Total GAS, my BB2 is incredibly amazing and sufficient. But.. wouldn't it just be awesome to stack something on top of it? heh heh heh
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Official Barefaced Bass Cab Club
- Thread starter Stumbo
- Start date
I stack a Super Midget on top of the BB2. It really blends nicely, gets me a 4 ohm setup, and provides built in back up should one fail
I also use the SM as a practice cab at the band rehearsal space. Great sound and an easy schlep!
I stack a Super Midget on top of the BB2. It really blends nicely, gets me a 4 ohm setup, and provides built in back up should one fail
I also use the SM as a practice cab at the band rehearsal space. Great sound and an easy schlep!
Can you go into greater detail on this pairing?
I have a SM on order which will pair with my BB2 or be used stand-alone, depending on the gig. Apparently production is behind schedule at the Barefaced factory, so it'll be a while before I get mine even though it's been a month already, so I can't just plug 'em in and find out. I am confident it'll be worth the wait, even though it's tough. Christmas never comes soon enough.
How do you guys figure out your tone settings for a gig when using different cabs? What I mean is, if you bring a SM to practice but a BB2 to a gig, or use both for a larger performance, the bass and mids will be different. Do you just experiment at home or bring the full setup to the practice space before going out?
I currently don't gig other than jam nights at my music school, but just curious about this.
Discussing with Alex the music that I played, I was on the fence with either the SC or BB, but wanted a rig that was modular. Since I decided that the BB was my choice and I would rather have the ability to use the tweeter if needed, went with that. Then I wanted a small practice cab that I also could use to compliment the BB and he suggested the SM since it had similar characteristics, driver size, tweeter, just a little less down low due to its size. I figured it was the best of both worlds and went with that pairing.
The BB2 and SM are close in how they present. The low end is the real difference, so I'd expect that the same EQ setting would work for each, with maybe a bit of bass cut when switching to the BB2.
It is a crap shoot. Our rehearsal space it full of concrete and steel, so it it hard to replicate a gig environment. So I do all of the above, work the cabs separately with different heads, pair them and do it in our space and at home. When I think I have found something that meets my sonic goals, I take that to the gig, but once we play a gig I get to understand the sound issues the next time we play. The venue really changes things, many people, few people, inside, outside, large room, small room. One head cab sounds good one night and not another. It is kind of a moving target if you play different places.
Continuing what mikeluch and monsterthompson have said, it IS a crapshoot. I often bring different cabs, sometimes different amps, depending on the situation-- indoor, outdoor, big, small, which band, loud or quiet. Sometimes I bring different gear just to play around with different combinations of amps, cabs, etc. Over time, having tried different combinations, you get a sense of what might or might not work in a given situation. Every venue is different so I pretty much try to set EQ according to the room and gear for each gig anyway... and often have to give it a little tweak on the fly since setting them while setting up will sound much different than with the full band, and with acoustic environment variations (i.e., people filling a room). With practice you can get fairly quick about dialing it in at the gig, beginning with a sort of typical starting point. There's no way to "pre-set" all your settings since it WILL be different each time out.
As far as BB2 and SM, they are not identical but are similar enough that I am very confident they will compliment each other. And, Alex says they will, so, there's that.
Thanks, my reasoning was much the same, although the SM will also get used for small to medium gigs and not just rehearsal since my main project is not loud, as well as being paired with the BB2 which I have had for about 9 months now. I was just hoping to hear "yeah, they sound great together" only because 1) they should and 2) I am having to waaaaaiiitttt.... to receive the SM and make a declaration of my own; not because I really need any legitimate reassurance that it'll work. You might be the first TBer I am personally aware of that pairs these two cabs (besides myself soon, and I ordered the SM long before learning that you use them together), despite the fact that 1) they should go well together and that 2) Alex recommends this pairing; so I thought I'd ask how you like 'em together. Surprised more people aren't pairing them, for all the reasons we've discussed here.
\EDIT: if it helps at all @solarfly , usually the first thing I do EQ'ing at a gig is try to identify the nappiest, most irritating frequency-- often easily done by boosting the level of each EQ frequency in turn, or in a suspected culprit frequency-- and saying "yeah, that's the one" -- then killing/taming it. If I have parametric EQ, either on the amp or with a sweepable mid on the bass itself, I will set that knob/slider to "boost", then slowly turn the knob through its frequency range until I hear that worst, most irritating tone-- then stop, and cut that frequency. Like a mirror image-- find the tone I DON'T want to hear first; then kill it. You may know all this, and do all this, already since it's not like a personal trade secret of mine.
