Why I love my Barefaced bass cabs

[JGSpector]

 

Barefaced bass speaker cabinets have been around for over a decade now and, although more people know about them than ever before, they are nowhere near as well known as the more mainstream manufacturers.

You may very well be reading this and wondering who I am to be writing this. The honest answer is, I’m nobody special. I’m an ordinary bloke who plays bass in some bands, I’m not a signed artist, in a touring band, in a band of any great popularity and I’m certainly not endorsed by anybody. I wanted to write this because, to be honest, I thought it might be helpful for anybody who wants an opinion, not only about the cabs and BF’s customer service, but also to read about my experience. I should say here that I’m only talking about the bass cabs, I’m not a guitarist and have absolutely no experience or knowledge regarding the new BF guitar cabs, which is why I’m speaking purely from a position of my own experience.

So how did I hear about Barefaced cabs and what made me take the plunge?

Like many musicians out there I was becoming more and more fed up with having to lift, drag and carry large and heavy gear. I’m also blind and although I’m more than happy to manhandle my gear, it often ends up being another member of the band or a roadie loading the cars etc. Since losing my sight I’ve always been very conscious of this and over time strove to make my gear lighter and easier to manage, in particular the cabs. I’ve been playing bass for just over twentythree years now and, like thousands of musicians around the world, I have always sold or traded in unwanted gear to help fund new purchases. The cabs I’ve used over the years are a good example of this. My first serious gigging rig was a Peavey 2x12 combo and a Hughes and Kettner 1x15 and man they were heavy, the combo in particular was a nightmare if you didn’t pick it up at exactly the right angle. Over time a moved to using an amp head and cabs, which of course made things lighter. It was at this point I found Gallien Kruger amps and fell in love with the 1001RB head which I used for several years before switching to a 1001RB II for the increased head room and power. This was an important time for me as it’s where the biggest changes in my cab set up took place. For the first few years I ran a GK Backline 4x10 and a GK Backline 1x15 with my original 1001RB head. Once I’d invested the money in the head my budget was limited for the cabs, so I went with what I could afford and that matched reasonably well with the head. After a few years I wanted better quality cabs that were smaller (the Backline cabs were massive). I got a really good trade in deal with the Backline cabs for a GK RBH4x10 and a GK RBH2x10. These new cabs were actually slightly heavier than the Backlines but they were infinitely better for sound, were very well matched for the 1001RB II head and were physically quite a bit smaller than the Backlines, which of course made them easier for moving and loading. It was once I had these cabs that I started noticing in practical terms how much easier having a smaller footprint on the stage made the logistics of playing gigs, particularly in small to medium venues with limited stage space. I appreciate that nearly every bass player reading this will have gone through a similar moment of realisation, I mention it here simply because it was the physical practicality of it which really hit home.

It was around this time that I basically decided that any cabs I were to buy in the future would always be lighter and physically smaller than their predecessors where possible, and all without the loss of any sound quality etc. Fast forward a few years and I was switching to a GK 1001RB II head and was thinking about switching cabs again. By this time I was playing in a 7 piece rock covers band and a 4 piece metal band. I needed plenty of volume for both but stage footprint was also starting to become increasingly important, particularly in the rock covers band. By the time we had a drum kit, bass rig, 2 guitar rigs, keyboards, all the musicians and 2 vocalists on the stage, we were almost needing to sit on each other’s shoulders! So, I ended up going with a 4 ohm GK Neo 4x10 which allowed me to run the 1001RB II head to its full potential for larger gigs and a GK MBE 2x12 as my small gig cab. Both were great cabs in their own ways. The Neo 4x10 sounded awesome but was quite big and reasonably heavy, although not as big and heavy as any other 4x10 I had previously owned. The MBE was light enough  to be carried easily, was only about 20” wide and was loud enough but I did always miss the sound of the 4x10.

I must have had these cabs and been gigging with them for a year or so before I stumbled across something about Barefaced speaker cabinets online. Apparently BF cabs were compact, ridiculously light, ridiculously loud and their sound quality was fantastic; the only downside was that they were expensive. Any musician who is reading this will know exactly what I’m talking about as I describe that I read everything I could about this awesome new gear, fantasising about owning one but at the same time knowing that there was no way I could afford it and anyway, the stuff I had was okay. Yet over time I read more and more about it and my mind started working over scenarios where I could sell this, trade that or sell a kidney to raise the funds. Ultimately I decided that I really wanted a Barefaced cab as, from what I’d read, I believed that I could have the small stage footprint and lightweight portability but still have the clarity, punch and bone crunching volume that I required.

