Al Krow

Depends who you're buying it off and whether you're throwing a Yammy BB P34 in with your £100 or not 😁

Not sure that's right. The BF SC is a very good cab. On portability grounds it's very very hard to match. But is it the best sounding or most capable 12" cab around? I, for one, as a very contented BF SC owner who regularly gigs and rehearses with it would never make such a claim - not least in that I have a significantly more capable 12" in my arsenal! Not sure I've heard too many other BF SC owners make that claim either. What it does do is deliver a very good sound in a very portable package.

Best put a Mesa M6 on top of it then 😉

Versatile but more pricey: SA Aftershock - pretty much a digital drive multifx Grizzly Bass - Ed Friedland is a massive fan. Zero loss of low end on this analogue pedal which has additional EQ options that allow you to range from clean Motown to full on dirt.

Haha indeed! Tbf I think when I stumble it's going to be very messy! Lots of tasty gear appearing on the horizon: - Ibanez headless basses - GR featherlight cabs - DG Neural DSP multifx I'll just need to make sure that when I do the missus is getting her nails done so, like @FinnDave, I have a proper, genuine excuse 😂

Another one bites the dust! 😎

Haha indeed - still blows away my band-mates when then lift mine! But a 212 4ohm cab capable of handling 900W should on paper easily trump a 112 8ohm cab capable of handling 600W (i.e. the BF SC) in terms of onstage and audience presence. And if the 212 is < 29lbs then that's a game changer. I'm now already not thinking of replacing my BF SC with a BB2.

And you'll readily be able to pick up a BF SC used, whereas there won't be many of these coming up used for quite a while I suspect.

WOW!! Just seen the specs on the 212. If the sound quality is on a par with the price, a 4ohm version of this would just be amazing at that weight. Colour me very interested!! GR Bass AeroTech Carbon Featherweight AT212Slim Bass Cabinet Specs: Power: 900 Watts RMS Impedance: 4 or 8 ohm Bass Reflex: On Rear Tweeter: 1″ with Lpad Regulator Frequency Response: 35Hz to 22kHz Sensitivity: 102 dB SPL Weight: 28.5 lbs GR have a decent reputation in the Italian market - I spoke to an Italian pro bassist after his band's set a while back at Boisdale in Canary Wharf, and he was raving about GR as being comparable / better than the Markbass amps (although tbf MB have revamped their amp line up and some of the current offerings look excellent / have dealt with the less than ideal EQ centre points / gaps on the older LM3 models). Soz Muzz - I suspect it won't be great news on the price front. Exports to the US from any EU member state are not subject to VAT, whereas sales in the EU are going to be subject to VAT so we will need to add that on to the quoted $ prices. Ok should be a bit of saving on transport costs, but I'd still be expecting these in the £950+ zone... but given that a Barefaced BB2 is just a shade lighter as a 112, and with silver grille + cover is £895 AND is only available in 8 ohm, that maybe puts it in context.

One Control HGBM worth checking out, too. Grit + high end clarity. Adjustable trim pot on the side to enable meaty low end for bassists (sometimes overlooked!), which may not be needed by guitarists. Higher price bracket than the Caline or Mojomojo, but arguably well worth it.

John - that's quite a statement that the RCF 732 is out-performing a BB2! Does it really match it on low end authority and dispersion and what amp were you pairing the BB2 with?

Damn! You've not got me checking out Elrick basses, a brand I'd not come across before - lol! What flavour do the Barts provide - are they quite clean / hifi? How do they compare to the Warwick MECs in the rather tasty SS1(?) you have next to it, whose growl I know I would love?

