Dan thank you so much for this very in depth and comprehensive review. We appreciate the hard work and thoughtfulness that goes behind producing these videos! Its always great working with you and the gang at Bass Gear Magazine. 😃
This is great and super helpful- i have the HP Forte and a REFII12 and 15 for when i need an amp, also have several pre-amp pedals for when I am ampless but have just ordered a SuperPre. I've never before managed to get a perfect DI pedal- the Nordstrand Starlifter is superb but too clean and has a stupid 15v AC power supply which i can never find. The JHS ColourBox is ok but not great. I like my EBS Stanley Clark for acoustic but not ideal for electric bass. As always, if you buy Bergantino it ends all other need for other gear. It's just the best and works out cheaper in the long run.
Hi Dan, Thank you for the thorough insightful review. I bought and collected my super pre yesterday, and have managed to already loaded six different basses into six different memory slots, ranging from two fretless to four fretted going from cheap and cheerful to two Wals via a Fender jazz. Five of them sound better than I have ever heard them sound, and I think the sixth one will eventually respond to further tweaking! Only two problems really:- personally I would like to be able to restore each single memory to the factory condition, so that I could start each one from scratch. This is not really a problem, and Jim Bergantino suggested that on initial switch on I should store the information in a slot I named “FACTORY “, and use as a pattern to modify and then store at a different location. This was before I bought the unit, and I didn’t realise how easy it is to program each memory. I certainly DON’T think it’s a good idea to do a factory reset:- you would lose all the things you don’t want to lose. The only other problem I can see is a switch on ( or off) bang, even muted and with gain and master fully off. Great review!
Hi Dan, I still the clarity of this super pre is amazing. I asked Jim Bergantino about whether he thought a linear power supply might be of any advantage, and to be honest he sat on the fence a bit. While I would agree that for most of his customers I would agree that is the correct response, I must admit I could possibly be certified as as insane for my OCD in sound quality ( who else would have a hi-fi whose new value would be about £130k?) , so as I needed another power supply I bought a linear rather than a digital one. To my ears the improvement in signal to noise ratio manifests itself as a ( fractional ) improvement in solidity and dimensionality of whatever bass I’m using. I would mention though that I feel the vast majority of users wouldn’t notice much, or any, difference. But then I use either a Lyric hg or Tsunami guitar cable as I feel the effect they endow can’t be achieved any other way, and you can’t put back what is lost from the signal, but I can also understand why some people may beg to differ. Setting up the super pre I set a number of memories with a low low mid frequency, either 100 or 125Hz with a narrower than normal Q ( “ med” or “narrow “ ) rather than wide then boost it by say 2db, to give that upper bass bump. But then mostly clean with no or little parallel compression. Basically (pun intended) really I only play arrangements with jazz sections, so this’ll probably not apply to the majority of players. I agree that the ability to add speaker profiles is exceptional. I don’t think there is anything out there that gives the flexibility of the super pre and the ability to store 21 memory slots, and that’s why I bought it rather than a forte d, or hp, both of which I feel I would have to reset for each of my basses, and wonder if I had set as good as last time. I use it with a gr bass pure 800 to do the heavy lifting, but think at my age (don’t ask!) am very unlikely to play any more gigs in lifetime.
Dan- Thanks so much for reviewing this pre-amp. You explained this very clearly and have mastered all the knobs. Its sounds great. My question centers around the Berg B/AMp sitting in the background. I too have a B/Amp(running 6.2), and it seems the super-pre is a stompbox version of the B/Amp. Is the Super Pre that different or more feature-rich to justify a purchase, if you already own a B/Amp ?
