alexclaber Posted March 10, 2009 Author Posted March 10, 2009 Having found that the Big One doesn't need much power to get loud, I have also found that it can handle utterly incredible power without distortion. QSC PLX 3002 bridged into it for over 2000W of power - during a break in rehearsal I conducted some full power tests and had clear the room to do so. Took the amp all the way to clipping with both fingerstyle and slap, going down to low B. Was so loud I couldn't stay in the room for long despite wearing ER15s, went into the corridor and shut the door and continued to try to abuse it. Insanely loud yet still clean, I swear no drummer could overpower this cab, no way. Crossover components didn't blow and still felt cool to the touch. Bandmates could clearly hear it outdoors from the other side of the building with a number of closed doors between us. Cab sounds noticeably smoother, fatter and less aggressive with the new crossover but still has tons of clarity. The switch does make a difference to the highs but it's only really audible with slap, however my strings are getting on for a year old. Absolute doddle moving it with the tiltback casters - put my rack on it and rolled it all the way. Need to get it on some scales and test the weight - it does seem lighter than my rack but I'm sure that can't be possible. Hopefully my local post office will let me check that today. I think some players will like a tweeter as well but they'll be few and far between. Once I've tested the response I can design a switchable tweeter to have as an option. Alex
wateroftyne Posted March 10, 2009 Posted March 10, 2009 This thread is useless without more pictures!
BottomEndian Posted March 10, 2009 Posted March 10, 2009 I'm getting faintly terrified about how loud the Vintage is going to be. And +1 on the pictures.
Stylon Pilson Posted March 10, 2009 Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) [quote name='alexclaber' post='430123' date='Mar 10 2009, 09:20 AM']Having found that the Big One doesn't need much power to get loud, I have also found that it can handle utterly incredible power without distortion. QSC PLX 3002 bridged into it for over 2000W of power - during a break in rehearsal I conducted some full power tests and had clear the room to do so. Took the amp all the way to clipping with both fingerstyle and slap, going down to low B. Was so loud I couldn't stay in the room for long despite wearing ER15s, went into the corridor and shut the door and continued to try to abuse it. Insanely loud yet still clean, I swear no drummer could overpower this cab, no way. Crossover components didn't blow and still felt cool to the touch. Bandmates could clearly hear it outdoors from the other side of the building with a number of closed doors between us.[/quote] I need to go and change my underpants now. Oh, and more pictures please. S.P. Edited March 10, 2009 by Stylon Pilson
JonnyM Posted March 10, 2009 Posted March 10, 2009 [quote name='Stylon Pilson' post='430143' date='Mar 10 2009, 09:51 AM']I need to go and change my underpants now. Oh, and more pictures please. S.P.[/quote] Yes, pictures are needed. We want the carnage: the melted ER15s, the birds falling from the sky... all the good stuff! BTW, any news on the cab badge - my Compact is looking naked...
alexclaber Posted March 10, 2009 Author Posted March 10, 2009 (edited) Badges were ordered a couple of weeks ago, must chase them up! Weighed the rack and cab on some proper scales this morning - almost dead on 47lbs for each of them. Slightly heavier than expected but not bad for a 6x10" killer. The cab does feel weirdly light though because of its size and when being pulled along on its casters it skips and jumps over bumps due to its lack of mass. Alex Edited March 10, 2009 by alexclaber
alexclaber Posted March 10, 2009 Author Posted March 10, 2009 [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='426673' date='Mar 5 2009, 08:55 PM']Guessing thats home stereo, thought all your cabs were 'hi-fi'.[/quote] I don't tend to think of them as hi-fi because if they were then they'd all sound identical! Also people tend to associate 'hi-fi' sounding bass cabs with the likes of SWR which have tons of tweetery treble and not a lot of midrange - that '80s sound - or they think of hi-fi sounding cabs as being transparent which too easily becomes the pejorative 'sterile' or lacking balls. So I'd be more inclined to say the cabs are accurate with reasonably even response across their passband and equally importantly exhibit lower distortion than others. The cabs with the midrange drivers have a noticeably wider bandwidth (both higher and lower) but they still don't go high enough to listen to music through them without noticing a lack of sheen on the top end but they are incredibly low distortion so the addition of a tweeter would make them very high fidelity. Much as I like clean bass sounds I also like dirty bass sounds, and anyway a lot of the clean bass sounds I like are very big and aggressive, not at all pretty. I think there's a tendancy amongst rockers to think that modern 'boutique' bass cabs can't bring the rock and that may be the case for some but it isn't for these. At some point I may get some t-shirts printed - a "Barefaced - Louder Than Lemmy" one for the rockers and a "Barefaced - Free Your Inner Afro" one for the funksters. Alex
alexclaber Posted March 10, 2009 Author Posted March 10, 2009 Something else I noticed last night - you cannot believe the amount of bottom that the Marseer, U5, PLX & Big One can produce. It's not overblown by any means but it's there when you want it. I was laying down some reggae-esque lines and shifted my right hand from over the pickups to over the end of the neck and the fundamental output leapt through the roof. Like stomping on a good octaver pedal. Fat with a capital Ph. Alex
alexclaber Posted March 14, 2009 Author Posted March 14, 2009 Done some rough and ready RTA testing of the Big One this afternoon. Mic positioned at ear level, mic stand about 6' from the cab. Cab on the patio. So here's three measurements with the mic stand in front of the cab, at 30 degrees and at 60 degrees. Ignore the actual frequency response plot, too much weirdness from my garden going on! But what is significant and explains why the Big One is so incredible on the gig, is how little the response varies between 0 degrees and 60 degrees. Alex
silverfoxnik Posted March 14, 2009 Posted March 14, 2009 [quote name='alexclaber' post='430666' date='Mar 10 2009, 04:24 PM']At some point I may get some t-shirts printed - a "Barefaced - Louder Than Lemmy" one for the rockers and a "Barefaced - Free Your Inner Afro" one for the funksters. Alex[/quote] Great idea! Can I order mine now please...
