Shaman
Well-known member
I've been playing through a 500W Little Mark III bass amp for the past 11 years, and I have a Mark Bass F1 Limited 500W amp as backup. I own two cabinets, one 8 ohm 400W 2x10 cab and one 4 ohm 2x10 cab, which has allowed me to leave my gear at the rehearsal space and practice or gig with the 2nd setup. Unfortunately, both heads are 300W at 8 ohm, so that cab is not really good enough for gigs (it's probably 5-6db lower in volume than the 4 ohm cab. I also have a combo 300W Behringer BXL3000A which is a 15" single amp, excellent amp overall but the throw on stage is long. I'll leave that with my workshop rig to gig or play music with (see my 3000W workshop system post).
So, I came into a little unexpected money this fall and decided that I was going to build my dream gig rig. The kind of rig that is a joy to play for, has a massive overhead and can be heard at moderate volumes at outdoor gigs as well as both flexible and amazing for other gigs, as required. The overhead isn't something you want to just discount, because having an amp with a lot of power allows it to push speakers with more accuracy and more "oomf" at all volumes.
So here's the full rig:
Two Mark Bass 58R 104 4 x 10 cabinets. One with horn for mids, one with super tweeter for highs (Energy & Pure versions). 8 ohms, 800 watts each. These cabinets are 36lbs apiece, and they'll fit into a vehicle without needing a van. They're loaded with neodymium speakers and the new construction means that they're not much heavier than my existing 2x10 + horn cabinets. The two cabs together in parallel will yield a 4 ohm load to the amplifier. At this time, I'm waiting on them to be delivered, so this is a stock photo.
Bergantino Forte HP2 Ultra amplifier. 2000W @ 4 ohms, 1000W @ 8 ohms, 1700W @ 2.67 ohms, 1200W @ 2 ohms. A super flexible, super-powered amplifer with an integrated drive function, low & high pass filters, variable compressor, bright and punch switches, and four-part EQ to name some of the features. This came in today, and prompted me to start this thread.
A SansAmp for pre-amp duty (but with the Bergantino I feel like this will be redundant, so may not use it with that head). The SansAmp has the ability to take on all the duties of an amplifier and jack directly into the PA / Front of House. I will use it this way sans amp at one of my major venues, because the stage volume there is INSANE with limestone walls all around us and a wedge shape that forces everyone into the direct path of drums and the organ. I will continue to use the SansAmp with the Mark Bass heads as a pre-amp when I am using those.
And finally, two pedals. A Behringer Octaver that I think I've just made at least partially obsolete by buying one of the new BOSS XS-1 Poly Shifter. I won't detail the Behringer, but the XS-1 allows you to either retune your instrument on the fly without distracting artifacts, and can also be blended all the way to 3 octaves to take the place of an octaver pedal (as I said). To detune a full step for D-tuned songs, I just have to stomp the pedal and that's my main use for it. It's only been on the market a few months, this isn't like the old pitch shifters of yesterday. You can even chord with it (poly, get it?)
I like to keep my pedal board REALLY simple, so this is pretty much perfect for me. The only thing I'd consider is using an EQ system to promote the sound of thinner strings in the mix, to make the bass more or less the same volume at every string. Another thing I need to first of all spend time with this new head to determine the need.
So there we go. I have technically four complete head/speaker combos right now, so I'm thinking the 8 ohm 2x10 is going to go. I'll keep the combo for my workshop and I'll probably also move one of the Mark Bass heads since the Bergantino can swap in if there's a reliability issue.
Fun stuff. Good times. Nothing better than overkill.
So, I came into a little unexpected money this fall and decided that I was going to build my dream gig rig. The kind of rig that is a joy to play for, has a massive overhead and can be heard at moderate volumes at outdoor gigs as well as both flexible and amazing for other gigs, as required. The overhead isn't something you want to just discount, because having an amp with a lot of power allows it to push speakers with more accuracy and more "oomf" at all volumes.
So here's the full rig:
Two Mark Bass 58R 104 4 x 10 cabinets. One with horn for mids, one with super tweeter for highs (Energy & Pure versions). 8 ohms, 800 watts each. These cabinets are 36lbs apiece, and they'll fit into a vehicle without needing a van. They're loaded with neodymium speakers and the new construction means that they're not much heavier than my existing 2x10 + horn cabinets. The two cabs together in parallel will yield a 4 ohm load to the amplifier. At this time, I'm waiting on them to be delivered, so this is a stock photo.
Bergantino Forte HP2 Ultra amplifier. 2000W @ 4 ohms, 1000W @ 8 ohms, 1700W @ 2.67 ohms, 1200W @ 2 ohms. A super flexible, super-powered amplifer with an integrated drive function, low & high pass filters, variable compressor, bright and punch switches, and four-part EQ to name some of the features. This came in today, and prompted me to start this thread.
A SansAmp for pre-amp duty (but with the Bergantino I feel like this will be redundant, so may not use it with that head). The SansAmp has the ability to take on all the duties of an amplifier and jack directly into the PA / Front of House. I will use it this way sans amp at one of my major venues, because the stage volume there is INSANE with limestone walls all around us and a wedge shape that forces everyone into the direct path of drums and the organ. I will continue to use the SansAmp with the Mark Bass heads as a pre-amp when I am using those.
And finally, two pedals. A Behringer Octaver that I think I've just made at least partially obsolete by buying one of the new BOSS XS-1 Poly Shifter. I won't detail the Behringer, but the XS-1 allows you to either retune your instrument on the fly without distracting artifacts, and can also be blended all the way to 3 octaves to take the place of an octaver pedal (as I said). To detune a full step for D-tuned songs, I just have to stomp the pedal and that's my main use for it. It's only been on the market a few months, this isn't like the old pitch shifters of yesterday. You can even chord with it (poly, get it?)
I like to keep my pedal board REALLY simple, so this is pretty much perfect for me. The only thing I'd consider is using an EQ system to promote the sound of thinner strings in the mix, to make the bass more or less the same volume at every string. Another thing I need to first of all spend time with this new head to determine the need.
So there we go. I have technically four complete head/speaker combos right now, so I'm thinking the 8 ohm 2x10 is going to go. I'll keep the combo for my workshop and I'll probably also move one of the Mark Bass heads since the Bergantino can swap in if there's a reliability issue.
Fun stuff. Good times. Nothing better than overkill.
