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Official Barefaced Bass Cab Club

#1,541
John D Harris said:
Did the D800 go into limiting or into protect mode?
The gain & master pots on the D800 are the type where you get the use of the whole range of the knobs.
You can't compare positions of the knobs between two different designed amps & say what it sounds to me like your saying.
I apologize if I'm misinterpreting what you're saying.
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audio taper vs. linear taper pots. i'm pretty sure aged horse said they D800 uses a pot that allows it to continue to get louder past noon, while many other amps tend to max out near noon. of course, the trade off is that you may find yourself "cranking" the D800 so the master looks like it is at a higher setting. the reality is that each amp will sound almost identical at all down or all up. it is the middle range that looks different.
 
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#1,542
John D Harris said:
Did the D800 go into limiting or into protect mode?
The gain & master pots on the D800 are the type where you get the use of the whole range of the knobs (well, it's somewhat dependent on the output level of your bass guitar).
You can't compare positions of the knobs between two different designed amps & say what it sounds to me like your saying.
I apologize if I'm misinterpreting what you're saying.
Click to expand...
Maybe it could be the knobs I'll check on that tomorrow. I always assumed the 12:00 position was half way up for a knob for any amp.
It did not go into limiting or protection mode. In fact one quirky thing with my bass, even though its active, it puts out a very weak active signal. I read somewhere that my Lakland is considered active "EQ". As opposed to a regular active signal on another brand of bass?
 
#1,543
monsterthompson said:
audio taper vs. linear taper pots. i'm pretty sure aged horse said they D800 uses a pot that allows it to continue to get louder past noon, while many other amps tend to max out near noon. of course, the trade off is that you may find yourself "cranking" the D800 so the master looks like it is at a higher setting. the reality is that each amp will sound almost identical at all down or all up. it is the middle range that looks different.
Click to expand...
Good to know. Thanks.
 
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#1,544
Dp1363 said:
I always assumed the 12:00 position was half way up for a knob for any amp.
Click to expand...

This is definitely not the case.

Edit - I have a Subway guitar amp (20w & tube) and the master would go from off to screaming loud in a hair's width of a turn. Mesa swapped the pot out for something with a more gradual curve and I'm much happier :)
 
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#1,552
Dp1363 said:
Can't wait to try it out. I hope I can replace my 2 2x10 cabs with the one BB2.
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Let me know if you think it is up to the task. I used to run almost exclusively a 4x10 before starting a quest for small and light about 9 months ago; went with Aggie SL-112's at first, and now the BB2. So far I find that the BB2 effectively fills the role the 4x10 did, and definitely the single Aggie SL-112 could not keep up with the single BB2. It generally took 2 of the Aggies to be equal.

Now, I still like the SL-112's and don't plan to sell; they really do sound great with 2, and one worked fine for small to medium gigs; but Alex at BF is not exaggerating when he says a fair comparison is one BB2 vs 2 12" cabs or a 4x10. I also prefer the tone of the BB2 to the SL-112's but both sound good, that part could be a personal preference thing. BB2 has more clarity and seems like it reaches down farther and gives solid but not boomy low low response. Running a 4x10, you could certainly hear it at the back of the room, but you couldn't feel the sub lows like you can feel/hear at the back of a room with the BB2.

As I have said probably too many times, in terms of that real low solidness where it shakes a room without seeming overly loud, the BB2 sounds like you've got some PA support butressing the low end. "Butt"ressing the low end, ha! Did not intend that.
 
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#1,554
Dp1363 said:
I will be putting through a thorough work out today with my Mesa D800. I was thinking of ordering a GK mb800 to test out with the BB2 as well. I like the D800 but it lacks some power. I hear the MB800 is very powerful. If I can find the right amp to provide enough power, I'm hoping to not need a second BB2 for volume.

I'll report back this weekend.
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Aguilar Tonehammer 500 might be a possibility for you too. Power stage of the TH500 is the same B&O stage that's in the MB800. The difference is in the tone shaping so for that part of course it depends on what sounds good to you tonally; but I think it would have enough power for you. Just a thought. I have a TH350 that I've been using a lot (still have my Eden WT800 but it's kind of heavy in the rack case by comparison)and have yet to feel like it's not enough power, though I don't play in super loud shred bands or anything.

