Super Midget - 1 intense first week!

[Reverend]

So I'm actually a bit afraid to even write this as there's probably going to be a fight between some total idiot who can't appreciate that some people like these cabs and absolutely MUST cut in on every single thread to add some totally lame put down, and some weird fan-boy who won't hear a word said against them. Anyway despite the inevitable, here we go, as I know a few people would like to hear about the new Barefaced Super Midget and how it pairs up with a previous generation Compact (which I like - for the record).

As first weeks for the first Super Midget go, this probably couldn't have gotten much more intense. The first 10 days contained 3 long rehearsals, 5 gigs and over 1100 miles in the back of an Astra, largely with 4 people and all their gear. 4 of the gigs were medium/large 'support tour' gigs in 1500-2000 capacity venues with very substantial PA support, and so my rig was mainly for my monitoring pleasure. The last was a medium size marquee style wedding function gig with a small PA mainly for vocals and keys etc, so my rig was kicking out a large proportion of the low end for the gig. Two very different situations for a rig to have to deal with.

My current gigging setup consists of: Am Dlx Jazz/Am P-Bass --> EBS Valve Drive --> GK MB500 --> BF Compact (2nd Gen) and BF Super Midget. I run the EQ pretty much flat, and the EBS adds all the colour with a low gain setting for a teeny bit of crunch when I dig in. I use the amp EQ largely to EQ for each room I take the amp into rather than to get 'my sound'. I have quite a lot of experience with many GK cabs and newer Trace cabs, older Peavey and very old Ampeg cabs. Other than that, I haven't tried any nice new Berg, Schroeder, MB, Aguilar etc so I can't and won't try and compare to any of these.

[b]Weight[/b]

The first thing I'll say about my relatively new rig is that I can carry it ALL AT ONCE. That's a bass and an amp in a gig bag and a cab in each hand. It's easy. I don't really feel the need to do this, but I can. And that's just brilliant. Anyway, that's pretty much all I'll say about the weight, we all know these cabs are light because that's the big marketing point, and I will admit that this is 100% why I chose my first BF cab because my back was having huge problems at the time.

So I guess here are the main points I think people will want to know about:

[b]Fit and Finish (compared to G2)[/b]

I have a G2 Compact, and the finish has never bothered me, I've always thought it looks cool and very retro, but I can 100% see how many people think they looked rubbish/cheap compared to other cabs. Well, the bad news for those guys is that from a distance they look on the whole pretty similar, but I think the things that really bugged people have been taken care of. The cheap handles that were prone to falling apart have been replaced by something that feels a whole lot sturdier and looks classier. The rubber feet that were prone to falling off (this happened on my Compact after 2 gigs) have been replaced by bigger, more substantial feet, with bigger more substantial screws. After a lot of loading in and out of cars and venues, I'm quite confident they won't let me down any more. The metal grill has been changed so that the edge is non perforated, thus hiding the foam that sits underneath it that some thought looked ugly (lots of cabs don't have any foam at all and thus the grill starts to rattle over time as the screw holes work loose). This does look a lot tidier. You also now have a decent removable metal back plate with a nice big knob to adjust the tweeter and also your Speakon/jack connectors (this isn't really a massive plus because this wasn't there before and should have been). I will add that no other musician or client has EVER commented on the look of my Compact. It's just a plain black box! I have however seen a player not get a reasonably decent gig with a touring band because his Eden cabs looked a bit 'too slick' (I know this is pretty lame but it does prove a point). Personally I think it's safe to stay retro looking. Silver cones and chrome trim seem to make musicians laugh at you :-) (JOKE!)

To summarise, the look is still plain and simple but the main problem points with the finishing of the previous cabs have been looked into and addressed.

[b]Tone[/b]

My criteria for adding a second cab to my Compact were: a bit more volume, and a bit more presence/top end sheen (without a tweeter - I hate tweeters). Simple enough. I'm a simple person, and on the whole so is my playing.

