Barefaced Big One

[mildmanofrock]

Mine just arrived today. It's stunning. Light, compact... and the sound: clear, biting (roll off your mids to taste), and thick.

My Ampeg 410HLF cab will soon retire. It's a beautiful solid cab with lots of bottom. It still does the job and is great for players looking for lots of presence. But the Big One does the same, with more clarity.

I'm away for a week on Sunday, but will do a full review when I get back.

Lovely.

*Edit*

Before I go, I just have to add: this cab is amazing. If you get one, don't be put off when you first plug in. The big speaker is new and tight, so needs a couple of hours playing at high volume to loosen up and unleash its bass. The mids might seem a little in your face at first too. Just adjust your EQ a little. Keep playing. Then it hits you... the tightest, juciest, warmest and clearest bass sound I've ever had.

I can't recommend it more highly. I'm absolutely delighted. And no, I'm not on commission!


*******************

I used the Big One at the Moonfest festival on Sunday. It was the best sound I've ever had live - and it can more than deliver the goods on a big stage. It's got loads of bottom, punchy mids, and crystal highs when you need them. I cut through like never before. In fact, if anything, I think I turned myself up a little too loud.

Since getting the Big One, I've had nothing but complements. It puts my Ampeg 410HLF cab in the shade. I can't recommend it more highly - with a 1000W amp or thereabouts, it's all you'll ever need in any setting, from rehearsals right up to big events.

Edited September 1, 2009 by mildmanofrock

[ShergoldSnickers]

Had the first opportunity last night to really let the BigOne cab sing. It's coupled with an Eden WT550, and a Shergold Marathon fretless with TI Jazz flats.

[b]The weight and transportability[/b]
Straightforward to handle. The tilt wheels do the job, as do the strap handles, and picking it bodily off the ground is easy. It can be lifted by the top handle with one hand, although two are needed to carry it up steps or along narrow passages where it cant be wheeled. Easily fits in my boot (11 year old Saab 9-5 estate) with the length aligned with the car, leaving plenty of room at the side for other bits of gear.

[b]Adapting EQ settings[/b]
This is in comparison with an Eden NC115 bass combo I used to use. I had to take a shade of the bass end off! This is running from a bridge pick-up located about a centimetre away from the bridge block. The avatar shows the old cream DeMarzio J in this position, now replaced with a Wizard. I put more into the 2k region and a bit higher up as well to get more bite from the mid unit. This unit is very smooth in it's delivery. I'll probably take some out from the 150 - 200Hz region next time, as there was a slight amount of upper bass boom in the smallish rehearsal room.

[b]The sound[/b]
Immense. Utterly spectacular. The bass extension is very, very good and is well controlled. The whole bass end is taught, articulate and responsive with no hangover of notes on damping a string. Ghost notes stop when they should. On use of an octave divider, the cab still coped with me playing a bottom E, audibly reproducing the octave below - there weren't masses of fundamental but it was definitely there. I've only ever heard this on headphones before. It wasn't long before the amp fan came on full time.

As mentioned previously, the mid unit is pure silk - no nasty resonances or spikes in the response, and handled all the patches I chucked at it from the fx unit. The two drive units combine very well indeed. It sounds like a single speaker pushing out the sound. Not something I could say quite as authoritatively about the Nemesis combo with the 15" driver and tweeter.

I've never heard the Shergold bass sounding this good - I dread to think what a good modern bass would sound like with this cab, things have moved on a long way since 1980 when I got the Marathon. It's days may be numbered!

[b]Never mind all this - how loud does it go?[/b]
More than loud enough with this amp. The Eden pumps out 500w into 4 ohms, and this being a 6 ohm cab - or is it 8 ohms - I was getting 300 to 350 watts into the BigOne. I wouldn't want to fall much below this to be honest, but the drummer does have a loud Yamaha kit (very loud) and at times I was only a few clicks away from full on the master volume, about three quarters. I do tend to run the input gain below anything that might remotely give clipping though.
[b]Overall[/b]
Joy. A real bass end coupled with smooth mids and highs that can do gritty and dirty if that's what your fx chuck out. Not only that, it does it all effortlessly.

I did notice the smell of warm electronics coming from the cab port when bunging the cab back in the car after the evening's work-out - I assume the crossover or driver coils had been getting a tad warm.

[johnnylager]

Nice reviews chaps, can't say enough about my Big Juan & Mr Clabers' service.

[BassBod]

Any chance of some Marathon pics? A fretless Shergold was my ultimate "dream" bass at one time...a very very long time ago!