You should be able to get a really good rig on a £1k budget, particularly if you're buying used. The nice thing about buying a piece of quality used kit is that, provided you look after it but decide to move it on 'cos it's not quite what you're looking for, you won't take too much of a hit to your pocket. Bear in mind festivals should be providing a PA that is going to be appropriate for their needs (otherwise you really are going to need to tool up!) so we're really thinking about larger venues without in-house PA. I'd recommend getting a cab capable of handling 500W RMS, with a similar output for the amp. My key tip is not to skimp on the cab: for me it's perhaps the single most important part of the signal chain and therefore to budget at least as much on your cab as your amp. Top end ranges for cabs where you won't go wrong include Bergantino, Barefaced, Fearless, TKS and Vanderkley. Mid range: Ashdown and Markbass. Amps - if you want lightweight you're really looking at D class and there is such a great choice of D class heads these days! FWIW my gigging cabs for both my covers bands are a Fearless F112 and a Barefaced SC and I'm currently pairing them with a Darkglass AO900 (previously had the M900 Mk1). I've had a Bergantino CN212, which is an absolutely awesome cab but a bit bigger / heavier (at around 50 lbs) than I wanted to be carting around. My BF SC is a ridiculously light 21 lbs and I've not found a better overall combination of sound quality and portability.

Do you have a budget in mind? That would be a useful steer on any recommendations. And are you ok buying used or want to get something new? As Lozz mentioned if you have an idea on the sound eg warm valvey / vintage / modern / more hifi or a mixture of the above, that's also useful to know and do you want any on-board bells and whistles - I guess drive is the most common. Great that the covers band is doing so well! Are you guys focused on a particular genre?

Actually not quite correct:- the Mooer GE 300 and it's smaller sibling the GE 250 (£399 announced at NAMM 2020) will get you there: "Like most of the competition, the GE250 includes editing software for ease of use as a recording interface but where Mooer are offering something over its midrange rivals is the Kemper-esque Tone Capture function. This allows you to sample an amp to create new models on the GE250." https://www.musicradar.com/news/watch-mooer-announces-affordable-ge250-multi-effects-modelling-unit

I love the fact that "shït" evades the thought police, whereas stinky poo doesn't. Humans 1 computer 0. Yeah! 😁

Cheers. I thought the more detailed EQ might be worth the extra ££. It would be very hard to pretend that I'm the world's biggest fan of compression so can't really justify the upgrade on the availability of an on-board compressor 😁 An on-board tuner on the other hand would have been super useful. But as you say they have same power unit and same core (superb) sound, so I guess I should just stick to being content with my M6!

I had a similar query a couple of years back - maybe a few useful suggestions to have a look through, although as Silvia said there may well be newer models on the market now and my query, in any case, was also focused on having a DI out: PS I ended up with the Zoom B14-X (which is the sibling of the B14 I mentioned above, but with an expression pedal included). I didn't go for one with a DI out in the end!

I was very tempted to upgrade my M6 for an M9 in the Jan sales, given the more detailed EQ etc. but managed to hesitate sufficiently for all the units to fly off the shelves. Not surprising given the ridiculously good prices they were selling for. I'll maybe keep an eye out for one at the same time next year!

At the budget end, you could do far worse than the Zoom B1-4. Output jack for connection to amp or headphones. Gives you a master 3 band EQ and volume control for ease of access and the ability to set up a myriad of effects. A lot of pedal for the money.

I had a 1206. Lovely bass and I really liked the natural wood finish. I would very happily have had a 1205 in place of my equally good 1825 had a used one been available. Gratuitous pic of my SR1206!

Ah yes, it's not in an obvious place at all! It's actually on this thread - discussion starts on Nov 15th 2019 when I start by moaning that "I've not found the FI tuner to be that good / accurate"... sound familiar?!😁 You have to reset the FI to 440Hz after upgrading the software version. It's set out in the manual on the boot menu or FAQs.

So Woody continuing in the vein of displaying my lack of expertise on this stuff(!), I thought hpf and lpf, being filters, only cut below / above certain frequencies respectively and didn't have the ability to boost? Whereas the bass and treble (and mid) dials on both an active bass EQ and an amp have the ability to both boost and cut?

I had the very same issue. @Quatschmacher kindly put me straight and all working fine now and the new tuner is actually much improved. There's a lengthy bit of hand holding on one of the threads somewhere...

I guess it's the same as wandering into a high end store such as Tiffany's and having no clue as to how many zeros are attached to a particular item! Why put customers through the embarrassment of them having to find out something is well above what they have budgeted to pay? Why is that even a thing? Mark at BD is very happy to put prices on his stock, a lot of which are a multiple of the cost of a new Rick.