2012 April - June
30th June (UK)
Hi AlexJust thought I'd write to say how much I love my Super12 T, after having had it for a year or so. It's a truly amazing piece of kit, that's opened my eyes to so many
tonal possibilities, not to speak of the headroom it makes available. Just thinking about it makes me grin uncontrollably!
Thanks for your help and for building such amazing gear.
All the best
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21st June (France)
Hey Alex!I've been gigging twice with my midget already...It's really amazing , fills all my expectations:)I've played saturday in a mid-sized indoor venue and i decided to try it first with my G&L SB-2. For some reason i had a lot of tweaking to get a hold on my sound ,
but i managed and could enjoy the punch and power of my midget.Yesterday i used it for an outdoor gig with the guys i play with the most. I took my Us jazz bass deluxe and my sound was great , but the most amazing was how full and
big it got , outside. The other band members went from laughing at this tiny box when i took it out of the car to how amazing it was :pIt's also soooo small and light (i didn t realize it would be that small and light) that i m almost regretting i didn t get a compact , whitch i m already saving for
...In other words , you kickass!!! I'll spread the word here in Marseille :)I'd like to get a cover or even a flightcase for it. Are there any companies doing that ?Seb
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16th June (Norway)
I finally got to gig this beast.I've been using it in the studio and at practice since February. I've had a lot of time to adjust thisnew cabinet. One of the things that makes this a great cab is that EQing is a lot easier than with any other cab I've played. There are no surprises. No bad ones anyway. Getting a good live sound has never been easier.I'm using a good head (EBS TD660), but the cabinet responds perfectly to both my EQ and my playing.Even though I put in in a tight corner, it still filled the room with ease.
Though my previous cabinet was deemed "decent", I was constantly fighting it's voicing. This meanta lot of work with the EQ to make it sound as I wanted it to, but it never sounded good enough. The S15 sounds EXACTLY as a tweeterless cab should sound. And the bottom end is fat, tight, all those good things you know you want. This is truly the best purchase I have ever made.
I just wanted to say thank you. I couldn't be happier.
Kind regards,Kristoffer
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12th June (USA)
Nothing much to report. You don't have to put any of this on your site, these are really just tiny details
The cabs continue to stomp all over the northeast US. I've been working non-stop, in all different kinds of bands. I constantly test them against other cabs, ask them
to fill impossible venues, and play like an idiot through them. Then the next night I ask them to be very quiet and pristine. They are so great Alex, especially for
ERB.
Now listen, any comments from here on out are only small things I've noticed, about hauling them around, stuff I notice over years of traveling and also having worked
as a professional mover .Sound-wise they are awesome, and continue to prove themselves in side-by-side comparisons against many of the known superstar cabs. (SVT8x10,
AccuGroove ElWhappo, Acme (2 4ohm LowB2's) , fEARful 15/6 (surprisingly DIS-similar) , SWR 4x10 (not even a fair fight against only one BB), 2 Mesa 15's, 2 Bag end
15's)
Also, the following are not "issues" or "problems" , just things I've noticed, things which are BY FAR outweighed by their light weight.
As far as physically, the cabs are sound. Sometimes I swear I can hear a "squeak" or a creak or a groan as I set down the BBT on the ground, but then I can't reproduce
it. Once I put power to it and crank it it doesn't rattle or complain any more than the other one (the BB no T), so I'm just careful with it. They do get bumped around
alot, though.
The handle issue on the BBT I've just give up worrying about. The rubber has creased and torn and looks bad no matter how many times i tuck it back in or how careful I
am with it, but the metal strap inside is still attached just like new and it "carries" just fine, so I have just gradually stopped worrying. But the height of the
handle mounting is too much for the rubber feet to clear, so they can't be stacked on their sides. This is sometimes a problem in the van (lorrie?), fitting everything
in.
I've found that the extreme light weight can sometimes be problematic in a couple small ways, unexpected ways that have never come up before in my life with heavy,
bulky cabs.
1) The Handle. With a heavier (60lbs or more) cab, which is what one could expect from a comparable size to the Big Baby, one would never consider just picking the cab
up with one hand and starting to walk a long distance to the van, with the cab swinging alongside merrily like a briefcase. The BB's are light enough to invite this,
and the result is that along the way (typically a longer distance than on would be willing to carry a heavier cab) the cab's handle gets treated to more variety of
angles of stress, albeit at a lower weight. A heavier cab stays much more still during these types of carries.
Also with a heavier cab, one is far less tempted to just swing it up and carry it against one's chest to get through a narrow doorway. Usually I find that I put
heavier cabs on a two wheeler or carry them to my chest from the get-go to prepare for the doorway. But the Big Baby's invite this, and then one is carrying it from
only one handle in a vertical position, and I think over time this will kill almost any handle, even on such a light weight cab as the BB. Also in this position, it is
very tempting to support one's other hand against one of the side-feet, perpendicular to the pull of the side-foot's screw.
