Barefaced Big Twin 2 Gen 3 or 2 x BB3 stack

[Paddy Morris]

Quick one for you experts.  I'm tempted by a Barefaced Big Twin 2 Gen 3 that has come up, reasonably nearby to me.  I already have a BB3, and the Big Twin would take up a lot of space in my car alongside an upright bass.  Possibly I couldn't get both in.  But in the heat of battle the BB3 alone feels like it's at it's limits.  I have already blown a crossover once.     In my position would you resist the Big Twin and look out for another BB3 to stack?  Am I going to get the same meat from 2 BB3s as I would from a Big Twin, do you reckon?  It's just easier to transport 2 smaller cabs, and I can leave one at home for smaller gigs.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[chris_b]

My take is that the smaller, lighter, modular option is always best.

 

So 2 x BB3's would be my choice.

 

On  the loud gigs I use my older BB2 with a Super Midget. I can also use my SC with the SM and can use all of them individually, depending on  the gig. IMO modular is the way to go.

[Lozz196]

I think two BB3s should work just fine, from recall, having had both, two of the BB3s would stack approx the same size/height as the BT so essentially the same cab, but in a more convenient to move set-up.

Edited Wednesday at 13:00 by Lozz196

[fretmeister]

If you are blowing the cross-over I can't see the risk being lowered - presumably the BT3 has the same cross-over for the split with the HF horn?

 

And as an aside - if you are that loud then surely the PA should be doing the hard work instead?

[BassAdder60]

Or sell it and get an additional Monaco 600w cab !! Awesome and a step up from BF cabs in performance so many are discovering! 

Edited yesterday at 06:38 by BassAdder60

[Paddy Morris]

1 hour ago, BassAdder60 said:

Or sell it and get an additional Monaco 600w cab !! Awesome and a step up from BF cabs in performance so many are discovering! 

A second Monaco is very much still in the mix.  I saw the Big Twin and had a rush of blood to the head.  And this is why my front room looks like a bass equipment hire co. warehouse.

 

With regard to the 'how much power is too much' question.  For backline, with the luxury of an FoH soundman, yes either a single Monaco or BB is enough.  But for gigs where we're lashing together our own PA coverage, I find it much better all round for most of the bass to come from the backline.  It's impossible to judge what is coming out of the front, and empty rooms at sound check rarely stay the same when they are full of sound-absorbing humans.

 

And for our set, powerful speakers driven modestly sound better than a single cab being cained to death.

[BassAdder60]

Yep I’ve always preferred most of the bass from backline in small / medium venues 

[chris_b]

IMO if 1 cab sounds good, 2 cabs always sound better. You move more air which can make you louder, but more importantly improves your tone.

[Lozz196]

Def, if you like the sound of one cab doubling up on it imo induces a very silly grin, an almost "I can`t believe it" sort of thing.

[Chienmortbb]

There is no magic to having two cabs. The power is split between the cabs giving the drivers an easier time. When you start pushing a speaker, power compression creeps in and close to maximum power will rob you of half you volume. Beyma used to publish power compression graphs for their drivers but as no-one else did, it looked to the layman that they were the only ones that suffered it.

 

The second cab is also closer to your ears and that has to be a good thing. 

[Jack]

My favourite ever rig was a pair of FR800s which were essentially powered big babies. I think you'd be very happy with the two smaller cabs. 

[Dan Dare]

If you're only doing larger gigs, the BT would make sense. If not, the scalable nature of two smaller cabs is helpful, in that you can just carry what you need. Perhaps a Super Compact would be a good choice, rather than another BB3. That would give you the equivalent of a BT.