ART SGX Nightbass SE: Opinions wanted.
Kevin McCarthy
processor anywhere on the internet... I just happened to be browsing the
ART site and came across it as a "discontinued" item. I looked on the net
and was able to find it for $449. The unit looks pretty good on paper, but
has anybody used one? I would welcome any comments on it that anyone has.
I know ART is not well known as a Bass amplification leader, but they make
some pretty good signal processors. It seems feasible that they might be able
to make a decent pre-amp. (I also know that I am going to have to actually
listen to the thing before I decide, but I have to find one somewhere first,
and if I get enough "It's a pile of crap" responses, I won't waste my time
or energy looking for one.)
--
Kevin McCarthy
Pervect Catastrophy
<kmcc...@rorke.com> wrote:
I have one, been using it for years,
It's 'tweaky', but the presets are cool, and I often design my own presets
for the clubs that I play (ya only tweak once)
The SE comes with guitar presets, and a bank of recording patches for
vox, drums and the like.
switchable tube and ss preamp, biamp and stereo outs, stereo xlr outs,
stero and mono fx loop, stereo and mono inputs, midi in/out/thru
2 tone stages (int graphic and 4 controls on front)
with the x15 controller, you get realtime control of parameters
Like any preamp, you have to work with it a bit to get a thick sound
(most of the pile of crap responses are from people who try them for 5min
at the store)
I play g****r out of it, and there's enough lights on the thing to
keep your tan up through the winter ;-)
Downsides:
HAS to be rackmounted,
plastic shafts on all knobs
gets funny w bad power (90v or less) like a keyboard
All in all, a greatlittle multifunctional preamp
JByers1044
have it,i just did to many gigs with it, and
had to retire it to my studio,the jacks on
the back of mine were starting to not be road worthy, and there's nobody
here(hawaii) to service it. i still miss it because it was the most flexable of
the
multi efx units i have. some of the patches
were a little noisy, but overall i liked it a lot.
you can get them at half the price i payed
for mine.i did hundreds of gigs with it before
any problems happend, you'll also find a lot
of people that don't like them, so check one
out yourself. hope this helps.
aloha,jerry
Mark Eastman
>
> I have not seen anybody mention the ART SGX Nightbass SE preamp/effects
> processor anywhere on the internet... I just happened to be browsing the
> ART site and came across it as a "discontinued" item. I looked on the net
> and was able to find it for $449. The unit looks pretty good on paper, but
> has anybody used one? I would welcome any comments on it that anyone has.
>
> I know ART is not well known as a Bass amplification leader, but they make
> some pretty good signal processors. It seems feasible that they might be able
> to make a decent pre-amp. (I also know that I am going to have to actually
> listen to the thing before I decide, but I have to find one somewhere first,
> and if I get enough "It's a pile of crap" responses, I won't waste my time
> or energy looking for one.)
>
> Kevin McCarthy
I've owned one since the SE model first came out, maybe 5 or 6 years
ago. I don't use it for bass anymore, but use it in my recording
studio. It was too complicated for a live set-up for me when used with
the X-15 foot pedal. Too many things to play with for the live music
that I do since I'm also the lead singer. When I first got it, I went
thru the 450 and some odd patches & found only 10-15 that were useful
for the type of stuff I was playing live at the time (vintage rock). I
used it for about a year in my live set-up & then went back to just
plugging into my amp straight. I only need 1 or 2 live sounds. The
Nightbass sits in the effects rack of my recording studio now & gets
occasional use, but is low on the "let's use this one" list because the
reverbs aren't that great when compared to the other processors I have
(Lexicon MPX-1, Alesis QuadraVerb+, Zoom 1204, Digitech GP-2101). The
Nightbass is easy to program & does have a lot of good sounds. Some of
the effects can be noisy, the unit does have a noisegate. The s/w based
compressor does not work very good. The guitar patches are quite good.
I copied a number of patches to the Nightbass from my friend's ART SGX
2000 guitar processor to augment the ones in the Nightbass.
Unfortunately there is no speaker simulator, so you have to screw with
the EQ to keep the guitar sounds form being too buzzy. Based on my
experience, I would say it's not a "pile-of-crap" & can be quite useful,
especially to a bassist that needs a lot of effects or does a lot of
soloing.
Mark E.
Kevin McCarthy
do need a pre-amp (planning on using a seperate power amp) I think it would be
nice if the pre-amp had some built in chorous, compression, etc. because it
would give me a chance to play with some of those sounds without having to buy
a whole slew of other rack mounted effects just to see how I like the sound
with them on (I've always played my bass pretty clean. No effects to speak of,
and not even that much EQ.)
So what I'm getting at is: What other pre-amps are out there? I am looking for
something a bit more esoteric than the typical Ampeg or Eden pre-amps. I was
looking around and came across the ADA MB-1 pre-amp out there. (Mike Gordon was
or is using one and he's my favorite bassist.) But it appears that ADA has gone
out of business and I can only get one used. I'm not sure I want a piece of
equipment that I can get no support/warranty/service if I have a problem.
I'm looking for a rack mounted pre-amp with a few common bass effects
(compression/ocatver/pitch shift/etc.) That sounds decent enough to run into
our digital recording hardware. So far I've found the Ampeg SVP the SWR pre-amp (Can't remember what it's called), the Eden WT pre-amp, the ADA and the ART.
Who else makes this stuff????
Thanks.