2) The Feet. Once in the van, they demand to be stacked in their normal stage position, as the feet will not clear the handles. Usually this is no problem, but then
another unexpected (due to the light weight thing) pops up. If one places the BB in the van and then has to maneuver it a few more inches to get it into place, since
there is no top-handle one has to again grab the handle in a vertical position, or, if there is not room to do this properly (and there almost never is) then one has
to either squeeze the cab from the sides or kind of cheat and brace the top edge of one's hand against one of the side-bumpers, the rubber feet on the side. Again,
with heavier cabs, one would never do this, as no one puts side-bumpers on their cabs, and if they did the feet are never strong enough to be stressed perpendicular
to the screw to pick up a heavy cab so usually one wouldn't grab it like this, but again the Big baby's just are so light, they invite this, almost tauntingly, and
eventually in a tight spot one will brace the top edge of one's hand on the side-feet enough times, and they will eventually come off. I just put them back with a dab
of plastic wood. But these cabs get carried in different interesting ways, and I wanted to warn you before some talkbass dude in the US gets all freaked out about a
foot working it's way off over time, you know how those kids can get. The only answer I can come up with is using more handles, but that would freakiin TRIPLE your
handle cost to add one more side handle and a top one. Hmmmmm .......... well, you'll come up with something, I'm sure.
3) The Corners. Now, the corners, I hardly ever hit or even brush up against while carrying them, but each one is starting to come off. I think they just need bigger
screws and slightly taller feet as on the rare occasion they do take a hit, just a slightly bigger foot would have deflected it. Also it just seems that the corner-
piece (the steel part, and please forgive my layman's terms here) is just too "big" for the corner of the cab, and the edges of this peice stick "out" and invite being
caught in a rug, or scraped against a doorframe, you know what I mean? Not the rounded corner itself, but the edges of the metal corner-piece, it just seems that a
smaller sized piece's edges would be more flush with the edges of the plywood and would, with slightly beefier feet, avoid this. Am i even explaining this right?
Again, not that it's any problem at all, but the effortless loud low notes that these things can produce, and the travel of the driver, it will want to loosen
everything, and many people might be freaked out when it starts to happen.
4) They are indeed so lightweight int their construction so as to be almost "nose-heavy", even considering how light the 3012lf is. It takes only very little force to
topple the stack of two BB's onto their faces (this has never happened but I worry about clumsy drummers or stage crews bumping them from behind). Again, with the
usual cab made out of heavy plywood you'd never think a neo driver would be so unbalancing. But if you make too many more advances in weight reduction you may want to
consider this!!
Now, up until about a couple months ago, I was constantly asking them for more, more, more. And would even buy/sell other cabs to combine them with for more surface
area with of course mixed results. Turns out that for this whole time I was not properly driving my power amp, and that the power amp itself, is just not quite enough
power for the 'Baby's. Also that every preamp I tried was not up to the task of fine tuning my rather nasal-sounding ERB. Now I have the Eden Navigator, with it's
shelf at 30hz and three bands of semi-parametric EQ, and the BB's have thundered ever since, even at large outdoor events w/no PA support for the bass, people have
been flabbergasted at the amount of bass from the two Big Baby's.
I am not the best bassist around here, not by a long-shot. But I am one of the best sounding, for sure.
michael
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19th April (UK)
Have now used above (dubster) for both bass guitar and disco. With bass guitar, two experienced sound engineers who were setting up FOH pa were very impressed with the
sound and portability, I was as well – the smooth response throughout the range, punch and ability to hit the ‘high’ bass notes without loosing tone and volume was
impressive! The disco result was excellent with depth and punch which enhanced the overall sound much more than the previous bins. In summary, the cabinet has been
everything I expected, and more. For a number of years I have been looking for a dual purpose, lightweight speaker system and at last, I have one which performs to a
very high standard. Thank you for making an old rocker happy!!
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16th April (UK)
Alex, How are things in the world of Barefaced? Did an electric gig a couple of weeks back which was the most demanding yet - I actually lit the clip light on my
Streamliner 900 for the 1st time ever (I know that light is yellow!! Lol). The cab did not break a sweat. I did hear a little audible distortion, but only after the
sound man asked me to max the 50Hz slider on my EQ pedal (which is +15db!!) to test his subs! Dude this cab is mind blowing. Sound men can't understand how it performs
so well. LOVE IT. It's a Dubstep bassists dream!! Some vids from that show - http://www.sheponbass.co.uk/blog/2012/4/8/our-helical-mind-live.html On another note. Some
of our new material is using a 4-Pole Low Pass Filter quite a bit for those swells right down to earth shaking level. The cab takes it great and the amp is not
clipping etc etc, but the drivers are really moving some at the end of those swells... I just want some reassurance that I'm not going to damage them! :) Thanks again
dude. Shep PS... I've been getting loads of questions about your stuff through the website and my web statistics say I get in average 5 hits a day from people googling
'Barefaced Big Twin'... Hopefully those people I point in your direction ate getting in touch, and those that see the stuff on my site find the info they are after!
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6th April (Netherlands)
Getting on famously with the Compact here. Still very impressive with my old Orange and Hiwatt heads. In the spirit of 2012 (and being of 1962 vintagemyself) I am also now a Genz Benz Streamliner 900 owner, and that combination is fantastic too. I take it you know of the Streamliner? Seems to live up to the hype -
good bass amp!