It took me a couple of years to work up to getting my first BF cab and I don’t mind telling you, I was really quite nervous about it. The reality was the the cabs I was using were actually very good and I was about to need to sell them to get one Barefaced cab purely based on what I had read online, all without ever having even tried one out. I must have read through the entire Barefaced website about twenty times before I finally emailed them to ask for their advice. I was relatively sure I knew which cab would be best suited to me, I had narrowed it down to two possibilities, but I really wanted to get their input as I didn’t want to drop all that money on something only to find that it wasn’t right for me. As it turned out, of the two cabs I’d narrowed it down to, Alex from BF actually recommended that the cheaper of the two would be a better match for me. That cab was a SuperTwin and holy cow was I in for a surprise!

So, the cab......any good?

Before I even start talking about sound, I want to talk about build quality. I had read that there were some quality issues with carrying handles and rubber feet coming off which did concern me a bit initially. I soon realised on investigating further, that those issues were happening in the first and sometimes second generation cabs and that BF had made design tweaks and/or hardware changes which eliminated those issues for the newer third generation cabs. The SuperTwin is a third generation cab so naturally my concerns went away. There were, and still are in fact, some reports of the covering peeling away from some of the 10” models, but I understand that BF have managed to sort this out now. Not only that, but they will send out repair kits to people who encounter that issue. I have never owned a 10” model so can’t really comment on that at all.

What I can say is that the build quality of the 12” models is fantastic. They are incredibly well put together, tidy, compact, incredibly stiff and incredibly light. The SuperTwin has tilt back wheels and a pull handle on the top so you can pull it along but also has a carry handle on each side. It’s actually very easy to manoeuvre with the wheels anyway but even if you need to carry it up stairs, it’s so light it’s perfectly possible for one person to lift it. No need for two people to each take an end of a massive heavy 4x10 any more, brilliant! I now also have a BigBaby2, which is a 1x12 cab and it is awesome. The stage footprint is only about 19” wide and it’s so light I can pick it up with one hand, I can literally have my amp head in its bag over one shoulder, my bass in a gig bag over the other shoulder and the BB2 in one hand if I want or need to travel light, it’s just brilliant. It’s clear to me that Barefaced put a great amount of craftsmanship and pride into their cabs and rightly so. Not only that, I’m 100% certain that if something were to go wrong with one of my cabs and I were to contact BF, they would either send me a repair kit (if it were something I could do myself) or would take the cab back and fix it as long as I hadn’t done something stupid like playing through it under water or something.

Bringing the thunder.

When you read through the Barefaced website there’s a ton of information about the science of the cabs, hints and tips about how to get the best from your cab, technical information aplenty etc. To be honest, it’s all rather a lot to take in initially but, what immediately impressed me was how much useful and practical stuff was available. They talk about frequency response, power handling, dispersion etc and they are all terms we are, if not familiar with, will at least be aware of. Naturally I was very interested in the physical size and weight of any BF cab I was thinking about buying but then I found myself thinking more about things like clarity and dispersion and how getting what, on the face of it, would be a smaller cab with less speaker area to move air, might affect those factors. Like most bass players out there, I not only wanted my bass to be heard by the audience but I also wanted to hear it clearly myself. My GK cabs, the 4x10 in particular, were actually very good and could certainly move some air, but I did used to find that at high volumes I would start to lose clarity on the deep lows and being a 5 string player, I felt this was quite important.

The first thing that struck me when I plugged the SuperTwin in for the first time was how incredibly clear the sound was. I actually ended up adjusting the EQ on my amp a fair amount to dial in the tone I wanted. This was because the EQ settings I had used with my old cabs really needed to compensate for their shortcomings, the SuperTwin however was much more responsive to pretty minimal EQ tweaks. I really felt like I was hearing my playing and my bass properly for the first time and it was clear, loud and punchy as hell. This was reinforced by our drummer who, at the first rehearsal I used the BF at, said something like, “Holy stinky poo man, I can hear every note you’re playing!”. What I hadn’t really appreciated at that point was that the dispersion qualities of the cab were making a huge difference, not only to what I could hear, but what the rest of the band and by extension, the rest of the room/venue were hearing. When I asked him about it, the drummer said that he had always been able to hear the bass, feel the rumble etc before but he couldn’t really hear the actual notes I was playing, but with the BF he still got the rumble but could hear the notes cutting through. I think the thing that impressed me the most however, was that even when playing loud heavy rock/metal and playing down on the E and B strings, the Barefaced never farted out, never lost any clarity and showed no signs of being anywhere near its limit, all in a smart lightweight package that I could easily carry and that took up way less stage space than any other cab I had ever owned. I also didn’t seem to need to push my amp as hard to get the sound and volume I wanted/needed, which I felt could only be a good thing.