The Super Midget fitted the bill perfectly, adding a nice bit a growly honkiness in the upper mids for my Jazz bass that I was missing a bit with my Compact, and a little more bite when I layed in with a pick on my P-Bass. In terms of pairing it with the Compact, it matched it for level admirably. I cranked the MB500 further than I ever have for these larger gigs to hear it above the very powerful PA systems we were going through and it cut through fantastically. On stage I cut a bit of the bass on the amp (I was stood by the subs and I didn't need any more) and the sound from the amp was full and present and very very clean throughout the range of the bass. In other words, everything was really bloody loud and I could hear my bass really really well without any farting. Win. I mean for an amp/cab setup that I can carry all at once, that is impressive, you have to say!

At the function gig, I wasn't able to cut any bass on stage as I was providing it all, so I had to just crank it up and hope for the best. And it delivered! The low end from this setup is not bowel shaking like you'd get from larger cabs, so I won't pretend you could use these cabs for a huge dubstep setup and expect to be satisfied. But for your average rock/pop/funk 4-string bass guitar type stuff you will be fine for pretty much any gig (haven't tried with a 5-string sorry). The low end should stay clean right up at the top end of what an MB500 can kick out if that helps anyone.

On it's own the Super Midget probably sounds (subjectively) 'better' than the Compact at low volumes especially. The low end/low mid is a bit cleaner, the mids seem smoother, and there 'is some' top end now with this new driver :-) The compact didn't really have much going on in the top end although I still maintain the Compact was the best recording cab I'd ever used when I bought it! For high volume situations the Compact now makes a good addition to the Super Midget - just adding the support in the low end and low mids where you need it. These two cabs make a great pair. I'll probably use the Super Midget for rehearsal and small gigs and add the Compact for 'proper' gigs.

So in summary, it's well balanced, it's clean, it's loud, and it's clean when it's loud (for a small cab). You're not going to make people lose their lunch with the low end, but you'll make them rock the f**k out without too much trouble. What sealed the deal for me was that this was a wedding for a pretty successful session drummer, so the room was filled with people he'd played with over the last five or so years, and 2 drummers and another bassist (prominent players themselves) commented on how good the rig sounded.

I won't say this setup sounds better than any other setup. That's silly. I haven't tried every rig - no one has. It works for me. And the fact that I get equal volume to my previous 'big GK rig' at a fraction of the weight with very little compromise in tone at all (if any) makes me and my back very happy indeed.

[The Dark Lord]

Good job.

[Prime_BASS]

Good read. Glad your getting on with it.
Can't wait to gig my Super Compact this Saturday.

[Bassman Steve]

That is a brilliant review. Honest and comprehensive.

[Happy Jack]

Excellent review ... thanks.

[Salt on your Bass?]

Nice read, glad it's working we'll for you. Interesting writhe the direct comparison with the compact and running them together.

[fatback]

Very useful review, thanks.

Interesting to hear about the combination of different generations, as that's still a bit of a question mark.

[Lozz196]

Great review and kind-of echoes my thoughts about both the Compact and Midget, both good cabs, but put them together and it equals immensely good rig.

[JapanAxe]

Excellent review, covers all the things you need to know. Part of me is GASing to upgrade to 3rd gen BF but tbh I am pretty happy with my existing BF rig.

Can I suggest that the fanboys and haters start their slanging on a separate thread?

[IanA]

[quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1381859739' post='2244677']
Excellent review, covers all the things you need to know. Part of me is GASing to upgrade to 3rd gen BF but tbh I am pretty happy with my existing BF rig.

Can I suggest that the fanboys and haters start their slanging on a separate thread?
[/quote]

I really want a gen 3 cab they must be the best cabs ever, and Alex is just the most amazing cab designer, I hope to meet him some day what an honour that would be! All other cab manufacturers should stop cab production and there should only be Barefaced cabs available for purchase, this should be enforced as a new law outlawing other inferior cabs. Anyone found using other cabs should be hung drawn and quartered, they are useless to society anyway as they can obviously not hear properly;).

No one was biting so I thought I would add some humour!
On a serious note, really glad that you are happy with your new rig, looks great on stage and must have been real easy to carry.

