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Came across these on Facebook the other day and subsequently searched Youtube and there's plenty there too, absolutely awesome. Here's their version of Distant early warning:

In the last 10 years I've only played Bergantino and Barefaced. The Berg tone was particularly impressive and I felt I'd reached a whole other level in bass sound when I got them. IMO my Barefaced cabs are another level again, they are monsters for sound and get even more positive comments than my Bergs did, and they generated a lot of praise. IME people do notice the bass player, if you sound good enough! The BF cabs are lighter and I need fewer of them to cover all levels of volume that I require. If my rig was stolen I'd happily replace it with either, but a BF rig would be at the top of the list. I'd expect all of these cabs to sound totally different to your Markbass rig. You might find that a little off putting, maybe not, but the difference will be very noticeable. IMO the difference was a revelation to me and the extra tone and clarity gave my bass playing a boost. I've not heard an amp that didin't sound good through either Bergs or BF cabs. You can go down to Brighton and try Barefaced cabs in the factory. If they have a demo unit on the shelf you can borrow it. You can send the Barefaced cabs back if you don't like them. You can't audition the other cabs and you'll be stuck with them if you change your mind. I'm sure that if I heard one I'd love the VDK. At this level there are no bad cabs, just preferences. PS Sorry, but Barefaced cabs are not flimsy. Don't confuse light for "flimsy". They are as solid as any standard designed cab. If you are careless enough to damage a BF cab you'll have done more damage to a regular cab. I carry all my gear and don't have access to roadies. In 10 years my cabs have never even been scratched. Good covers and care are all that is needed. my 2p

Coffee and KitKat at inflated price at a convenient filling station.

This has the makings of one of the most useful BC threads ever.

More my era of Rush, but this is terrific, too, especially the vocal: I've heard Geddy worse...

Hi everyone, I bought a cheap bass Sunday for parts or maybe another build, its a spider bass ? never heard of them. Anyway it has pups and tuners a bridge the neck has been very poorly converted to fretless, the body is a plywood thing that has been butchered in the neck pocket, I thought about re fretting it but ive never done that before but it hasn't cost anything yet so nothing to lose, this is were you come in what fret wire do I buy ? this may not happen depending on the state of the neck, it has been filled in the slots with a softish filler so it might clean up without to much hassle because I haven't got a fret cutting saw. I have an old front door that I took apart to make a body but I wont start that until I sought the neck out, ideas and criticism gratefully received.

I too used Markbass very happily for many years, had 2x10, 4x10, 1x12 (x2) and 1x15(x2) and have held onto a couple 1x12s. Still great stuff but Vanderkley and Barefaced are in a different league, which their price would suggest I visited Bass Direct a few years back and did a direct comparison between Bergantinos and Vanderkleys, and I went for the Vanderkleys.. I have been using Vanderkleys for about five years. I recently acquired a preowned Barefaced Super 12T which is a superb one cab solution and I now have trouble choosing between this and two MNT112 or a single LNT210. I visited Barefaced in Brighton and did a direct comparison between the Big Twin and Super Twin. The Big Twin was probably the best single bass cabinet I have ever heard, but as I am nearly always DI'd hrough PA, I went for the portability of the smaller cab, but sonically the Big Twin Is quite a bit more impressive. Barefaced cabs do use relatively thin ply, but are very rigid and well braced. If you respect them and dont hurl them about they are robust enough and really easy to touch-up. The pre and after sales service at Barefaced is excellent . Vanderkley cabs use thicker ply, have less bracing and do seem more robust. I have always preferred tough carpet covering to Tolex, but the 'lumpy' paint on Barefaced cabs is a doddle to maintain. Vanderkley use custom Faital Pro drivers, Barefaced use Eminence drivers wound to Alex's specs. Both companies give exceptional service. A difficult choice, unless you get both!!

It's one of those things, they'll all be good, but you just have to make the best guess, if you can't try them. Everyone is just going to say what they use is best for X reason. FWIW, I had a VK 212MNT. Don't be put off by it being rated at only 600w... It's a hugely loud cab and took all a 900w amp had to offer. With very strong lows and clear highs. I went back to Markbass however, and for what I want it does the job far better. Its obviously not a better cab, just better suited to what I need.

I love playing The 100 Club, iconic venue, you just get the feel of the place when there. Also love The Star & Garter in Manchester, just great gigs and great audiences, in a venue that is standing proud in a development area and not moving. And lastly The Rebellion Festival at The Winter Gardens in Blackpool, just love that, the biggest and best punk festival, being asked to play there is awesome. 200+ bands over a weekend, you get to catch up with so many people that you`ve met over the previous year, it`s just an amazing time. We`re setting off tomorrow (playing Sunday afternoon), am so looking forward to it.

@TimAl. Been on your site. Very nice job! Seeing that you can make everything you are the obvious choice.

I saw that clip last week and was really impressed. The bass player gets a great Geddy sound from his G&L bass. Another fun Rush cover band are "Fred Barchetta" who feature Uriah Duffy (ex Whitesnake) on bass. The girl singer really nails the early Rush vocal on this track, I've included a YouTube link below: (Incidentally, how do you embed YouTube clips in replied on this forum?) http://youtu.be/HodK8zn7xz4

These puns are boring; the're just going rind and rind.