Hi @frankmarini5391! Thank you for your kind comments, positive feedback is always gladly received! So, long story short, my B|Amp is a MK1 and its 'firmware' is different to the later firmware of the MK2. So, you can think of the Super Pre as a preamplifier pedal of the MK2 B|Amp. There are some really nice updates and changes in the MK2 that I would love to have in my amp personally. I guess for you, It's one of those "should I upgrade" type questions that often appear when say, a new iPad or mobile phone comes out. Is what I have good enough for what I need and will I find the new functionality worthwhile to make the jump? There's also that the Super Pre and B|Amp could fulfil a different role depending on what they are used for if others were answering the question. There's so much to be liked about both, tonally, exceptional and both can be used with the wireless foot pedal so issues with a crowded stage are, well.. a non-issue! I like the redesigned crossover points for the drive section, as I use bandpass drive all the time. Both have the parallel compression function which has been my secret weapon for well over 20 years of playing, so thats cool. Now, not discussing MK2 B|Amp, there's some nice configuration changes in Super Pre, such as being able to decide if the 'speaker profiles' are routed to the DI or not - as in my B|Amp, they are routed, understandably, to the power amp of the amplifier. This could also be useful should 3rd party IRs be a thing. It's a tough one to answer if you have a B|Amp already! Maybe if I step back a little and ask myself if Super Pre wasn't a thing and I had an opportunity to upgrade to B|Amp MK2, would I? The answer is a yes. However, I'd also say that B|Amp MK1 is no slouch!!
@@DanVeallBassist Dan- Thanks for such a thoughtful answer. Your insight is greatly appreciated. I do like the B/Amp MKI, and updating to software 6.2 gave it some of the functionality to mention, however, I do agree about the MKII upgrade, and I've thought about it. I asked Mr. Berginatino if a new(er) version of the MK II would contain all the upgrades found in the Super Pre (particularly being able to save more than 3 presets). He didn't know what form the new B/Amp (if at all) would deliver, so he said, if you want all the great upgrades, buy the Super Pre. Lastly, you've heard you could potentially use 3rd party IRs with the Super Pre?
Dan thank you so much for this very in depth and comprehensive review. We appreciate the hard work and thoughtfulness that goes behind producing these videos! Its always great working with you and the gang at Bass Gear Magazine. 😃
Concur 🎶🎸🎶🇬🇧
Fantastic review as usual.
This is great and super helpful- i have the HP Forte and a REFII12 and 15 for when i need an amp, also have several pre-amp pedals for when I am ampless but have just ordered a SuperPre. I've never before managed to get a perfect DI pedal- the Nordstrand Starlifter is superb but too clean and has a stupid 15v AC power supply which i can never find. The JHS ColourBox is ok but not great. I like my EBS Stanley Clark for acoustic but not ideal for electric bass. As always, if you buy Bergantino it ends all other need for other gear. It's just the best and works out cheaper in the long run.
Hi Dan,
Thank you for the thorough insightful review.
I bought and collected my super pre yesterday, and have managed to already loaded six different basses into six different memory slots, ranging from two fretless to four fretted going from cheap and cheerful to two Wals via a Fender jazz. Five of them sound better than I have ever heard them sound, and I think the sixth one will eventually respond to further tweaking!
Only two problems really:- personally I would like to be able to restore each single memory to the factory condition, so that I could start each one from scratch. This is not really a problem, and Jim Bergantino suggested that on initial switch on I should store the information in a slot I named “FACTORY “, and use as a pattern to modify and then store at a different location. This was before I bought the unit, and I didn’t realise how easy it is to program each memory. I certainly DON’T think it’s a good idea to do a factory reset:- you would lose all the things you don’t want to lose. The only other problem I can see is a switch on ( or off) bang, even muted and with gain and master fully off.
Great review!
Thanks for sharing your experience. Any updates on how it's working for you?
Hi Dan,
I still the clarity of this super pre is amazing. I asked Jim Bergantino about whether he thought a linear power supply might be of any advantage, and to be honest he sat on the fence a bit. While I would agree that for most of his customers I would agree that is the correct response, I must admit I could possibly be certified as as insane for my OCD in sound quality ( who else would have a hi-fi whose new value would be about £130k?) , so as I needed another power supply I bought a linear rather than a digital one. To my ears the improvement in signal to noise ratio manifests itself as a ( fractional ) improvement in solidity and dimensionality of whatever bass I’m using. I would mention though that I feel the vast majority of users wouldn’t notice much, or any, difference. But then I use either a Lyric hg or Tsunami guitar cable as I feel the effect they endow can’t be achieved any other way, and you can’t put back what is lost from the signal, but I can also understand why some people may beg to differ.