Shortly after getting the SuperTwin I had the opportunity to buy a pre owned BB2. I honestly couldn’t believe my luck, particularly as the guy selling it had it from new and had only owned it a couple of months. He was selling it as he couldn’t get on with the fact that he could hear absolutely every nuance of his playing. It perhaps should be acknowledged that not everybody wants absolute transparency from their cab, some players like a more coloured tone. That’s what makes us all different though; imagine how dull music would be if we all sounded the same. I was ecstatic with my SuperTwin but it’d be fair to say that the BB2 absolutely blew me away. It’s only just over half the size of a SuperTwin, can easily be picked up and carried with one hand, has a single 12” driver, can handle up to 800 watts of power (it’s an 8 ohm cab) and has a fully adjustable tweeter crossover built into it. As I don’t really use tweeters I did wonder if I shouldn’t bother to buy the BB2 but ultimately decided to go ahead as it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. Man, am I glad I did! Several weeks later I was reading the information on the BF website and saw that it was perfectly possible to use the BB2 (and the SuperMidget in fact) as a high quality PA speaker by turning the crossover all the way up. Needless to say, I had to try it. Well, I can tell you that it absolutely can and it sounds killer. I tried it with music running through a mixer, with my playing bass along with the music through the mixer, guitar, bass, electric drums and vocals through a mixer and it all sounded crystal clear, with no hint of it farting out and that was with only one BB2. I imagine with 2 you would have a PA set up for practically every situation.

The BB2 quickly became my go-to cab, not because the SuperTwin wasn’t amazing, it was, it is the best cab I have ever played through for consistancy of tone and volume, but the BB2, particularly in small to medium venues could do the same and it was practically half the size and two thirds the weight, plus it has the flexibility of being used as a PA speaker when needed. Ultimately I decided to sell my SuperTwin, the truth was that I had only used it for 4 gigs and 1 rehearsal in the year that I owned it. In contrast, I used the BB2 for every rehearsal and all but 2 gigs since getting it. I think I would have kept the SuperTwin if I were in a bigger band which played more medium to large gigs rather than the small to medium gigs I mostly play, but it’s gone to a good home and I know that it’ll deliver no matter what it is used for in the future.

I now play through a DarkGlass AO900 head and I think it’s worth mentioning that, both the SuperTwin and the BB2 handle distortion with ease and sound great. If you like those DarkGlass tones I’d be very surprised if you were disappointed with the sound you got from a Barefaced 12” model.

I’d buy that for a dollar (10 points if you get the movie reference).

You often hear things like, “Barefaced are good but they’re bloody expensive” or “I’m not sure the expense is worth the returns”. Obviously the perception of value is completely subjective and almost everybody is going to have a different opinion, so I’m not going to say categorically that Barefaced cabs are worth the money and everybody should have one. At the end of the day we all have different  criteria as to what constitutes the best cab for us, different music tastes, different playing styles, different budgets and or course different expectations. So all I’m going to do is tell you what I think and feel about my BF cabs based on my own experience.

Yes, they are expensive. However, when both new, the SuperTwin (2x12) was approximately £300 more than the GK Neo 4x10 and all things considered, I would choose the SuperTwin over the GK if I had the funds. Although very good, the GKs sound quality wasn’t as good as the SuperTwin, particularly at high volume, the clarity all the way through from deep lows up to high end frequencies was significantly better on the SuperTwin, the dispersion was also significantly better on the SuperTwin. The SuperTwin is much lighter and easier to move and crucially, its footprint is significantly smaller. When taking all of those things into consideration, for me, the Barefaced is well worth the extra money.

If I were to compare the BB2 (1x12) with my old GK MBE (2x12), the Barefaced would win every time. When new, the BB2 would be approximately £350-£400 more than the MBE. The sound quality of the BB2 out performs the MBE on every level yet with only one 12” driver, the footprint of both cabs is about the same, however, the BF is much smaller over all and can be carried in one hand, the BB2 is also lighter. The BB2 has a built in tweeter crossover and can very comfortably be used as a PA speaker, the MBE cannot. For me, the Barefaced is worth the extra money when taking all of this into account.

