Bassweek #4: Bergantino Super Pre, Troy Sanders Fender Bass, Ozone Imager, JHS Volture
From this episode you will learn what the Bergantino Super bass preamp is good for, what Troy Sanders’ new signature bass looks like, how guitarists cheat with endorsement, what the iZotope Ozone Imager is useful for, why JHS made Pedals Volture, and how Metallica got into TikTok.
- Bergantino Super Pre
- Troy Sanders (Mastodon) signature Fender Bass
- Guitarists cheat with endorsement
- iZotope Ozone Imager adds stereo
- JHS Pedals Volture
- Metallica in TikTok
Bergantino Audio Systems challenged the titans of the bass market. Their new Super Pre combine can seriously push the popular bass preamps. Judge for yourself, hidden inside a small box are a bass preamp, 4-band equalizer, filter, tuner, compressor, overdrive, DI Box with cabinet impulses, and 21 user patches, which includes 7 banks of 3 programs. The device is not only the most functional, but also very convenient for practical aplication in heavy concert use. Bevel for foot buttons, pseudo-segment display, illuminated controls - all this greatly improves ergonomics. On the front panel there are 4 parametric encoders, volume and gain controls. The rear panel contains a variable impedance instrument input, an AUX input, 2 balanced XLR connectors with a DI box each, a send/return loop, a headphone output, a USB port, and a power connector.
Pleasantly surprised by the universal power scheme. For operation, the device must be powered by a voltage in the range of 9-12 volts with a minimum current of 500mA. The polarity of the connector, whether it is AC or DC, does not matter. Super Pre will swallow everything. The price is $699 for a preamp or $719 for a kit with a power supply. Source…
Troy Sanders of Mastodon and Fender have created “the perfect weapon for heavy metal enthusiasts”. The new signature model features a set of P/J pickups by Tim Shaw and an 18-volt preamp. The new bass has a vintage HiMass bridge. The body is made of alder in Silverburst finish. The maple neck with rosewood fingerboard features a 70s P-bass profile. The back of the head is adorned with the inscription “Troy Sanders”. The “Emperor of Sand” badge is inlaid at the 12th fret. The bass sounds amazingly tight, collected and loud. The price is 1499 dollars. Source…
The guitar site ultimate-guitar.com recently published an article about guitarists who use different guitars for live performance and recording. Musicians often enter into contracts with manufacturers, undertaking to shine their equipment at their performances for advertising purposes. When recording, they prefer to use completely different guitars. Ultimate-guitar unearthed several such cases. For example, The Edge is most associated with a Gibson Explorer or a Fender Stratocaster, but in reality, he is more likely to use a Gibson Les Paul, Epiphone Casino or Rickenbacker. Most of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page’s compositions are recorded on a Telecaster, not on the Gibson Les Paul with which the musician is strongly associated. This series can be continued: Robben Ford and his PRS McCarthy, Mick Jones and Gibson, Rivers Cuomo and Warmoth Strat. The phenomenon of endorsement is very common these days, but when choosing an instrument, it is better to focus on your own ears and hands than on posters and clips of your favorite bands.
iZotope distributes a free version of its Ozone Imager plugin, which is designed to increase or decrease the stereo component of a single piece of music or the entire master channel. You can easily add “width” to your track or narrow it down to mono using the Width slider. The Amount control allows to “stereoise” a mono source using two different algorithms. In the right hands, Ozone Imager can be a very useful and interesting tool. A slightly stripped-down but completely free version for Mac and PC is available on the manufacturer’s website. Source…
Fans of analog transistor fuzz pedals know how much the effect sound changes when the battery is discharged. Guitarists have caught on to this trick and have deliberately drained their batteries in order to capture the coveted sound for their fuzz pedal. In order not to burn energy for nothing, the guys from JHS developed Pedals Volture. Place this device between the power supply and the pedal, apply 9, 12 or 18V DC and get 7.5V to 1.25V DC output to fine-tune the voltage and perfectly reproduce the tone of a dying battery. Although the Volture was designed specifically for vintage Fuzzs, it works great with any analog pedal. The device costs only $80. Source…
Metallica decided to hype and released their track on TikTok. In this social network, a trend has long gained popularity, where one musician writes his part, then another adds his own to the first part, and so on ad infinitum. Ulrich’s drum part was posted first. Then Trujillo’s bass, and Hatfield’s guitar part were posted online. Hammett was the last to join. The only thing that was in the video description was a call to play a duet. Most likely, this is some kind of PR campaign for the soon-awaited release of the album “72 Seasons”, which is scheduled for release on April 14th. I wholeheartedly support this PR. It is always a pleasure to watch “big stars” in home interiors.
That’s all the news for today, but I want to tell you a last mystery story. Once upon a time, in a small town there lived a little boy who did not subscribe to our channel, and one dark night his bass guitar turned into a pumpkin. Think about it.