Bergantino vs Barefaced vs Vanderkley - New cab decisions

[Muzz]

He's doing something wrong...I've done hundreds of gigs with BF gear (maybe not all the same cab, but...) and I've never damaged one yet...

[WinterMute]

5 minutes ago, Muzz said:

He's doing something wrong...I've done hundreds of gigs with BF gear (maybe not all the same cab, but...) and I've never damaged one yet...

3 years with a Big Twin in and out of studios and (a few) gigs, not a scratch on it, handles still functioning, wheels intact. 

Moved it on knowing it was a tough cab. My Ampeg 8x10 didn't look anywhere near as good after 3 years, and you can't pick one of those up with one hand...

[Wolverinebass]

I guess, I'm leaning towards the Vanderkley. Whatever cab I choose I'd have something great, so I'll hopefully be okay with that. Barefaced are definitely close after much thought, but I can't get to Brighton due to my work. So I'm buying blind regardless.

I appreciate barefaced do custom baffles, but getting one and not liking the sound negates the warranty so you can't send it back and buying something just to send it back for a slightly different one seems bonkers.

I don't think they're flimsy at all. There was a time when "barefaced handles" was a recurring joke on these forums, but it hasn't been for some time. I just don't dig on the looks as standard and the paint finish just isn't for me. As I've said on many occasions, if Alex did something about that, he'd get the custom of shallow preening Bass peacocks like myself. I don't think he's ever going to and if I'm paying £1200 for a cab, I want one which not only sounds great, but looks like as much care was taken presentationally as sonically. Should I care? Probably not, but I do.

All that being said, I still haven't fully made up my mind.

[EBS_freak]

3 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

I just don't dig on the looks as standard and the paint finish just isn't for me.

You can get them in a peeling tolex finish also.

[chris_b]

1 hour ago, gorandelac said:

I have that roadie for 5 years, he treats my equipment as same as I do... maybe even better... don't have so much experience with other roadies....

If I had a roadie who treated my gear the "same as I do" it wouldn't have a mark on it. I don't know what kind of "damage" we're talking about here, but I always buy covers for my cabs and a rack, bag or a case for my amps.

As I haven't seen the cab I can only guess, but it sounds like it's not being transported, stored or treated with as much care as you expect.

[EBS_freak]

1 minute ago, chris_b said:

If I had a roadie who treated my gear the "same as I do" it wouldn't have a mark on it. I don't know what kind of "damage" we're talking about here, but I always buy covers for my cabs and a rack, bag or a case for my amps.

As I haven't seen the cab I can only guess, but it sounds like it's not being transported, stored or treated with as much care as you expect.

Some padded Hotcovers will normally take the brunt of everything you would expect through casual gigging. (without destroying cars/vans, removing plaster from walls etc... - like flightcases tend to do)

[Dragonlord]

14 minutes ago, Wolverinebass said:

I guess, I'm leaning towards the Vanderkley. Whatever cab I choose I'd have something great, so I'll hopefully be okay with that. Barefaced are definitely close after much thought, but I can't get to Brighton due to my work. So I'm buying blind regardless.

I appreciate barefaced do custom baffles, but getting one and not liking the sound negates the warranty so you can't send it back and buying something just to send it back for a slightly different one seems bonkers.

I don't think they're flimsy at all. There was a time when "barefaced handles" was a recurring joke on these forums, but it hasn't been for some time. I just don't dig on the looks as standard and the paint finish just isn't for me. As I've said on many occasions, if Alex did something about that, he'd get the custom of shallow preening Bass peacocks like myself. I don't think he's ever going to and if I'm paying £1200 for a cab, I want one which not only sounds great, but looks like as much care was taken presentationally as sonically. Should I care? Probably not, but I do.

All that being said, I still haven't fully made up my mind.

Well, being in London it shouldn't be too hard to find a used BF to see if you like the sound. If you don't, you can sell it at around the same price, and if you do, you can sell it and order one with a painted baffle or tolex or whatever would make you happy visually.

That said, the Vanderkley is an awesome cab. Hard to go wrong with one. Clean, deep, great definition. It's just that if you want (sonically) uncoloured, the BF might be even closer to what you're looking for.

[Al Krow]

Just to put some uncertainty into your decision making!   This has come up in the FS

700W at 4ohms

Frequency response 30Hz to 20kHz

Weight 20kg / 44 lbs

If I didn't already have my VK210LNT, I'd be seriously tempted...

[Wolverinebass]

I suspect that I'll be too late in any event at that price. I'm going to decide by the 15th as I'm back in the UK then and will be able to schedule delivery to fit in with my schedule. We shall see.

[gorandelac]

Same here, need to make a fast decision.... while I have cash

[chris_b]

1 hour ago, Wolverinebass said:

I suspect that I'll be too late in any event at that price. I'm going to decide by the 15th as I'm back in the UK then and will be able to schedule delivery to fit in with my schedule. We shall see.

These are good cabs. I had one for a couple of years before I moved to Barefaced. If you want the CN212 ask the guy if he'll hold it until the 15th.

[Wolverinebass]

Well, today I took delivery of a rather shiny and hilariously triple boxed Vanderkley 2x12LNT.

So I had a quick play with my 50s precision. In comparison to my Markbass cabs it's much brighter on the same settings. My rig is all midi, so it's the same settings without question. In other words, I think that it's much closer to the DI signal as it sounded horrible when I recorded it. After some very quick fiddling and this mainly involved turning the treble down by about 40% and the bass and mid range up slightly, I was good to go.

As with all things, change one thing you have to adjust and this will take some time to programme my rig again. 

One thing I will say is that the weight of the cab is given as 24kg. I think it's less as I can quite easily lift it with one hand and I'm not a big guy. 

I'm happy with it. Just have to adjust. Maybe I might get 2.....

[gorandelac]

Same here, I pulled the plug for Big Twin 2, since I need it for louder stages (and already have Big Baby 2), I went again for Barefaced... Now the waiting time!

 

[Captain Rumble]

For me it would be Vanderkley without hesitation have used my MNT212 with Tonehamer, Walkabout, Mpulse and Thunderfunk amps in everything from intimate sessions alongside a Cajon  to festival stages with full band and it never masked the character of whatever amp/bass I was using. Definitely worth a listen imho 

[M@23]

1 hour ago, Captain Rumble said:

For me it would be Vanderkley without hesitation have used my MNT212 with Tonehamer, Walkabout, Mpulse and Thunderfunk amps in everything from intimate sessions alongside a Cajon  to festival stages with full band and it never masked the character of whatever amp/bass I was using. Definitely worth a listen imho 

I had one too. I moved it on as it was overkill for what I needed. Such capable cabs. I much preferred it with clean and powerful amps though.