Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Swap Shop and Wish Lists => Seen on craigslist, eBay, and elsewhere => Topic started by: StephenR on November 29, 2019, 11:28:31 AM
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Rare opportunity to get a 20% discount on bass or guitar cabinets from Barefaced in the UK. Jazzyvee and I have both been really happy with our Barefaced bass cabinets and have posted about them here in the past. They only sell direct so if anyone has been thinking about picking one up now is a good time. Prices include FedEx overnight shipping from the UK, the cabinet I ordered was at my front door in California 21 hours after shipping. After you order the company contacts you to make sure the cabinet you picked is going to be a good fit for your expectations/playing style and may suggest a different cabinet based on the feedback you give them.
https://barefacedaudio.com/
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Absolutely superb quality sound from these cabs and with a compact footprint, lightweight and lots of clean hifi sound. I liked them so much I bought 3 so that I have all bases covered. I went for the Big Twin II (2x12 + tweeter), Big Baby II (1x12 + tweeter) both with variable crossovers and the 18" Dubster II ( no longer in production).
Actually, I know that a couple of other members have them Murray and George Price.
They are a superb sounding cab with an alembic.
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It's a tempting deal (I think I would like a pair of Big Baby II's), but I'm not planning on playing out anytime soon and they would just be taking up space in my overcrowded bedroom.
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I have Big Baby 2, Big Twin 2 and One10... just love how they sound
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Do you use the One 10 for double bass?
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You guys are dangerous! Before this thread, I knew nothing about Barefaced cabs. I checked out their 1x12 guitar cab. Very interesting, very tempting, extremely LIGHT, even compared to my Quilter 1x12. The next day one shows up on reverb. After two days fighting GAS, I succumbed and pulled the trigger today.
Bill, tgo
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I ordered the Big Baby 2. If I like it I’ll order a second one. I don’t think I would need more than the two combined, and I would also have the option of just using one for smaller rooms. I look forward to hearing how it sounds.
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Looking forward to both of your reports. :)
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Bill, i had the 1x12 guitar cab on approval so i will be interested in your feedback.
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Jazzy, does “on approval” mean that you tried it and then returned it? what did you think of it?
Bill
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Do you use the One 10 for double bass?
Yep, for double bass and for small gigs, just had it in hotel gig, it was just perfect... Now I need small head and those GRBass mini one looks just perfect.
You guys are dangerous! Before this thread, I knew nothing about Barefaced cabs. I checked out their 1x12 guitar cab. Very interesting, very tempting, extremely LIGHT, even compared to my Quilter 1x12. The next day one shows up on reverb. After two days fighting GAS, I succumbed and pulled the trigger today.
Bill, tgo
You'll love it!
I ordered the Big Baby 2. If I like it I’ll order a second one. I don’t think I would need more than the two combined, and I would also have the option of just using one for smaller rooms. I look forward to hearing how it sounds.
Hey congrats, BB2 is just a wonderful cab.
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Hey Rob and Bill congratulations on your new purchases!
Bill, I have yet to hear the guitar cabs but am guessing that if you like the classic sound of vintage celestion speakers you made a good choice, the cabinets themselves appear to be well-designed and a departure from standard bracing and construction techniques, that is a big draw for the bass cabs, too. Look forward to hearing the cabinet once you have it. I have a feeling it will sound great with your F2-B and carvin power amp or even better a tube power source.
Rob, what kind of amp are you going to pair with the BBII? While the cabinets are super efficient and work great with a low power amp source they greatly benefit from dosing them with as much power as you can throw at them. There is also a break-in period for the 12" drivers which will be quicker if you have a way to play the cabinet at volume. Over time the low end really opens up. I find the cabs to be quite EQ friendly and capable of producing any tone you want. Since the 12" line is designed to sound more like PA cabinets there aren't big humps in the low-mids so if you want that you have to add it. The low-end extension on the Barefaced cabinets is phenomenal and if anything needs to be controlled or it can be overwhelming at high volumes. An SF-2 in the signal path is perfect for precise tone sculpting :) . Two BBIIs would definitely be more than enough for most any gig, one by itself is capable of getting really loud but if you are like me and prefer the kind of fullness and volume gain achieved by having multiple drivers you may very well want a second one going forward.
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Thanks Goran and Stephen. I received an email today stating that they got two months worth of orders in one day! So, it will be a couple of months before I receive it.
Stephen, I have three amp options: 300 watt Walter Woods; GK MB500; or QSC-GX7 with F-1X or F-2b, I also have an SF-2 I could use with the QSC configuration as well.
For me it's more about presence of the sound than volume (although volume factors into that to some degree too), so I do like the sound of multiple drivers. I don't like to overdrive the speakers, and I like a bit of headroom to work with if needed to avoid over driving.
Thanks for the info on EQing and the break in period, good to know and I will be sure to do that. I'm psyched to hear what it sounds like!
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I was thinking about changing the speaker from the stock Celestion Vintage 30 to the Celestion BN12-300S which I currently have in my Quilter cab. It's a neodymium speaker that is marketed as a bass speaker, but sounds a lot like an EVM12L guitar speaker. Quilter uses them in their HD cabs and combos. Weighs 4.4 lbs! This would bring the loaded weight of the Barefaced down to only 16 lbs! I'll be trying it with both the F2-B/Carvin combo, and a Quilter. When they come out with a tube power amp that weighs 4 lbs, I'll go back to tubes. Until then, I'm a Class D guy (or, at least, I have a back and two knees that much prefer moving a Class D power amp).