Setting up the super pre I set a number of memories with a low low mid frequency, either 100 or 125Hz with a narrower than normal Q ( “ med” or “narrow “ ) rather than wide then boost it by say 2db, to give that upper bass bump. But then mostly clean with no or little parallel compression. Basically (pun intended) really I only play arrangements with jazz sections, so this’ll probably not apply to the majority of players.
I agree that the ability to add speaker profiles is exceptional.
I don’t think there is anything out there that gives the flexibility of the super pre and the ability to store 21 memory slots, and that’s why I bought it rather than a forte d, or hp, both of which I feel I would have to reset for each of my basses, and wonder if I had set as good as last time. I use it with a gr bass pure 800 to do the heavy lifting, but think at my age (don’t ask!) am very unlikely to play any more gigs in lifetime.
@@jackwilliams4305thanks for your thoughts on this 👍👍🎶🎵🎸
Thank you!
Love my super pre so far!
Using Rickenbacker 4003 stereo for ricko sounds
Dan-
Thanks so much for reviewing this pre-amp. You explained this very clearly and have mastered all the knobs. Its sounds great. My question centers around the Berg B/AMp sitting in the background. I too have a B/Amp(running 6.2), and it seems the super-pre is a stompbox version of the B/Amp. Is the Super Pre that different or more feature-rich to justify a purchase, if you already own a B/Amp ?
Hi @frankmarini5391! Thank you for your kind comments, positive feedback is always gladly received! So, long story short, my B|Amp is a MK1 and its 'firmware' is different to the later firmware of the MK2. So, you can think of the Super Pre as a preamplifier pedal of the MK2 B|Amp. There are some really nice updates and changes in the MK2 that I would love to have in my amp personally. I guess for you, It's one of those "should I upgrade" type questions that often appear when say, a new iPad or mobile phone comes out. Is what I have good enough for what I need and will I find the new functionality worthwhile to make the jump? There's also that the Super Pre and B|Amp could fulfil a different role depending on what they are used for if others were answering the question.
There's so much to be liked about both, tonally, exceptional and both can be used with the wireless foot pedal so issues with a crowded stage are, well.. a non-issue!
I like the redesigned crossover points for the drive section, as I use bandpass drive all the time. Both have the parallel compression function which has been my secret weapon for well over 20 years of playing, so thats cool. Now, not discussing MK2 B|Amp, there's some nice configuration changes in Super Pre, such as being able to decide if the 'speaker profiles' are routed to the DI or not - as in my B|Amp, they are routed, understandably, to the power amp of the amplifier. This could also be useful should 3rd party IRs be a thing.
It's a tough one to answer if you have a B|Amp already! Maybe if I step back a little and ask myself if Super Pre wasn't a thing and I had an opportunity to upgrade to B|Amp MK2, would I?
The answer is a yes. However, I'd also say that B|Amp MK1 is no slouch!!
@@DanVeallBassist Dan- Thanks for such a thoughtful answer. Your insight is greatly appreciated. I do like the B/Amp MKI, and updating to software 6.2 gave it some of the functionality to mention, however, I do agree about the MKII upgrade, and I've thought about it. I asked Mr. Berginatino if a new(er) version of the MK II would contain all the upgrades found in the Super Pre (particularly being able to save more than 3 presets). He didn't know what form the new B/Amp (if at all) would deliver, so he said, if you want all the great upgrades, buy the Super Pre.
Lastly, you've heard you could potentially use 3rd party IRs with the Super Pre?
What did you mean about wireless foot control? Can’t find in the manual
A Bluetooth foot pedal is available from Bergantino.
@@BassGearMagazineno it isn’t
At least no where on the website I can find