Wiggybass

Right, I have a cunning plan! Just waiting on a couple of components, will post pics when it's all done. Gosh this is exciting!

Aha!! That could be good - where do you get them?

I can only offer the evidence of ears and those of my band mates - with a flat side of any of the cabs on the deck there is s***loads more bass, on the wheels there is far less, with the same amp settings. I don't know the physics well enough to argue it but it's real... Anyway, still looking for a solution! The cabs all have covers so a side-mounted 'board isn't really a runner though I haven't ruled it out yet. I have a horrible feeling it's going to wind up being a sack barrow...

Excellent! I've done that with the 410 and it almost works too well, done it a couple of times on sloping stages where I couldn't leave the cab on its wheels and almost knocked the drummist off stage. It's a possibility but the other cab is a tall 2 x 12 and it's main advantage is that it puts out a huge racket in a very small footprint, but on its side it would be huge (missus). There's no question that ground proximity has a massive effect on effective frequency response below a certain point and even the size of the footprint makes a difference - my 410 on its side sounds completely different to the same cab on its wheels or even upside down. I also have a Berg' 1 x 12 which I use for small gigs and it's pretty good on its wheels but on its side it'll keep up with our drummer no problem. It's definitely a thing, though it does also depend on what the cab is sitting on.

Hi all Has anyone come up with a simple and effective way of attaching wheel boards to cabs such that they can also be removed easily? I use a pair of Bergantino cabs and I've made sturdy wheel boards for both, using heavy-duty ply and 3" wheel flightcase castors. They work great in terms of moving the cabs around but they also de-couple the cabs from the floor which (obviously) reduces the low-frequency response significantly - ideally I need to find a way of being able to get the wheels on and off easily so I can stand the cabs on the floor once at the gig but still use them to move the beasts before and after. I can't find plug-in castors that are big enough (the blue-wheel versions I use now are good even on rough surfaces) and I'd prefer not to drill big holes in the base of the cabs anyway. At present the wheelboards are secured via the holes that originally held the screws for the big rubber feet so they can be returned to original spec if necessary. Any ideas very welcome! Wiggybass

I'm guessing that your mixing console has a single phantom power on / off button which will switch the +48v supply on to all the channels fitted with XLR inputs when activated. Unless you are using a condenser microphone or a professional-spec DI box then leave the phantom off as it will serve no purpose. If you do connect something that needs phantom power to operate (and this will be made clear in the spec and packaging) then you will have to turn the phantom on at the desk for it to work. If this is the case then you need to be sure that anything else you connect to one of the inputs is phantom-tolerant. Most things will not be affected at all but some cheap dynamic mics might not like it. Depending on the quality of your guitar amp, its DI output may also not like seeing +48v. Typically guitarists don't use only a DI feed from an amp to record as it will be very dry and sterile, but it's not uncommon to use a DI feed along with a mic (or mics) in front of the cabinet then mix to taste. Bass guitars are easier to DI (both for live and recording) because of the frequency range they produce but again you'll probably need to mic the cab as well to get a true representation of your bass sound.

[quote name='Bergantino Audio' timestamp='1506530731' post='3379399'] I just wanted to chime in on this topic to help eliminate any confusion. The short answer is yes, we are now selling factory direct into the UK marketplace. Mark at Bass Direct has been a great dealer for us over the years and a personal friend. Unfortunately, as has been mentioned in this thread, economic conditions, especially due to the dollar exchange, have changed quite dramatically over the last year or so, which doesn't present US based companies with a very competitive landscape to do business in. The two options for us was do nothing, which means no business, or offering our products direct to consumers to help make them more competitive for UK based players. You can contact us directly at [email protected] for more specific information and pricing on our products and also look out for future advertising on this forum better showcasing our products. For any and all other bass needs please keep reaching out to Mark at Bass Direct for best selection and service. Regards, Jim Bergantino [/quote] Thanks very much indeed Jim, good of you to take the time - love your work by the way!

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1506463721' post='3378996'] Isn't that just the USA factory direct? [/quote] Yup - in Maryland

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1506449465' post='3378863'] Its a Berg cab. What can go wrong ? Well built solid cabs with great speakers. Unless you really are over-driving them to destruction which i doubt as most people that buy Berg cabs tend to look after their gear. The cross-overs if fitted should be repairable by any decent electronics repairer. Same with the plugs and sockets. Not sure why you're worrying yourself so much. ? Dave [/quote] You're right, of course - but hey, everyone needs a hobby!

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1506430743' post='3378665'] I would imagine you certainly do have support in the UK. Either an ongoing support from BD, if you bought your cabs there or from Bergantino themselves. Call the Berg dealership directly and find out the answers to your questions. [/quote] Which one? You know of another in the UK?

[quote name='dmccombe7' timestamp='1506347802' post='3378069'] Maybe Mark could offer some clarification if he's still on BC. I know he used to reply to some posts. Pretty sure he has genuine reasons for moving to other cab manufacturers. Profit ? Value for Money ? Supply of products ? Exchange rates ? Could be a number of things. Dave [/quote] Indeed it could and to be fair to him it's probably none of my / our business. My concern arises mainly from the fact that I am dedicated Berg user with three cabs that get gigged a lot and not having any kind of support domestically makes me a bit nervous, that's all.

