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Adding a cab to my Barefaced Compact. BF, Schroeder or Vanderkley?

mcnach

mcnach

Jun 16, 2007
8,721
9,563
Edinburgh, Scotland
#1
I want to get a second cab to complement my Barefaced Compact (2nd gen). It will have to be 8ohm.
When using both cabs, I'll most likely be using a Markbass LMIII.

The Compact is nice, but a little on the dark side. I'm looking for something that has enough "oomph" and is a bit more "clear" and prominent on the midrange.

Oh, and I want to keep it reasonably small (up to BF compact size or so) and *light*.
Yes, I care about it being light. Bite me. :p

I'm looking at 3 possibilities, but I'm open to others... I wonder what the collective wisdom and experience here says. The three options I have here are all in the same price range, roughly.



1)
Barefaced Big Baby 2
1x12"
56 x 45 x 37cm H,W,D (stacks nicely on the Compact)
13Kg (light!)
not the nicest handles, but at 13Kg not an issue.
97db
30Hz - 20KHz
timescale: 3-months wait or so?
returns: 30-day trial, easy.


2)
Schroeder 1210
1x12" + 1x10"
60 x 48 x 41cm (stacks perfectly on the compact)
17Kg (reasonable)
handles are not very comfortable
102db
40Hz - 18KHz
timescale: 2-weeks + shipping from USA (air freight)
returns: not practical, too expensive (USA)


3)
Vanderkley 210MNT
2x10"
50 x 50 x 41 (stacks nicely, just 2cm wider than the Compact)
17Kg (reasonable)
great comfy handles
100db
45Hz - 16KHz
timescale: in stock, UK (Bass Direct)
returns: at least 7 days, I have not checked further.


I have not tried any of them and I'm not likely to be able to try before I buy...
I like my mids... think "fingerstyle funk" with a Stingray or Jazz on bridge pickup alone (in the latter case, with a J-Retro preamp fattening up the bottom end a bit).

The lazy guy in me wants to go BF, but what I hear about the Schroeder and VdK cabs makes me think they're probably a very good option... and 4 more Kg won't kill me, especially with a nice handle. The grip on the VdK has a cylindrical cross-section and I find those nice when carrying weight. The ones on the Schroeder these days look a lot like the ones on the TCE RS210, flattened, and they dig in my hand after a bit (I have soft hands, ok? :lol:)

decisions, decisions...
 
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#4
I would definitely ask Alex what he thinks and go with that. If you can avoid mixing brands, the likelihood of coming out with a unified voice probably goes up. Which is not to say the others wouldn't sound good.

The great thing about Barefaced is that you can actually try their stuff in your band before being stuck with it. I just paid the balance on my 69er to Alex. Can't wait!
 
#7
alexclaber said:
Clearly my opinion on this is very predictable but I should add that the wait for any Barefaced cab isn't as long now!
Click to expand...

Ha ha :)
Yes, I thought I could predict your opinion.

Well, I have spent a little over a week thinking about this, even if I only started this thread yesterday.
This morning I woke up with a plan, and looking at the posts so far, it's probably a good one.

You'll be getting an email from me tonight. :)
On paper I like the BB2 more than the Midget/SuperMidget...
 
#10
DELACIUS said:
Want to check back on this, so how do you like BF Big Baby 2? Still have it?
Click to expand...

Make a cup of tea and come back, I have a story for you ;)

I bought the BB2.
Then I got a second BB2 and sold the Compact.

It was good. But I was not in love. Loud, big sounding... but not exactly to my taste. I'm being picky because I could have easily played any gig with them and be ok, but... yeah I'm picky ;)

Then I tried a pair of TKS 1126. Very very good. But were a bit 'scooped' compared to the BB2 and let them go.

Then I got a pair of TKS S112. Much lower power handling than the BB2... but the sound was very very sweet. Bottom end wasn't huge but it was tight, and the low mids just perfect. They sound great and made it get the right sound a breeze. They're also ultra portable and light (10Kg each!)... but it comes at the cost of not being the loudest things you can get and sometimes I was pushing them a bit too hard for comfort. But the sound was great.
Then I got another two. Four TKS S112 were glorious but it gets a bit silly... so I sold the second pair on. And sold the pair of BB2 as well.

Finally I 'discovered' the Barefaced Two10.
THAT was amazing. The sound was in the ballpark of the TKS S112... but this thing was able to put out plenty of bottom end too and handle power like a champ.
I started using a 4ohm Two10 as stage monitor and I loved every single gig. It can also do small bar gigs on its own...

Then I got a second Two10.
I used both Two10 in series (8ohm) with a LM3... and later I got a Mesa D800+ (2 ohm capable). And now I am happy.

The Two10 is a fantastic cab. The bottom end is powerful but tight, I like a fat but articulate clear sound, and these cabs just make it really easy to get the sound I want. Plenty of top end as well if you want it, but they don't get 'brittle'... it's just a very pleasant sounding cab that fits my sound perfectly.

And that's my story. BF Two10 wins. :)

I still have the TKS S112 pair because they are so compact and great sounding, but that's mostly my practice rig at home now.
 
