Hi everyone,
So, yesterday was a big day! I finally got o try my new micro rig at a gig.
The gig was a standard pub gig, playing anything from the beatles to Guns and Roses and lady gaga (i know!).
My goal when i put this rig together was to have something as small as possible, that could be used on its own but mainly through a PA and that i was able to carry in public transports without a dolly!
I usually use my Mesa Boogie Walkabout Scout 12 but i wanted something that was lighter for small pub gigs where i want to get the best "blast 'em/ weight" ratio!
Lets start with the beginning:
The amp: great little amp, really light, looks very cool!
After using it at home for a few days i really find it to muddy, did a bit of research and decided to swap the original no name chinese tubes with JJ 12ax7.
It really opened the amp up, lost a bit of low end, gained a bit of high end and mainly got rid of the mud!
The gain drive is also a bit more natural and overall it just sounds a lot better!
I would definitely recommend anybody who has one to experiment with preamp tubes!
The EQ is pretty useless, it doesnt really allow for much tone shaping, it doesnt really changes the amps character, i really see it as a set and forget, you wont get many sounds from this head!
The cab: Barefaced Midget, made in the UK by Alex, a forum member!
The cab took a long time to be delivered, i ordered it before xmas, and the xmas rush plus the fact that alex broke his leg at that time made me wait almost 3 months instead of an announced 3 weeks!
The wait was worth it though!
Although this cab has a definit "home made" feel to it ( a lot of people have complained about that!) it is very well made, the only thing lacking is attention to detail, the finish isnt perfect, the grill although it looks great is a bit crooked, the corners look a bit cheap...
The important bits, like box design/tunning and woodworking are really well done which is the most important! It just doesnt have the "mmm, nice" of a boogie if you know what i mean!
The main thing though is that it is incredibly light (9kg) and more importantly, it sound great!
When combining both together i was really surprised by the result!
It has a really tight bottom end, with proper lows, not room shacking brown note lows, but very decent room filling capabilities!
The head doesnt allow for much tone sculpting but it really compliments that little cab so well it feels like they where designed to work together. The sound coming out of this combo is really really angry, its all crunch and grind even with the gain set low!
Volume wise, i had master and gain at 9 o'clock and i was louder than my boogie pushed close to its max and this rig wasnt struggling at all, it felt like it could go a lot louder without a problem!
All in all, i was really surprised and almost a bit annoyed!
Why? Because this cheap little rig sounds better than my fancy Boogie rig! Its louder, has more low end, better attack response and a nicer sounding tube drive!
It almost feels like the single 12" in the barefaced pushes as much air as the 2 12" from the mesa+extension!
I will keep my walkabout rig anyway, it is still a great rig, is a lot more versatile than the orange and has a great EQ that allows a lot more different sounds!
The orange/barefaced although it sounds great really is a one sound rig!
For rock with a pic, digging in like a pig it sound amazing!
For playing brown eyed girl with a fat smooth sound, the boogie is king!
To sum it all, i really think this rig is worth buying if your into nasty grindy sound, but want something that is not going to kill your back!
If your a set and forget kinda guy who like straight in your face tone with some dirt, this is the best small rig you could get!
If you want a versatile, clean and polite sound this is not the rig for you!
With both setups i dont think i will ever need a new amp unless i need to play Wembley stadium without a PA!
Hope some of you have managed to read this to the end!
Here come the pics!
(weight wise, the orange/barefaced totals at 13kg, the mesa on its own is 25kg plus 18kg or the extension!)
