Barefaced Bass

The Super Twelve and Super Twelve T have been superseded by the Generation Three models - Super Twin, Big Baby 2 and Big Twin 2.

We know that a good 4x10" is a fine thing

The ported betweetered 4x10" revolutionised bass amplification back in the '80s. Since then drivers have become more potent and enclosures have become lighter, and thus the best of the breed can handle most gigs without needing tons of power to drive them, whilst being relatively easy to move.

But we want to take the pros of the good 4x10"s and leave the cons behind

So what's great about a good 4x10"? High sensitivity - it doesn't need much power to rock out. Tight but solid lows - not deeeeep like the Big One but more than enough for many bassists. Good midrange punch so you cut through the mix. Sweet characterful higher frequencies if the woofers, crossover and tweeter are well matched and designed. Tons of thermal power handling prevents thermal power compression and tonal changes.

And what's not so great about a good 4x10"? Squat shape makes it harder to hear onstage and harder to carry through doorways and up narrow staircases. 2x2 woofer arrangement results in less than ideal polar response so the sound varies more around the venue. Excursion-limited power handling is far lower than the thermal power handling, so the lows can't keep up with mids when you're properly loud.

We're proud to present the Barefaced NotA410 aka the Super Twelve

To be honest we didn't expect this cab to be quite this good. But it's awesome! Anyway, doubtless you're wondering how we can claim that our new 2x12" is a 4x10" beater, especially as every manufacturer worth their salt has a 2x12" or two in their stable. So what's different about our betweetered 2x12"? Well we've managed to achieve all those 4x10" pros whilst avoiding the cons.

Vertically aligned drivers result in the best possible horizontal dispersion so your bandmates and audience hear the same tone as you, and minimal floor and ceiling reflections to muddy your tone.

Our low distortion tweeter is positioned high on the baffle to maximise audibility.

Huge woofer voice coils and high gauss motors result in the highest thermal power handling and midrange sensitivity of any 2x12" on the market, in fact this cab can play easily as loud as the best 4x10"s!

High excursion drivers mean the Super Twelve can produce more lows than any conventional 4x10", even those from notably high priced boutique brands. That's that Vd thing we talk about in the techy section.

The carefully tuned large cross-section port gives you yet more support in the lows with minimal compression and port noise - this cab can move air!

Hidden inside the cab is a complicated bracing arrangement which keeps the lows and midrange clean by minimising panel resonances at relevant frequencies.

Asymmetric driver positioning, bracing and damping results in maximum midrange and treble coherence and clarity.

Custom designed high order crossover results in very clean sweet treble even at high SPL, with an adjustable attenuator so you can tweak your highs just like an old school 4x10".

Keeping it simple

At Barefaced we are minimalists. Because we spend time with each customer to understand their needs we can help you decide whether you actually need a tweeter on the Super Twelve and if you don't then you can save yourself some weight and some money and go without.

Sounds perfect!

Well, nothing's ever perfect but we believe this is our best compromise cab for many bassists. If you wonder whether this cab is the one for you then do get in touch and we'll help advise you accurately.

But I don't see how you can better a good 4x10" in every respect, I thought loudspeaker design was about balancing compromises?

Aha, you've obviously been paying attention! So what have we compromised on to make a cab that is smaller and lighter than any 4x10"s yet just as loud and able to move even more air? The best boutique neo 4x10"s will produce more lows with a 250W amp than the Super Twelve will - we've given up some low frequency sensitivity (due to our long voice coil big magnet drivers). But if your amp produces much over 300W into a 4 ohm load then the increased excursion-limited power handling of the Super Twelve turns the tables - twenty years ago the 4x10"s ruled the roost due to limited amplifier power output, now the situation is a little different.

What if the Super Twelve isn't loud enough for all my gigs?

Firstly, this is a seriously loud cab. Even with a few hundred watts pushing it the Super Twelve can drown out hard rocking drummers. You can safely pair this with the biggest amps on the market and dump a full 1000W in to get crazy SPL out (please wear ear plugs!) But on very large stages or playing outdoor gigs you may need more output. In that case if you have an amp which can run down to 2.7 or 2 ohms nominal then you have a few different options.

Option one is stacking two Super Twelves, for a righteous 4x12" rig that's happy being pushing by 2000W of amplification. Alternatively if you just need a bit more output you can stack a Midget on top - the time alignment that helps the Midget work optimally with the Compact actually tilts the polar pattern upwards when stacking a Midget on a Super Twelve, which will help you hear yourself especially if you have to stand close to your rig. The excursion-limited design of the Midget means it'll run slightly cleaner than the Super Twelve at equal voltage input (so the Super Twelve is getting twice as many watts) but that's fine when the Super Twelve is more than loud enough for overpowering distortion to get heard (at which point things will be very very loud indeed). And thirdly you can stack a Super Twelve on a Compact - a bit like the classic 4x10" plus 1x15" stack, except it's much better phase aligned and power matched.

If your amp doesn't run below 4 ohms then the only way to expand a Super Twelve rig is to add a second Super Twelve and wire the two cabs in series with a special cable. However you must NOT series wire dissimilar cabs such as a Midget or Compact or indeed any other manufacturer's cabs.