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Official Barefaced Bass Cab Club
- Thread starter Stumbo
- Start date
Should tighten up the low end to varying degrees depending on the room you're in & your cab's position in the room.
Gramma Pad under the cab minimizes vibrations through the wood floor and into house joists:
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Gramma Pad on top of the cab minimizes vibrations --> mechanical buzzing into the tube amp.
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Gramma Pad on top of the cab minimizes vibrations --> mechanical buzzing into the tube amp.
Ok, I finally got the chance to do some testing!
My "Test Drummer" came over...he has the ability to play Way Too Loud, which is perfect for testing the capabilities of amps. The rig was passive Jazz Bass > Ampeg SVT IIP > Crown XLS1502 > Barefaced SuperTwin. The Crown was setup with the sensitivity to 'high' (.775v) - bridged - HPF set to 30hz. That makes for a theoretical 1550 watts at 4 ohms.
Long story short...the Crown shut down! I was pushing it pretty hard but was really surprised when it went quiet on me. It came back on after maybe 20 seconds or so and worked fine. This happened a few times.
I unplugged the Crown and went back to the setup I'd used previously, same preamp into the power section of a GK MB800. No problem. It went seemingly just as loud as the XLS1502 and kept on rocking. I didn't have a massive amount of bass boost or anything, the EQ was basically all flat on the Ampeg.
Not sure what to think...I'll be sending the Crown back, surely an 800 watt amp shouldn't be spanking it so soundly. I may just stick with what I have since it gets louder than I'll ever probably need.
The SuperTwin seemed to take all this in stride. As long as I was feeding clean power to it, it responded like a champ and never did compress that I could tell. Not sure I can say the same for my house, I found one of the attached numbers that show the address hanging loose like it was going to fall off the house in protest!
Let me know if you have any questions...
Hmmmm. Weird. My carvin 3800lx. Is rated for 1150 at 4 ohms and I don't have any of those issues. My b2000 is supposedly around 1350 and no problem there. Sounds like an amp issue. Just relearned that the 3800of is class ab. Man, it hits like a bag of sand to the chest with a supertwin.
Definitely an amp issue Chris. The ST took it quite well indeed. We're talking about volume levels that would get me fired in a band situation!
Is anyone using a pre/power rig with a Big Baby ? I'm definitely intrigued with this cab, but none of my amps will give me more than 300 watts into 8 ohms, and I fear I will run out of headroom before I get the loudness I need.
I used to use that combo with Fearless and nEarful cabs. Worked great and will be equally useful with BB2. The headroom especially will add gravitas to the tone. The main downside is they rig will be more bulky and heavier than a smaller, lightweight, hi-wattage amp.
@tallboybass. You sure that Crown amp can be bridged @ 4 ohms? Just asking and I haven't checked the specs on your Crown amp. But I have the couple years old Drive Core, XLS1500. I was using it with a 8ohm 112+4ohm 212 cabs. It always ran fine but I didn't really push it super, duper loud. IIRC, I was told here that my amp only bridges @ 8ohms and that I should stop using the Crown this way.
Well, since then I've acquired a few micro-amps, so stopped hauling the Crown/Pre rack case at all. I need to go back and double check the specs on that Crown to see what it actually can do. Since I have this Gen 2 BBTwin T, I'd like to pump some more watts into it down the road. Will be using 600-800 watt micro-amps for the next few gigs with this used,new-to-me BF cab. BTW, just at home, loud volumes; the Ampeg ri-V4-B sounds pretty darn awesome into this cab.
Hmm, I also still have my pristine, Carvin B1500 @ 1500 watts, 4 ohms, that might be fun to try.
Well, since then I've acquired a few micro-amps, so stopped hauling the Crown/Pre rack case at all. I need to go back and double check the specs on that Crown to see what it actually can do. Since I have this Gen 2 BBTwin T, I'd like to pump some more watts into it down the road. Will be using 600-800 watt micro-amps for the next few gigs with this used,new-to-me BF cab. BTW, just at home, loud volumes; the Ampeg ri-V4-B sounds pretty darn awesome into this cab.
Hmm, I also still have my pristine, Carvin B1500 @ 1500 watts, 4 ohms, that might be fun to try.
Well, Crown says it's ok, but I guess bridging it at 4 ohms is like running both sides at 2 ohms simultaneously.
Holy cow...how much volume do you need?
Barefaced are high sensitivity cabs, having all that horsepower surely helps dynamics, but other than that....I can't imagine a 212 fed by a 1500 watts poweramp on stage, unless you play arenas
Barefaced are high sensitivity cabs, having all that horsepower surely helps dynamics, but other than that....I can't imagine a 212 fed by a 1500 watts poweramp on stage, unless you play arenas
Well in my case using the B1500, I call it the B-Bomber, never got close to any wide open settings. But I was using 2, 4ohm cabs back when I bought it. That woulda been 1900 watts @ 2 ohms. YEOW-MING! I know. 
But I just never got close to using all the volume it could give. But talk about gobs of headroom. Though the B1500 never really felt as loud as I expected it to be. I even swapped it out with my MB LMII at one gig using just my 4ohm, 410XLT and that little amp just got so darn loud. Didn't need to haul the B1500 out much after that.
And in my case with a Gen 2 BT-T w/3012LF's, I think I read in BF thread its' not as efficient as the Gen 3 cabs with the new designed, custom drivers. If I read that right that is.
Oh well, again, be fun to try with this BF cab. Maybe once. With my mini-amps, don't care to haul the B-Bomber to many gigs.
But I just never got close to using all the volume it could give. But talk about gobs of headroom. Though the B1500 never really felt as loud as I expected it to be. I even swapped it out with my MB LMII at one gig using just my 4ohm, 410XLT and that little amp just got so darn loud. Didn't need to haul the B1500 out much after that.
And in my case with a Gen 2 BT-T w/3012LF's, I think I read in BF thread its' not as efficient as the Gen 3 cabs with the new designed, custom drivers. If I read that right that is.
Oh well, again, be fun to try with this BF cab. Maybe once. With my mini-amps, don't care to haul the B-Bomber to many gigs.
- Mar 8, 2011
- 12,232
- 51,187
- Disclosures
- Authorized greenboy designs builder/Owner of BNA Audio
However much he wants
I run that kind of power all the time and I'm not in any super loud bands at the moment. Once you try a great amp with tons of headroom (even at moderate levels) on a gig, you'll see what all the fuss is about
However much he wants
I run that kind of power all the time and I'm not in any super loud bands at the moment. Once you try a great amp with tons of headroom (even at moderate levels) on a gig, you'll see what all the fuss is about
Yep, I used to run 1600 watts into a 215 for years, but, I'm thinking 300 watts into a Gen 3 Big Baby, no matter how efficient, just aint gonna get me there.
I've bounced all over the place with wattage. Honestly, I'll make anything work. In most amps I generally prefer high headroom and I'll get my dirt from OD pedals.
Then again pushing an SVT, V4B, or GK RB series into overdrive is a thing of beauty.
Then again pushing an SVT, V4B, or GK RB series into overdrive is a thing of beauty.
I'm interested in the top end. How is it without a tweeter? I don't slap or usually use tweeters but like some definition from pic playing. You feel like you've got enough top end?
Also you played many 410's that you could compare the volume of the ST to? Is it noticeably more?
