I've been playing for four decades. This 14 minutes was the most comprehensive explanation anyone has ever provided me. "...because that's what cameras do to us." Truth. Alex, thanks again. 2xBB3 cabs are now in your queue.

I totally agree, Watts don''t tell anything about the sound and loudness of bass sound. Good cabs & efficient speakers are everything. In the 90's I played a Glockenklang BassArt 300 Watts into 2 2x12" H&K + Fostex Cabs in a Heavy Metal band (2 guitars & 2 Marshall double Stacks). I never had any problem to stand up against the guitars. In comparison with SWR 500 & Goliath or Trace AH 500 & 'Mark King stack' that colleagues had, my 'whimpy' 300W stack blew them away. I still own the 2 heavy HK 2x12 (prototype) cabs, they still sound great. They still sound great, despite I switched to the even better Glockenklang cabs later. I'd be very excited to try some of Your cabs too.

There is a reason why Alex builds amazing speaker cabs-he really understands the science and engineering of loudspeakers! His experience as a bassist is another valuable perspective! My next bass cab is definitely going to be a Barefaced cab, most likely Super Compact T!

Standing in for the regular bassist, I was warned in advance that, although not a huge pub, we would need to be loud to overcome the acoustic obstacles. The rest of the band were unable to conceal their disappointment when I walked in with my Big Baby in one hand. But they were pleasantly surprised at sound check.

I’ve got a Four10 from Barefaced, and it is hands down the best cab I have ever heard or played through. I don’t know much about the science behind it, but I know that when I play my Darkglass 900 amp through it, even on less than a quarter volume, the amp is so clear, it’s loud, there’s tons of low end, and it doesn’t break up. A wonderful piece of gear.

..Excellent summary, albeit in an era where live backline is becoming more and more sparse in the advent of increasingly quiet on-stage audio with in-ears and DI direct into FOH.

Always good when knowledge is exchanged. Honest explanations.. Thanks Alex

I'm really glad youve been making these videos, I've thought about downsizing my amp as rack stuff does get heavy

You Alex, are BRILLIANT! Thank you.

You explained this so perfectly! I don't have any funds right now BUT as soon as I do, I'll absolutely be sure to be grabbing one for your beautiful cabinets!

We need a Barefaced amp!

I have several high-end audio systems in my home, and the one I listen to most is my 3 watt single-ended triode Cary/Avant Garde Trio based analog system. It can play acoustic music at 'live' levels (as if the unmic'd musicians were playing in the room with you) without breaking a sweat. That may not seem much, and an inconsiderable feet, but consider that most capable home audio systems cannot reproduce the volume of a real acoustic piano in a room. Acoustic instruments are loud relative to conversation. If volume is your touchstone (and it should not be if you value your hearing) know that it is the quality of the first 5 watts that matters, as they are run into efficient speakers. Who wants concert level sound in you home? Concert sound is not only horrible, its dangerous! Music becomes satisfyingly visceral (felt) well below the threshold that risks damage to your ears or your components.

After being through the process with you this is very useful indeed and I can't wait for the other videos as I would like to understand this more for when buying a new amp head. I always wondered how you were working out what cab options to match my rig + how I sit in between 2 very large 4x12 marshall cabs. The super twin fit my needs magically but also opened up a whole spectrum of sounds I wasn't getting from my ampeg. Not to mention the 35kg less weight I have to carry now has just made such a difference. Honestly a customer for life... keep up the fantastic work dude!

Really enjoyed these video over last few months, difficult to think about it all again after hearing some basics! I have a Super Compact G3 and use a Aguilar TH500, play in a 90's covers / original band (excitable drummer, two guitarists who love a Les Paul & Vox handwired amps) Sometimes it's ok and sometimes it doesn't seem so ok. In regard to that, i have put it down to not being able to cut through to hear myself (most of these gigs are with a P.A) in a monitor situation, or use the amp properly. I used to play in a 4 piece classic soul band, all was ok and have been asked to dep for a 10 piece soul outfit, with brass, keys and the like. I don't use any pedals or distortion to be exact, use a Fender Jazz, Japanese, no pick. So i basically need a tone that will not so much do both because would much prefer to have a more old school tone closer to soul than anything else. The soul gig will have P.A so again, to monitor is the thing (no rehearsal either by look of it) and i am considering borrowing a Markbass Ninja, as it allegedly has more headroom to drive the cab at 8Ohms (After everything you said about ohms too...). So i suppose the question is, whilst the tone will be different to the Aguilar, will it give the Super Compact the ability to do it's thing but even more so? Markbass claim that it's 1000w RMS, 600 at 8 Ohms and in the kingdom of the one eyed man, that seems to match the Super Compact. I now know this to probably be a bit misleading!

This is a fantastic video

Most people buy a speaker to "handle" an amp, this is the wrong way round - you start with a speaker thats loud enough and then get an amp with enough power to drive it.

That was a great video Alex......and reassuring for a potential Barefaced customer that they will have that knowledge on the case pre-purchase !

This is my little problem with buying music gear. I buy something and 2 weeks later there is something better out there. I purchased a BEYMA 15 inch electric bass speaker. "Our warmest, best sounding electric bass speaker". / That's the line that sold me on this./ Were they right? - Yes. But, you must use another cab with this speaker. - No high end at all comes out of it. I kind of had that idea when they said "Warmest". I'm not displeased with it. It does just like they say. "Warm tone". But an additional cab is needed for a full sound.

Best cab I have had so far has been the Aguilar GS212. Unfortunately the casters didn't live up so well to gigging and got pretty damaged. So much so that one of the caster mounts actually warped and I lost the center piece inside. It wasn't too heavy, so I was happy to keep gigging it as it sounded so good. But unfortunately I think that piece rattling around internally combined with running it with an amp exactly at it's maximum rms power rating killed the lower driver. Unfortunately they no longer manufacture the GS series of cabs, thus I'm now patiently awaiting a big twin.

