Forté HP Available Firmware Options

IMPORTANT: These firmware options are for the Forté HP ONLY. They will NOT work on the Forté HP2.

Bergantino Audio has created a number of firmware combinations that you can download. Below is a description of each drive and you can choose which combination you’d like as well as a tutorial on how to update your firmware.

BFT (Big Fat Tube)

This is our signature drive that has been painstakingly distilled down to sound like the best tube amps of the past without any of their lesser attributes.  This drive is just as tight and controlled at a soft clip as it is full bore. Try it at low settings for just the right harmonic chime or max it out to really saturate your bass tone.

BFT Blend

Like our BFT circuit but this one has a constant mix of your clean bass signal mixed in. It’s specifically designed for the player that never wants medium to high levels of gain and compression. It will always stay tight and controlled (even more than the BFT non-blend version) as it delivers more and more harmonic goodness to your tone.

Modern Vintage

Somewhat like the BFT but for the player that wants MORE GAIN. At the end of the dial, this one sounds like you’re pushing an old tube amp within an inch of its life!

B15 Norm and Bright

Yep, you guessed it, we took arguably the most iconic and best sounding tube amp of all time and went after the attributes of what makes it sound so darn good. For anyone that’s played a B15, you know how they melt your spine. Their issue is, they have a very narrow “sweet spot” and can’t get very loud. Well, that won’t be a problem when the HP has this drive loaded. The normal and bright variants of this drive are as they’d sound if you plugged into that respective input of the B15.

Vintage Fuzz

Fuzz equals FUN and this one is max saturation, hard clip city! An old-school clipping style while maintaining a strong fundamental so you still know you’re the bass player, this circuit is just pure fun and can inspire you to play and approach the instrument differently. Give it a try and see what you think!

Modern Fuzz

Like the Vintage Fuzz but with a little more clarity and low end retention. This circuit doesn’t quite “fuzz out” like the Vintage one does but gets plenty gnarly. If you like fuzz but want a more pronounced fundamental, this one is for you.

OD

Another take on that ear-craving purr and chime we love about tube preamps.  This overdrive circuit emphasizes the lower, even order harmonics of a classic dual triode, preamp circuit. It can go from a very mild clip that adds dimension, texture and rich detail, to tubes hit and lit like 4th of July fireworks on the edge of implosion.  Many will like this as an “always on” tone, especially at the lower drive settings, where it adds girth and chime to your bass tone without losing an ounce of low end.  A must try!

XS305

Warning: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART! Having trouble being heard in your band? Want to annoy your neighbors…3 blocks away? How about pests…do you have rodent issues at home? Well then this is the circuit for you. We’ve taken all of our drive technology and applied much wizardry to give you the beastliest drive we’ve ever created. This one is massive.

TS

We teamed up with session machine, gigging bassist and drive master, Matt Denis to bring you a circuit based off one of the most popular overdrive pedals of all time, the Tube Screamer. The Tube Screamer recipe has been cloned over and over for good reason, it flat rocks. Now, don’t worry, we’ve made sure you don’t lose any low end when you step on it! The TS circuit is for the modern player that wants medium to high levels of soft clip gain but ZERO loss of low end. This one is very different and fun!

Rip City

We’ve taken the extremely popular Modern Vintage circuit and added more fundamental and overall warmth. There’s not a dull spot on the dial with this one!

MF360

Our venerable Modern Fuzz circuit has also been modified with even more low end while staying warm at every position on the dial. This one was inspired by massive, modern bi-amped rigs and it snarls, spits and sears with the best of them!

Click on each below to download:

  1. B15 Normal/Bright
  2. BFT/Modern Fuzz – clean blend version
  3. BFT/Vintage Fuzz – clean blend version
  4. BFT/XS305 – clean blend version
  5. BFT/Modern Fuzz
  6. BFT/Vintage Fuzz
  7. BFT/XS305
  8. Modern Vintage/Modern Fuzz
  9. Modern Vintage/XS305
  10. OD/BFT
  11. Tube Screamer/BFT
  12. Tube Screamer/Modern Fuzz
  13. Tube Screamer/Modern Vintage
  14. Tube Screamer/Vintage Fuzz
  15. Tube Screamer/XS305
  16. Rip City/MF360

Directions on how to update your firmware: 

First tip: We’ve found over the years that a brand new, dedicated flash drive is best for this task. If you are following the instructions but are not getting the upload to install, please try another flash drive, preferably new. You can acquire the smallest one available as the firmware is not a large file.

In all versions of the offered firmware, by simply pressing and holding the “Engage” button down for 2 seconds, or for those who have our Bluetooth Footswitch, by holding down the Drive switch for 2 seconds, you can toggle between the two drive circuits in that particular firmware version. The orange Engage LED will flash accordingly when drive circuits are changed, as explained below.

  • The Drive itself does not have to be engaged (Orange LED indicator “ON”) in order to change drive circuits.
  • It should be noted that upon power recycle, the forte’ HP will always power up with the Primary drive circuit selected, which is the first one listed in the firmware version name.
  • When Changing Drive circuits with the engage “Off” you will see 1 flash on the orange engage LED when the Primary is selected and 2 flashes for the secondary circuit.
  • When Changing Drive circuits with the engage “On” you will see 2 flashes when the Primary circuit is selected and 3 flashes when the Secondary circuit is selected.  The extra flash is due to the circuit going back to its “On” or engaged state.

Copy the hex file of update you would like to install into your forte’ HP amp onto a Fat32 formatted thumb drive.  Rename it to just forthp.hex, all lower case.

*** If you’re using a MAC, be sure the thumb drive’s scene is set to Master Boot Record.

With the power off, insert the thumb drive into the amp’s USB port.

While holding down the Bright button, turn the amp on and continue to hold the Bright button down until the green Bright LED illuminates (about 1 second).

Let the firmware continue to load which should take about 10 seconds.  The amp’s LEDs will return to their prior state once the firmware is completely loaded.

IMPORTANT: Before using the newly installed firmware, remove thumb drive from front of amp to allow for proper operation.

By maintaining a folder on your desktop containing these 14 firmware files along with previous releases, you can, at any time, load any version into you amp by simply following the instructions above.

*Once you have your desired Drive level, any overall volume adjustment should be made at the Master volume control of your amp.  Adjusting the volume anywhere upstream of the Master Volume (i.e. Instrument and/or Amp’s input gain) will affect the level into the Drive circuit, thus changing the harmonic content of the signal.