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#12
mcnach said:
Make a cup of tea and come back, I have a story for you ;)

I bought the BB2.
Then I got a second BB2 and sold the Compact.

It was good. But I was not in love. Loud, big sounding... but not exactly to my taste. I'm being picky because I could have easily played any gig with them and be ok, but... yeah I'm picky ;)

Then I tried a pair of TKS 1126. Very very good. But were a bit 'scooped' compared to the BB2 and let them go.

Then I got a pair of TKS S112. Much lower power handling than the BB2... but the sound was very very sweet. Bottom end wasn't huge but it was tight, and the low mids just perfect. They sound great and made it get the right sound a breeze. They're also ultra portable and light (10Kg each!)... but it comes at the cost of not being the loudest things you can get and sometimes I was pushing them a bit too hard for comfort. But the sound was great.
Then I got another two. Four TKS S112 were glorious but it gets a bit silly... so I sold the second pair on. And sold the pair of BB2 as well.

Finally I 'discovered' the Barefaced Two10.
THAT was amazing. The sound was in the ballpark of the TKS S112... but this thing was able to put out plenty of bottom end too and handle power like a champ.
I started using a 4ohm Two10 as stage monitor and I loved every single gig. It can also do small bar gigs on its own...

Then I got a second Two10.
I used both Two10 in series (8ohm) with a LM3... and later I got a Mesa D800+ (2 ohm capable). And now I am happy.

The Two10 is a fantastic cab. The bottom end is powerful but tight, I like a fat but articulate clear sound, and these cabs just make it really easy to get the sound I want. Plenty of top end as well if you want it, but they don't get 'brittle'... it's just a very pleasant sounding cab that fits my sound perfectly.

And that's my story. BF Two10 wins. :)

I still have the TKS S112 pair because they are so compact and great sounding, but that's mostly my practice rig at home now.
Click to expand...

Man, thanks for this, It's hard to try all that, but you cleared some of my thoughts. I'll let you know how it goes... but that Barefaced BB2 is looking sweet..... :)
 
#13
DELACIUS said:
Man, thanks for this, It's hard to try all that, but you cleared some of my thoughts. I'll let you know how it goes... but that Barefaced BB2 is looking sweet..... :)
Click to expand...

Oh the BB2 is a great cab, no doubt. It's just that the Two10 is more to my personal liking... but like I said, if I had to have the pair of BB2 and nothing else... I would not be sad either ;)
For my taste you need to tame the low end on the BB2, and an adjustable High Pass Filter would be very useful (for my taste)... but at the time I did not experiment with HPFs. I might have kept them if I had, who knows? The Two10 however just sounds right with minimum fuss.
 
#14
mcnach said:
Make a cup of tea and come back, I have a story for you ;)

I bought the BB2.
Then I got a second BB2 and sold the Compact.

It was good. But I was not in love. Loud, big sounding... but not exactly to my taste. I'm being picky because I could have easily played any gig with them and be ok, but... yeah I'm picky ;)

Then I tried a pair of TKS 1126. Very very good. But were a bit 'scooped' compared to the BB2 and let them go.

Then I got a pair of TKS S112. Much lower power handling than the BB2... but the sound was very very sweet. Bottom end wasn't huge but it was tight, and the low mids just perfect. They sound great and made it get the right sound a breeze. They're also ultra portable and light (10Kg each!)... but it comes at the cost of not being the loudest things you can get and sometimes I was pushing them a bit too hard for comfort. But the sound was great.
Then I got another two. Four TKS S112 were glorious but it gets a bit silly... so I sold the second pair on. And sold the pair of BB2 as well.

Finally I 'discovered' the Barefaced Two10.
THAT was amazing. The sound was in the ballpark of the TKS S112... but this thing was able to put out plenty of bottom end too and handle power like a champ.
I started using a 4ohm Two10 as stage monitor and I loved every single gig. It can also do small bar gigs on its own...

Then I got a second Two10.
I used both Two10 in series (8ohm) with a LM3... and later I got a Mesa D800+ (2 ohm capable). And now I am happy.

The Two10 is a fantastic cab. The bottom end is powerful but tight, I like a fat but articulate clear sound, and these cabs just make it really easy to get the sound I want. Plenty of top end as well if you want it, but they don't get 'brittle'... it's just a very pleasant sounding cab that fits my sound perfectly.

And that's my story. BF Two10 wins. :)

I still have the TKS S112 pair because they are so compact and great sounding, but that's mostly my practice rig at home now.
Click to expand...

A year on, and many gigs later... the pair of Two10 with the Mesa D800+ still make me smile.
 
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#16
Karl Kaminski said:
After ALOT of reading posts (yours have been very helpful-TY) Im certainly leaning towards a Two10s now. But it sounds like the Super Compact may get me there too... too many options ;)
Click to expand...

With what I know now, I think I would have preferred the SC to the BB2 I ended up buying. I still think the Two10 is the one for me, 'though. I used stay away from cabs that imparted too much colour... until I realised that it was a lot easier if I got cabs with the right... shade. Despite having a certain sound, the Two10 is still very versatile. I find it very difficult to make them sound bad :D But if it weren't the Two10, the SC would be the one I'd try.
 
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