Black Coffee Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Ive a markbass little mark III 500w@4ohms Barefaced or vandeekley cabs are the options Which is the better buy ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lw. Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Best at what? What drew you to those brands and not the others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Buy them both, and let us know which you prefer.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EBS_freak Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 (edited) The best for what? Tone, volume, looks, ruggedness, weight, size, resale, bragging rights...? Given that a lot of the above are subjective, I wouldn't trust any answer that is given to you. I'm sure both camps have very happy customers. Edited November 7, 2016 by EBS_freak Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
largo Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 (edited) Having played both, they each have their merits. If I didn't have PA support then I'd still have my 2 x 210MNT Vanderkley cabs. Amazing tone, great build, nice size and not too heavy for a 2x10" cab. Because I do have PA support I've downsized even further and gone for 2 x One10 Barefaced cabs. Great "onstage" tone & volume, decent build and very, very light. That being said, I do miss that "heft" behind me that the VK gave but the BF don't. I've no doubt the larger BF cabs would give this too, they just look crap compared to the "Retro" series IMO and I didn't want that look. After all that, I'm still keen to check out the "up-rated" Ashdown RM-112-EVO cabs too, might be a good compromise! That's Basschat for you. Edited November 7, 2016 by largo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 [quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1478532057' post='3169646'] Best at what? What drew you to those brands and not the others? [/quote] I'd have asked the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Japhet Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Vanderkley build quality/robustness would swing it for me. Barefaced seemed a bit fragile to me but both are great sounding cabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinehead Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 [quote name='Black Coffee' timestamp='1478531672' post='3169643'] Ive a markbass little mark III 500w@4ohms Barefaced or vandeekley cabs are the options Which is the better buy ? [/quote] I have no way of giving you a meaningful answer but I can offer you the chance to hear/try my 3 Barefaced cabs in my signature. I'm in Belfast and gig mainly around Belfast and north Down. Just let me know if you're interested. I have several gigs before Christmas. Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 As people have said, no answer given here will be of any use to you. But, my contribution! I replaced my Vanderkley 112MNT with a Bergantino as I found the berg to be lighter, more compact (small car) and it had something in the tone that made the Vanderkley sound sterile in comparison to my ears. I have just replaced the Berg with Barefaced as per my recent NCD thread, so technically I have chosen Barefaced over Vanderkley. The Barefaced I found to have better tone and dispersion than the Berg, and much deeper low end. Does this help, probably not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 Oh, and why is it you are limiting yourself to these two brands? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acidbass Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 [quote name='machinehead' timestamp='1478544635' post='3169791'] I have no way of giving you a meaningful answer but I can offer you the chance to hear/try my 3 Barefaced cabs in my signature. I'm in Belfast and gig mainly around Belfast and north Down. Just let me know if you're interested. I have several gigs before Christmas. Frank. [/quote] A top offer from a top man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Coffee Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 Thanks for the replies. I've managed to have a play on a barefaced cab loaned to me by a very kind local basschatter and safe to say I'm exceptionally impressed that so much volume comes from such a small box. So barefaced is loud, clear and doing it without having to turn the volume dial very far round. I think the 12" speaker may be the road to go down. As for wondering on why I asked about Vanderkly and barefaced ? Barefaced are new kid on block with apparently a reputation for doing very well at being loud and small. Vanderkly are like the Rolls Royce and if I was buying one cab I was simply wondering what was best at covering most bases; the new kid or the expensive luxury one. I play bluegrass music in a group but I also like to play metal, thrash, and - well whatever I happen to be listening to for fun. im not great at describing in words what a sound actually sounds like but I know what I like when I hear it, and I heard it from a barefaced can tonight. I'm maybe just fishing for a reason why a person wouldn't buy either of these, as I've read very little negative about either of them. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinehead Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 [quote name='Black Coffee' timestamp='1478556349' post='3169935'] Thanks for the replies. I've managed to have a play on a barefaced cab loaned to me by a very kind local basschatter and safe to say I'm exceptionally impressed that so much volume comes from such a small box. So barefaced is loud, clear and doing it without having to turn the volume dial very far round. I think the 12" speaker may be the road to go down. As for wondering on why I asked about Vanderkly and barefaced ? [u][b]Barefaced are new kid on block[/b][/u] with apparently a reputation for doing very well at being loud and small. Vanderkly are like the Rolls Royce and if I was buying one cab I was simply wondering what was best at covering most bases; the new kid or the expensive luxury one. [/quote] Barefaced aren't [i]that[/i] new - I bought my first one in 2008! Barefaced cabs aren't all the same sound either, there are two distinct ranges which sound very different, but even the 12" equipped cabs don't all sound the same. Alex is excellent at advising you on what cab would be most likely to suit your needs. Have a read on the Barefeced website for loads of information. http://barefacedbass.com/ I would guess both brands would do the job they're designed to do very well. Have a look at basschatter Kev's recent thread. I have no experience of Vanderkley so can't offer any insight, but I'm sure they're very good cabs. Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Coffee Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 [quote name='machinehead' timestamp='1478558288' post='3169963'] Barefaced aren't [i]that[/i] new - I bought my first one in 2008! Barefaced cabs aren't all the same sound either, there are two distinct ranges which sound very different, but even the 12" equipped cabs don't all sound the same. Alex is excellent at advising you on what cab would be most likely to suit your needs. Have a read on the Barefeced website for loads of information. http://barefacedbass.com/ I would guess both brands would do the job they're designed to do very well. Have a look at basschatter Kev's recent thread. I have no experience of Vanderkley so can't offer any insight, but I'm sure they're very good cabs. Frank. [/quote] Many thanks for this. Its the first time ive considered spending more than the cheapest option on a cab and my own understanding of tech lets me down. Ive been emailing alex over last week or so and spoken to someone else at barefaced by phone. All really helpful, just considering a different option to compare. Theres so many id get totally bogged down if i spread the net too wide. Cheers again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Coffee Posted November 7, 2016 Author Share Posted November 7, 2016 Just read Kevs thread. Some questions answered to a degree about vanderkly, bergantino, and barefaced. I just need to pull a trigger and go with one. And im not even a little bit jealous of the darkglass amp neither ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 I had a couple fo BF cabs last year and in to this year. They are great cabs but i felt they didn't do it for me. I ended up with a Vanderkley 115MN6 and couldn't be happier. For my style of playing, and doing general covers, the 115MN6 seems to fill out the mix much better, without the extended lows i had struggled with when i had my BB2. Ive been back to the same venues i gigged the BB2 in and can confirm (to my ears) the 1x15 sounded more even and thicker. Of course sounding thicker might mean coloured, but if so that worked for me. I found the upper notes quite weak with my BF cabs, but not so with the 115MN6. They have more punch and presence. I loved the BF cabs at first, it was only after a few gigs that i noticed they werent working for me. They do produce a lovely tone though. Of course thats all subjective but thats my experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 [quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1478616701' post='3170315'] I had a couple fo BF cabs last year and in to this year. They are great cabs but i felt they didn't do it for me. I ended up with a Vanderkley 115MN6 and couldn't be happier. For my style of playing, and doing general covers, the 115MN6 seems to fill out the mix much better, without the extended lows i had struggled with when i had my BB2. Ive been back to the same venues i gigged the BB2 in and can confirm (to my ears) the 1x15 sounded more even and thicker. Of course sounding thicker might mean coloured, but if so that worked for me. I found the upper notes quite weak with my BF cabs, but not so with the 115MN6. They have more punch and presence. I loved the BF cabs at first, it was only after a few gigs that i noticed they werent working for me. They do produce a lovely tone though. Of course thats all subjective but thats my experience. [/quote] Interesting comparison. Certainly that was not my experience with the Vanderkley 12's, but the 15 looks like a very different cab with the extra driver... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bass5 Posted November 8, 2016 Share Posted November 8, 2016 To be honest i felt its was more the BF cabs not being to my taste rather than the 115MN6 being better. I actually found the rehearsal studios old 4x10 to be better than my BB2, to my ears. Ive posted about this in another thread so wont go on here. Needless to say, my biggest issue was with the low end on both my BB2 and Retro 210. I wouldn't say the 115MN6 is anything special though, and the 6" driver is pretty useless for me. It sounds like a standard tweeter that only adds very top end string noise, but the light weight, perfect size and tone just seems to make it the right cab for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Coffee Posted November 8, 2016 Author Share Posted November 8, 2016 Pulled the trigger with a barefaced cab. Lets see how it goes. Thanks for the posts and opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 Ooooh, ooooh, what'd you go for Mike? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Coffee Posted November 9, 2016 Author Share Posted November 9, 2016 [quote name='Bigwan' timestamp='1478679566' post='3170766'] Ooooh, ooooh, what'd you go for Mike? [/quote] On trying that 4ohm 2x10 monster of yours i wanted to go 4ohm to keep it to a one cab purchase as i know myself too well and another 8ohm cab to get the max from the amp would have been too much of a temptation. Went for supertwin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigwan Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 NICE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
only4 Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 New Supertwin here too. Very happy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 The ST is a great cab but the difference between an amp running at 8 ohms and the same amp running at 4 ohms isn't that noticeable. The 2 12's will add a lot of tone and volume over a 112. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machinehead Posted November 9, 2016 Share Posted November 9, 2016 A great choice and all the cab you'll ever need. Frank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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