with the HT this weekend. I think it might me a good match.
 
#7
First things first: Are we talking about an HT112, or an HT112ER?

Get back on that, but in the meantime, the AE112 is an EXCELLENT upright cab. Uprights tend to be much more fickle as to what cabs/amps/pickups sound good when paired with them, but when Jim was still making the AE line, that 112 was my go-to whenever someone came in to demo upright cabs. The transparency and upper-mid/treble presence really allowed for an open, organic, woody tone.

That said, it's not 100%. As I mentioned, uprights can be fickle birds about amplification, so in many instances, what I thought LEAST suited a certain bass ended up sounding better than anything else in the shop...go figure.

Hope that helps. Just as some people may be interested in this as a broader discussion of upright rigs in general, the new Epifani UL3-112 is fantastic new upright option. It has many similar flat, transparent sounds that I used to love coming out of the AE112.
 
#8
As far as I know, all the posts above are talking about the HT112, not the ER.
Its a funny thing. I sent a friend of mine in to you guys to get an AE112 for his upright. He much prefered the Genz 112 box.
Go figure.

I'll believe you on the Epi UL112-3, but for me the original UL112 was not working at all. Just too big and open for what I was looking for. Having said that, I still loved my 9x4.5 box the most for upright. Full range and quick! Not usable with the electric bass though.
 
#9
I've had both the ht112 and ae112. I double and I've kept the ae112, its a hands down winner for me for both instruments. I've used lots of different heads with the ae112 and all sound fantastic with both upright and electric. For me its mostly low mids that give me problems with the upright and the ht112 had lots of those going on as opposed to the ae112 which has that high mid grind.
 
#10
B String said:
As far as I know, all the posts above are talking about the HT112, not the ER.
Its a funny thing. I sent a friend of mine in to you guys to get an AE112 for his upright. He much prefered the Genz 112 box.
Go figure.

I'll believe you on the Epi UL112-3, but for me the original UL112 was not working at all. Just too big and open for what I was looking for. Having said that, I still loved my 9x4.5 box the most for upright. Full range and quick! Not usable with the electric bass though.
Click to expand...

Yeah, there's definitely no 100% "right" cab for anything; there are too many variables. And I can totally see where you're coming from on the UL2-112. It was much more bottom heavy, and while it was very open, it's a far more "cushy" cab than either the UL3 or the AE. More often than not, I find you need a nice, hard-edged sound to really bring out all the nuances in an upright.

PS, thanks for the referral--check's in the mail!
 
#11
saxmachine777 said:
Yeah, there's definitely no 100% "right" cab for anything; there are too many variables. And I can totally see where you're coming from on the UL2-112. It was much more bottom heavy, and while it was very open, it's a far more "cushy" cab than either the UL3 or the AE. More often than not, I find you need a nice, hard-edged sound to really bring out all the nuances in an upright.

PS, thanks for the referral--check's in the mail!
Click to expand...

My pleasure. I hear good things about you guys.
 

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