symcbass

Now I've had my cab for a bit I thought it was time for more info, just like it deserves. Played a good number of gigs in big and smaller venues and some studio rehearsals to date. Features/Build quality 2 side handles, 1 handle on the top to the rear of the cab. The handles are robust looking and feeling. The concerns I read about previous generation handles have well and truly been addressed. I've previously described the finish, but to recap, it is a smooth Acrylic type rolled on finish ( tuff cab, duratex type). It's a lot nicer in the flesh than I expected. I had a big smile on my face when I opened the box in fact as the cab is nicely finished, looks classic/ retro, right up my street. The new grills make a big difference from previous gens also I think. Solid, well finished. 2 rear caster wheels are well placed and make wheeling this a breeze. I wouldn't try and use them on an uneven surface as they are small and hard, but for indoors/ flat surfaces they do the job. 2 rubber feet ground the cab at the front. No rattles from the wheels when playing. Double speakon and mid/high attenuator on the rear input plate. Totally solid and well put together. Silver corners are simple, decent quality, look nice and well seated. The ply is thinner than most cabs, but not so as to feel flimsy. I thought the ply might look too thin for me aesthetically, but the cab is solid, no flex and looks great. Side porting looks good too, and the engraving inside the top port is a nice touch. The cab is stupid light...really it's a revelation to me. I can't believe I stuck with my old cab for so long. I didn't for a minute quite believe that a cab this size an weight could compete with my Aguilar cab, but it's surpassed all the qualities of my old cab with some improvements. Tone/sound quality My genre of playing/music is pretty much confined to upright bass, Rockabilly/old school jazz/r&b/Django Jazz styles. A lot of slap and pizz, a little arco Slam Stewart style, so definite and consistent in terms of required tone. Played a gig the first night I got the cab. Picked it up, drove to the gig, unpacked it and played 2 sets with very little opportunity to eq. My first opinion was positive, but not a "wow this cab is the best thing ever" kinda moment. I struggled with my sound a bit at first due to my pre conceived ideas about eq' ing, this being down to my previous cabs(trace Elliot 1048h, ashdown 410&15, ampeg 410hlf, Aguilar db410, 2 x db112's and finally an Aguilar GS 412). This cab has none of the frequency dips my old cabs had, and they were all different flavours...... I emailed Alex regarding my initial tone frustrations and he gave me a rundown of basics I should try. I read up on frequencies I should be cutting/boosting too, and now......... This cab is a monster. Honestly I can't believe the sweet tone, punch, depth and volume available. I realise my eq will differ from many due to my required tone, and the tone I'm getting out the cab is due to my own hands, bass, strings, pickup, preamp and amp which live, sounds very much like Willie Dixon's recorded bass tone. The bottom end is absolutely huge, it "feels" bigger than my Aggy 412, which used to get a bit pillowy at volume in the lower registers. Nice for some, but for upright it felt too loose. This cab is tight tight tight down low. I've pushed it real hard and the lower register remains solid, warm and musical, no farting out. The mids are present, but not harsh, highs can be smooth or glass cutting if you want it. I was getting on well with my Iamp800 set flat with a preset mid cut engaged, my Dtar Solstice preamp cut in the lows and mids, highs at noon. I started using the semi parametrics on the Iamp. At first struggled a bit, probably my in built fear of cutting rather than boosting. I've cut my lows and mid lows a little, cut my high mids about 2.4k getting rid of the piezo honk, preamp lows and mids just below flat, highs just above, and there it is! Huge, woody near acoustic bass sound that rattles the room. Live this cab shines. It sits right in the mix, very present but smooth and musical! I had to boost my mids before to cut through live, not any more. Out front, to the side, very even dispersion. For a predominantly rockabilly bass player, this cab has it all. Tight lows, mids and highs that suit slap bass, looks suitably retro, isn't too big and is silly light. I know my style and sound isn't for everyone and is a bit of a niche genre, but this cab seems to me to be a huge blank canvas that you could eq to achieve whatever sound you want. With regards to customer support I cannot fault Alex. I know Barefaced aren't for everyone, and at first I doubted the hype even after I got the cab, but having had time to sort my eq and let the speakers break in a bit I'm converted, it really is that good!!!! It's a game changer for me. Load in and out is so easy now, can't get over the difference a light cab makes. I know he must get inundated with emails, but he always got back to me promptly with regards to my queries, even before I ordered a cab. After sales too, helping out with my eq issues etc. his track record of good support plus reading his articles on amplification helped make my mind up regarding ordering from him. I'm sure glad I did.

+1 on the reed.

