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Barefaced One10


Roland Rock
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[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1442427823' post='2866928']
Funnily enough. I gained a Midget last weekend. I've not gigged it but they sound well together to my noob ears.

The midget, while it's the bigger of the 2, gives a punchier, more treble sound.


[/quote]

Unfortunately you have stacked these with opposite polarity, leading to the bass frequencies from the Midget being cancelled out.

Try aligning the 'Barefaced' logos properly and you will hear a real improvement in the sound.

:)

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I must say these look very tempting.

I've a GK MB500 (mostly bought for the features it offers over the MB200 than the extra power) and GK 210T cab that I've used for over 20 years. I've noticed the GK cabinet occasionally runs out of puff as I'm playing 5 string a lot more and I'd been eyeing the Super Compact or Retro 210 as a better match for the MB 500 and my ageing back.

We're not usually that loud of a band (a 4 piece with just one electric through a Fender Twin and a DI-ed acoustic guitar to compete with) and my signal is pretty clean. One of these would be ideal for rehearsals and small gigs and would supplement the 210T for bigger gigs, maybe with a view to getting another One10 or a Super Compact further down the line as funds allow.

The prospect of a portable and flexible modular rig is very attractive.

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[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1442485715' post='2867262']
Unfortunately you have stacked these with opposite polarity, leading to the bass frequencies from the Midget being cancelled out.

Try aligning the 'Barefaced' logos properly and you will hear a real improvement in the sound.

:)
[/quote]

I've got them both with the carry-handles at the top. And the logos are STILL not aligned! Clearly I have faulty kit here.

I'm back to Brighton in a week I'll return it all to Alex for re-working under guarantee. ;P

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[quote name='Happy Jack' timestamp='1442485715' post='2867262']
Unfortunately you have stacked these with opposite polarity, leading to the bass frequencies from the Midget being cancelled out.

Try aligning the 'Barefaced' logos properly and you will hear a real improvement in the sound.

:)
[/quote]
[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1442491552' post='2867310']
I've got them both with the carry-handles at the top. And the logos are STILL not aligned! Clearly I have faulty kit here.

I'm back to Brighton in a week I'll return it all to Alex for re-working under guarantee. ;P
[/quote]

I can help you with that:

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[color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]Excuse the long post--which is itself a variation on what I posted on the BG Forum at TalkBass--but since I have several Barefaced Cabinets I thought my experience might be helpful. I was lucky enough to be sitting at my computer when the email from Alex arrived announcing the One-10 and the introductory pricing. I currently own a Big Baby 2 and a Super Midget which I use on their own and paired, primarily for upright playing but also for bass guitar and doubling gigs. These are the best speakers I have ever owned bar none, and I jumped at the opportunity to get one of Alex's speakers designed for low volume, small group play that is light as a feather. I will primarily use it for upright duo and trio gigs, and if it is as good as I hope it will be, it will replace my Mike Arnopol fibreglass Crazy 8 that I have been using for low volume gigs. I immediately hit the purchase button and it was confirmed today that I was lucky enough to get one at the introductory price of £199. [/font][/color][color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]My speaker--serial number 002--arrived Friday 11 September. It is beautifully constructed and a step-up quality from the already high standards of the latest generation Barefaced cabinets. I had a chance to play around with it at home on upright bass and to A-B it to one of Mike Arnopol fibreglass Crazy 8 speakers which has been my go-to box for small gigs. I've been having some troubles with the Crazy 8 rattling and vibrating so it isn't a totally valid comparison but I thought the new One-10 sounded much more solid and substantial. For swing music I was able to get the big punchy sound I look for on upright bass--think tones that are like "cubes with eased edges" rather than blobs--if that makes any sense to people. Like other BF speakers I wasn't able to get it to fart out or distort noticeably, driving it with AI Clarus SL (one of the old ones.) I found that using a HiPass filter in front of my amp (that doesn't have one built in) helped to firm up the sound and allow me to increase the volume to an even higher level.[/font][/color]

[color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]I had a gig on Saturday night with a jazz quartet of bone, piano, drums and me, which I thought was going to be quiet background jazz during the cocktail hour of a wedding to be followed by a DJ for the dancing. Off I went with the new speaker thinking this would be a perfect test run. Unfortunately when I arrived I found that I was playing more of a neo-swing dance gig in a big marquis with volumes way up, well beyond what the One-10 is designed to do. If I'd had my Big Baby 2 and new Midget pairing, it would have been perfect. Fortunately there was good PA support and I was able to go into the PA for sound out front. The One-10 did make an excellent stage monitor however, [/font][/color][color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]and I like the fact that it fits into a padded cajon bag along with my AI Clarus and an extension reel for easy over-the-shoulder load-in.[/font][/color]

[color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]20 September Update: I've still not had the right gigging situation yet for the new speaker--yesterday's job was an outdoor 30's swing gig on upright without PA support. Because I was concerned about volume and overloading the One 10, I took the Super Midget instead. Upcoming gigs include a 17-piece loud big band and a quartet backing a female vocalist in a jazz club with a back line amp wired into the PA so I've yet to get the perfect gig to try out the new speaker. [/font][/color]

