I could absolutely see that rig working for a variety of situations.
(I was in zero of those)
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Official Barefaced Bass Cab Club
- Thread starter Stumbo
- Start date
I could absolutely see that rig working for a variety of situations.
(I was in zero of those)
I'm with you, when I had it with the BB2 it just made my mix with the band kind of muddy. I used dirt along with other effects with the band I was in at the time and I just couldn't get the eq to help me cut through live. I tried different cabs too, I wanted to love it because I thought it would be the ultimate set it and forget it simple eq but it wasn't the case live.
ah ok, misunderstood you "relatively "transparent" output" is different than "which is pretty darn clean"
Yep, thanks for this, same here.
Every time I get tempted into ordering a BB2 just out of curiosity the tens surprise me again. Used the Four 10 at practice yesterday with the Aguilar DB751. Lead guitarist/boss said he was hearing too much midrange, a slight twist of the bass and mid knobs and voila! Totally new tone, gobs of deep bottom but still defined and punchy at the mids and tops. When I originally ordered my first 10 my one reservation was that the baked in "character" of the speaker might be too dominant but no, it does have a vintage leaning but is still very responsive to tweaking. The Aguilar 751 is the best combination for me that I have yet used with the Four 10, including all my tube amps, so that is some recommendation.
On the slightly negative side my Four 10 is losing some of the tolex at the back. It is one of the early ones. Can't be bothered hassling Barefaced directly so will use a contact glue and hope it does not get any worse. Useful tip a while ago from someone here to run masking tape along the edges to stop the glue from flowing onto the top of the tolex, thanks.
On the slightly negative side my Four 10 is losing some of the tolex at the back. It is one of the early ones. Can't be bothered hassling Barefaced directly so will use a contact glue and hope it does not get any worse. Useful tip a while ago from someone here to run masking tape along the edges to stop the glue from flowing onto the top of the tolex, thanks.
Even though I've had the rig for several months now, I did my first gig with the Super Compact/D-800 pairing last night. Sounded great, as expected. Had the EQ set flat, deep switch on, input halfway, and master at 10:00. I had a line ran to the PA, but due to some sound issues, I don't think my signal was even there. The cab sounded huge, and it definitely filled the room. I think this rig is a keeper.
Used my new One10 cab with a jazz band. 3 horns, drums and 2 guitar players.
Guitars were medium volume but the little cab sounded way better than I expected.
TH 500 with a P bass with old flats. Two of these would be great.
So portable it's unreal.
Guitars were medium volume but the little cab sounded way better than I expected.
TH 500 with a P bass with old flats. Two of these would be great.
So portable it's unreal.
I had a chance to pickup a Gen 3 BT2 from the TB classifieds here this summer , I had read allot of good things about them but never played one but took the leap anyway and it was the best thing I have done in a long while. Question I have is I power it was a GB Shuttle 9.0 ,now I'm thinking maybe I need to move to one of the Mesa 800s , Genzler , Quilter 800 thinking I can make it sound even better. I'm more than happy with the sound now , I play the GB flat and use the on-board pre's on the Sadowsky , SR5 for any cut and boost I need song to song and use the GB filter cut/boost when the room calls for it. Am I just over thinking this and don't fix what is not broken ?
I also play a Stingray through a BB2 and my main amp is a D-800+. I don't use any major EQ adjustments on the head, just what's needed to sound best in the room, and the then use the controls on my bass for any song-to-song adjustments. Very similar to what up you described and I'm extremely happy with that setup. Too bad the hack holding the bass limits it. 
That being said, you already have an amp that's very highly regarded (not to mention designed by the same engineer who designed the Mesa Subway series amps and cabs!). If you like the sound you already get, then why chase something you don't seem to be able to concretely state? I'd stick with your GB unless there's something specific in your sound that you want to change.
But if the point is changing just to try something different because the heart wants what the heart wants, then there's nothing anyone here could say to stop you. Although I'd bet you'd also be quite happy with your sound if you do go that route.
