Bergantino amp

I was unsure whether to add this to an existing thread (and which?), so I started a new thread.

I recently had a chance to hear the differences between two higher-end amp heads (with same-brand and somewhat comparable cabinets) and I was very pleasantly amazed by the sound of the Bergantino Forte head.

First, I really wanted to hear the Eich head - had been interested in it for a while. They had the T1000 there and a 2x12 Eich cab. Sounded alright, but not quite what I think I like, really (without exactly being able to pinpoint why). Then, I played through the Bergantino Forte and their cool 3x12 cab (two speakers in the front, one in the back!), and that sounded just so much better!

Now, this has a lot to do with my ears still being trained to hearing what the differences are, and then having my brain and lingual center find ways to express what I hear in language that could make sense to others, but - to me - the Eich sounded more “muddy” and the Bergantino sounded more “transparent” (using fairly neutral settings, of course).

The guy in the store said that the Eich focuses a lot more on bass and treble (he probably put it a bit better than that) and that it sounded great for players that dig in more, especially also for more aggressive slapping styles, like Ida Nielsen’s. While the Bergantino, on the hand, lets you hear all the nuances that your fingers might produce.

This was far from a thorough test, as I hadn’t really intended to test-drive amps (I had wanted to try a Sandberg bass), but it was an eye opener for me and pushed me a little closer to the sound I think I am looking for. That said, either of the two amps are pricey and the same goes for the cabs. Still, something exciting to explore more.

Anyone in here who got any experience with playing or testing any of the Bergantino amps?

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I’ve only played on a Bergantine once - I was demoing pickups at EMG and Bobby Vega had his basses and his rig all set up there.
Like, as I’m typing this… I’m realizing the dreamyness of the situation.
Younger me didn’t get it.

However!
The Bergantino was extraordinary. Very clear, very articulate, and a perfect tone machine.
Let me hear all the differences in the pickups I was trying.

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Thanks for sharing that story and your impressions, @Gio!

As an update: Bergantino just released a new version of the Forte - the Forte D (with Bergantino’s Big Fat Tube technology (to add some grit)). However, I haven’t been able to find any tests or demos yet…

In any case, it costs about a 1000 bucks :scream: :joy:

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:flushed:

:open_mouth:

Both of those statements are pretty damn cool. :sunglasses:

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Hellsyes they are :+1:

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There is a video on the Forte HP page… Forté HP Bass Amplifier

@DaveT and @terb might find this model interesting… B|AMP Bass Amplifier
It has a fully parametric four band EQ with variable high pass and low pass filters.

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Thanks, Eric! Yeah, there are videos for the other models, but not for the new Forte D yet! Apart from different wattages, they all have different features also - the Forte has a variable ratio compressor built in, while the Forte D has this Big Fat Tube technology, which sounds intriguing as well…

I guess the HP version might have all of it…

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My bad. I thought the HP also had the Big Fat Tube (BFT) technology but it uses Bergantino Smart Drive (BSD). It would be nice to hear what the difference sounds like.

If you would like to send me one, I’ll make a video all about it. :rofl:

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Thanks for looking out for me! This is at least the third piece of gear you’ve found that is exactly something I’d want to pay attention to. I do like the fully parametric feature on this. There’s no chance that knob doesn’t change what I wish it did.

I’m also intrigued by the “impedance compensation” in this amp. Depending on what they are doing this could be really interesting or nonsense. I’ve only known Powersoft to do something that may be like this. With bass the loudspeaker drivers are more difficult to control because they have so much momentum with their weight. It is possible to mathematically model the momentum of the driver and adjust the drive signal to compensate.

The other thing it seems they talk about is cabinet compensation rather than cabinet sim. Now this to me is also interesting. I was going to mention this idea in another thread about FRFR cabinets. Cab sims don’t usually work so well coming out of a cabinet because it’s like trying to paint a watercolor over a watercolor. However, if someone were to take the IR measurement of a cabinet, take the inverse of that IR and run it in a cab sim going to that cabinet, it could possibly be closer to a blank canvas. If a cabinet were reasonably high quality it could be turned into a FRFR by running the inverse of its IR. Then you could possibly run another cab sim on top of that one and turn it into something else (maybe, at least close).

Bergatino is using some language in their marketing (for both amps and cabinets) that sounds clever, but it’s hard to tell what they mean by it. I’m suspicious of more than a couple claims. That doesn’t mean, however, that it doesn’t sound fabulous. We have some good ears here saying it sounds good, so I’m willing to start with that.

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I find the idea intriguing. You have so much experience and I can’t EQ for a room to save my life. Since I live in an apartment it’s not something I even have the opportunity to experiment with. I also try to live vicariously through everyone else’s gear purchases.

Holy crap! I understood like 98% of that!

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I hope you are not referring to my ears here :joy: They are still in a serious training phase!

But, to me, the amp did sound great, and somehow I have a feeling Jim Bergantino knows all the stuff you are talking about and - marketing fluff aside - is probably very much attuned to what is doable and meaningful and what not. I bet you guys could hit it off over a beer or two :grin:

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Actually, you can kind of forget about the room for the most part when it comes to EQ. We are mostly setting EQ for the speaker and not for the room. If you have some terrible boomy resonance due to the room that’s making mud out of everything, you can take that down. It may be at the expense of the tone you want, but a sacrifice that must be made.

Training your ears you can do on a nice set of headphones or any home stereo speakers. Download an EQ app. Play back some music you have listened to a lot and love. Grab an EQ slider and pull it all the way down and listen. Push it all the way up and listen. Close your eyes and move it around and then put it back where it goes without opening your eyes to see where you are. Do that with each EQ slider. When you move it try to use words to describe to yourself how the sound has changed. What’s different about it. Does an instrument sound muffled? Did the piano lose part of its range? Do the toms ring out or do you just hear them being hit? Did an instrument disappear? You can also play this game in your DAW with an EQ plugin.

Over time you will learn what frequency numbers correspond to what result and you will know what slide to grab when you hear something happening you’ve heard before. What happens to your bass sound in the DAW if you grab 1 octave at 700 Hz and pull it all the way out? What happens if you grab 1 octave at 100 Hz and pull it all the way out?

The first easiest way to start is with a tone control on a stereo, treble and bass. You can graduate to a 5-band graphic, a 1/3 Octave graphic. You can even use a plugin that has a dot you drag up and down the frequency spectrum and listen to it pass through the sounds and see what it’s doing.

They key is to ask yourself, “How does this sound different” and keep practicing. The next retirement party someone will start speaking into a mic and you will immediately think, "oh can’t the sound operator take it down 3dB for an octave around 250Hz. Too boomy. Or . . . the soprano sax is going to cut my head off, can’t they take a dB off 2kHz??!?

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He’s certainly being creative. I’ll try to find him at NAMM when that sort of thing can open.

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Thanks @DaveT. I was playing around with this when using flat headphones but when I would disconnect the headphones and go through the speaker cabinet I would get lost. I guess the answer is just more practice. Much appreciated.

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