None of that is to say that either of the GK cabs were bad, far from it, they were very good cabs, I used them for several years and both were very reliable.  It was more to help communicate my thoughts regarding the value of Barefaced cabs.

The one thing I haven’t talked about is the fact that all Barefaced cabs are hand made to extremely high standards by a small team of dedicated folk, they aren’t produced on a mechanical production line in a factory as many big brand speaker cabs are. The guys at Barefaced are also incredibly customer focused and always do their best for the owners of their products. Even when you purchase a cab from them it’s more like a chat with friends about gear (friends who know their subject inside and out) and their communication as not only prompt but friendly and helpful too. That, on top of the performance capability, portability and weight saving of BF cabs makes them well worth the extra cost for me.

Well, that went on a bit longer than I thought it would! Thanks for reading and I hope, if you are considering buying a Barefaced cab, it has been helpful to you which ever way you are leaning.

[Cuzzie]

Nice writing - and I concur Barefaced cabs rule

[blisters on my fingers]

Great post. Thanks

[grandad]

Good post and I agree, albeit a bit pricey, they do make a good product. Worth it? For me yes.

Got myself a One10 last year at 70 years of age. I just wanted simple and light-weight. To complete my rig I bought a TC BH250, so no pedals or tuner needed. Sounds good and goes loud.

This year I bought a 2nd One10. Sounds good and goes louder.

[chris_b]

25 minutes ago, grandad said:

Good post and I agree, albeit a bit pricey, they do make a good product. Worth it? For me yes.

Got myself a One10 last year at 70 years of age. I just wanted simple and light-weight. To complete my rig I bought a TC BH250, so no pedals or tuner needed. Sounds good and goes loud.

This year I bought a 2nd One10. Sounds good better and goes louder.

Fixed that  for you.

[molan]

I'll just leave this here - only 2 years old.

Manufacturer support - 'I'll send you some glue'. . .

[Cuzzie]

4 minutes ago, molan said:

I'll just leave this here - only 2 years old.

Manufacturer support - 'I'll send you some glue'. . .

Looks good for metal, does it sound good for it too?

[machinehead]

12 minutes ago, molan said:

I'll just leave this here - only 2 years old.

Manufacturer support - 'I'll send you some glue'. . .

Interesting...did you use the glue sucessfully?

I've got a couple of Barefaced cabs but I haven't seen that label.  Did it come with that label on there?  Thankfully, none of mine are peeling like that.  (Although, I've experienced it with several guitar and bass cabs over the years.)

How do you find the cab for sound?

Frank.

[molan]

3 minutes ago, machinehead said:

Interesting...did you use the glue sucessfully?

I've got a couple of Barefaced cabs but I haven't seen that label.  Did it come with that label on there?  Thankfully, none of mine are peeling like that.  (Although, I've experienced it with several guitar and bass cabs over the years.)

How do you find the cab for sound?

Frank.

It’s not my cab - just one of the many I see up for sale with build faults. This particular one appeared a couple of days ago. I’ve never seen this from any other brand. 

It’s not exactly like this is ‘new’ technology but there’s only one brand out there that have yet to master how to glue a basic protective covering to a speaker cab. 

Even home-made ones are better than this. . .

[Cuzzie]

7 minutes ago, molan said:

It’s not my cab - just one of the many I see up for sale with build faults. This particular one appeared a couple of days ago. I’ve never seen this from any other brand. 

It’s not exactly like this is ‘new’ technology but there’s only one brand out there that have yet to master how to glue a basic protective covering to a speaker cab. 

Even home-made ones are better than this. . .

Think we are getting into ‘agenda against manufacturer’ and ‘axe to grind’ territory here.

The OP clearly stated in his write up about this having been a problem documented, and if people wish to search this up, there will be plenty written.

Shall we not go down this line and instead contribute to this post in the manner it was written and celebrate someone clearly finding a product they have found suits them, which is a really cool thing.

[machinehead]

18 minutes ago, molan said:

It’s not my cab - just one of the many I see up for sale with build faults. This particular one appeared a couple of days ago. I’ve never seen this from any other brand. 

It’s not exactly like this is ‘new’ technology but there’s only one brand out there that have yet to master how to glue a basic protective covering to a speaker cab. 