umph Posted March 14, 2009 Posted March 14, 2009 hi i'd love to try out some of your cabs sometime! if there as great as you make out i'll definatly be having one.
Mr. Foxen Posted March 14, 2009 Posted March 14, 2009 [quote name='umph' post='434921' date='Mar 14 2009, 10:18 PM']hi i'd love to try out some of your cabs sometime! if there as great as you make out i'll definatly be having one.[/quote] One? Lamer. One cab is not Doom.
alexclaber Posted March 17, 2009 Author Posted March 17, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='434924' date='Mar 14 2009, 10:23 PM']One cab is not Doom.[/quote] You'll like what's arriving in a couple of weeks then - 10 Compacts. That'll make two nice crossfired stacks 8' high with >108dB sensitivity and 5000W of power handling - that's >140dB SPL @ 1m. Looks what's coming to me tomorrow: Alex Edited March 17, 2009 by alexclaber
Happy Jack Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 Alex, my Big One (apologies to Bilbo for any innuendo there) will also need a large warning label saying: [size=4]CAUTION! - This equipment is capable of emitting sounds harmful to your hearing.[/size] April's getting closer ...
bass_ferret Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 big baby looks cool - whats the size and weight looking like ?
alexclaber Posted March 17, 2009 Author Posted March 17, 2009 [quote name='bass_ferret' post='437546' date='Mar 17 2009, 05:02 PM']big baby looks cool - whats the size and weight looking like ?[/quote] Same dimensions as the Compact but a few lbs heavier due to the added midrange speaker and crossover. Will completely and utterly flatten every other 1x12" you can buy and even many 4x10"s! Should have the first one done some time in May. Alex
eude Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 (edited) [quote name='alexclaber' post='437581' date='Mar 17 2009, 05:24 PM']Same dimensions as the Compact but a few lbs heavier due to the added midrange speaker and crossover. Will completely and utterly flatten every other 1x12" you can buy and even many 4x10"s! Should have the first one done some time in May. Alex[/quote] Very excited about this one... Eude Edited March 17, 2009 by eude
bass_ferret Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 About the same weight as my Genz then. Call me interested. I'm only down the road as well Maybe I could join the customer programme
Mr. Foxen Posted March 17, 2009 Posted March 17, 2009 [quote name='alexclaber' post='437457' date='Mar 17 2009, 04:15 PM']You'll like what's arriving in a couple of weeks then - 10 Compacts. That'll make two nice crossfired stacks 8' high with >108dB sensitivity and 5000W of power handling - that's >140dB SPL @ 1m. Looks what's coming to me tomorrow: Alex[/quote] That would need a lot of vintage valve amps.
alexclaber Posted March 19, 2009 Author Posted March 19, 2009 Last night I had the fun of doing a whole load of impedance measurements and then redesigning the crossover. Barefaced Top Tip: Crossover design has a similar ability to make time vanish as does a large LSD hit whilst listening to Pink Floyd - but it does your head in even more. New design should be flatter through the mids and more open in the highs. Alex
BottomEndian Posted March 19, 2009 Posted March 19, 2009 [quote name='johnnylager' post='439209' date='Mar 19 2009, 01:27 PM']Congratulations Alex, that's post # 2000![/quote] And 3447 posts on Talkbass. Where does Alex get the time to build cabs, play bass, eat, drink, sleep..?
chris_b Posted March 19, 2009 Posted March 19, 2009 Are these crossover improvements available as upgrades?
alexclaber Posted March 20, 2009 Author Posted March 20, 2009 [quote name='chris_b' post='439227' date='Mar 19 2009, 01:42 PM']Are these crossover improvements available as upgrades?[/quote] None of the cabs with a crossover have gone out yet, so it's a case of perfecting before selling! Running out of time though, needs to be sorted within a couple of weeks... Alex
alexclaber Posted March 24, 2009 Author Posted March 24, 2009 Logos are here and the first one has been fitted - looks best near the bottom of the grill, centred left to right. Will take some measurements and then get kits sent out to all current owners! Alex
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