[font="verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"][size="2"][color="#141414"]However, I did spend a bunch of time today with both upright and bass guitar in my large front hall (15' X 25' with a 12' ceiling) and thought my experience with the One10 and my other speakers might be helpful. I'm not a professional equipment reviewer, just a jobbing musician, so I might not have the lingo down, but here are my thoughts in sort of random order.[/color][/size][/font][list]
[*]The One10 alone gets incredibly loud with no farting out at all on the E string with either upright or BG. I was driving the speaker(s) with an Acoustic Image Focus Series III so there was gobs of clean power. The upright has a bridge wing piezo pickup called the Revolution Solo. To make the double bass sound "right," I set the high pass filter to about 85 hz, and for BG, I rolled it all the way down to the lowest setting of 35 hz. On upright I get a very punchy and yet fat and rich sound that is clean as a whistle, mirrors the sound of my bass but projects like crazy. The One10 is much fatter when sitting on the ground and I put it down on the long side so that the cylindrical port was pointing out the side and not down to the bottom. When I put a speaker on the floor, I like to slip a foam wedge under the speaker so that I can hear it better and this would cover up the port if it was sitting with the narrow end down. The One10 also sounded good when played alone while sitting on top of another speaker--boomy rooms may well call for the speaker to be up off the floor.
[*]This was the first time I played a BG (Status Graphite 4-string Streamliner) through the speaker and was bowled over by what a fat funky sound it produced with just the One10 on its own. For smaller pub gigs where there is no drummer or the drummer isn't super loud, I think you could get by just fine with this speaker alone. Certainly for a drummer-less duo or trio playing background jazz in almost any size room, or any kind of folky or bluegrass gig, the One10 will do the job on either/both upright and BG.
[*]Somewhat surprisingly I didn't like the sound of the One10 with the Big Baby 2 although I love the sound of the SuperMIdget paired with the BB2. The BB2 alone has been a wonderful speaker, particularly as a stage monitor with a loud 5-horn band in a touring Rat Pack theatre show that I play with. It is a bit hard to describe why I didn't like the One10/BB2 pairing but the sonic palette just didn't seem to mesh that well. It helped when I turned the crossover on the BB2 almost all the way to the side that favours the woofer and not the horn.
[*]However, the pairing of the SuperMidget and the One10 is absolutely wonderful and I highly recommend this pairing for both upright and BG. Loud, rich, clean, punchy and well disbursed are descriptors that come to mind. This will be a rig that I'll go out with often especially since the One10 fits in a Cajon bag and the SuperMidget fits in a Bass Cajon bag, making transport safe and relatively easy. I didn't want to stop playing this combination.
[/list]
[font="verdana, geneva, lucida, lucida grande, arial, helvetica, sans-serif"][size="2"][color="#141414"]Having owned a ton of small speakers (Wizzy 10, Schroeder 10, Acme B-1, GK 112MBX, Arnopol composite Crazy 8) the Barefaced One10 is the very best one I've played to date and I could have saved a ton of money if they had come along sooner. Barefaced Speakers are relatively unusual in that they sound equally good with both upright and BG, and this is rare indeed.[/color][/size][/font]

[color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]Cheers,[/font][/color]

[color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]Erik Hansen aka Lownote-LA[/font][/color]
[color=#141414][font=verdana, geneva, lucida,]Edinburgh, Scotland[/font][/color]

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Interesting...

I have a GenzBenz STL-10T cab for practise/portable/small gig use with an RH450. *Slightly* smaller in all dimensions than the One10.

Obviously, it's nothing compared with the 2x12 cab I normally use, but fab for home use (significantly with the Wife Acceptance Factor) and anything acoustic. I have gigged with it with a full band, with PA support, and it *just* coped - obviously, that's expecting a lot!

Would be interested to see how the One10 compares... Damn you GAS!!!

Edited by Alec
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[quote name='Alec' timestamp='1442847387' post='2869953']
Interesting...

I have a GenzBenz STL-10T cab for practise/portable/small gig use with an RH450. *Slightly* smaller in all dimensions than the One10.

Obviously, it's nothing compared with the 2x12 cab I normally use, but fab for home use (significantly with the Wife Acceptance Factor) and anything acoustic. I have gigged with it with a full band, with PA support, and it *just* coped - obviously, that's expecting a lot!

Would be interested to see how the One10 compares... Damn you GAS!!!
[/quote]

Your nearest One10 demo unit is in Bishops Stortford... sorry, this isn't helpful is it? :D

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[quote name='Grangur' timestamp='1442849164' post='2869976']
Your nearest One10 demo unit is in Bishops Stortford... sorry, this isn't helpful is it? :D
[/quote]
I shall ignore this very kind offer (possibly...)

[quote name='Chienmortbb' timestamp='1442864943' post='2870142']
It may be small and light but carrying it all of 10 miles could be a problem, :sun_bespectacled:
[/quote]
You'd be surprised. When I take my small rig out for practice, the bass goes in a gigbag on my back, the RH450 head in a laptop bag, and I carry the cab with the other hand.

Counter to any previous experience with bass rigs, the bass is the heaviest item, followed by the head, followed by the cab - how often has this ever been the case...

Edited by Alec
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[quote name='Alec' timestamp='1442911403' post='2870359']
I shall ignore this very kind offer (possibly...)


You'd be surprised. When I take my small rig out for practice, the bass goes in a gigbag on my back, the RH450 head in a laptop bag, and I carry the cab with the other hand.

Counter to any previous experience with bass rigs, the bass is the heaviest item, followed by the head, followed by the cab - how often has this ever been the case...
[/quote]You have hit on a serious note here. I have a neck problem and a heavy bass is a real problem. My Aerodyne is quite light, having a basswood body, my Peavey can only be played sitting down.

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