fretmeister

[quote name='Naetharu' timestamp='1442145719' post='2864637'] Out of interest, what's the deal with the mids on the EQ here - odd that it's only for cutting them? [/quote] A lot do that without telling you! Or at least the 12 O clock position is not flat but already reduced.

Flats?

From Berg website: Why B|AMP? September 11, 2015/in Blog /by Bergantino Audio Before any engineer worth his or her weight puts pen to paper to start any design, he or she needs to ask themselves one very simple question: “Why?” In fact, that’s exactly the first question a venture capitalist would ask a would-be entrepreneur looking for investment money… “Why X?” For years I’ve been asked by dealers to produce a Bass Amplifier. My response was always “the industry doesn’t need another ‘Me Too’ product with another off-the-shelf power module with another voiced preamp”. The multitude of preamp voicings reminds me of my old hi-fi days when department stores had shelves lined with speaker cabinets. The most successful manufacturers of those ‘lo-fi’ speakers knew that they had at most 5-10 seconds to impress a potential customer before they moved on to the next speaker system. So what did they do? They voiced their speakers to have the boomiest bass and most sizzly treble. Why? Because they knew, given a very short audition time, this approach would put their speaker’s sound out in front of their competitors. What the unaware customer did not know was once they got these speakers home, what they initially thought was the most exciting speaker in the store would soon turn out to be the most un-enjoyable and fatiguing speaker to listen to at home! Anyone who has listened to a very well designed and engineered hi-fi system knows that a balanced, low distortion system, always wins out in the end for a long term and enjoyable, musical listening experience. As I’ve watched and observed many bass amplifier designs evolve over the years, I can’t help but wonder if any of these manufacturers truly understand the relationship between the amp and speaker system they are attempting to power. This explains why most of them are just using their existing or slightly modified preamps, some from as far back as the ‘60s and ‘70s, and just adding a lightweight, class D power module to it. Kind of reminds me of Einstein’s definition of insanity (“doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”). So how can the same tone controls, with fixed frequencies and q’s, EQ different speakers with different frequency responses, to sound balanced, if the electrical response of the EQ is constant, but each speaker’s acoustic response is different? The simple answer is they can’t! It’s like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole! How many times have you read on the news groups and blogs that this amp works great with that speaker but no so much with this one and vice versa? That’s because one amp’s EQ points may better match one speaker’s response than another’s, but it’s still not very close, just “better”. To think of all the time these manufacturers spend trying to voice their preamps, choosing EQ filter type, q’s, and frequencies that either offer the best compromise between all their different speaker models, or worse, basing their EQ choices on specific players with specific basses and speakers! But wait a minute… I thought these were tone controls, not speaker EQs. Exactly! And herein lies the problem. Most players don’t even realize they’re actually using their tone controls to try and EQ their speakers long before they are even EQ’ing their tone. And unfortunately, we believe most manufacturers don’t understand this either. Tone controls, with their typically wide q’s, or broad shelving filters, are no more useful to EQ’ing a speaker than are mudguards on a tortoise! You may be thinking right about now of all the time and money you’ve spent over the years, chasing your tail, searching for that tone in your head, not even realizing that you were trying to solve this very problem. And unfortunately, not even knowing there wasn’t a solution to this problem…until now! So “Why B|AMP?” Very simple. As an engineering company we’ve identified a real world problem, and are offering a real world solution to it. That’s what the Profile concept and system is all about. We’re EQ’ing the response of your speaker for you, with very precise filters, unique to each model, based on actual, real world acoustical measurements. So now you can focus on EQ’ing your tone, and not your speaker. And the only way to implement this concept is with a 21st century amplifier architecture, utilizing the latest in DSP technology along with an embedded system to control the process. No other bass amplifier on the market has the power and control over the entire system’s response and user experience than the B|AMP. And we believe that few, if any, other bass amplifier manufacturer understands the very nature of this problem like we do nor possesses the technology to solve it."