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4th April (UK)
I had to let you know how what my bandmates thought of my new Compact. Took it to rehearsal for the first time, and met our drummer as I was unloading my gear. I told him I had my new cabinet, and promptly pulled it out of the car. He looked at me and said "You just picked that up with one hand!" Then I asked him to pick it up and he couldn't believe how light it was. Once I got it set up, everyone couldn't believe how loud it was either, and all commented on the really clear, deep lows. I finally gigged it last Saturday at a wedding, and even though my amp was DI'd into the PA,I could clearly hear myself cutting through the sound. It's paired with a GK MB500 amp, and the clarity of the sound is amazing. Thanks to all at Barefaced. Quality product guys, well done! Great customer service as well.
My back appreciates it too!
Leigh.
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4th April (Poland)
Some bad news - my bigbabyT seems to be enough powerful to work alone!! I really have to think do I need anything more... ;-) There is lot of persons asking about my cab on every gig! Thanks again!!! I love it! there is nothing to compare with BBt!
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3rd April (UK)
Received cab on tuesday as you said all okSorry not got back to you as i am working a week of nights powered the cab up yesterday via my aggi DB 751 UNBELIEVABLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A FANTASTIC CAB I have found that i have had to turn the aggi up on the master setting from a quarter to half way to get the same amount of volume from the aggi 4x12 cab i believe
thats due to the aggi cab being 2 ohms it blows my aggi cab away in fact its going on bass chat for sale and yes i aim going to place an order for another thanks alex it was sure worth the wait REHEARSALS NEXT WEEK CAN NOT WAIT
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3rd April (UK)
Hi Alex Just a quick update . I have played the cab quite a lot now and am 100% happy with it, I could not ask for more . It has made life so much easier by replacing
two heavier cabs and sounding a lot better, my band has never sounded so good, we just need to replace the drummers bad back now ! It has also made me realise what a
great amp the Ampeg PF500 is, the S12 has really opened up the amps tonal qualities, I am hearing mids from the 5 way switch that were not there with my two BC212s !
Thanks for such a great product . Graham
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Compact - 6th April (UK)
Can I first say that I have been using my compact for a while now and am absolutely blown away by it. It is without doubt the best bass cab I have owned.I have used it with my Promethean 1x10 combo. This is a great set up. However, I dont think the 10" speaker in the Promethean is as efficient as the 15" in the compact. I can feel the compact, it kicks. I also dont like the fact that I cant adjust the volume of the tweeter in the combo.I have also tried the Promethean amp on its own with the compact. I felt I needed a tweeter with this set up.Which leads me onto the reason for this email. I think I need a Barefaced Midget cab with tweeter. :-)
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Big Twin T - 9th April (USA)
used the cab this weekend and was very pleased. First impressions were a noticeable lower increase, had to dial back the bass knob on my Lakland just a bit, set the midrange in the cut position (how much decrease does that switch provide on the midrange?), had the tweeter about 3/4 up and was very happy. The Eden amp was purring at a reduced master volume and all controls were flat with the exception of a little Enhance knob at 9 o'clock and just a bit of compression to smooth out a few low notes. Can't wait to try it out at some larger venues as well as outdoor shows.
Thanks again for getting it to me, Just want to get that Roqsolid cover since I really need to keep this beauty protected and looking great.
Was a great weekend and am very pleased with the cab right away and feel it will only get better with time and experience playing through it.
Randy
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Big Twin T - 5th April (UK)
powered the cab up yesterday via my aggi DB 751 UNBELIEVABLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A FANTASTIC CAB I have found that i have had to turn the aggi up on the master setting from a quarter to half way to get the same amount of volume from the aggi 4x12 cab i believe thats due to the aggi cab being 2 ohms it blows my aggi cab away in fact its going on bass chat for sale and yes i aim going to place an order for another thanks alex it was sure worth the wait REHEARSALS NEXT WEEK CAN NOT WAIT
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Compact - 4th April (UK)
I had to let you know how what my bandmates thought of my new Compact.
Took it to rehearsal for the first time, and met our drummer as I was unloading my gear. I told him I had my new cabinet, and promptly pulled it out of the car. He looked at me and said "You just picked that up with one hand!" Then I asked him to pick it up and he couldn't believe how light it was.
Once I got it set up, everyone couldn't believe how loud it was either, and all commented on the really clear, deep lows.
I finally gigged it last Saturday at a wedding, and even though my amp was DI'd into the PA,I could clearly hear myself cutting through the sound. It's paired with a GK MB500 amp, and the clarity of the sound is amazing.
Thanks to all at Barefaced. Quality product guys, well done! Great customer service as well.
My back appreciates it too!
Leigh.
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Compact - 2nd April, 3 year update (UK)
Thought you might like to know that that since buying the compact just short of 3 years ago, I've worked out that I've gigged it over 260 times. I have a thin, homemade cover for it, which stops it getting scraped or caught on stuff in in transport but offers no protection other than that.
Still going strong. Other than the plastic corner coming off - which I'm not bothered about replacing - there are no issues at all.
Thanks for a great product. If only my beast of a TE head were equally light, I'd be sorted!
Frank