Even home-made ones are better than this. . .

Okay.  Thanks for the reply.

I just got the impression that you'd bought a Barefaced cab and were complaining about the customer support.

Frank.

 

[Al Krow]

My experience with cabs is that there is often a very good correlation between price and quality.

I've just tallied the cabs I've tried out since starting out on bass and it comes to 11, which I would split into 6 high-end, 3 mid-range and 2 budget; and the high-end cabs have all been better than the mid-range ones which in turn were a step up from the budget ones.

In terms of mid-punch / tone I'd actually rank my BF SC #6 out of the 6 high-end cabs I've had, but it's plenty good enough for me. It is, however, #1 for portability coming in at just 21lbs. Of the 11 cabs I've owned and used, I've held onto three and my BF SC is one them. 

[molan]

10 hours ago, Cuzzie said:

Think we are getting into ‘agenda against manufacturer’ and ‘axe to grind’ territory here.

The OP clearly stated in his write up about this having been a problem documented, and if people wish to search this up, there will be plenty written.

Shall we not go down this line and instead contribute to this post in the manner it was written and celebrate someone clearly finding a product they have found suits them, which is a really cool thing.

I don’t understand this attitude at all. 

This is an open forum where people come for advice and information of possible new gear purchases. 

The OP is clearly in love with his gear. I’m sure no one has any issues with that. 

However, this is a brand with more complaints about build quality, fit and finish than any other I’ve ever come across.

This is a simple statement of fact, it’s not an ‘opinion’ just something that is well-documented both on this forum and others. 

Whenever anyone reports these simple facts it seems owners of the brand’s products feel the need to somehow defend them as if it’s not important that things peel away, parts chip and break and bits drop off as if it’s a personal attack on their brand choice. 

[Cuzzie]

35 minutes ago, molan said:

I don’t understand this attitude at all. 

This is an open forum where people come for advice and information of possible new gear purchases. 

The OP is clearly in love with his gear. I’m sure no one has any issues with that. 

However, this is a brand with more complaints about build quality, fit and finish than any other I’ve ever come across.

This is a simple statement of fact, it’s not an ‘opinion’ just something that is well-documented both on this forum and others. 

Whenever anyone reports these simple facts it seems owners of the brand’s products feel the need to somehow defend them as if it’s not important that things peel away, parts chip and break and bits drop off as if it’s a personal attack on their brand choice. 

As said before you clearly have an axe to grind and are vocal about it here and Facebook etc.

Your comments are often geared towards saying this happens in the majority of cases etc. with no reported actual figures to back up. For clarity, for it to be a majority it would have to be a significant percentage of their sales, and if you have the figures on Gen 1 vs 2 vs 3 and the frequency of issues covering the trend, whether it’s static, improving, getting worse. You could argue that if it’s improving, then they are a better company for it, even if not perfect. For example electrical manufacturers build in up to a 5% failure rate for components inside the recognised timespan of use.

The fact is they have had or do have problems (no one denies this) the opinion is this is the most problematic brand out there - conjecture.

Yes its an open forum, but all these issues were mentioned in the OP’s post, and he is giving a well written personal experience with a brand.

If someone asks for brand X vs brand Y which shall I get, then that is the true place to get your knives out, and then others will disagree accordingly.

The fact is, it’s a thread about someone expressing their joy at a product, it’s churlish to rain on a parade.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Cuzzie

[fretmeister]

I really like my One10 cabs. 

Great sound.

They do suffer from the tolex peel. Does that annoy me? 

Yes, it does, a little. I never had that issue with Berg cabs. but for my taste the One10 sounds a lot better.

Can I be arsed to complain or send them back or anything for what is a cosmetic issue I have experienced on other cabs (not Berg)? No.

 

Will it make me not buy another 10inch series cab - don't know. Haven't given it any thought as so far the pair of cabs have dealt with everything I need them to.

Will it stop me looking at a Supertwin or similar - no because they are covered differently IIRC.

 

The only "build quality" issue I have is the tolex and that is a cosmetic quality issue rather than construction or performance. I'm not aware of other build quality issues.

 

Do I want BF to change their processes? Of course - we all get gear lust by looks as well as specs and there's no doubt a peeling bit of tolex looks stinky poo next to a shiny Berg or Vanderklay cab, and those issues need to be fixed before any high end bass shops will stock BF next to other expensive brands.