Having run an international distributor network for a UK-based electronics manufacturer for several years, I can say with confidence that there are at least two sides to this story...

I suspect that Berg in the US are using that instruction on their website as an interim measure until a new UK representative is appointed - it's possible to bring pretty much anything in from the US if you have the time and money but it's a real faff and the shipping costs could be horrendous. It would be a great pity IMO if Berg did not have a proper dealer or distributor here.

I notice that Bass Direct are no longer listing Bergantino on their website and Berg' themselves invite UK customers to contact them for direct sales (page [url="http://bergantino.com/authorized-dealers/"]HERE[/url]). Wonder what happened there? Just hope I don't need support any time soon for my cabs...

Main rig for noisy rock 'n roll purposes is a P or J-Bass > Boss GE7-B > Boss TU-2 > Darkglass B7K Ultra > Sansamp RBI > Markbass head, all powered by a T-Rex Fuel Tank. The pedals all live on a board that goes on top of the SKB rack holding the amp and RBI. The graphic is there to boost input for the slightly quieter J if needed, only occasionally used for EQ if everything else has failed. The Sansamp provides a good DI output so when we go into a decent PA I use the EQ on that to colour the direct feed if necessary, then use the EQ on the Markbass for my stage sound - in practice, both sets of EQ are usually dead flat, sometimes a little bass off via the RBI. The blend on the RBI is off so only the EQ and main / XLR outputs are active, I find it just adds a little brightness to the sound and allows me to trim the input level to the amp easily regardless of what's going on before it. To be honest, everything changed for me when I got my first Darkglass pedal, a B3K - it's a bit corny but as soon as I plugged it in, that was the sound I'd been hearing in my head for years. Top end growl and presence aplenty with a clean, hefty low end, absolutely perfect for me and especially with a P-Bass. I bought the B7K Ultra simply because it has a master volume which just makes trimming levels that bit easier, especially when the gain is wound up. I have to say though that this rig sounds bloody terrible with every active bass I've tried so far, especially a Stingray. What the Darkglass does so well is reproduce playing dynamics - as you dig in then back off it just follows you. For our more mellow tunes I back off the tone on the bass a bit and again it sounds great, you just lose some top end bark while still sounding very natural. I don't use effects much but when I do they are all modulation-based (a flanger, phaser and envelope filter) so I rigged up a simple send and return cable for the FX loop of the Sansamp, sounds infinitely better than running them inline.

I've been watching the pro audio forums since this fiasco first broke. As in most situations there is probably a grain of truth in everyone's story but I can say this for certain: * The sound company was Maryland Sound, one of the most respected providers in the US and the company who have done the Times Square NYE event for 20 years, in addition to dozens of other national-profile events including the Presidential Inauguration. * Their team would have been on site many hours before La Carey and part of their routine would have been to conduct an RF scan to secure frequencies suitable for use that evening. They would undoubtedly have had backup systems in place for [i]everything[/i] and there was definitely a row of wedges on stage which were on and working. Frankly I'd bet my house that every single piece of audio gear on that stage was not only working perfectly (as stated by Maryland's MD Bob Goldstein in an email to the New York Times) but was also being operated by hugely experienced professionals at the top of their game. * In pro-audio it is not what happens to you - it's how you react to it. Real audio professionals get to be that by dealing with the unexpected every day and I assure you, this situation was nothing that they hadn't handled before, many times. Those guys would have done absolutely everything humanly possible to bring that show in, that's what they do. * There are numerous references to the backing tracks being different to what Ms Carey was expecting, not different songs but different mixes (i.e. with varying amounts of her vocal on - allegedly she prefers to avoid the high notes now). Personally I think it's probable that the sound company played the tracks they'd been given in good faith but they were, for some reason, not what she was expecting. * It's also apparent that she didn't show up for the pre-show run-through, getting a stand-in to do that for her. How effective that might be I'll leave to the reader's own judgement. And yes, I do work in professional audio and no, I am not impressed by 'talent' who can't even sing their own bloody songs, even if they have got a great arse. Rant over.

After years of faffing about with PSUs for pedal boards I discovered this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Diago-Micropower9-PS10-universal-supply/dp/B006GOX01A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478953680&sr=8-1&keywords=diago+power I now have a few for various things and they're great - noise-free, cheap as chips, light and reasonably robust. They also provide up to 1000mA at 9v which is enough to drive most pedalboards. Recommended.

I've had both and sold both. The Duality is an awesome fuzz pedal - 'Hysteria' in a box(!) - but that's all it does, it is not an overdrive. The Aftershock provided lots of programming fun, with dual / combining channels etc but in the end it is a digital device and sounds like it. For my money, nothing comes close to the Darkglass pedals for controllable, natural-sounding overdrive. I mostly use a B7K with a P-Bass and it never fails to deliver, bringing focus and definition that gives my bass its own space in a noisy twin guitar rock band. They're expensive but good stuff always is.