Customer Feedback

25/06/24 - Super Twin - USA

I got the cab today. It looks beautiful, and it's very easy to lift, but I have to be honest: I'm disappointed in its ability to produce a clear tone.

Compared to my Bergantino two 210s, it sounds blurry. I understand that 10s sound different than 12s, and two boxes sound different than one. To qualify my assessment, I have been playing bass for 40 years—I just can't get a clear finger tone out of the 212. I have played other 212s (the Fearless F212, for example). The Barefaced sounds woofy to me. I can send you a video if you like.

My questions are as follows: is there a break-in period that your speakers have (that others don't)? And, do you have a return policy if I handle the shipping?

Thank you,

Tom

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Hi Tom,

Sorry to hear this - hopefully we can figure out what isn't working for you! So the 12XN drivers are super accurate across their bandwidth, they're very honest and accurate from low to high, really flat (no peaks or dips) and clean (very low THD) through the whole midrange. I don't know of any other bass guitar drivers that are like this. The cone itself rolls off at about 4kHz, so the highs are smooth rather than bright. The central dome (dustcap) carries on to about 10kHz but more quietly so it adds subtle detail but you can crank the treble for more bite/brightness/air like a cab with a tweeter.

When the 12XN drivers are brand new the surrounds are much stiffer - once you've played it LOUD for a few hours they soften up and although that minimally changes the low response (the parameter changes essentially cancel each other out), they do change the midrange and treble behaviour. It's quite complicated but essentially the sound starts at the voice coil in the centre of the speaker and ripples outwards until it hits the surround. When the surround is new and hard that ripple (that's creating the midrange and treble) bounces back and interferes with the outward ripples, causing addition and cancellation as well as blurring the transient response. When the surround has softened up then it damped the ripple so very little/none of it bounces back. So yes, the mids will get more clear and tighter as the driver breaks in.

You're not going to reach break-in levels at home, unless your neighbours live a long way away! ;-)

I'd also flatten your EQ, turn up the passive tone knob on your bass, and then experiment with each control one at a time to hear how it changes your sound. And then see how they interact too. Don't be afraid to mess with the gain on your amp too.

I'll be honest, this is the first "I don't like the sound of my Barefaced bass cab" email we've had in a long time, so it's quite a shock! But fingers crossed, we will work out how to get you where you want to be!

Alex

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I'll keep trying. It requires lots of EQ, and it's still not as clear and direct as the 210s, but it does sound good. 

Hi Alex - a quick update - the cab has opened up a bit and sounds great - thank you

Tom

10/06/24 - Super Twin - USA

This past Saturday I used my gorgeous new ST outdoors with a loud Classic/Southern Rock band. The sound was nothing short of remarkable. It's going to be a fun Summer, thanks to Barefaced! (see 'action' photos, lol. Nice sunset.)

Dave

09/06/24 - Super Compact T - UK

I have just picked up a Super Compact T secondhand and firstly I would like to say thank you for making such a great cab. It is just fantastic overall but the articulation in the midrange in particular is just outstanding. So much depth and detail. I was slightly sceptical about it replacing my 4x10 before I tried it but it convinced me very quickly. I am still considering buying one new from you though, as I am starting to feel that I might actually benefit from having the additional tweeter added.

Although in general the cab sounds lovely I'm maybe not getting quite as much from the top end of my dirty sounds as I'm used to. I'm going to play it out a bit and see how I feel about that. However, my main reason for getting in contact is to ask for advice about how to get the best from the cab re: amp pairing. I currently use a Darkglass microtubes 500 which has been alright for a while but I am hoping to replace with something tube-based, something that I can get a bit of proper warmth and saturation from. I always get confused by the technical stuff about power, impedance and all that stuff.

Could you suggest what sort of specs I should be looking for in an amp to get the best from this cab? For example I'm considering the orange terror 500w but worry is this underpowered for the cab? I appreciate that I am not directly a customer of yours yet so any time taken to reply is really greatly appreciated!

All the best

Tom

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Hi Tom,

Glad you're liking the Super Compact! I presume you don't have a Super Compact T otherwise you could turn the tweeter up?

I'd experiment with the Darkglass to see what tones you can get from it. Going all valve gets v expensive and heavy to get a decent amount of power. The Orange just has some valves in the preamp but they're good sounding amps if you like their colour. Anything up to 600W is fine with the SC. Less power will get you less loud, that's all.

Best regards,

Alex

10/06/24 - Super Twin - UK

I used the cab twice over the weekend and I wasn't going through the pa on one of the gigs and the cab was outstanding. Loads of positive comments about the cab and how punchy it was.

Andy

19/04/24 - Super Compact + Two10S - USA

I am very happy with the cabs I ordered- a Super Compact and a Two10S (just arrived today!).

In particular I love the sound of my stingray through a Genzler Magellan 800 through the Super Compact. Clean, it's awesome, and when I throw on a lot of thick distortion it just really shines. I thought that maybe I'd like the distortion more on the Two10S, but it just comes through so clean on the Super Compact. The bass response between the two amps is pretty much spot on with respect to the video you did comparing the two lines.

