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Scope creep has made the shootout too cumbersome to bother completing?
- Dec 21, 2007
- 15,233
- 45,122
- Disclosures
- Lark in the Morning Instructional Videos; Audix Microphones
Lowendtech
Happily trending in my own peculiar direction.
Matt is doing this on his own time for us.
I’ll wait till he’s ready.
I’ll wait till he’s ready.
I'm with Lowendtech, I'm stitting right here in my recliner waiting for results. Full cup o coffee, a bag of healthy chips waiting patiently. I've stocked in provisions to get me through. The fridge is full of bevs and I'm hunkered down until we all get through this together. Patience grasshopper.
Not trying to hijack this thread at all, but I thought I would offer my thoughts about one-handed carry cabinets.
FWIW I think my barefaced big baby 2 is the best thing I’ve ever heard for a 29 pound cab. Just amazing.
The barefaced super midget is also quite incredible at 23 pounds. Its my go to Gigging cab for upright and electric doubling gigs, and basically everything else, and also as a top cab that I can add to for larger gigs. It is stupid light but the size of the sound and frequency response leaves nothing lacking. Compared to the big baby 2, it has less but very usable bottom and less hi-fi top end. It is quite nice the way it represents any instrument. The tweeter still sounds great compared to the big baby 2. At this point I am actually preferring it for the schlep factor and the fact that it doesn’t get as boomy as quick as the big baby 2. Big Baby 2 is so deep in many rooms that I have to use it on a stand or it’s just too much. I did a loud Gig the other day with the big baby two on the bottom and the super midget on top. It was incredibly inspiring! I used just a touch of VLE on the mark bass tube 800, and boosted the low mids just a touch. It was one of the best sounds Ive ever had live. Just huge and full and punchy and present. I can’t ever imagine ever needing more sound than that when there is FOH.
I just got a Bergantino HDN210 at 33 pounds and that cab is amazing as well. Definitely different from the barefaced. More low mid coloration which is pretty nice actually—especially for electric. Low end is not as controlled as the Big Baby 2/Super Midget for upright. It has more mids around 2K ( not a very flattering frequency) and a real beautiful top end like the barefaced. I have not tried it on the gig yet but I can tell it’s going to cut really well. It is super quick and punchy and I feel no lack of frequency response.
Not boutique, but I was using two Markbass standard 102HF cabinets, 38 lbs, made in Italy with real B&C drivers. That rig has been my flagship for a while. In comparison, however, I found the high mid range to be a bit grainy, less top end extension, and a bit of low mid range build up when they were both stacked vertically. Less controlled low-end. I still really like the cabs but when I got the Bergantino HDN210 I sold one of the Markbass 210s the same day! One of them combined with something else is great but two of them was too much low mid. Also, I never feel like carrying both anymore. The Bergantino is just way easier to move, as is the barefaced big baby 2 or super midget, and they make a better combination than two of these Markbass cabinets.
Basically, either Barefaced is better for upright, and the Markbass Or Bergantino were better for electric.
It’s like this:
On the electric bass, I want a little bit of low mid bump, and the Markbass or Bergantino give it to me, but the upright is harder to control in the hi bass/low mid range. And yes, I am definitely using a high pass filter.
On the upright, I want a flatter response so that the high bass/low mid is tamed on the upright. Unfortunately, you lose some of the classic coloration that most of us have come to desire on the electric bass.
As a result, I’ve had a really hard time finding a rig that really brings out the best in electric bass and upright bass. I feel that I am getting really close though!
The sans amp on my tech 21 bass fly rig has proven to be a wonderful way to get a more classic electric bass tone through the barefaced big baby 2, which is absolutely incredible for the upright—(as long as it is on a stand and with the high pass filter!). On the electric, I am missing those low mids unless I bump them at the bass or amp or use the sans amp.
I am getting a Bergantino HG 310 on Thursday and I can’t wait to compare that one as well! I have high hopes that it will be wonderful for both instruments.
Never tried the fearless/fearful/thunder child stuff. Most of that stuff is too heavy for me and my multiple gigs per week.
I spent about seven hours of non Scientific testing The other day. I used both six string electric and upright with a HighC string. My favorite stack FOR BOTH BASSES turned out to be the Bergantino HDN210 on the bottom, and the barefaced super midget on top. Very controlled bottom, full low extension, incredibly even and punchy, quick, with beautiful highs, at all volumes.
I have a feeling the HG 310 will be even better for the upright but I have to wait a few more days to try it.
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Definitely. THAT thread felt like trying to discuss the economy with my dogs...
I just assumed that the Fearless cab destroyed the competition.
Conceiving and executing a well rounded evaluation methodology is difficult for a team and near impossible for just one guy. Back in another life, I built IT test labs, hired testing engineers and writers, and published sophisticated bake-offs for several trade publications. It was not uncommon for our first draft of procedures to be shredded by experts who knew way more than we did. Getting that input was crucial to fireproof the methodology. Even then, there were plenty of dissenters who did not agree with the results.
The OP may have discovered this project was harder than he thought. I say more power to him. Maybe he'll share some of what he discovered as a more modest effort. Even so, I predict plenty of "experts" will crawl out of the TalkBass ether and tells us why the OP was wrong. The definition of "good tone" is about as solid as defining the term "blockchain."
The OP may have discovered this project was harder than he thought. I say more power to him. Maybe he'll share some of what he discovered as a more modest effort. Even so, I predict plenty of "experts" will crawl out of the TalkBass ether and tells us why the OP was wrong. The definition of "good tone" is about as solid as defining the term "blockchain."