Inside the ports are stained or painted flat matt black. All other facings including the edges if the ports are acrylic'd or whatever they use. The finish has a stippled effect, but has a smooth/ slippery quality to it when you run your hand over it. I assume its done with a roller as is duratex etc.

No, I wasn't the buyer. I think we PM'd each other a few times when I originally tried to sell mine though. It was a great cab, but the weight was just too much in the end. That coupled with trying to fit the 412, double bass, gig bag and amp into my car( and still being able to drive) ! I thought I'd miss the Aggy, but this Big Twin is just something else. You know things are good when you catch yourself grinning at your amplified tone. My earlier feeble attempt at describing the sound if this cab really doesn't do it any justice.

Just reading your post again. For what this does , it really isn't that big.

No issues with feedback. My last big cab for upright was an Aguilar 412. With careful eq, I got a big acoustic sound out of it, but the mids got list live especially my g & d strings. This cab is louder, deeper and cuts through live much better with half the weight. If you have shortcomings in your pickups/amp etc it will show them up. For loud upright bass, this is a beaut!

[quote name='Bassman Steve' timestamp='1381737539' post='2242867'] That'll be why you play an acoustic bass then! [/quote] Definitely, had a laugh at that! Vintage basses, gut strings , vintage clothes, listen to music that is 60 years old plus. The only thing modern going on here is my amplification! As someone said at our gig the other night, " I think you were born in the wrong era", can't argue with that. Happy days.

Thanks, don't know why they came out on their side. Me n technology do not get on.

Looks better in real life too! Any other queries let me know!

Got mine!!! I didn't know what to expect to be honest regarding the finish......honestly, it's a beautiful looking cab. Really well finished, and the handles are robust and retro looking. The acrylic finish is smart looking. I wasn't sure the shiny finish would be nice, but in the flesh it is really nice. Pics don't capture it well. The weight is just a miracle! Coming from an Aggy 412, it's just a dream! The need for a lightweight cab is what started my quest for a new cab in the first place. Alex has been a great guy to deal with. He took loads of time to answer my questions, sent me very in depth replies to queries I had, including those after I got the cab delivered, or didn't thanks to FedEx, Who's driver didn't bother delivering the cab to me despite having it in his van for 9 hours. Again, Alex got straight back to me with all the delivery details so I could chase them up. Good work fella. I'm using the cab to amplify my upright basses only. Gut strung plys, slap/pizz, Rockabilly/old school jazz/ r&b style. Underwood pickups, D tar Solstice preamp, Iamp 800. Played my first gig with the cab straight out the box, as I had to drive to the FedEx depot to get it, grrrrrrrrrr. 2 minute sound check as I was really late. Had my pre and Iamp with my old settings from my Aggy cab. Straight away, bottom end very similar, mids much better live, very even across the strings. More than happy with 2 sets played and no adjustments made. Drummer and guitarist both said the cab looked and sounded great. When they lifted it, they both laughed.!!! Had some time now to play around with the cab. Had some issues with eq, as its totally different to all my previous cabs. After e mails with Alex, I'm on the road to tonal satisfaction. Now running my Iamp flat with one of the presets engaged. I need to cut the mids and low end on my preamp, slight boost in the highs. Wow.......the bottom end is huge. Very close to my acoustic sound but huge volume, I can only imagine the output from this with a slab. I need to rethink my eq completely due to the cab having no dips in frequencies. Looks like I'm going to be very happy. Volume on tap, great tone and bottom end for days. All this with my initial requirement of going lightweight. Once the drivers are broken in, I can only imagine how huge this will sound( when required).

Big Twin 2, replacing my Aggy 412. Another new chapter in my 26 years of Rockabilly bass adventures!

Nice buy, looks to be a Boosey & Hawkes Excelsior. I've had one for about 25 years, still going strong, great old ply bass. Mine sounds great with innovation slaps on the E & A and plain gut G & D. If you want arco strings, Spirocores always sounded good on it too. Enjoy.

I've only used the Wilson on a borrowed bass, and It was a few years ago, but....I struggled with it live. Pickups are always very different on different basses of course, but I found It to be nasal, and very heavy on mids, but not in a nice way, even with my Pro Plat I used at the time. It was an old carved bass with Spiro's on it, very nice acoustic sound, quite a dark sounding bass acoustically. I also play a lot of country/Jazz, Rockabilly and slap. My preference is either an Underwood (E side element only) on my dark sounding bass or a Planet Wing on my old German ply, which is heavier on the mids with less low end. I can get very loud, and still get a very true acoustic sound with no feedback. I do have a lot of EQ available though, pickup through a D-Tar Solstice into an Iamp800. Lots of good reviews on the Wilson though, but every bass I've owned likes different pickups.