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Baer Amplification Megathread!

#1,821
Not yet said:
How come you sold em?
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Well it wasn't because "they weren't good enough." They're a totally no-comprimise design inside and out.

When I bought them, it reminded me of when I bought my Ken Smith way back coming from a Fender Jazz. "It sounds like what I like from the Jazz, but even more growly and an extra string to boot!" Well, a few years later I sold the Smith and that Jazz is my main player. So that's part of it. Play a Nordy or similar, these are probably gonna fit right in with your style.

So now I'm back to the DIY stuff, which is a lot of fun to me to build and use. Why should Roger have all the fun? :D
 
#1,822
Chef said:
read the BGM review of the ML112 if you haven't.

It's a great cab. The 212 will be very similar.
As Ken noted, it makes great use of modern components, without some of the "disadvantages" other designs have with them. For some popele anyway; it's kinda subjective.

For me, the fF designs can be too fat down low sometimes. And, I didn't like the mid-presentation of the 18Sound.
The TC stuf was just too smooth, for me.

So, the Baer isn't either of those.
The Faital "mid" driver goes as high as many horns, but does it more pleasantly than many horns. The lows are beefy, but controlled.

Great stuff.
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Well put:

Thunderchild... super smooth, super clean, quite wide voicing.... brings to mind playing through a studio monitor. Lots of complicated passive circuitry to smooth that big horn and make it sound very musical, quite flat, and very, very clean.

fEARful.... very bright and present up top, very deep down low... brings to mind playing through a decent front of house system (which, as most know who have experienced both, is quite different from a 'studio monitor in control room' sort of vibe). Kind of a 'more of everything' sort of vibe... super big low end, super bright upper midrange.

ML112/212..... all the good of an old school 215 cab (fat, warm, organic, lots of character) with none of the bad (farting at high volumes, lack of low treble response, some beaming in the high end).

Kind of like 'goldilocks and the three bears' (Baers:D)... each of these three wonderful designs will fit the 'this one is just right' criteria for different players, depending on tone goals. IMO, and actually IME on this one, since I've owned or spend significant time with all these executions.
 
#1,823
Addison said:
I have BOTH of those amps, along with a Trace Elliot AH300SMX and a MB BB750... so pumped to try this out!!!
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Cool! And REMEMBER, the Baer 12 loaded cabs are designs that really do change a bit over the first 2-3 hours of playing. Based on my (and others') experience, your cab will sound just a bit too upper mid forward when you first take it out of the box and plug it in. Don't freak out. Play it for an hour or three, then walk away from it for a while to let your ears 'reset'. When you come back to it, it will sound like it has magically smoothed out, due to the driver surrounds loosening a bit, resulting in a more even ratio of deep lows to upper mids.

Don't judge in the first 15 minutes... even though that is hard not to do!:)
 
#1,824
"adjustment period"

This is true!

For me, if for no other reason that "I wasn't used to all my high end content coming from a 'paper horn.'..."

that mid driver goes plenty high for even creditable slap tone. It just delivers it a little different than what your ears are used to.
 
#1,825
The ML112 isn't a penicillin cab - that doesn't exist imho. But as Ken said, for some (many?), it is the Goldilocks "just right" choice. I've gone through a bunch of cabs, and it does some things better than other cabs, and it avoids some things in didn't like in other cabs. I have fairly strict parameters for a cab beyond sound. It has to be very portable (under 40lbs), it should have flexible positioning (ideally with a vertical form factor), and it has to be able to cover a wide range of music.

I will say that if you're looking for a super smooth hi-fi sound, this isn't the cab for you. To my ear, it is fairly mid forward and there is some edge and bite in the upper mids if you want it. What it doesn't have is the harsh highs that often can be in a cab with a tweeter. I find the ML112 to be a bit crunchy, and I mean that in a good way. If I lean into the bridge pup, the cab will cut through without that edgy hiss or harshness. The low end is present but controlled. I'm really picky about low-mids. I've had cabinets that can be a bit wooly down there. The ML112 isn't - the low is there, it is deep, but it isn't overwhelming. I'm able to cover most of my gigs with a single cabinet. I've done that in the past with other cabs, but usually wasn't happy with the amount of low end support. I don't find myself wanting with I run a single cab.

I think the only thing the cab really won't do is the Marcus EBS slap sound. I slap with the Baer, but it isn't the same tone (or talent but that is another issue). For rock though - tone to my ear is about as good as it gets. When I have to use a supplied fridge backline I get bummed. The ML112 is a cab that sounds great in a mix, and is less "impressive" when playing in the bedroom. That is kinda the opposite experience I had with the TC, which sounds gorgeous solo but got a bit lost in some of my mixes. I'm going to try the TC212 as that is supposed to have a bit more mid push, but I also now have some gigs where a smooth/clean hi-fi tone will work well.

Bottom line is that the ML112 just works, at least for me.
 
