TL;DR - Not totally satisfied with my cabinet solutions and I'm wondering if Barefaced cabs (and particularly the 210s) might be for me...
The Longer Version...
I play in an Americana, southern blues and "kicked up" country jam band - kinda like a smaller Allman Brothers type of format in a way, but with some Cash and Haggard, Marshall Tucker and old blues rocked out. We have a fairly rambunctious drummer, moderately loud guitar player, harp and percussion going on. Most of the gigs we play are in small-medium sized bars or smaller outside venues with only vocals and percussion in the PA. On the bigger stuff, we have full PA support provided - but only do a couple of those a year.
So... "traditional" sounds work best for us. Our guitar player plays a Les Paul into a 15W Fender with no pedals or anything - just uses the volume knob to get the drive we need and that seems to work well for us. The bass I keep coming back to is my 66 Fender Jazz - if it was the only bass I had left I would be perfectly happy. I have three heads I use and all of them are great - an Aguilar DB751, a Genz Benz Streamliner and (my current obsession) a Milkman Half and Half. I like warm, fat, clear and smooth fundamental tones - I don't slap, pop or use picks or any kind of overdrive (so, I guess lean toward the cleaner, fuller end of the spectrum).
As for cabs...
For the past 3-4 years, I used Aguilar SL cabs (usually two SL115s) with the heads listed above. They sounded great until I got a couple of the Bergantino Reference II cabinets. I can't tell you how unbelievably good these cabinets sound - I can't see myself ever getting rid of them. They are a match made in heaven with the Milkman and my Jazz bass - the sound in my head, for sure. I liked them in every way better than the Aguilars they replaced.
I'm looking for cabs that compliment the REF IIs, but have a more punchy response to them. I also bought a Bergantino NXV410 cab, but have a bit of a love hate relationship with the thing. The best way to describe that cab is "edgy" and I have struggled to get a consistently good tone out of it. Sometimes I absolutely love it, but other times not so much - and I go back and forth on that throughout the entire set. What I've found, is that with lower gain, it is perfect. But, with higher gain, it just becomes overly aggressive sounding - and for me, not in a good way. So, with my DB751, I pad the input, keep gain around 10 o'clock and the sound is awesome to my ear. But, with the Milkman, I can't seem to dial that aggression out at gig volume (there is no separate gain control). I prefer smooth/fat/punchy - if I could get what I get out of the Ref II cabinets but with more punch, that is what I think I am looking for. Again, not to replace the Ref IIs, but as a compliment to them.
As for Barefaced...
These cabs sound almost too good to be true and I have spent a lot of time perusing their website without buying anything. I was wondering if perhaps two of the 210s might get me closer to what I am looking for than the NXV410 is. I did watch one YouTube video featuring the 210 played with a Dingwall bass and it sounded pretty good (though of course was trying to imagine how it would sound with my amp, bass and style of music).
I do find the impedance on these cabs to be a bit confusing - I would have thought they would have been 8 ohms each (not switchable between 4-12). As I understand it, I could play through one of them at 4 ohms and two of them at either 6 or 2 ohms? I think the DB751 and Milkman can both go down to 2 ohms, while the Streamliner is good to 2.67 (again, I think). Do I have all of that right? Regardless, I want a setup that isn't a step back from the NXV 410 in terms of volume.
Anyway, interested in those that know these cabs if you think it might be worth me buying a pair to try out. Thanks for reading my long post...
The Longer Version...
I play in an Americana, southern blues and "kicked up" country jam band - kinda like a smaller Allman Brothers type of format in a way, but with some Cash and Haggard, Marshall Tucker and old blues rocked out. We have a fairly rambunctious drummer, moderately loud guitar player, harp and percussion going on. Most of the gigs we play are in small-medium sized bars or smaller outside venues with only vocals and percussion in the PA. On the bigger stuff, we have full PA support provided - but only do a couple of those a year.
So... "traditional" sounds work best for us. Our guitar player plays a Les Paul into a 15W Fender with no pedals or anything - just uses the volume knob to get the drive we need and that seems to work well for us. The bass I keep coming back to is my 66 Fender Jazz - if it was the only bass I had left I would be perfectly happy. I have three heads I use and all of them are great - an Aguilar DB751, a Genz Benz Streamliner and (my current obsession) a Milkman Half and Half. I like warm, fat, clear and smooth fundamental tones - I don't slap, pop or use picks or any kind of overdrive (so, I guess lean toward the cleaner, fuller end of the spectrum).
As for cabs...
For the past 3-4 years, I used Aguilar SL cabs (usually two SL115s) with the heads listed above. They sounded great until I got a couple of the Bergantino Reference II cabinets. I can't tell you how unbelievably good these cabinets sound - I can't see myself ever getting rid of them. They are a match made in heaven with the Milkman and my Jazz bass - the sound in my head, for sure. I liked them in every way better than the Aguilars they replaced.
I'm looking for cabs that compliment the REF IIs, but have a more punchy response to them. I also bought a Bergantino NXV410 cab, but have a bit of a love hate relationship with the thing. The best way to describe that cab is "edgy" and I have struggled to get a consistently good tone out of it. Sometimes I absolutely love it, but other times not so much - and I go back and forth on that throughout the entire set. What I've found, is that with lower gain, it is perfect. But, with higher gain, it just becomes overly aggressive sounding - and for me, not in a good way. So, with my DB751, I pad the input, keep gain around 10 o'clock and the sound is awesome to my ear. But, with the Milkman, I can't seem to dial that aggression out at gig volume (there is no separate gain control). I prefer smooth/fat/punchy - if I could get what I get out of the Ref II cabinets but with more punch, that is what I think I am looking for. Again, not to replace the Ref IIs, but as a compliment to them.
As for Barefaced...
These cabs sound almost too good to be true and I have spent a lot of time perusing their website without buying anything. I was wondering if perhaps two of the 210s might get me closer to what I am looking for than the NXV410 is. I did watch one YouTube video featuring the 210 played with a Dingwall bass and it sounded pretty good (though of course was trying to imagine how it would sound with my amp, bass and style of music).
I do find the impedance on these cabs to be a bit confusing - I would have thought they would have been 8 ohms each (not switchable between 4-12). As I understand it, I could play through one of them at 4 ohms and two of them at either 6 or 2 ohms? I think the DB751 and Milkman can both go down to 2 ohms, while the Streamliner is good to 2.67 (again, I think). Do I have all of that right? Regardless, I want a setup that isn't a step back from the NXV 410 in terms of volume.
Anyway, interested in those that know these cabs if you think it might be worth me buying a pair to try out. Thanks for reading my long post...
But that’s okay, if folks love em that’s cool.
