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I’m not in love


Tubster
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I’ve got an Aguilar th 500 paired with 2 Bergantino cn 112s. Don’t like it and can’t get a sound I’m comfortable with. It was hastily assembled in the US as we moved to Spain and I never had a chance to try it. I have bought an AER AMP THREE which is great for smaller venues but i have tried the Ag and Bergs several times to cover bigger venues but on each occasion struggled to get a sound that pleases me (or the other band members!). We play covers from: Stevie Wonder, Prince, Doobies, Beatles, Elvi, Johnny Cash, ac|dc etc. Using a Mike Lull pj passive with occasional p and j basses.

What’s wrong with the sound? Woofy, flat, lack of zing, dull. No that’s not much help!

So there seems to be a mismatch. Is it the amp or the speakers....or me?! 

in the past I have enjoyed pairings of Bag End 15s and Markbass lm2, Eden 800 and 410xlt,

So what to try, what to change? Would welcome your input.

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The head has a smoother top end and I believe some sort of rounding off of the higher frequencies. The CN cabinets are awesome but do have a bump in the upper mids that may also be part of the problem. I found that this combination (though I had the CN212) liked top heavy drive and distortion a great deal. I wouldn't go for a mellow bass tone or flat wounds with this combination personally unless I took some of the lows out and kept the drive dial right down. The treble knob is around 4khz, so it wouldn't hurt to push that a bit higher than usual. Interestingly my Berg HD112 cabinets, I set the tweeter control at +3 as I too like a bit of brightness that would be afforded by the likes of MarkBass and Eden heads.

The amp is great but I'd say swap that out first for something a bit more 'hi fi'. Hopefully you'll get a chance to try something else out before you part with any cash!

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Wondering whether a good preamp pedal with EQ + drive may be the solution here? 

Otherwise an amp with on board drive set low to bring a bit of sparkle? (Eg the DG M900 + microtubes seems to love my passive Yamaha B1025 set to P). 

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No, that would be a pretty expensive option and not sure it would give a big enough sound or make the most economic sense. But sure, it’s true I like the sound of one. Probably going for the sound of 3x but not at 3x the cost - close to €5k!

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8 minutes ago, Tubster said:

No, that would be a pretty expensive option and not sure it would give a big enough sound or make the most economic sense. But sure, it’s true I like the sound of one. Probably going for the sound of 3x but not at 3x the cost - close to €5k!

Well if you sell the Aguilar and Bergs it should be no extra cost at all to buy a second AER - and I think it should be as loud as that rig... Just saying, if you know what you like then it might be financially better in the long run to buy that from the beginning than trying other stuff based on suggestions on the net (not sure how much hi-end gear you can try in Spain).

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1 hour ago, Tubster said:

Any suggestions for Pre-Amp pedals Al?

Here's a quick summary of decent preamps - with BC admirers for each. A lot of these are quite spendy; great if you can pick up one in good condition second hand - they do come up fairly regularly in the Effects FS section.

DG AO Ultra (probably the best of the DG preamps, but £££)

Dave Hall's DHA VT1-Pro 

Tech 21 Q\Strip (tasty para EQ options)

Tech21 VTDI

Tech 21 Paradriver v2 

Ampeg SCR DI (really nice EQ, but IMHO the dirt doesn't come anywhere close to something like the Two Notes)

Mesa Subway DI 

Two Notes Le Bass (I had this. Excellent dirt / drive and decent clean EQ but with limited mids tone shaping - need to dial back the bass and treble on the clean Channel A to effectively boost the mids. Only complaint from folk seems to be a lack of aux in)

Several of these (e.g. VT1-Pro and Ampeg SCR) also have aux in and headphones out so can double up as a quality portable headphone practice amp, which is a nice additional feature.

Edited by Al Krow
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3 hours ago, Dragonlord said:

Well if you sell the Aguilar and Bergs it should be no extra cost at all to buy a second AER - and I think it should be as loud as that rig... Just saying, if you know what you like then it might be financially better in the long run to buy that from the beginning than trying other stuff based on suggestions on the net (not sure how much hi-end gear you can try in Spain).

Yes I understand your thinking but it has led me to another thought - why duplicate the pres and why not connect to a powered cab or one of the many suggested frfr solutions? Thinking out loud here!

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If it's possible, I'd try the cabs paired with a Berg B Amp (with and without the amp's CN profiles).  I think Berg are certainly on to something with the B Amp - there's a very versatile drive in the software too if necessary.  I think that Dood's words are wise ones - the B Amp could be an excellent solution, and great cabs if you can get them to work for your needs.

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