#1,827
nostatic said:
The ML112 isn't a penicillin cab - that doesn't exist imho. But as Ken said, for some (many?), it is the Goldilocks "just right" choice. I've gone through a bunch of cabs, and it does some things better than other cabs, and it avoids some things in didn't like in other cabs. I have fairly strict parameters for a cab beyond sound. It has to be very portable (under 40lbs), it should have flexible positioning (ideally with a vertical form factor), and it has to be able to cover a wide range of music.

I will say that if you're looking for a super smooth hi-fi sound, this isn't the cab for you. To my ear, it is fairly mid forward and there is some edge and bite in the upper mids if you want it. What it doesn't have is the harsh highs that often can be in a cab with a tweeter. I find the ML112 to be a bit crunchy, and I mean that in a good way. If I lean into the bridge pup, the cab will cut through without that edgy hiss or harshness. The low end is present but controlled. I'm really picky about low-mids. I've had cabinets that can be a bit wooly down there. The ML112 isn't - the low is there, it is deep, but it isn't overwhelming. I'm able to cover most of my gigs with a single cabinet. I've done that in the past with other cabs, but usually wasn't happy with the amount of low end support. I don't find myself wanting with I run a single cab.

I think the only thing the cab really won't do is the Marcus EBS slap sound. I slap with the Baer, but it isn't the same tone (or talent but that is another issue). For rock though - tone to my ear is about as good as it gets. When I have to use a supplied fridge backline I get bummed. The ML112 is a cab that sounds great in a mix, and is less "impressive" when playing in the bedroom. That is kinda the opposite experience I had with the TC, which sounds gorgeous solo but got a bit lost in some of my mixes. I'm going to try the TC212 as that is supposed to have a bit more mid push, but I also now have some gigs where a smooth/clean hi-fi tone will work well.

Bottom line is that the ML112 just works, at least for me.
Click to expand...

I agree. To me, it's reminiscent of the Schroeder cabs that were popular a while back which had a whole lot of mids that cut, but the effect was way too exaggerated in the end for most people's taste it seems. The ML112 is nowhere near that mid aggressive, but the upper-mid bump is there, but not in the harsh and offensive kind of way. There are still plenty of highs and a solid low end to fill out the foundation of a band.
 
#1,837
I have a GB Uber 212 that sounds great but the quest for new gear continues. The 212 is really too big for me at this point. Also, I have a SWR Baby Baby Blue that can use a 8 ohm extension cab so the Baer could do double duty for me. My primary head is a Shuttle 12.0. Really, the best bass sound I have encountered was when I had a chance to run my bongo through a Uber 212 / Uber 410 stack powered by the Shuttle 12.

I suspect that I will like the sound of the ML112. I played through an Electrovoice B215-m cab for years, still have it in fact. It is loaded with 2 15s and a 6" midrange. Still sounds good and is super efficient. Also it is quite big and weighs in at 120 lbs. Worked when I was playing in bars with no PA support but it is strictly overkill at this point. This cab with a 6" always gave me everything I need in terms of upper end.

Can anyone comment on / contrast the sound of the ML112 with the GB Uber 212? I have read through all the threads and am still trying to decide whether to buy without hearing the cab first.
 
#1,838
willsellout said:
I just called, no one answered. I'll try back a little later.
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Also, if you don't reach him... don't forget that NAMM is this coming Wednesday.

All these smaller operation guys are currently freaking-the-frick-out right now trying to get all their ducks in a row before they make the trip to Anaheim.

He'll definitely call or write you back, but just remember that there's a good chance he's just really, really busy right now.
 
#1,839
Addison said:
Also, if you don't reach him... don't forget that NAMM is this coming Wednesday.

All these smaller operation guys are currently freaking-the-frick-out right now trying to get all their ducks in a row before they make the trip to Anaheim.

He'll definitely call or write you back, but just remember that there's a good chance he's just really, really busy right now.
Click to expand...

^ This! NAMM pretty much starts for most of us in December and you can pretty much write off getting anything done in January.

Anyway, to answer a few questions regarding the ML212. That cab was absolutely designed to sound like 2 ML112's in one package. The internal volume is almost exactly double that of the ML112 and the crossover is pretty much the same, but setup for double the drivers. Cabinet tuning is very, very close as well. We also made the mid enclosure a bit deeper than in the ML112. I found that increasing the mid box volume a little made the mid driver just a hair smoother sounding, which is good on this cab. I think Ken is right in that the bigger cabs tend to have a tad richer low end, but the tone is really very similar.

Basically, the ML212 was made for those guys who would never use a single 112 due to their volume requirements and would rather deal with moving one larger cab instead of 2 smaller ones. This tends to be my preference as well. It also saves you a couple hundred bucks over two separate ML112s.

We made a small run of the ML212's, so right now we have them in stock. Unlike some of the other small companies on TB, our cabs are not made to order. In the case of the ML112's, we make runs of 30 cabs at a time, so we always keep the first run small to make sure we have all the bugs worked out. It also allows me to get some feedback from the first adoptee's to make sure we are on the right track, before sinking a ton of money into making a larger run. Now... back to getting ready for NAMM.
 

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