GRAHAM SG1

The handles on my BF S12T were fine when I owned it, the handles on my two BF SCs are spot on-I also have the sound I love, the weight and portability I love and I dont mind the looks, I am a happy customer, thanks Alex

A couple of weeks ago I bought one of the above, its from the Ibanez Premium range and its a beauty. The build quality is very impressive and it looks beautiful, the choice of woods is superb, the lightness, balance and neck are a pleasure to behold, it plays like a dream with the perfectly finished frets, very nice action and very slim neck. I have started getting achy fingers when using my Precision deluxe because I have small hands (and old ones at that !) so bought this bass for the extra comfort with the narrow neck, as for sound, its great with the powerful Norstrand pick ups and active or passive controls and mid shift switch . It also came with a very nice hardcase and a great little pocket type multi tool with all the tools needed for any adjustment I care to make, even down to a small steel rule. Very pleased with this bass and great value for money for such as nice quality instrument.

This interests me, does anyone know how these compare to the GB Streamliner 900 and Shuttle 9.2 heads ?

I have read that the Mk3 EVO 500s are chinese made, is this correct ?

I play in a rock/blues/punk/pop covers trio with backline and find one super compact not enough with any of my amps, I need two to give me the volume and tone I need to be heard out front.

My hearing has worsened as my wife will testify, thats rock n roll eh ! I do tend to play quite hard at times so maybe I have been carried away in recent months,also rock n roll ! Thanks for the replies

I have just had a helpful email from Alex at Barefaced and he has reassured me it is ok, thanks for that Alex, will get some black tape to put over the light to cure my paranoia

My Streamliner did that too, it has been great ever since the LEDs came back on !

Thanks for the comments, the two cabs are 8 ohms each so a total 4 ohm load, I made sure of that when I bought them,see here [url="http://barefacedbass.com/product-range/Super-Compact.htm"]http://barefacedbass...per-Compact.htm[/url] It could also be my hearing is deteriorating quickly The Shuttle 9.2 peaks earlier than the Streamliner, the overdrive light also comes on, I know the knob position is only a rough guide but I am talking of no more than noon on the non EQ controls, does anyone have reason to believe that the micro amps are not as consistently loud as their solid state/transistor relatives ? Can these micro amps gradually reduce their output as they get older and more used, I remember thinking my Streamliner was earth-shakingly loud and dont remember it peaking when i bought it, I have tried backing off the bass EQ which does work but then I have a weaker less full sound, I have tried to compensate with more mids which goes some way to help, maybe I should tell the drummer and guitarist to turn down ! am I expecting too much, I have had 500 watt amps (Ampeg PF500,TC BH500,GK212) and they were not powerful enough . In the last few months I have changed from a Barefaced Super 12T (2x12) cab to the Super Compacts, maybe these cabs are driving the amps harder without seeming louder ?

I have noticed recently that both my Genz Benz Streamliner 900 and Shuttle 9.2 amps are peaking at what I would not regard to be excessive volumes, I am running them through a pair of Barefaced Super Compact cabs (each at 600 watts @ 4ohms) so more than enough handling, I play in a rock trio so not excatly heavy metal levels although we are loud ! I use a Fender USA Precision Deluxe in passive mode, my settings are usually as follows; Bass 9 to 10 o clock Mid 2 to 3 o clock Treble noon Gain and volumes noon- master to taste Mid frequency selectors usually centred Gain button selected on Streamliner I play mainly with fingers and get the peak light coming on often, this does cause slight concern as I am not sure I would have enough headroom to play larger venues, typically we play normal pub sized venues, is it ok to play with the peak light coming on like this, these amps are supposed to be 900 watts so I would expect them to be louder and not peak very often ? Do I need to buy a bigger amp or are these lightweight amps not actually as loud as their ratings would suggest ?

The super 12 works brilliantly with a Genz Benz streamliner 900 or shuttle 9.2, excellent combination and power to spare for me Bass Direct are still doing these amps for £499 which is a lot less than I paid, I find the streamliner better than the shuttle, more warmth and fullness, just my two pennies worth

The streamliner 900 benefits enormously from a bit of tube swapping, I put a Phillips JAN 5751 in V1 and TungSol 12AX7s in V2 and V3, the difference is very noticeable,the gain and bottom has been tamed to a far more useable range, the overall tone is more refined and useable

[quote]I sold my RH450 today, it's all packed up, ready to be posted in the morning... I'm a little sad, I loved that amp, despite its "quirks". But I'm happy with my new amp [/quote] Welcome to the world of increased headroom, I always found that 500 watts or lower is not enough in all situations I play in, my PF500,TC BH500 and GKMB210 with MB115 were almost flat out playing some pubs,cant beat more watts to just cruise through a gig instead of thrashing the amp, a bit like car engine sizes

Thats the stuff,its good I find that playing about with the two mid controls has a big effect on the gain, volume and bass controls, I like the mid frequency control at around 9 o clock and the mid eq around 3 o clock with the bass eq rolled back to between 10 and 11 o clock,this reduces the possibility of muddiness and overdriving while still giving great lows,I found that cutting the gain and increasing the voulme cleans the tone up nicely, this is the main difference between the 9.2 and the streamliner,the 9.2 is very interactive between the controls whereas I find the streamliner easier to settle for what I like,both great amps

