I've caught on to that Been beginning to try to figure out what to look for in this case.
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Chasing that headroom, but what amp/speaker size/wattage???
- Thread starter matt82
- Start date
What are the posted sensitivity specs for the "Barefaced 12"? Big Baby 3 or the other single 12?
Interesting question: they are "only" rated with a sensitivity of 97dB, but Barefaced has chosen a very "honest" (*) measurement protocol, so that in reality, it's much louder than what this figure would let you think.
My Barefaced Super Compact is equally loud or slightly louder than a GR Bass cab that is rated 103dB (granted GR Bass has chosen a very "optimistic" measurement protocol). You can read my post on the topic here.
In real life, compared to other 12" cabs from Markbass, Ampeg, or Hartke that I often use in rehearsal studios, they are very very loud.
(*) I can't find it right now because I'm on holiday, but I've got an email from Alex where he explains this. It's too technical for me, but he measures sensitivity for the frequencies that are significant for bass guitars, rather than trying to publish the most impressive figures.
As many have said, a 112 + amp or 112 combo will do the trick for your bedroom practice. It should also work for a small venue like a small brewpub, coffeehouse, etc. Only problem with that is if you need to play a medium-sized venue, it's not enough rig for the gig and depending on what you buy, you man or may not be able to run a second cab with it, which is what you'll need to play medium-sized gigs. And usually those 112 combos don't have a powerful enough amp to drive two cabs in a medium-sized venue. So you'd need to get a new amp to upgrade your rig along with another 112 cab.
You may be better off getting a amp and 210 cab or a 210 combo. It will be larger and heavier but will be usable for home, small venues, and medium-sized venues as-is - no need to buy anything more. When you play large venues you'll want to buy a second 210 cab and "usually" that will open up the rest of the power in the amp and as long as you end up with 500-watts into 4Ω amp, you will be all set. That gives you a de facto 500-watt 410 rig which will also let you play not only large venues but outdoor venues too. I prefer 800-watt amps but 500-watt will get it done. Good news is you don't have to buy it all at once and, you don't have to sell your previous set-up to use it when your fist purchase is for separates instead of a combo.
A couple of good choices for a combo are the Ampeg RB210 and the Fender Rumble 500. The Ampeg combo produces 250-watts rms into its 210 cabinet and 500-watts when a second 8Ω cab is added; and the Fender Rumble 500, which produces 350-watts rms into 8Ω ohms. and 500-watts into 4Ω when you add the second 8Ω cab. Only real drawback with either of those if you have to like the Ampeg sound for their Rocket 210 (RB210) or you have to like the Fender sound for their Rumble 500. Both have identifiable native voicing and if you don't like that sound, you'll get rid of it. Personally I like the Fender sound a bit better, but my first amp was a Fender Bassman amp that I bought in 1966. So a bit of nostalgia there for that sound. Both of those pathways will work fine and they are both right around $650 for the combo to get started.
The other way to go is with a separate amp and cab, which gives you a lot more upgrade options because you're not relegated to a specific brand and power of amp if you need to upgrade down the road. Nor are you limited to brand or size of cab when you need to buy another one. A bit of a warning here though. For best results when buying a second cab, if you're happy with the first cab, buy the same brand as the first one. Reason for that is buying cabs with different speakers, for instance a 410+115, a 210+112, 210+212, 210+115,etc., can cause phase and comb filter problems if they come from different manufacturers because they weren't specifically designed to work well together. With the manor manufacturers, their designers generally take those challenges into account when designing their cabs so they sound good and mix well with the rest of their cabs - ask me how I know...
I'd saved up for 5-years and finally purchased a DNS-410 cab by DNA (handles 1400-watts rms) back in 2015 while I was still living in Virginia. It arrived 2-days before we moved to Washington state. So I didn't play it until I got to Washington and I was in hog-heaven. Best sound I ever heard and much louder and clearer than my previous 410+115 stack all by itself. Thought I would never need to buy another cab.
Then I tried rolling it into a small brewpub (we have over 400 brewpubs in Washington state) and had to roll it right back out because the owner said it was too large and made me use his small Peavey 112 combo instead. The band played there over 40-times a year and I just couldn't get the sound I wanted out of it, so I figured I'd buy a Eden EX-112 cab (handles 300-watts rms) and use one of my other amps with it. That worked perfectly and both that small venue and I were happy with my sound. I later bought a low-powered amp specifically to play small venues because all my amps then were the heavy class AB amps. So I bought an Eden TN-226 class D amp that puts out 226-watts rms and weighs just 4.7-lbs. to match with my Eden EX-112 cab.
