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Official Barefaced Bass Cab Club

I just broke in my second BB2.


As Alex is suggesting “regular playing” to break it in, I downloaded a couple of clips from the Lakland basses site, where they are showing their different PU sounds.

I made a playlist of approx. 15 minutes which I played for approx. 30 hours with increasing output level.

Anyway, here’s alink to that section of the Lakland site. [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]
It might help other people too, who do not have the time to break the cabs in with their own playing.
 
did the 25 Hz breaking in for approx 12 hours.

as a reference, I played trough it some music (reggae tune), at medium volume, before and after that procedure just to appreciate any difference.

After that work, the woofer showed a much more pleasant and warm midrange response, can't wait to test it with my basses (children with fever this week end...)
 
I've been really loving my 1212/5 and it's the only cab I've been using lately. At the last loud band practise I turned of the 5" and cranked up the 3k range to make the 3012lf woofers sound brighter. I once again was reminded how much better woofers run fullrange cut through a mix and sound great doing it. The mid 5" driver sounds pretty but, the sound just doesn't have the sledgehammer cutting power in a rockband. That got me thinking that if these woofers could sound so good, the fullrange barefaced generation 3 drivers would be better. So, I put in an order for a supertwin last week. These type of woofers are so controlled that they are the next best thing to a great sealed cab. Im looking forward to getting it. Im going back to micing my cab and you really want a fullrange driver for that.
 
Regarding the break-in thing, there's no doubt that the 12XN550 changes quite a bit from fresh out of the factory to settling into its longterm performance. However it's safe to use with full power immediately and we were getting so many emails and calls from less techy bass players about how to deal with the 25Hz sine wave and all that, so for the sake of our sanity and to protect the less mechanically sympathetic bassist from doing something bad we decided it was best for all concerned if players broke in their cabs by gigging or rehearsing with them.

It's not like they sound bad when the suspension is tight, they just sound better (fatter lows, smoother mids) once it's in its long-term state.

5StringPocket - I really think it is! Need to start spreading the word in a more organised fashion...
 
Just had another loud jam just using the 3012lf's with around 3.5k boosted for brightness. I put an sm57 on the cab and used in-ears. I was very happy with it and will be using this combo on the next few gigs where hauling the nv610 up many stairs and in the snow just isn't happening. Now Im REALLY interested in seeing how this supertwin sounds.
 
Regarding the break-in thing, there's no doubt that the 12XN550 changes quite a bit from fresh out of the factory to settling into its longterm performance. However it's safe to use with full power immediately and we were getting so many emails and calls from less techy bass players about how to deal with the 25Hz sine wave and all that, so for the sake of our sanity and to protect the less mechanically sympathetic bassist from doing something bad we decided it was best for all concerned if players broke in their cabs by gigging or rehearsing with them.

It's not like they sound bad when the suspension is tight, they just sound better (fatter lows, smoother mids) once it's in its long-term state.

5StringPocket - I really think it is! Need to start spreading the word in a more organised fashion...
Put in a checkbox for buyers who want you to break in the driver for them at a reasonable fee. :)
 
Put in a checkbox for buyers who want you to break in the driver for them at a reasonable fee. :)

It's noisy enough here with a CNC machine running, nail guns, hammers, mallets, staple guns and cabs being tested - the last thing we need is cabs breaking in too! ;)

We don't build cabs to order, we're constantly making them as quickly and efficiently as we can but for a few years orders have been outstripping production. We're selling them all over the world directly - about 40% go overseas, 10% to the USA.
 
I have the cab! The night I got it, I plugged it in at home and played through it at fairly low volume and it sounded pretty nice. This was 9:30 at night and my house shares a wall with the neighbours, and I was feeling the bass through the floor... so I didn't play long.

My 5 string Bongo sounded big and punchy (even at that low volume), my '70s jazz at first had nothing by comparison to the bongo, but I tweaked the EQ on my Markbass and got it sounding just a ballsy. The frequencies are there, you just gotta dial them in according to the particular bass and head.

Following night I played the cab in rehearsal and I couldn't be happier. This is a permanent room my band has had for over 2 years and I have the same 4x10 sitting in there for all that time. The Barefaced didn't leave me wanting at all. And this is only the second time I had played through it and the first time at rehearsal levels.

I think the biggest step for any potential buyers is taking Alex at his word that these cabs do what he says they do. And I know you've got that great return policy but for those of us overseas - especially way over in AU, it'd be a hassle sending back a cab.

I can say for anyone sitting on the fence that my BB2 does exactly what Alex claims. It sounds great out of the box - for me at least - and it's freaking light. To get to my rehearsal space you need to take a lift then walk a couple of hallways and up a flight of stairs. I did that with the BB2 in one hand. This cab will be getting a lot of work!
 
Oh Alex, two questions:

There's no rear label on mine - are they coming later on as per one of your earlier update emails?

Secondly as far as the cab's serial number goes - how important is it? And will that be printed on the rear label? The only place I have a record of it so far is the QC label wrapped around the handle.