Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Official Barefaced Bass Cab Club
- Thread starter Stumbo
- Start date
Nope. In fact, I cut a bunch of bass eq on my preamp and amp and still get good results with certain basses.
- Apr 3, 2003
- 35,518
- 19,954
- Disclosures
- Editor-in-Chief, Bass Gear Magazine
Yup. Check out the Invalid Link Removed.
My first gigs with it will be this weekend. I still can't get over how light/loud it is.
My own Two 10 should be here in two or three weeks, I've been told .. my first Barefaced. But here's a question:
I intend to report here on what I think about it. But, my question is, how does one remain objective when paying a bundle on something you are not going to send back? This isn't specific to this item, but to boutique amps, basses, and etc .. does anyone ever order one, pay a bundle, wait for weeks or months, and then report that they are displeased?
I'm not thinking anything malicious .. I'm just asking does something inside override our objective nature once we've sunk money into something .. by golly, it's gotta sound great, right?
Of course, I'm fully expecting to have my expectations exceeded when I receive the Two 10. Everyone says it's fantastic and in general, you get what you pay for ..
Actually, I've rarely been disappointed when springing for a quality product. I'm just looking forward to the day the cab gets here and thinking about my report and I can already hear how I'm going to say how well it performs.
And I'm sure I truly will be fully pleased, and then some! But this is just a thought I've had for a while since starting to buy gear. I'll sure do my best to be fully and completely honest in my assessment, and as descriptive as possible.
Curious as to any of your thoughts on this .. with regards to Barefaced cabs only, of course. Has anyone ever reported here they received theirs and were disappointed?
I intend to report here on what I think about it. But, my question is, how does one remain objective when paying a bundle on something you are not going to send back? This isn't specific to this item, but to boutique amps, basses, and etc .. does anyone ever order one, pay a bundle, wait for weeks or months, and then report that they are displeased?
I'm not thinking anything malicious .. I'm just asking does something inside override our objective nature once we've sunk money into something .. by golly, it's gotta sound great, right?
Of course, I'm fully expecting to have my expectations exceeded when I receive the Two 10. Everyone says it's fantastic and in general, you get what you pay for ..
Actually, I've rarely been disappointed when springing for a quality product. I'm just looking forward to the day the cab gets here and thinking about my report and I can already hear how I'm going to say how well it performs.
And I'm sure I truly will be fully pleased, and then some! But this is just a thought I've had for a while since starting to buy gear. I'll sure do my best to be fully and completely honest in my assessment, and as descriptive as possible.
Curious as to any of your thoughts on this .. with regards to Barefaced cabs only, of course. Has anyone ever reported here they received theirs and were disappointed?
Not to Barefaced, but I've owned a few very expensive basses that I wasn't truly happy with. Great instruments no doubt but the tone just wasn't there for me...and that's really what it's all about. If an instrument doesn't have its own personality and sounds dead I'm not interested in it regardless of its price tag.
I've owned some nice gear and not been blown away by it. It happens. I've been honest about it. Had a Dingwall ABZ5 bass, and I never quite got into work for me. Had a B7K and it wasn't my thing. I had a Monique and she didn't play well with my Super Compact so I had to make a choice and she had to go. I've never held back my opinions.
I think it's possible that the cab could arrive and it won't be your thing. I doubt you'll find it awful or revolting, but it may not click. Be open, honest, and clear about what it is that doesn't work. You see plenty of guys in the classifieds flipping really nice gear because they are after a different flavor, not necessarily a better one.
I've got to say that I have loved my Super Twin from the very first gig. A couple of gigs ago I decided to try a high pass filter since the low end is so big on this cabinet. It really seems to help in my situation even though Alex doesn't recommend one. I find it helps it fit into the mix even better. Ymmv
...to be fair, I wasn't in love with my Super Compact out of the box. I don't know if it needed the infamous break in time to adjust, or if it wasn't pairing well with Monique, or if I was just expecting something other than what I was getting. However, I had the luxury of time and resources and interest to play around with different gear and settings, and eventually landed on a sound I was quite happy with. Don't be afraid to turn the knobs on your pedals and amps; that's why they are there.
Good point, sometimes you have to try a piece of equipment a few times and work with it to find combinations of things that work and settings and such.
I suppose the new owner might need some time to break in, too, getting used to the different sound and adjusting settings.
Still eagerly awaiting my super twin. Hope it ships soon.
Still eagerly awaiting my super twin. Hope it ships soon.
I've come to the conclusion that flat-response cabs are not what I really like. I know, it matches what comes out of FOH, blah blah blah-de-blah. But good-sounding speaker coloration seems to be difficult to emulate using amps and eq. Yeah. But I'm still tempted by the thought of a Big Twin. I don't know why. Maybe because I'm an idiot.
When my Four10 eventually shows up I hope to be Gasless for a while. Note I said Gasless not Gasnone.
When my Four10 eventually shows up I hope to be Gasless for a while. Note I said Gasless not Gasnone.
Played a folk pub gig last night, in trio format - acoustic and electric guitars and my electric bass. Acoustic guitar and vocals through a PA. This venue is not bass-friendly; narrow, long, very high ceiling - very boomy and muddy. I used my week-old BF One10 for the first time and the sound balance, the bass in particular, fell right into place with minimal tweaking. Our lead guitar who has sensitive and magical ears was very pleased with my sound right from the start, full and clear and blended in the mix and not too boomy or muddy.