Here's that small venue rig. It fits nicely in a chair and I can carry amp, gig bag (under the chair), bass, and cab in or out in one trip:
I had only purchased one of the 112 cabs because I was going to use my 410 everywhere else...However, the first night I played through that comparatively inexpensive cab ($269 for the EX-112 instead of $869 for Eden's top-of-the-line D112XST), it sounded soooo good I decided to buy a second one and use two 112's for medium-sized venues. That EX-112 is a compact 112 weighing in at 30-lbs. each. It is so small because it uses a whizzer cone (cone within a cone) for the high-mids and highs instead of a separate tweeter horn. The two of them weighed in at 60-lbs, so it was lighter than 79-lb. 410. Had to use my big Eden amp though because those cabs were both 4Ω and I didn't have an amp that would do 2Ω at the time. Got a lot of compliments on my sound with this rig.
With a rig containing 112 cabinets, you can use as many cabinets as you need for the size of the venue you're playing. The only limitation to that is "can your amp handle a 2Ω load." If it can, you're golden and can keep adding 8Ω, 112 cabinets as needed and drive all of them with an 800-watt amp, indoors or outdoors. But I bought my fist cab in 4Ω so had to buy my second in the same impedance to use them together effectively. So that option was off the table.
About a year and a half later in December of 2019 I was accepted into the DNA Endorsing Artist group and I bought a DNS-210, which was like buying 1/2 of my 410 cab. Did that because my 410 cab had the best sound of all my rigs and the 210 shared those sonic characteristics in a smaller form. The DNS-210 is an exceptional 210 as I found out by gigging with it. It handles 700-watt rms and has a max SPL of 134db. I bought it specifically because no one looks sideways at a bass player bringing in a 210 cabinet and I could use it for both small and medium-sized venues. It is a very loud cabinet with all the clarity and articulation of its bigger brother. I use it now for all my indoor venues including large venues and reserve my 410 for outdoors and music festivals.
Here's my DNS-210 cab. It is a larger box (taller) than most 210's and that is certainly one of the reasons it is so LOUD.
I actually wish I had purchased the 210 first and then a second one later for outdoor venues and music festivals. I It actually goes a little deeper than my 410. The 210 will do the fundamental down to 34Hz and the 410 down to 37Hz. I also usually use my DNA-800 amp that I bought in 2021 to drive the 210 even though it only delivers a max of 400-watts to it. I only bring out my big Eden amp with it now days if it's in a large room that is longer than it is wide because long rooms eat SPL. I primarily do that because I can easily make my DNA-800 amp sound the same as my Eden WT500/800 (both designed by David Nordschow) and it weighs only 4.8lbs instead of the 36-lbs than my big Eden amp does in its rack.
My DNA-800 amp front and back:
And I may as well bring up my 410. It is also crazy loud and when I play at Music Festivals if I turn the master on my big Eden amp up to 10:30, I get told to turn down. Good news is I'll never need to lug around an 810 cab.
I would really recommend that you start with a 210 cab and at least a 500-watt up to an 800-watt rms amp. If you don't expect to do outdoor music festivals, the 500-watt would be fine. Although I personally don't like combos because it ties down your upgrade path. Both the Fender Rumble 500 and the Ampeg RB210 are good pathways from bedroom through medium-sized venues though, plus by adding another 210 cab to either of them you also open up the large and outdoor venues and Music Festivals. As long as you like their inherent sound, they are a decent choice and will get you up and going for not a lot of money..
I have often erred on the high side of power for amps because back when I was touring in the early 70's I ended up at one place where I was being buried and I couldn't turn it up any higher. It was incredibly embarrassing to be told to turn up by drummer, the guitarist, the female vocalist, and the keys and not be able to do that. So I went to the local music store determined never to have that problem again, and bought an amp that was 4 times as powerful with larger speakers and never had that problem again. Then in 1976 all my touring gear was stolen. Couldn't start replacing it (raising 3-kids) until 1997 when I bought a 115-combo and started gigging again. It's been a slow rod back up to top level pro gear and I made a number of mistakes along the way. So now, I have two excellent 800-watt amps as well as two superb and two excellent cabs...I probably need to get my own stage monitor next...G.A.S. never completely goes away!