FRFR. Line out from your preamp of choice (or amp, just don't use the power stage), into... RCF 735A or RCF 745A. Will smoke all the aforementioned cabs, especially on treble extension.

My back wants me to like Barefaced, but 40 odd years of playing through cabs with ‘baked in tone’ mean I struggle to hear what my brain wants to hear with the ‘clean’ output of the Barefaced range. i haven’t tried the Bergantino, but have played through the Vanderkley albeit at low volume, and I loved the sound. Very creamy and musical sounding, even with the matching amp set ‘flat’. If I was to be persuaded to move away from my SWR Goliath, then the Vanderkley would be top of my list.

Based on this I would say Barefaced. They're the one cab that with the 12's I couldn't give you and description of their voice. They're just very flat, and I'm often really surprised at how different, different amps can sound with the same cab. The treble extension with the BT2 is also really nicely executed. The Bergantinos have probably more of the colour I prefer, but they are coloured, which isn't really what you're after based on that quote. Not much experience with the Vanderkleys, I was always recommended against them for one reason or another at the time of buying. Barefaced it is in my view!

Gigs I love? I love playing in big fields. Open air festivals, that is. Big stages, big sound systems, big stage sound, captive and appreciative audiences and you also get to see some great bands on the bill. We were booked to play one early this year that was washed out and had to be rescheduled but I haven't been rained on at an open air gig in a few years.

I was trying to think of a polite way of pointing that out too haha Si

Hmmmmm....seen at the double bass bash in April......

Eww. just kidding!!

OK, I don't think it is going to be a fireman, and I haven't really got any plans yet other than the vaguest of ideas. The only things I do know is that it is almost certainly going to be 32" scale, a 5 string with 17mm string spacing at the bridge and it is going to be using this:

35mm long screw,2mm thick drill to open the hole,5mm thick of the screw

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I've taken on a short-term project which involves actualising a load of 'funk' topics, so I thought I should dress appropriately. It's my 'Bootsy' persona. I may not retain the look once the project is over.

Joking aside, we do not hide anything either. I find it useful to talk things through before committing more funds to the bottomless pit. I have my second double bass and she knows it is a good investment, as well as being a musical instrument of far better quality than I might have hoped for.

I have a FRFR system, a Vanderkley 210LNT and a Barefaced Compact. I use a range of DI pedals and Helix through the FRFR, I use an EICH T1000 through the Vanderkley, and I’m looking for a valve head to pair with the Barefaced. The FRFR is in the car more than any other - it works on any size stage and sound engineers love it. The Vanderkley is just a glorious sounding cab and the T1000 has volume for days. It’s just so nice and rich.. The barefaced is light and adept and totally different to the others. Put it up for sale but changed my mind as it’s a brilliant cab. Conclusion? I’m no bloody help to you whatsoever, I’m a gear head, I like to mix it up.

As an ex-MB cab user I would say you would be happy with any of these cabs, they're all a considerable upgrade. I went for a BF S12T which I've had for about 7 years. It's a great sounding and extremely light cab. But I'd bet either of the other two would be stonkingly good too.

Like Chris B, I've played mostly Bergs and BF for a good long while now (tho I've had MB cabs, too), and if I was playing in different bands than I am, and got to sit down and listen to my cab a lot on its own in a Scott Devine kinda way, I'd love a Berg HDN212 just for the hell of it, but my Super Twin does exactly what I need lighter and more easily handled - 40lbs and wheels is genius 🙂. I've total confidence in that whatever I put into it, and however loud I need it to be, it'll deliver. I've run it with Class D stuff, with lots of effects, and with a warm Walkabout, and it produces what I put into it. I've never met a tweetered cab I liked (or at least liked until after I'd turned the tweeters off - the AE112s were an example of that) so my tone goals are different to yours, but I'm sure a Big Twin will do it. Oh, and we use RCF ART735s in our PA, so I get to play through those (and a sub) a lot, too... 🙂 Edit: the 735s are so good we're seriously considering dropping the sub and going for 745s instead, for small to medium venues... Edit 2: Actually, I have the PA here under my stairs, so I might just dig out one of the 735s and have a play later, just to see how loud it'll go with a bass... 😁

Oooh, now there's a difficult band to emulate.... seem to be doing a damn fine job though and now Rush have stopped touring (or so I read somewhere recently) there's a gap in the market :-)

Talk to Alex Clabber at Barefaced, the Big Twin goes down to 30Hz, and whilst that doesn't sound like a lot lower than 45Hz, the OP states he uses extended range basses and I know from experience that running bass through a speaker designed for general PA use (the QSC and RCFs etc.) does not give the same response as a properly tuned bass cab, not without using a sub, which is exactly why all PA designers offer a sub... This is not to say that a QSC K12.2 or an RCF 735A won't be a good replacement for a "traditional" backline, because anyone with sense will know that it is, the wedge shape and size is a good tradeoff if you're playing small venues. It will come down to personal choice, and the OP stated he's looking at backline, not FRFR. I moved my Big Twin on because I'm not playing live anymore and it was taking up a large amount of room in my small studio, but if I went out live again I'd consider the QSC K12.2, but not before I'd had a serious look at what Alex was up to...