[ShergoldSnickers]

[quote name='Iana' timestamp='1381906201' post='2245109']
I really want a gen 3 cab they must be the best cabs ever, and Alex is just the most amazing cab designer, I hope to meet him some day what an honour that would be! All other cab manufacturers should stop cab production and there should only be Barefaced cabs available for purchase, this should be enforced as a new law outlawing other inferior cabs. Anyone found using other cabs should be hung drawn and quartered, they are useless to society anyway as they can obviously not hear properly;).

No one was biting so I thought I would add some humour!
On a serious note, really glad that you are happy with your new rig, looks great on stage and must have been real easy to carry.
[/quote]

Just for a fraction of a second.....

[hamfist]

So, Reverend, I assume that you are running the SM at all times with the tweeter switched off, as the cab still clearly has a tweeter ??
Or just a little bit of tweeter to add some top end ??

Edited October 16, 2013 by hamfist

[Reverend]

Yep I'm running it with no tweeter dialled in. I did enquire about a tweeter-less version when I ordered it (as used to be an option with the old Midget) but apparently they aren't doing that any more. To be fair, I did try the tweeter out in rehearsal out of interest, and it wasn't as offensive as some of the tweeters in my previous cabs, but still didn't feel like it added anything that I personally needed. I do use a fair bit of overdrive currently and the tweeter just.... Well, no.

[martthebass]

Great review R. Now where can I get me one of those handles for my G2 and the money for a super midget?

[4 Strings]

Get a handle (and the all important instructions) from Alex for £8.

Thanks Rev, thinking rather too hard about swapping my Midget (and maybe Compact as well) for a Super Midget.

[yorks5stringer]

Good review but you did not say what sort of Astra it was......

[Sean]

Although your review is detailed I must point out that I have been left unsure of whether it's ANY GOOD FOR METAL!

:-)

[Sean]

Seriously, though. I'm really interested in one of these for a mini version of my future rig. Long story but I'm getting a 200watt head made, which will be played through my Big Twin 2 and I'm getting a miniature (30ish watt) version of that head made and will need a little cab to go with it.

Nice review. I'm a big fan of BF but won't get involved in the shouting matches. Our drummer can hear me properly with the BFBT2 and he's fussy so that's good enough. Actually, I shouldn't be calling him a drummer, he's a proper musician :-)

[Davo-London]

Fab review, thanks for taking the time to post it.

Interesting that the 3rd generation Super Midget is able to hold up on it's own. I think if you were able to carry all your rig in one go - you should do it! Just to make the point. No-one will notice but it'll make you feel better!

Regards
Davo

[ubit]

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1403639216' post='2484887']
Good review but you did not say what sort of Astra it was......
[/quote]

A very big Astra by the sound of how much was in it!

Great review of superb cabs by the way. I have a super twin and love it and can't see me ever changing!

[JTUK]

Congratulations, you've achieved everything you set out to do.. Must qualify you for a discount off the next purchase, surely

[Guest bassman7755]

Id be interested to know how the SM compares to the compact when A/Bing them in term of low end extension. The G2 compact for example clearly beats out a G2 midget in this respect so I'm interested to know if the G3 midget closes the gap somewhat.

Edited October 20, 2015 by bassman7755

[Freddie75]

I'm gonna have to disagree here! These cabs are way overated and overpriced!!

......just joking hehe! I have a Big Twin (Gen 3) - best cab I've ever owned.

[Lozz196]

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1445366899' post='2890989']
Id be interested to know how the SM compares to the compact when A/Bing them in term of low end extension. The G2 compact for example clearly beats out a G2 midget in this respect so I'm interested to know if the G3 midget closes the gap somewhat.
[/quote]

Well I used to have a G2 Midget and on its own found it a bit "barky", though paied with a G2 Compact the 2 were great. However at the recent SE Bass Bash we tried out Twigmans G3 Super Midget and I couldn`t believe the balance and depth of sound from such a tiny little cab. Much more even to my ears than the G2, so I would say yes, it does close the gap.