That being said, you already have an amp that's very highly regarded (not to mention designed by the same engineer who designed the Mesa Subway series amps and cabs!). If you like the sound you already get, then why chase something you don't seem to be able to concretely state? I'd stick with your GB unless there's something specific in your sound that you want to change.
But if the point is changing just to try something different because the heart wants what the heart wants, then there's nothing anyone here could say to stop you. Although I'd bet you'd also be quite happy with your sound if you do go that route.
I would add a HPF to your signal chain. Be able to control room boom and how much low end extension you want/need.
I also play a Stingray through a BB2 and my main amp is a D-800+. I don't use any major EQ adjustments on the head, just what's needed to sound best in the room, and the then use the controls on my bass for any song-to-song adjustments. Very similar to what up you described and I'm extremely happy with that setup. Too bad the hack holding the bass limits it.
That being said, you already have an amp that's very highly regarded (not to mention designed by the same engineer who designed the Mesa Subway series amps and cabs!). If you like the sound you already get, then why chase something you don't seem to be able to concretely state? I'd stick with your GB unless there's something specific in your sound that you want to change.
But if the point is changing just to try something different because the heart wants what the heart wants, then there's nothing anyone here could say to stop you. Although I'd bet you'd also be quite happy with your sound if you do go that route.
Funny how you sound exactly like that little voice in my head that keeps telling me the same thing and why I haven't moved to the Mesa which was the way I was thinking of going. Thanks for your opinion and what you posted makes sense I guess I just needed to hear it from someone with a working knowledge.
I went from shuttle 9.2 to Mesa d800 with a BB2, there was more noticable "heft" to the sound than the Shuttle had, I think the new power amp module is more "musical"....kind of non decript term, but there is a noticable nicer feel from the D800 for me.
I went from a Shuttle 9.0 to a D800 as well. The EQ on the Mesa is much more useful for me and what I play. The Mesa is a hair dark and I have trouble getting the attack I want out of it without it being brittle.
I went with a ST cab because at the time I thought the horn would be a waste. I am rethinking that now.
Man I have BT2, BB2 and One10.. have to say that horn is the magic...
Just a comment on your post. I've been playing through a D800 with a DG b3k to brighten the darkness of the amp. I'm playing through a pair of four10's and it sounds really, really good but some top end is still missing.
I picked up a Sansamp DP-3x and there it is.... so much more top end content is now present.
A 6k frequency limit is super bright when pushed by the right gear.
I use a B7K for the same reason.
I tested a Mesa M9 Carbine through my Super Twin and it had more of the high end content I want. It still felt a little strangled.
I keep waffling on Big Twin 2. I went with the ST because I was being cheap and was using a lot of drive at the time. The horn isn't supposed to be great with distortion and fuzz.
Now if I wanted to be a real stage hog I could use a BT2 stacked on top of a ST!
I use a BBII stacked on top of a SuperTwin. One horn is enough for what I need to hear and adds a bit of sparkle and air to the sound. The ST by itself is a much meatier and fuller sounding cabinet, the two cabinets combined really compliment one another and both cabinets are so easy to move.
Eden Navigator pre into a Crest ProLite 3.0. Each cabinet is run off one side of the power amp. I can adjust the relative volume of each cabinet with either the blend control on the Navigator or with the power amp gain itself.
I also have an Alembic SF-2 Superfilter in my rack which has two channels, each can be set to either low pass, high pass or bandpass mode with control over frequency, gain, mix and damping ratio. I use it judiciously for corrective filtering, a little goes a long way. Generally I run the Superfilter in mono mode where I can use one, or both, filters to affect the entire signal. The Superfilter can also be run in stereo mode and in a two cabinet rig with a stereo power amp it allows me to apply one filter to each cabinet separately. Despite the amount of control I have available with my rig I prefer to use minimal EQ. I play basses that I like the sound of, the preamp and filters are used to make sure my rig sounds like the bass I am playing and tailor the output to the stage and room it is being used in. The Barefaced cabinets respond excellently to any necessary tone shaping and the lack of coloration from the speakers themselves means that I don't have to EQ my signal to compensate for the "sound" of the cabinets.