When i first played in bands 100watts was the norm and sounded great, the most pleasing bass tones came from carlsro and Wem solid state amps, I find modern bass amps to loud and boomy, thank the lord for compressors

My audiophile grade speakers are wholey inefficient but boy do they sound good. Electrostats aren’t easy too blow they’ll eat a lot of electrical wattage but the perceived volume only goes so far. Law of diminishing returns n all.

A mind that will make a difference!!

GENIUS

Hi power is 'NOT" the route to high-volume, speaker efficiency is. Each time you double the power of an amp, you increase its perceived volume by only 3dB; where a single 'dB' is the smallest incremental change in volume a healthy human ear can register. BUT...because of the laws that govern electrical propagation, it is a mathematical fact that you need to increase the volume by 10dB for it to actually sound subjectively 'twice' as loud. That being the case: if, for example, we assume for the sake of keep the numbers easy that 100W = 100dB (it doesn't necessarily, but it could), in the same model then 200W = 103 dB, 400W = 106 dB, 800W = 109 dB, and finally 1000W would = 110dB you need to cause it to 'sound' twice as loud. How much would that amp cost that could do that, and how much would the speakers cost that could absorb that much power en route to creating volume. As I said, high-power is an inefficient and expensive way to pursue volume.

As a guitar player (got an inexpensive bass too, but just learning), all I care about is how "musical" the notes sound, since almost all amps are loud enough. I'm thinking what makes the most sense is having a head I like, say a Princeton Reverb head (got to have the 'verb!), and then have various cabinets to use, depending on the volume I need, but also to color the musicality of the timbre. A 1 x 10". 2 x 10", 3-4 x 10 (3 does something good), or the same with 12" speakers, single-double-quadruple (3 x 12"...hmmm?) in a cabinet. Of course different amps sound different, like with guitars, but I like to find one guitar and amp I like, and stay with that most of the time. God knows I have too many guitars and amps, but I'm trying - really I am. Maybe I'm just making excuses, but I found the coolest head, and been thinking about how it will sound with a good speaker in a good cabinet. Some guy on Esty sells guitar amp cabs for

i do love my swr goliath III but it pretty much never cuts through a band being so scooped, would eventually like to try one of your cabs with the 12" speakers to help project more upper mids and better dispersion but i dont have the money yet lol soon tho

Eager For More

So Holger Czukay has a solo album.. On the way to the peak of normal..... It was something like you just said?

200 watts minimum for a gigging amp. 400 watts is totally enough for anything. The PA carries the heavy lifting after that. My idea of a perfect setup would be 400 watts, a square shaped cab with two 10s off axis combined with a matching cab with a 15 inch. Most of the time the one twin ten cab would handle business. As far as tone the 8s and 10s sound more precise and punchy. I like a bass amp with a seven band eq and built in compression with line out option. Best tip for tone is put some new strings on the damn bass. Great video and explanations.

I have some crazy ideas on the bass port that emulates the human lyrnx.

In over 25 years of playing bass, now, I have never encountered a situation where I actually needed more than a 200 W amp. My current primary bass amp is a Mesa/Boogie Walkabout, so it is 300 W into 4 Ohms, and previously, I owned an SWR Power 750 bass guitar power amp that output 750 W into 4 Ohms, but my first bass amp was a Trace Elliot Series 6 that put out 200 Watts into 4 Ohms, and I also gigging for many years with a Trace Elliot V-Type 220 W head. I really could have saved myself a lot of trouble and money if I'd just kept my Trace Elliot Series 6. Nothing I've ever owned since has ever sounded "better", just different.

My trick is 2x15 cab for low freq 4x10 for high freq Also different dynamics and EQ on both

After a few years of research I have built three very accurate replicas of Lemmys Marshall amps and am now trying to shrink the 4x15 and 4x12 stacks down to the minimum without changing the sound character too much, because it is a dream for many to have this sound, without needing a truck and road crew for transportation. A tough challenge, do you think it's possible?

? I will Love to try Out an AMP from you Guys. It will be awesome and very interesting. Where in Germany is it possible? Well wishings and all the best furthermore👍🏻

What cab would go well with an Orange TB500 in place of an obc410? Fairly clean tone with a little bit of drive

I use an AER amp three in an acoustic trio and with a 60’s-80’s 6 piece band. It works well but can be boomy sounding so I have to roll the combo eq to the 8:00 position. 12:00 being 0, using a precision bass. Any idea on which cab can give me a full round sound without my digging in for volume causing overdrive or too much bottom causing the bottles at the bar to shake? I usually have my entire 3 band eq flat at 12:00 and roll a little off the tone on my p bass. Joe

Would a Super Compact with a 12 come close in VOLUME and Deepness as a TL606 with a 3015. Running and Ashdown ABM600 amp. Only wish teh TL606 went a tiny bit higher in freq. Just a tiny bit.

So are you saying that if I have a bass cab with a speaker that travels back and forth very efficiently I don't need a high wattage head?

Well I have a sans amp rbi into a qsc 1450 rmx. With an ampeg 410hlf from 2001 and a 90s peavey 1516. I just got the peavey but had one that was lost in a fire 20 years ago. Peavey confuses me cause it says max 400 watts rms at 4 oohm. So hoping my amp isn't going to drive it to hard.

Any of these hoodies laying around

The 12XN550 is that a speaker with the excursion of the Kappalite 3012LF and the mid and top end of the Kappalite 3012HO?

will your bass amps have servos?