I set the BF One10 (which looked tiny)/Aguilar TH350 amp on a small Gramma pad. Amp treble and mids slightly raised, bass slightly lowered. Single tone knob on my p-style bass full treble. My thought with the Gramma pad was primarily to raise the cab a couple inches simply so i could hear better, along with added benefit of preventing the cab from coupling with the wooden floor.
Initial impression this week in my practice room was "wow this cab is impressive". I'd been putting in lots of practice hours wanting to get the cab to that "broken in" point where the speaker opens up, and sure enough about midway into our second set the sound become lush and lovely. It was a very noticeable improvement (to what already sounded quite good).
I can now say WOW! i am believer; this is quite an amazing cabinet. Big thanks to all of you who answered questions and provided comments while i was thinking about ordering a One10, who know who you are. And of course most thanks to Alex and company.
I set the BF One10 (which looked tiny)/Aguilar TH350 amp on a small Gramma pad. Amp treble and mids slightly raised, bass slightly lowered. Single tone knob on my p-style bass full treble. My thought with the Gramma pad was primarily to raise the cab a couple inches simply so i could hear better, along with added benefit of preventing the cab from coupling with the wooden floor.
Initial impression this week in my practice room was "wow this cab is impressive". I'd been putting in lots of practice hours wanting to get the cab to that "broken in" point where the speaker opens up, and sure enough about midway into our second set the sound become lush and lovely. It was a very noticeable improvement (to what already sounded quite good).
I can now say WOW! i am believer; this is quite an amazing cabinet. Big thanks to all of you who answered questions and provided comments while i was thinking about ordering a One10, who know who you are. And of course most thanks to Alex and company.
Glad you liked the cab in real-world application. 2 of my 3 gigs next week will be with the One10, this cab is SOOO useful. Right now it is in the family room where it takes up almost no room, I can go plug in any time if I don't want to be isolated down in my practice hole in the basement where the practice rig is set up.
Of course any stool etc will give you more elevation, but a simple AmpWedge Amazon.com: Ampwedge Polyurethane Amplifier Isolation Floor Wedge: Musical Instruments to angle the cab upwards a little bit goes a long way too, since the cab is so amazingly small. It also simultaneously gives some floor isolation as well (but likely not as fully as the Gramma since the back rubber legs of the cab stay on the floor.) While $30 bucks is kind of a lot for a piece of foam, I like mine quite a bit for applications just like this. It is molded well and is the perfect size to go under a One10. Just a thought.
As an Amazon Associate, TalkBass may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via links on this site.
+1 for amp/cab idiosyncrasy. I would much rather have the built-in flavor of a cab than the sterile sound of full range hi-fi. I've had those cabs before and know for a fact they're not for me.
My review of the One10 I briefly owned:
Volume per size/weight is unmatched. Great to have for noodling around at home. Didn't work out for me beyond that. I think it would be great for a 4 string player who strives for a vintage tone, but I'm a 5 string Dingwall player and it couldn't handle the low B to my satisfaction at volume, like at a rehearsal. Plus I like having a little hi-fi crispness to my tone so missed not having a tweeter. So, I really didn't see the point in having a 15 lbs super compact cab relegated to my house for practicing. Sold it and now have an Aguilar SL 112 on order. It's only 25 lbs so easily carried in one hand. Plus it has an adjustable tweeter. Hopefully this will handle my B string with more authority and I can use it as my at-home AND rehearsal/small venue cab. We shall see...
Volume per size/weight is unmatched. Great to have for noodling around at home. Didn't work out for me beyond that. I think it would be great for a 4 string player who strives for a vintage tone, but I'm a 5 string Dingwall player and it couldn't handle the low B to my satisfaction at volume, like at a rehearsal. Plus I like having a little hi-fi crispness to my tone so missed not having a tweeter. So, I really didn't see the point in having a 15 lbs super compact cab relegated to my house for practicing. Sold it and now have an Aguilar SL 112 on order. It's only 25 lbs so easily carried in one hand. Plus it has an adjustable tweeter. Hopefully this will handle my B string with more authority and I can use it as my at-home AND rehearsal/small venue cab. We shall see...
The SL 112 does pretty well with a B string. 2 SL 112's do better IMO. I was never 100% satisfied using just one SL-112 in terms of the tone-- seems to gain low end and lose a little mid honk with two of them. At 25 pounds it is light and pretty maneuverable and I was able to use one or two in a lot of situations including and especially difficult load-ins. I have my two SL-112's in my practice space now and I do like them; just not my "ultimate" tone.
If I were shifting from a One10 to a 12" of some kind, I might have gone with a Big Baby 2 or Super Midget-- of course opinions differ. Have you played through either of these? Barefaced's 12's really put out smooth clean tone with lots of lows, and those 2 cabs both have tweeters. The SM is only 21-23 pounds, BB2 is 26-29. Both can handle twice the power of the SL-112. They do cost more which is the balancing factor. Nevertheless, I am not selling the Aggies, they are quality speakers as well.
My take on the One10, is that it can't do everything, but it can do a lot. Even though it might be the world's mightiest single 10 cab it is still a single 10 cab. I figure it covers what a quality-but-not-boutique 2x10 does. Sometimes you need more than that. If you want a more crisp, modern tone I can certainly see how you might prefer a tweetered cab, the One10 is more of a vintage-y cab, like all the 10's from BF. You'll enjoy the Aggies but for clean fat and modern I don't think you could beat a BF Big Baby 2.