I use either a Barefaced super 12 or super compact and use some of that spongey mesh anti-slip mat type stuff you can buy in Halfords as a mat to stop the amp moving about,works a treat . I am sure you will find warmth in the 9.2 as you become more familiar with it, I like to cut the mid frequency (9 o clock) and boost the mid eq (3 o clock),it really gives some punch, I dont like the gain once above the 3 o clock setting,it becomes too rough as the other amps I have had (except my Ampeg PF500 which lacks distorted tone in comparision) . I only really like a tiny bit of distortion to slightly colour the tone,too much and it sounds farty to my ears !

I was a guitarist for years,I still do play an accoustic,was also a drummer (shhhhhhhhhh!), I was not taken to the looks either but I like it now,it grows on you,enjoy and experience the wealth of tones you can get playing with those two mid knobs,its a very unteractive EQ on the 9.2 Its size and weight amazes me, I normally play the Streamliner as my go to but will swap tonight, you have got me all enthused for the shuttle again

The shuttle is a great amp and very versatile,the mid controls are really flexible,you can get some nice tubey distortion out of it but its a bit excessive from 3 o clock to max, I like the gain and volume between 12 and 2 o clock for a nice smooth distortion, the 3 buttons (lf boost,mid scoop and hf attack) are very good, I wonder what it would be like with a different tube like the Phillips JAN 5751 with a bit less gain,never read about anyone tube swapping on this amp,it really made a big improvement for me on my streamliner

I have both and rate them highly; Streamliner 900 - I am sure it is a fair bit more powerful than the shuttle 9.2, it is warmer with a fuller/bigger sound to my ears,with the original OEM tubes in the bass eq is immense and rarely does it need to go above the 9 o clock position for huge bass, way more than is needed for me, it can get a bit woolly at higher gain output with the gain button in and the bass eq higher so I have replaced the tubes with the following -V1 Phillips JAN 5751 and in V2 and V3 a Tung Sol 12AX7,this mod has tamed the bass and gain to a very useable amount and generally smoothed the tone,I can run higher bass eq and gain settings and it stays very smooth yet,the rest of the EQ is excellent,the gain button and 3 position mid switch are powerful tools and define for me what this amp is about, I adore this amp Shuttle 9.2 - very different to the streamliner,definitely not as warm or huge sounding but it has a very versatile mid parametric set up with a wide range of mid adjustment, it seems to be able to get any tone I can imagine and for me this active eq is what makes this amp,it does get big on the bass but on the last gig I found it starting to peak at not excessive output,the venue does not allow bands to be very loud as they have had complaints,I had the gain and volume about noon,bass 1 o clock and master about noon and it was overdriving and peaking,something the streamliner has not got close to ! ,the 3 functions are good and nicely subtle, this is a very nice amp but the streamliner really rocks my boat Both amps are very nicely built and the controls have a real quality feel to them,the weight of each is amazing especially the shuttle and both sound amazing through my barefaced cabs .

I will check it out,thank you `salt on your bass` nice user name the streamliner is a monster of an amp, it has never got close to peaking, the bass is huge on it, so much that I dont have it set more than 10 o clock on the knob, if I used the same low setting as on the Shuttle it would cause severe hearing damage, I do prefer the mid frequency selection on the Shuttle as the Streamliner only has a choice of 3 frequencies whereas as you know the Shuttle is very versatile with its parametric set up, I love both amps, I am a bit cautious about running the amp when peaking as I have read so many posts about amps packing up when driven at that level, the amp was nowhere near its limit when peaking,but just remembed this thread is about the super compact so a 10/10 for me and cant wait to get the other one, very pleased

I gave the super compact its first rehearsal this eveing, we are a rock/pop covers trio, not hugely loud but loud enough, My amp was a GB Shuttle 9.2, bass a Fender pawn shop Mustang with vol and tone controls maxed, my settings were as below; Gain 2 o clock Volume 11 o clock Low 2 o clock Mid 3 o clock Mid freq 2 o clock Treble 12 o clock Master volume 12 o clock The tone was amazing,very clear note definition and fullness, we were in a large office and the sound was very full, the only surprise to me was that my amp was peaking and the input O/D light flashing, we were not playing that loud and the drummer was using an electronic drum kit, I came down a bit on the low and gain but turned up the Volume and master to match previous level and the peaking was reduced, I am glad I did not gig this set up as the venue was pretty large and I would have had the amp constantly peaking to be loud enough, I used my Super 12T for the gig and was loud enough but the amp still peaked intermittently, I have never had my Streamliner 900 peak at any time so is this a trait of the Shuttle 9.2 ? I dont think it is as powerful as the streamliner ? I have ordered another super compact to make a nice matching pair, I love the sound of it so more of the same will perfect .

Barefaced have a choice of three 1x12" models, I have the Super Compact, very impressive cab and I wont mention how very very very light it is Two will sound immense with a Streamliner, get some earplugs ready