Bill, tgo
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Bill,
You might also consider Tone Tubby speakers. I use a 12” Red Alnico and 12” Purple Haze together for my guitar and they sound great. They are hemp too! :)
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My big rig is an F2-B into a Carvin DCM200L into two 1 x 12 cabs, each with a JBL K120, one of which was re-coned in hemp by John Harrison at A Brown Soun/Tone Tubby before he passed away. The hemp JBL sounds great, but is just a little darker sounding than the stock JBL. I adjust one channel of the F2-B to accentuate the highs and the other to accentuate the lows. The low side goes into the Hemp JBL. Together they sound great, but these days I'm using the Quilter more and more. It sounds 95% as good as the big rig and the convenience is worth the trade off for the 5% difference, IMHO. I don't think anyone in the audience notices the difference, anyway.
Bill, tgo
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Sounds like you have a nice assortment of amps to choose from Rob. I had a feeling the ordering experience was going to be affected by the sale since they make everything to order. When I ordered my BBII they were also a bit behind on production and I think it took five weeks. It will be worth the wait. I am also into the presence of sound more than volume. I like my basses to sound loud and full without sounding loud if that makes any sense?
Bill... Not sure it is easy or advisable to switch speakers in their cabinets. The cabinet is designed and tweaked to work best with the speakers they offer, if you buy a new cabinet and change the speaker it voids the warranty, an issue I know you won't have. There is a low-pass filter in the circuit as well as the diffractor, not sure if they tailor the filter to the different Celestion speakers you can choose from when you order one or if it is a "one size fits all" component. But, the biggest reason not to mod the cabinet may be the resale value if you decide to sell. Not sure about the guitar cabinets but currently the bass cabinets sell used for only a little under the new price, especially here in the states. Since it is a small company that only sells direct you really can't try one out unless you know someone who has one so it is nice to know your can get back the majority of your investment if you buy a cabinet and decide it isn't for you.
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Jazzy, does “on approval” mean that you tried it and then returned it? what did you think of it?
Bill
Yes mind had the emminence speaker which was just before they changed to celestians. But yes, i returned it. I took it to my friend’s rehearsal studio to try out as he has a few amps to try it with. The best sound was with either my F-1x or Sf-2 individually and a class D power amp. . I love the fact that the sound filled the room without beaming so their AVD slot works and it sounded great wherever i stood. . However to me it didn’t sound as full or as impressive as my fender twin amp or Jc120. So I returned it. I may revisit next year if i start gigging more on guitar again and decide to go lightweight. Hard to beat the twin Jc120.
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Stephen, the Barefaced website claims that the cab works with any Celestion speaker, but you bring up a good point regarding tweaking to the individual speaker. I think I’ll contact Barefaced and ask before I start wrenching.
Jazzy, thanks for the review. It may be hard to beat the sound of the Roland, but I bet it would be easy to beat the JC120 in a race - I’ll run carrying the Barefaced and you carry the Roland. lol
Bill, tgo
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What do I get if I win the race?, a free choice from your guitar collection including shipping and all taxes to the UK?
The Roland has wheels so can I drag it alongside or do I have to physically carry it?
Either way training starts soon... :-)
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I am also into the presence of sound more than volume. I like my basses to sound loud and full without sounding loud if that makes any sense?
That’s exactly what I’m looking for too. :)
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That’s what I found most interesting about the Barefaced guitar cab - even dispersion. Looking forward to taking it for a spin.
Bill, tgo
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That’s what I found most interesting about the Barefaced guitar cab - even dispersion. Looking forward to taking it for a spin.
Bill, tgo
Yea, that's is exactly what got me sold, specially when I heard that live... amazing, clear, a all over the place :)
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I am also into the presence of sound more than volume. I like my basses to sound loud and full without sounding loud if that makes any sense?
That’s exactly what I’m looking for too. :)
I have the same view. I have found the density of sound from the barefaced cabs to be incredible. They sound full even at moderate volume and really fill the room with clear well defined sound. The clarity and sound is similar to a good set of recording studio monitors.
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Well, I just finished selling all of my cabs except for a 1x12 for now, need something to play through while I wait. I look forward to hearing the Big Baby 2 when it gets here, likely the end of next month :)
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Nice, waiting for your thought on it! :)
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Revitalising an old thread.
Rob I wondered what your impression is of the Barefaced cab after a while with it?
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FWIW, I thought the Barefaced was a good light weight cab, but didn’t live up to all the hype (at least the guitar version). I wound up selling mine after a couple of months.
Bill, tgo
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Well, I now own three Barefaced cabs. A One Ten that I use for practice, and it’s actually loud enough for practice sessions with the band as well. It’s a little colored sounding to get an intentional “old school sound”, I prefer cleaner cabs, but it works well for practice and is so portable as well. I have two Big Baby 2 cabs. Last week was our first gig since COVID started, a small outdoors event. I used just one BB2 and the sound was wonderful, full, but cut through well, and really nice lows. I got some great complements on the tone. I used my Series I with it and loved the sound. I’m very happy with them (and can’t wait to use the two BB2s together!). :)
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I’ll add that for guitar, I haven’t tried Barefaced, but I do like Tone Tubby speakers, gotta love the warmth of hemp :)