I'll be taking the BF One10 out again, with the TH350, tonight for a third time, for a small restaurant gig. The tone on these things is just awesome, though they are different from each other (BB2 and One10). One10 does not have a tweeter. Amazing volume and solid lows for a 10" cab.

I should start doing the "buy, try, sell" thing, it's a good way to test gear out. I've been wondering about the Subway D800.
 
#1,555
The loudest band I've been in was a Led Zep band and I used 2 AE210's being pushed pretty hard by a Thunderfunk TF750. I don't think 1 BB2 would cover that, but 2 would; easily.

My regular cab was a TH500 and 212 running at maybe half power and the BB2 can cover that situation without breaking a sweat.

I'm currently using a TH500 and 2 Super Compacts. 1 would do the job on most gigs but sometimes I still prefer the "bigger" sound of 2 cabs.
 
#1,556
Plutonium244 said:
Aguilar Tonehammer 500 might be a possibility for you too. Power stage of the TH500 is the same B&O stage that's in the MB800. The difference is in the tone shaping so for that part of course it depends on what sounds good to you tonally; but I think it would have enough power for you. Just a thought. I have a TH350 that I've been using a lot (still have my Eden WT800 but it's kind of heavy in the rack case by comparison)and have yet to feel like it's not enough power, though I don't play in super loud shred bands or anything.

I'll be taking the BF One10 out again, with the TH350, tonight for a third time, for a small restaurant gig. The tone on these things is just awesome, though they are different from each other (BB2 and One10). One10 does not have a tweeter. Amazing volume and solid lows for a 10" cab.

I should start doing the "buy, try, sell" thing, it's a good way to test gear out. I've been wondering about the Subway D800.
Click to expand...
I actually tried the TH500. I found it was a smooth tone but not much power. I owned an Eden WT800 for awhile. I hated that amp and sold it after a few months. Wasn't worth the weight. I like the tone of the Mesa D800. I just noticed that my MB LMT800 seems to have more power. I didn't need to crank the volume to get power out of it. However the Subway sounds way better. I'm hoping the increased sensititivty of the BB2 will make up up some head room in the D800.
 
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#1,557
Dp1363 said:
I actually tried the TH500. I found it was a smooth tone but not much power. I owned an Eden WT800 for awhile. I hated that amp and sold it after a few months. Wasn't worth the weight. I like the tone of the Mesa D800. I just noticed that my MB LMT800 seems to have more power. I didn't need to crank the volume to get power out of it. However the Subway sounds way better. I'm hoping the increased sensititivty of the BB2 will make up up some head room in the D800.
Click to expand...
The taper on the gain & master controls on the D800 are designed to use most if not all of the positions of the controls.
If you need to turn one or both all the way up, that's OK as long as your speakers & ears can handle it.
If you prefer a clean tone, start with the Master all the way or 90% of the way up & adjust the gain for your desired level.
I have an EA iAmp600 that is the same way; I've had both the volume controls 90% of the way up & it stays clean as can be.
 
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#1,558
John D Harris said:
The taper on the gain & master controls on the D800 are designed to use most if not all of the positions of the controls.
If you need to turn one or both all the way up, that's OK as long as your speakers & ears can handle it.
If you prefer a clean tone, start with the Master all the way or 90% of the way up & adjust the gain for your desired level.
I have an EA iAmp600 that is the same way; I've had both the volume controls 90% of the way up & it stays clean as can be.
Click to expand...
I did try the master 90% up on the D800, but I got a lot of hiss. I find that cranking my bass volume almost to max gave me enough clean signal with minimal hiss.
 
#1,559
Dp1363 said:
I did try the master 90% up on the D800, but I got a lot of hiss. I find that cranking my bass volume almost to max gave me enough clean signal with minimal hiss.
Click to expand...

I always have my bass volume maxed, and don't see a reason not to unless you're gonna wanna goose your stage volume mid-song. Asking the head to push hard with lower input signal strength doesn't make much sense unless you want to OD the head's power section but not its' pre, as far as I can tell
 
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#1,560
Dont be afraid to turn up and then say the power is not there. As explained before the master and input are more linear than most. I find input at noon and master around 3 to be quite loud(usual band settings). My ears couldnt take turing the input up anymore...my speakers could though
 

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