Only checked the spot you recommended. I saw nothing in the way of explanation. They made no claims to have solved the engineering tradeoff between cost, weight, efficiency, and fidelity. Also, it's marketing material Disregard marketing material, go for the tech spec. From what I can see, it's an active 2-way speaker, and they've baked in equalisation to counteract the response curve the drivers and the cabinet create, resulting in a flat frequency response curve in the advertised spectrum. Expecting any passive speaker enclosure to match such a setup is unrealistic. Afaik, only a theoretical model speaker can have a flat response. This does not mean they are being dishonest or doing something underhanded. Genelec and other studio monitor makers have done this for decades, and it's the only way to get a very flat response curve: use equalisation to counteract the unevenness all existing drivers and enclosures by necessity have. The curve I saw in their own materials does not put Genelec to shame, so we know it's probably a good compromise between fidelity and roadworthiness. I'll amend what I wrote and say, instead: Regarding fidelity, the higher price of the RCF includes a power amp and built-in equalisation, resulting in a fairly flat response curve between 45 and 20k Hz, while the Acme Low-B2 goes deeper, but does require a power amp to drive it, and probably requires equalisation to match the flatness of the RCF. In practice, I imagine few will benefit from either the extra flatness of the RCF or the deeper low end of the Acme. NB the video does show the RCF responce falling off a cliff under the advertised response spectrum, not that every driver / enclosure known to man doesn't do that.

Well, in engineering, you mostly have tradeoffs. You can't make a car with an internal combustion engine with the performance and mileage of a Tesla Model S, or make a car with the performance of a Ferrari, capacity of a lorry, and the mileage of a Honda Civic. Let's see: the RCF 745A is, compared to the Acme Low-B2: *more expensive *considerably bigger *louder. Much louder. It's impossible to say one way or another regarding the fidelity. Acme docs state the freq response to be "Frequency response: +/-3 dB 41Hz to 22 kHz -6 dB at 31 Hz" While RCF says: 45-20000 Hz and the curve shown in the specsheet makes me speculate the RCF -6dB frequency is likely the 45Hz stated. The customer is left with assigning value on the different engineering goals and choosing the product where those goals are pursued at the expense of others.

Nice shirts and hats are more his thing! 😎

I think it's a reputation based on the guitar gear of the past. Was discussing the brand with my Dad a couple of days ago who gigged as a guitarist through the 80s and 90s who effectively said "great Laney = Alright compared to most other stuff, alright Laney = terrible". I've always found the bass stuff to be very solid and punchy, but the tonal profile not to fit my needs.

It looks so small next to him!

Yep if you're in the area, the pizza here is amazing quality and great value for money, I recommend a 14. My recommendation Taka Taka, Magic Roll 3 Queens Rd, Triangle S, Bristol BS8 1EZ Open till 4am This place is also very good, great gyros and souvlaki wraps for under £4.

Went to the Derngate gig, I’m pretty sure the support act was called Strawberry Switchblade.

I used to play this winery right above the Columbia River (http://www.maryhillwinery.com/) a few times a month for several years. It was perfect for my jazz trio and the owners and staff were super nice to us. Their wine is first class too, so for years I had a really nice stash at home. And we got to do tasting room pre-show stints before Bob Dylan and ZZ Top, with a few thousand people coming through before they made their into the adjacent 3000 seat amphitheater. This gig paid OK but not great (regular local scale plus a few bottles each, and pretty good tips), but it was one case where exposure really did pay off. All I had to do was tell other venues that we played Maryhill and that was typically enough to get the gig if the style match was workable. Good hours too, usually 1-5 PM, w/ four45 minute sets. The place next door wasn't too shabby either (http://www.maryhillmuseum.org/) : View from back: Mostly we played arts festivals there, out on the lawn with a great family atmosphere, cool food booths, numerous juried art vendors, and good advertising in the big city markets like Seattle, Portland, and Vancouver. If your band made the promo poster as a featured artist you could leverage a ton of mileage out of that. I think we managed that three years in a row.

So it may well have been THE owner. Seemed a nice chap, but having a pop at my gear then handing me a business card is not my idea of getting a player on board. Hey ho. Sure the BF gear is great etc

Two gigs this weekend, one outdoors (through at least 6 18” subs to assist my sole One10!). My JV never fails to keep tune - I only have a tuner as a security blanket type thing - my trusty P always plays great. Either that or I’m a lumbering sausage fingered oaf!

I did a mid day gig yesterday - 40 minutes outside at about 11:30am. No shade. It was for the educational music trust I play with. It was the summer concert and awards for the kids. Most of the show was inside but for some reason they like the interval for the summer show to have refreshments and entertainment outside. It's great fun having to get my gear off the stage and reset it all outside in about 5 mins. My Marleaux did very well considering but I was still re-tuning between most songs. I'm very glad I didn't take the Ray.

glad i'm not the only one who thinks that