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Oliskohan tästä apua pähkäilyynne? Ja kysyä saa lisää.
 
Jäsen Saimou on käyttänyt Barefacedin FR800 menestyksellä jo pitkään. Myös vahvistamaton versio eli Big Baby 2 on mainio kaappi. Minulla on ollut sekä niitä että myös QSC:n K12.2.
 
Näistä voisi kirjailla pitkänkin tarinan, mutta tässä lyhyt paketti BB2 ja QSC:stä.
 
Yhtäläistä näille kaapeille on toiston PA-kaappimaisuus, mutta se ei välttämättä ole paha juttu. Kun näillä soittaa, niin on kuin verho olisi vedetty bassokamojen edestä pois. Molemmissa ääntä tulee paljon ja se on koville voimakkuuksille asti puhdasta ja käyttökelpoista. QSC:ssa alkaa runko hieman värisemään kovemmilla voimakkuuksilla eikä ihan alinta bassoa ole kovin paljoa tarjolla. Yllättävän matalalla sen alarajataajuus kuitenkin on.
 
Barefacedissa on taajuusalueet on kohtuullisesti balanssissa ehkä hienoisen basso- ja diskanttikorostuman kera. Se jättää keskialuetta hieman ohueksi. Ei siis mikään vintagekaappi vaan pikemminkin antivintage. Silti soitto kuulostaa maukkaalta ison muhkean alakerran myötä. Roudattavuus on mainio, sillä kaappi on kevyt ja pieni ja helppo käsitellä. Etkä tarvitse rantasaunaa kiukaineen isoon ääneen. Ison alkuinnostuksen jälkeen nämä kuitekin lähtivät kiertoon (kuten moni muukin basismiin liittyvä) ehkä tietyn neutraliuden - tai pitäisikö sanoa luonteen puutteen - takia.
 
Sitten muutaman sana QSC K12.2 englanniksi, sillä se on otos Talkbassiin kirjoittamastani. Mukana on myös tarinaa silloisesta ambient setupista sekä OmniCabSimistä.
 
I finally got both QSC K 12.2 and DSM Noisemakers OmniCabSim. No gigs yet, but a couple of rehearsals and noodling at home. My original goal was to decrease the weight and size in bass amplification and cabs. I found that and some more.
I play in two pop rock bands and focusing more to my own ambient stuff in future. Basses used are mostly passive P-basses.
 
Lots still to cover and find out, but here are a few pennies of my thoughts:
 
First OmniCabSim:
 
What a great gadget. All the functions are simple and effective. You really can get different voicings and surprisingly accurate. Of course sounds are general ones and don't have different nature, like Ampeg, Ashdown, Aguilar or else, say, 8x10" cabs. Simulations just sounds like 8x10", if you get what I mean.
Lots of variations and it is most likely that you'll find you favourite settings / cab sims for different situations.
A great addition is headphone out with level, but it is a bit noisy.
I can see this cab sim in very good use when recording, have only monitors on a gig or PA-cab like bass amlification like QSC.
 
Then QSC K12.2:
 
I have had quite many different brand bass amps and cabs, usually pretty high quality, too. QSC is not new to me.
Soundwise it is surprisingly loud and full on all spectrum. It is lacking the lowest bass, but has strong low mids, upper bass to compensate. Maybe not the most articulated lows because of that and compared to hifi bass cabs, but still very manageable. However, I did found myself thinking about ordering the K SUB. But that is another story.
So far I have only played with Default and Bass Amp settings. Both are great and musical in their own purposes. The Default setting gives a full spectrum with a bit over the top highs and not immediate bass attractor without compensating on a preamp. With OmniCabSim it is all under control with respective controls and more bass cab like behaviour - and any type you want!
 
Then the Bass Amp mode. In previous model (K 12) there were some switches helping you to dial kind of an bass amp mode, but the newer one (K 12.2) has it programmed into DSP(?). When dialed in, you enter immediately to bass world with very pleasant results. Of course there are no nature like different brands, but in general highs are dimmed to bass cab levels and mids & lows are nicely pronounced. You might even say that the cab is a bit bass (lower mids, upper bass) heavy. The cab can easily played only with your bass, cord and cab with pretty good results and even with passive basses.
 
Ok, what did I end up? Guess?
I ended up selling the OmniCabSim, because I found my sound by using Tech21 Q/Strip (+ effects) as a preamp and setting the cabs on Bass Amp mode. What a great combination it is with healthy sound in all. Just to say, that I play mostly Precision basses and you know that in wrong circumstances they can sound amazing, but also with bad amps, well..., not so good. And now they do sound very full with articulation, authority and precise.
 
And then I ended up ordering another K12.2. I am going to test how they manage in different stages and even in stereo.
I'm putting my pedalboard together within next week. Here is or will be my signal chain (order might change): Bass --> Boss FV-500H Volume pedal --> MXR Bass Compressor --> Tech21 Q/Strip (parallel out to tuner) --> Cusack Effects Bass Screamer --> Mantic Effects Density Hulk --> Banana Effects Maryoshka (synth pedal) --> Mooer Slow Engine --> Eventide Pitchfactor (where all starts with stereo) --> Strymon El Capistan --> Boss RC300 --> Strymon Big Sky --> Mixer (if needed and only to raise the signal to line level and panning) --> 2 x QSC K12.2.