PJB has just told me there is NO FAN! Now I'm excited!

http://stores.soundislandmusic.com/phil-jones-bass-d-400/ His Facebook feed is going on about power section welly and having the most balls of the D amps. We shall see!

Ooo shiny Review please! Any idea on the compression ratios available?

The only thing I can thing of is that the compressor might not be in the right place in the signal chain for you if it is in the amp.

Damn it. With every video I want it more. EDIT - I imagine the fan noise will be the deciding point for me. I've been spoiled rotten with my no-fan Demeter.

I forgot about Skjold. I've played a couple and they were very nice - the headstock is a bit ugly, but I'm not bothered about looks. (but I do love the Marleaux look! )

Demeter amp Super clean and clear There are two models, 800W and 400W http://www.bassgear.co.uk/product-category/bass-amps-and-cabs/demeter/ Cabs - Bergantino CN series. http://bergantino.com/product/cn210-loudspeaker/ I use the 12 inch version of the cabs with the 800W amp. It is very clean, with a sensible eq (no real extremes) and allows the sound of each of my basses to come though naturally. It also takes my pedal board really well.

Marleaux Consat Custom. I've only played 1 Fodera, and it was lovely, but for me anyway it wasn't any better (not even a little) than my Marleaux. I would go as far as saying that the difference in price points is purely down to mental rent that Fodera have to pay in New York.

Best Singer. Good stage presence and confidence is sexy and attractive in itself. If the other one is a good singer - then get her in on backing vocals.

Lawmower Deth's album "Ooo crikey it's..." Awesome playing, superb production, and very silly lyrics.

Lovely!

I might be able to do some iPhone clips - but that would be as good as it gets!

Nuts are often just stuck on plastic with 2 or 3 blobs of super glue. I've certainly popped a few off in the past and then stuck them on again. You could get a 2nd nut for a few quid and swap them if you want to try the strings

I'm liking them that much that I might put a set on a fretted bass too, just to see what happens.

I see on the bass direct site that the NG-2 is described as having a new neck shape. What's the difference between the NG-2 neck and the ABZ shape? I had an ABZ5 and it was lovely but the neck was just a bit too chunky for me - is the NG-2 slimmer, front to back? ta

TC Helicon MP 70 or 75 Brilliant product

Well cor blimey guvnor! What a sound. Apart from a small trip round a couple of other basschatters before it came back home I have owned a Status Energy for years - and had Rob build a fretless neck for it about 10 years ago. Most of the time I had Chromes on it, and sometimes light rounds. But after watching endless vids of Rob Allen basses strung with Black Nylons I thought I would give them a try. I went for the lighter set that was 50-65-85-105 - but even they the nut needed a little widening. I don't have any nut files so I stole my daughters metal nail file and took it slowly. They have much less tension than an all metal set of similar gauge but they sound immense - deep and plummy with the tone control all the way off, but still bright and slappable with it up. I should point out that the bass has a Quarter Pounder in it - in between the jazz pickups, with a separate output with a vol and tone. That's the pickup I use mostly. It's just awesome. I may well move up to the heavier set at some point but that will need more nut work as that set is 60-70-94-115. The music trust band I play with meets again in about 2 weeks, so I think I'm going to take this one with me and apologise for the wrong notes and excessive sliding. Also - it looks damn cool with black strings!

Well this thread was interesting. I've been playing for 27 years and I've never heard of being intentionally out of tune. I've heard of selecting individual notes that technically clash (usually by some prog band) and if heard of using microtones in music from different countries. But having the entire instrument out on purpose? I remain unconvinced and I can see why a listener would find it annoying. It would make my teeth itch.

Yes. On bass and then again on sax. Love it!

Weights and comparison https://www.hipshotproducts.com/files/all/ulite_weights.pdf

On a 5 string with old big plate tuners like a EBMM or Fender putting on Ultralites will knock off almost half a pound. That's why all my 5 strings have them! And as the weight saving is all at the end of the neck, the balance is much improved too.