My question is this- if I were considering a Super Twin, how important is it to have the tweeter do you think? I know there's some comparison in one of the videos but on my computer I just couldn't really tell. This would be for rock or heavy psychedelic rock songs. The only reason I'm considering it is for gigs where I'm not mic'd or going through the PA, but the room is decently large. For practice, the smaller ones are perfect. I might be able to mix the two but I'd like to just travel with one cab.

I appreciate any thoughts you may have. I realise this might be a silly question.

John

Hi John,

14/05/24 - Super Compact - USA

Hi guys.

First, I want to tell you I have a Super Compact, and I love it with all my heart. I'm using it with an Aguilar AG-700 head, and my normal pedalboard is an HX Stomp with a Sansamp DI and Empress compressor for my normal bit of color when I'm not using the multi. My question is, aside from just wanting more volume, is there a good reason for me to get another SC or SC-T? Or will it not make much difference anyway just running the AG-700? I'm not a pro, and I don't gig much, but it is possible.

Thanks,
Robert

Hi Robert,

I need to make a video/article about this! In short adding a second matching cab makes the sound louder, fatter and bigger and increases the max output of the rig by about 6dB. Technically a 10dB increase is twice as loud but because of the human ears' non-linear response to low end I'd say that it feels almost that much louder. And the height changes what you hear too.

Glad you're loving it!

Best regards,

Alex

22/05/24 - One10 - USA

Hi Alex,

As I stated in previous email, I am enjoying my 1 x 10. I currently only have a Bergantino forte d amp, which I would like to save for bigger situations than practice and lessons and small group stuff. Do you have a recommendation, preference, suggestion for a portable / compact amp that would pair well with the 10? 

BTW, I sold my Big Twin 3 this morning which I bought in 2022 and even after providing free shipping and packing (and the fees r*ping from Reverb) still made my purchase price back and a little extra. So definitely held its value! It was just way more cab than I would ever need. Still have my BB3 and love it. 

OK, thanks! 

Best,

Randy

Hi Randy,

22/05/24 - Big Baby 3 (x2) - USA

The cabs arrived on Friday and I was able to play them on a couple of local gigs. They sounded awesome and drew a lot of positive remarks. I can't wait to tour them.

Thank you so much for all your efforts.

Tony

08/05/24 - Big Twin 3 - USA

Loving my BT3. Seriously, I recommend Barefaced to anyone who will listen!

Richard

08/05/24 - Super Midget - UK

Thank you for all the hard work you and the team put into the products! They’re really amazing. Keep doing what you do!

Tim

07/05/24 - Super Compact - UK

The Super Compact stack performed admirably this weekend.

But there's just something about your 10's that does it for me, I like that colouration.

On Sunday evening, with the band following us at the festival, was a very old friend of mine, Shug. He's just a great bass player, one of the best around, who I first saw play in around 1988. At that time he was using an old SVT and an 8x10, and I immediately realised how a bass really should sound. On Sunday, he brought a BF Six10. It sounded wonderful (however he is also a great player). That night started me thinking. The Six10 is a little bit too heavy for me, the Two10 (I've had one), is eclipsed by the SC stack, so I've been looking at your Three10, and tonight I've ordered one from your website. 

Keep up the good work.

Rob

Hi Rob,

Thanks for the feedback, that's great to hear! And thanks for the order - the Three10 does hit a nice sweetspot!

Alex

24/04/24 - Big Baby 3 - UK

Hi Alex,

Well, I'm about 2 weeks into my 30-day trial and have already decided I shall be hanging onto the Big Baby. I used it at our recent gig, as planned, and it worked very well (in pretty awful acoustic circumstances - very boomy stage and room).

I did some A/B tests against my Epifani 3x10 at home and it's less "bright" (that's with the Epi "tweeter" dialed almost out and the Big Baby's at about 50%) but I think my bass sounds more like a Wal through it. I could use a little more clarity, so I'll experiment with the tweeter (or, as I explained, this could be partly due to my compromised hearing?). Do you advise setting the cab on the floor or is raised up better? 

The real clincher is the portability. My wife (who always helps me hump gear around, bless her) can lift it with one hand. 

I'm going to have to re-think my amp arrangement, as I keep my Demeter in a soft rack so the handle and front flap are squished between the amp and cab rather than it being able to lay flat. As the cab is so small, this means it rocks about a bit, so it's all a bit precarious. I don't know how far letting the soft "rack door" hang down over the speaker grill (rather than stuffing it underneath) will impact the sound? What do you think?

Anyway, for now, I'm pretty happy with the cab and will see how things go for a while using it with my 1x15. If funds allow, I may opt for a second. Have you ever thought of using the locking corners so they'd stack a bit more securely?

Thanks for your advice up-front and the excellent approach of allowing the 30 day trial. Without that, I would never have risked it, so would have missed out.

Cheers for now,

Tony