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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!!

1972 all original Fender Jazz, with the original case, she’s aged beautifully with great looking wear and checking all over, she was Olympic white but is now a gorgeous buttermilk colour with the most beautiful piece of tort I’ve seen, I think my soul was a small price to pay.

So, after many moons using Markbass, I think it's time for a change and I'll be putting my stack up for sale to free up some funds. Thread to appear later today. So, What I'm after is a 2x12 one cab solution like most people it would seem. Preferably light (naturally) with as faithful a response as you can get. In an ideal world, what I want is the signal which goes in sounds exactly like what comes out. I appreciate that's not possible, so I've settled on the 3 brands above as possibilities. As they all cost about the same, I'm not bothered by that aspect of the equation. So with this in mind, I come to 3 choices - Bergantino HDN212, Barefaced Big Twin 2 and Vanderkley 212LNT. From my own point of view they each have their plus and minus points. Bergantino (it was a CN212 I'm basing this on) had a very pronounced low mid profile and maybe less treble extension? This was in the cab shootout as played by Lozz at the SE bash a couple of years ago. My thoughts on Barefaced are of the cosmetic variety and I just don't dig on the looks. Yes, I'm that shallow and I admit it. I played a prototype one at the SE bash in 2013, and thought the dispersion was great, but not using anything that resembled my own settings it was difficult to gauge quite how it was relative to me. Lastly Vanderkley. I've heard that some think they're a bit bright. Is that accepted wisdom? Having played Al Krow's 2x10 I was very impressed. I also had a go on another 2x10 at last year's SE bash. Very loud. The treble extension is very important to me as I quite often play 12 or 8 string basses, which are distorted in the upper edge for more bite. That is the acid test for me and indeed my own unique criteria which probably nobody on the forum will look at as something they would use to subjectively measure something. I can't really try before I buy and I won't have any gigs for some months due to holidays of the various bands I'm in. I'm just wanting the switcheroo to happen before everything kicks off again. I appreciate that everyone will have a tendency to recommend their own stuff, however, has anyone moved between all or some of these? Thoughts? Opinions? Missed anything? All advice is welcome.

I bet he still can't get it under his chin.

That hurt my peelings

I carry a passive DI, and let the sound-person know that I have that, a head with a DI or am happy to use their preferred DI. Some prefer to use their gear in which case I concede to their preferences (they know their system), some concede to what I want (usually the Orchid DI over the Markbass amp DI), either way, if everyone is happy, everyone has a better gig. Si

For bass the filter and synths in the Helix really don't do much. This is possibly the biggest future requirement of the Helix bass community (alongside a bass specific compressor). I add my Future Impact in to the loop as well.

Plaza Fish and Chips 142 London Road, Leicester, LE2 1EB Opens till 1am I have wound up here many times on the way home from evenings out, and some on-street parking nearby if you've got a car full of kit from the gig. Good burgers, fish, salads etc.

PS @Wolverinebass Come to the dark side and kill Rock n Roll.

Yup - top cover that. Voice is perfect too. Thanks for posting.

Fabulous. That is quite remarkable 😮

Very impressive - particularly the vocal, which with Rush is arguably the hardest thing to emulate. Used to do this song with my covers duo (programmed drums/keys) years ago - it was one of the only Rush tracks I had the vocal range to sing, despite me sounding nowt like Ol' Bignose. Will be interesting to see how this chap gets on with the err, squeakier stuff!

Eleven-year-old zombie thread resurrection! FWIW and IME body wood makes very little (if any) difference to the overall 'tone' of a bass guitar. Pickups, pickup placement, electronics and strings make a huge difference, however. The biggest difference is down to the player. Yes! It's all in the fingers. In My Humble Opinion. YMMV, etc etc... *unfollows thread and hides*

Dean Markley SR2000, don't know if the gooch still uses them, but he used to. The only strings I ever used when I played MTDs. Fodera strings are very good, but I did NOT have success with the Anthony Jackson strings on an Anthony Jackson contrabass guitar. But the regular Fodera stainless steel strings are wonderful.

I think they finally learnt to glue it properly (fingers crossed, I use my Two10s regularly and they still look fine) edit: one of the handles seems to be coming loose... I'm not kidding. Really. Deep breath.

Tim will return the originals with the black versions - he’s a good sport like that 😂

Speak to our very own @TimAl who will use yours as a pattern and then work his magic on the Greco logo for you.

Juicy what he did there?

Was always quite proud with how this came out, a playthrough of an old electronic/dubstep band I was in. You absolutely need headphones or decent speakers, listening on your phone or laptop speakers? Don’t bother pressing play . There’s no bass sounds on the track, all me! The verses are just OC-2 (-1 Octave, no direct) and this slow gear effect on the ME-50B (basically a volume swell). The synthy ‘choruses’ are all tapped on my fretting hand so my right hand can operate the Hot Hand for the enevelope changes. So that’s a Source Audio BEF, OC-2, Orbit CoPilot Fuzz & the ME-50B for some chorus and the whammy bits at the end of the phrase. Worked nicely live. Basically every modular bass synth sound is Envelope filter, fuzz, modulation and pitch in some variation. Si

The Grecian 2 Cromwell Road, St Andrews, Bristol, BS6 5AA Hundreds of times, and it opens until 5am. If you’re in Bristol the Grecian is an establishment that needs no introduction. A freshly cooked pizza and (proper) chips for just £5, kebabs and a whole host of cheap but delicious produce. Been going here 20 years, and the veggie options are brilliant too. Perfect for a post-gig bite. Amazing! http://www.greciankebabhouse.com/bristol/

Mine has to be a favourite place I used to play as I don't gig anymore..... Rock City Nottingham... Iconic Rock venue, just about every famous Band you can mention has played there at some point. The Stereophonics tribute band I was in has played the main stage there 5 times. It was an all day charity event ( I'm far from famous 😉) but the crowd loved us. it was always a sell out (2450 capacity) raising thousands of pounds for the relevant charity but the best bit was the on stage sound. There was a front of house soundman AND at the side of the stage, a sound man that just gave you a monitor mix ...he was BRILLIANT ….anything you wanted in your monitor at sound check was delivered in seconds. I know the combination of Tribute band and Charity gig is an anathema to many on here but they were the gigs of my life and I would do them again, at the drop of a hat , If only I was well enough.

The tolex will probably fall off fairly soon anyway

£400 + delivery, as much as I love Barefaced, & these look fantastic, erm, no thanks.

My new custom overdrive has arrived. All in all it is two complete Nightfall units, with all controls on each channel, and the possibility to use A or B or cascade A into B. Also switchable via stereo tele jack from my Boss ES8 switcher. Sounds very nice!

My advice would be even simpler : follow the snare drum, not the bass drum as you'll get lost after the first measure. Don't try to understand and decompose the signature, but let the music flow. On the opposite, as I'm into weird time signatures (I've been listening to strange time signatures, being it classical, jazz or even rock, since I'm a teenager), it's hard for me to play in 4:4, I think because I get bored very quick.

Now that really isn’t fair, it was gorgeous from the front but that rear shot takes it to a new level. I am on the lookout for one now but guessing they don’t come cheap.