 

I suspect BF have managed to avoid that sort of direct comparison because they sell direct - otherwise the pressure from retailers would be immense - if a curious customer won't try them in a shop because the other brands next to it then it doesn't matter how good they sound as the customer will never find out. Or worse the customer will take it home and then bring it back for a refund. That is a dead easy way to ruin a reputation no matter how good it sounds.

 

I bought mine blind because for me the most important issue was weight - so I bought one and was amazed by the weight and then was thrilled when the sound was what I wanted too.

 

For my taste the 10 inch series are the best sounding cabs out there. I also think they look great - when the tolex is stuck down properly. High end does not need to be flashy like the berg pretend carbon fibre look, but it does need to look well finished.

The tolex application on mine is not as good as my £170 Jet City guitar cab. 

I wonder if the 10 inch cabs should just be painted like the original ones. End the problem overnight?

 

 

[JGSpector]

You are correct, the 12" models have a different finish to the 10" models, it's painted on I think. The peeling issue doesn't effect me at all as I've never owned a 10" model and doubt I ever will. Even if I did I doubt I'd be that bothered, at the end of the day it's not like I'd be able to see it and to be honest, if I had a cab that had covering peeling away, it would fit right in with the guitarists Marshal cabs. 

[Muzz]

I've had several BF cabs (tho none with Tolex), and yep the original Compact handle had an issue...the same issue I saw on one of my Berg 112s, simply down to rubber wearing...

They're very light, very solid and sound like whatever you put into them (again, I'm talking about the Super series rather than the clearly-voiced 10s) and I've no need for anything else, and I haven't looked at a cab for several years now, since I sold my Bergs. Which is very unusual for me...I've had to focus the GAS on basses and amps... 😀

[bertbass]

In 50 years of playing, I haven't owned an amp or a cab from any manufacturer that hasn't had peeling Tolex.  Some have ended up with no Tolex left on then at all.  My barefaced 2 x 10 is the only one that hasn't peeled its Tolex.  Maybe I should say so far, but after 2 years it's still all in one piece.

[Pea Turgh]

I’ve had 2 One10s (moved on for financial reasons) and now have a Two10 - not had tolex peel on any of them.

[Twigman]

My Barefaced cabs don't have Tolex, just a textured paint.

I didn't even realise barefaced offered Tolex.

[fretmeister]

With a bit of luck they've fixed that then.

I want them to do well because they had the balls to take an enormous risk in entering into such a niche manufacturing industry.

[thisisswanbon]

I was literally just going to make a post doubting my barefaced, and this was near top of amps & cabs; Spooky! Glad you're enjoying your cab, man! 

I've always sworn my Barefaced big twin 2 was the best cab I'd ever used (albeit after getting a suspected manufacturing fault repaired after buying pre owned and the fault not becoming noticable until trying to use it with a tonehammer amp, but that's another long winded story). I've used 3 different heads through it, and currently using a TH500, I found the tone a bit lacking in areas despite what I'd read, a bit bland and smooth...

Played through a pals Aguilar rig at a wedding this week using a TH500 and a pair of GS112 cabs, and the difference was staggering! The mid detail and growl was phenomenal, it had serious clout compared to my rig, and it's the exact same head! Now wondering if I've backed the wrong horse 🤔

[Muzz]

IME, the Big/Super series will, unlike a lot of very voiced cabs (like Bergs, Aggie, etc, etc) put out what you put in, and as such are a different proposition to a lot of cabs in terms of EQ. I've put heads as varied as a MB F1 to my current Walkabout, and the sound I got out was very, very different once I'd realised I wasn't hearing the voicing of a cab - or at least a more neutral voicing - and EQ'd appropriately.

Similar thing to FRFR: IME that (at first) sounds verrrry neutral, and one man's 'neutral' is another's 'bland and smooth'...

 

EDIT: When I first got my Berg 112s (bought unseen off t'internet), I hated the sound...until I turned the horns off, and then it was much, much better...which effectively voiced them much more traditionally. Kinda-sorta related, as I could probably have achieved the same with EQ, but back then it didn't occur to me...

Edited September 23, 2019 by Muzz

[Cuzzie]

Agree with @Muzz it’s not a one cab fits all, each Will needs its own EQ and then match to the players/bands preference.

At this level - it’s minor differences 

[JGSpector]

Yeah, I found that the little tweaks on the EQ make the difference. I recon BF have it right when they say on their website to set your EQ flat and start from there when you get your new cab, new cab, new EQ settings and all that.