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I'm addicted to bass guitars that have 3 band boost/cut tone controls.
I pretty much know how to dial in my tone on my amp in a venue with me solo to where it will even out when the rest of the band is playing.
Crank it up to gig volume, dial everything on my amp to sound pretty even (or baseline neutral per my taste) add just enough mids &/or highs to cut through the mix.
Then when the band is playing the only thing I touch is maybe my master volume on my amp (if the lead guitarists next to me won't turn down) & the rest I do from my bass guitar's tone controls.
Setting it on the fly for whatever the song requires tone-wise.
I pretty much know how to dial in my tone on my amp in a venue with me solo to where it will even out when the rest of the band is playing.
Crank it up to gig volume, dial everything on my amp to sound pretty even (or baseline neutral per my taste) add just enough mids &/or highs to cut through the mix.
Then when the band is playing the only thing I touch is maybe my master volume on my amp (if the lead guitarists next to me won't turn down) & the rest I do from my bass guitar's tone controls.
Setting it on the fly for whatever the song requires tone-wise.
How do you orient the SM when using it with the BB2? Vertical or horizontal?
How you you set your tweeters when using them together? Only one on, or both/neither?
Thx....
These are questions I could probably answer for myself in 30 minutes of messing with it, but since the wait to receive it is rather long (looks like it'll be 6+ weeks in total), I kind of feel like a kid on a hot day watching someone eat an ice cream cone, with my mouth watering, saying "Is it delicious? How does it taste? It's delicious, isn't it?"
Can't wait until I can plop it on top of my BB2 and take 'er for a spin.
I'd also be interested in your comments as to how it does as a stand alone, if you get the opportunity.
By itself, the BB2 is really filled with great tone, and it's very accurate. I took my 5-string, my Eden Glow Plug pedal with Warm @9:00, Mix @11:00, Volume @8:00, ran it through my Mesa M9 Voice 1, bass boost, bass @10:00, mids @ 11:00, treble 12:00, gain 12:00, then played around on the low B and E for a while. It's not muddy in the least. I never heard those lows before, because my old cabinet couldn't replicate it without an undefined booming. When you get into the higher notes with these settings, the notes come out warm, really nice resonance. I don't generally play my 5 string, I like my Fender Jazz mostly, but I suspect you can get just about any tone. In contrast, I cranked up my Red Witch Factotum with some drive and octave, it was really interesting to hear the low lows (where the octaver couldn't reproduce accurately anymore), and the aggressive grinding overdriven sound led me into pounding out the Enter Sandman riff for about a half hour (it was fun). I'm still learning about all of my possible voicings and settings, but so far the single BB2 is a real pleasure.
Yeah, BB2 is pretty awesome. I think I have decided, but will probably change my mind yet again, that I like the BB2 more than my Four10 -- but both are really, really good.
Unless I am misreading, I think @jnewmark is wondering about the SM rather than the BB2. I will definitely provide my thoughts on the SM, both independently and with the BB2, when it's received and tested. @mikeluch among others can give their take on the SM as stand-alone right now, though, since they've been using them.
Yes, the SM is very intriguing to me, and, from what I remember from comments read in this thread, very similar in tone to the BB, with the BB having more extended lows, and a little more capable of volume than the SM. Not sure if they both use the same tweeter or not, and, obviously, the BB is in a larger box, yet with the same 12" OEM driver, somewhat based on the Eminence 3012LF.
The Super Midget sounds like a BB2 with the lows cut a bit. I prefer the SM because it's as loud as the BB2, sounds the same, and is much smaller and lighter.
To quote Alex: "If you enjoy the clarity and warmth of the original Big Baby but don't need such epic depth then the Super Midget has similar output in a half-size package."
To quote Alex: "If you enjoy the clarity and warmth of the original Big Baby but don't need such epic depth then the Super Midget has similar output in a half-size package."
- Apr 15, 2010
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...minimally based on the Eminence 3012LF.
Already addressed IIRC, somewhere in this thread by Alex (could have been a different thread).
