Porter & Davies BC Gigster Porter & Davies

Overview

The BC Gigster features the same astounding performance and build quality as our flagship BC2 and BC2rm, but with reduced features to help achieve a substantially lower retail price.

Now available in both 115 volt (North America and Japan) and 240 volt models.

The Gigster is a silent bass drum monitoring system which allows you to feel, hear and experience your bass drum) like you never felt or heard it before. It consists of the finest Tactile Generator available, built into our own Patented throne top, and uses bone conduction to deliver powerful, precise and nuanced reproduction without sound.

The Gigster is made from the same superior components as the BC2, and although it has slightly fewer features, it has identical power and performance, giving you great connectivity to your drum kit whilst playing and recording.

Although at Porter & Davies we designed the new Gigster with the working musician in mind making it lightweight and ultra-compact, it is also the weapon of choice for many top pros who enjoy its extreme portability.

It is literally designed as a ‘plug in and play’ and is astounding with both acoustic & electronic drums.
At Porter & Davies we have used our expertise to maintain product integrity without compromising on quality. Keen to bring a value product to the market at a smart price, we have simplified the packaging, stripped away the non essential features, and brought to the market the ultimate streamlined form of the BC2.

Details

The BC Gigster has the same components and performance as the BC2. Here are the differences:

✓ The Gigster has no integral flightcase. However, it is completely encased in its own steel ‘exoskeleton’, and has tough rubberised ‘bumper’ end cheeks.
✓ The Gigster is not voltage switchable, so there are two models: A 115 volt unit for North America and Japan, and a 240 volt model for most other countries. The 240 volt model either comes with a UK or EU style plug.
✓ The Gigster has no phantom power selector. However, a condenser mic (such as a Shure Beta 91) will work perfectly if the output from the Gigster is fed to a desk with phantom power supply (as is the norm).
✓ The Gigster has a combined single mic/line input socket. The mic input is via an XLR lead, whilst the line input is via standard 1/4″ jack.

The BC Gigster is a two unit system:

1. A choice of one of our three styles of fully Patented, custom designed and built throne tops containing a Tactile Transducer.
2. The Gigster ‘Engine’ which contains all of the electronics: – Amp, preamp, inputs and outputs, protection circuitry, and volume and tone controls.

✓ The BC Gigster is an amplified Tactile Generator Monitor System which transmits the full bass drum signal and sound (or any other drum) physically up through the drum stool. This signal is registered mainly through bone conduction (see the Theory page), and the result is far more sophisticated than a simple “thump”. All of the tone and intricacies of the bass drum sound and impact are felt and heard internally.
✓ If a mixing desk is being used, you can feed in (via the line input rather than the direct mic input) other sounds such as toms, overhead mics (for a full kit “picture”), and bass guitar.
✓ We use the highest quality and most efficient Tactile Generators available, as used by the US military in their simulators.
✓ The handmade throne tops are extremely comfortable, solid and elegantly constructed with the finest velvet in classic ‘British Racing Green’. Each of the three different designs is adorned with a silk ‘BC Gigster by Porter & Davies’ logo. They are designed to accommodate 7/8” diameter throne bases as used by Roc n Soc, DW, Gibraltar, Tama, Ludwig, Premier, Yamaha, Custom Percussion, and others.
✓ For those who like to sit low, we also supply our very own extra-low throne base, and we can also add backrests and different mounting plates (pneumatic etc) at extra cost.
✓ We have sourced the finest components which are then all assembled by hand.
✓ There is zero compromise on build quality and workmanship.
✓ Each and every unit is thoroughly tested by Tim Porter & Dil Davies themselves.
✓ The drummer has full control over power and intensity immediately to his/her side, and the system is 100% consistent, night after night, regardless of acoustics, room size, etc.
✓ The BC Gigster, just like the BC2, offers unparalleled response speed (0% lag) and sensitivity, so will faithfully reproduce all of your playing dynamics: It will respond to long notes (beater off) as well as short notes (beater on), depending on drum dampening, tuning and playing style.
✓ It will TRANSFORM your playing experience: The drummer and drum kit become ‘one’ – your groove will be stronger than ever.
✓ The BC Gigster unit is even more compact than the already tiny BC2, but has the same efficient use of power: It needs under 150W to drive is as opposed to around 1200W required by a well known competitor.
✓ Pros who swear by the BC2 are now also using the Gigster for international gigs, where the tiny and light (3.4kgs) Gigster Engine can tuck away inside a suitcase, and the throne top be carried as cabin luggage (or “cabbage” as we call it in my band…) in a snare case.
✓ Here is the BIG advantage for fully amplified gigs where IEMs (In Ear Monitors) are NOT used: No bass drum(s) thumping through big monitor subs to pollute the stage sound.
✓ The kit can be miked up more ambiently, and the sound engineer hasn’t got to roll all the heavy bottom off the other mics. The toms can now breathe properly and sound huge.
✓ BC Gigster Engine RearIf you use IEMs, the Gigster completes the sonic experience by providing the physicality of the bottom end which otherwise cannot be replicated.
✓ If you don’t use IEMs, never again will you struggle to feel and hear your bass drum or compromise your technique, sound and timing by hammering away fruitlessly.
✓ The Gigster is simply UNBELIEVABLE with MIDI kits: Real power, real presence, and you’ll lose that disconnected feeling. The ENTIRE electronic kit feeds into the unit (if chosen to do so) and therefore you don’t just get the bass drum, but the entire kit. Even snare rolls are felt and heard.
✓ Cheaper tour/stage spec: No subs required for the drummer.
✓ Whereas most wedges don’t cut it for the bass drum, they are fine for bass guitar (and of course all the other instruments and voices). The bass guitar sound can now come through your monitor crystal clear without having to compete with the bass drum. Volume levels will drop without any power compromise.
✓ Recording becomes a whole other experience. This is what top UK drummer Ash Soan has to say: “Up until now we only had our headphone mix and a click track to help us find the feel for the song we were recording, but with the Gigster you have its added sense and weight to help you get the pocket right”.

Spec

BC Gigster by Porter and Davies “Engine”

Dimensions:
34cm x 16cm x 10cm inc rubber bumpers

Weight:
3.4Kg

Cables supplied as standard:
2M UK power cable – fixed
2M Speakon NL4 throne link cable. Twin Axial, 140 x 0.15mm, OFC.

Power requirement:
230vAC (115vAC [USA etc] )
200W peak.

Self-selecting combination XLR/JACK input.

Plug in an XLR for:
Mic in: 600 ohm electronically balanced P2 hot XLRF

Plug in a JACK for:
Line in: 10K ohm unbalanced tip: hot
Mic out: Hardwired parallel to mic in. XLRM balanced P2 hot
Line out: Hardwired parallel to line in. XLRM unbalanced P2 hot

Input gain:
Mic: 0dB to +60dB
Line: -20dB to +40dB

Low Contour: +/- 12dB @ 55Hz shelving

Signal Present indicator led, green: -30dB
Signal Peak indicator led, yellow: 0dB
Signal Limit indicator led, red: +12dB

Max output: 150W RMS / 4ohm 0.05%THD 20hz-18khz +/- 2dB.
Anti-thump and noiseless dynamic load protection circuitry built-in.

Round Throne Top:
40 x 40 x 20cms deep
Weight: 5.7Kg

Saddle Throne Top
40 x 40 x 20cms deep
Weight: 5.7Kg

Extra-wide Throne Top
50 x 40 x 20cms deep
Weight: 5.9Kg

Connection between Engine and Throne:
Speakon NL4 to Speakon NL4 : (supplied)