--
Kevin McCarthy
JByers1044
preamp, it's not the units forte. there are
better preamps out there but i don't know
of any with effects built in. aloha, jerry
Marco 'profeta' Brancalion
I disagree...... the lack of tone is what made me sell my Nightbass. I
had bought one after trying it for 1 hour in a store, but when i
started using it onstage i realized that all its effects and
facilities don't compensate for its 'dumbness' in the tone.
It was no worth to tweak the eq or the compressor (which is unuseful
IMO).
I had a better luck by using the nightbass in the effect loop of the
preamp i later bought (Demeter), but at this point it'd be better to
use something like the 1-rackspace effects made by ART with digital
effects only.
Besides: both the analog and the digital sections of the Nightbass
were noisy, and i couldn't stand it.
Another feature i had bought it for was that i meant to use its rear
DIs outputs to connect it to the mixer.....but i later found out
they're XLR outputs which are at line level (they're a copy of the
1/4" outputs). I had to buy a separate DI box.
I have to say though that i wrote emails with professional musicians
over the internet who were satisfied with the Nightbass instead. One
of them said that changing the tube to some higher quality one
improved the tone.
You have to carefully check it out yourself, but beware: instead of
getting fooled by all the effects, imagine with your inner ear, while
you're testing it, you're playing with your whole band in a place with
average-bad acoustics.
Greetings.
"Tu, ricordati che devi morire..."
"Mo me lo segno...."
Marco Brancalion
steve
JD BLACKWELL
than I want to waste 2 rack spaces on. I prefer my bass a little simpler. On
the other hand I have an ART acoustic guitar pre-amp that works
great......clean effects, totally reliable and built road tough. Pile
indeed.
JD
Pervect Catastrophy wrote in message ...
>In article <8S%_3.2888$X5.4...@ptah.visi.com>, "steve"
><bru...@goldengate.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Anything ART makes is a pile.
>
>ya gotta love blanket statements
>have you in fact ever owned one, or even tried one out?
>
>JOn
>
>*Love me, Love my ART*
Pervect Catastrophy
steve
Pervect Catastrophy wrote in message ...
><bru...@goldengate.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Anything ART makes is a pile.
>
>ya gotta love blanket statements
>have you in fact ever owned one, or even tried one out?
Their tube mp sucks too.A couple of friends have had ART
stuff in the past and have pretty much the same opinion,
especially the sgx 2000 [soon after purchase it was dubbed
the sux 2000].
The idea of a do everything preamp/effects rack mount unit
is appealing,this stuff just doesnt do it though.
It's great that you like yours,just think what your tone would be
like if you had a real pre-amp and,say, some Lexicon or
other decent quality effects units in your rack.
Pervect Catastrophy
<bru...@goldengate.com> wrote:
I have a number of 'good preamps', I use the ART because I am called on
sometimes to fill in on g****r and acoustic, and the Nightbass has
a large number of g****r presets (I only use 3 on the bass)
I took an SWR and an Ashley with me to A/B when I bought it
It could be that you just got a bad one ;-)
Do have to agree with the cheaply made, though.
BTW, I retubed mine, and it made all the difference in the world..
JOn
Maynard Farmer
one in his rig and is sounds pretty good to me :) ...but maybe you just have
to be a good palyer to know
steve
minutes of wanking to confirm for yourself that it blows.
Maynard Farmer wrote in message ...
Pervect Catastrophy
<bru...@goldengate.com> wrote:
Gotta Love Blanket Statements
give this NG the benefit of your expertise as to why it blows.....
JOn <Twiddler's Delight>
*Love me, Love my Nightbass*
Maynard Farmer
Someone really doesnt like ART if they have to attempt to knock on anything
good said about one..
Just what would LORD STEVE recommend? a nice preamp and an effects unit of
some kind please be specific .......show the rest of us the error of our
ways
Dave Houck
> NG? Hmm ok maybe I'm not good at acronymns either.
ng = newsgroup
Groover
Guide for Bassists:" Of the 20 Preamps (under $1,000) "...the end
result of the most extensive bass-preamp comparsion ever assembled.:
#1. Alembic F-1X
#2.Demeter VTBP-201
And rated slowest in sound quality and convenience at #20 was...
A.R.T. SGX Nightbass Studio Edition. and I quote: "If ...tweaking
reverb algorithms, or adjusting MIDI channels makes yu shudder. perhpas
you should move on. Depending on you technical inclinations, the
Nightbass SE could be a godsend--or your worst nightmare." "...The
overall quality of the Nightbass effects is quite good (rated 4 on a
scale of 5)... the preamps, however, leave a bit to be desired; the
sound is contained and compressed-sounding (even with the compression
section off), and it's also a bit lifeless for performance use."
"...Nightbass isn't the best choice for a live situation... but it's
good for a bassist/guitarist/engineer who likes to 'diddle for days' in
a studio setting." "...All the bells and whistles in the world won't
make up for an average sound."
I have no personal opinion, just reporting.
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gya...@fulton58.org
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processor anywhere on the internet... I just happened to be browsing the
ART site and came across it as a "discontinued" item. I looked on the net
and was able to find it for $449. The unit looks pretty good on paper, but
has anybody used one? I would welcome any comments on it that anyone has.
I know ART is not well known as a Bass amplification leader, but they make
some pretty good signal processors. It seems feasible that they might be able
to make a decent pre-amp. (I also know that I am going to have to actually
listen to the thing before I decide, but I have to find one somewhere first,
and if I get enough "It's a pile of crap" responses, I won't waste my time
or energy looking for one.)
--
Kevin McCarthy
Wow. I haven’t heard of ART in at least 10-11 years or more.
I wonder if they’re still around?