fEARful 12/6/1 and the EQing I needed !

[Ncognito]

I bought my fEARful used from a fellow TBer. It had a few minor crossover issues, but those are resolved. As I've said in another post, this little cabinet kicks some butt! Having used Eden 410XLT's for a long time, I didn't expect the 12/6/1 to out perform it or replace it. As many of us do, I have gigs big and small and I don't always need the SPL the Eden provides, and often times space is an issue so a smaller cabinet footprint can be beneficial. Hence the 12/6/1.

For me, running the box with a flat EQ didn't work AT ALL. I'm not looking for a flame war here. Those of you who says it's great flat - wonderful for you. I needed to cut 1k about 6db, 2k needed 12db of cut, and I boosted 5k about 6db along with the frequencies above it.
Yes, I know this appears to be some radical EQing. None the less, after doing so the cabinet just KILLS! The 6" mid was quite metallic and boxy sounding to my ears. This solved it for me and now it's a love fest!!

Anybody else doing some interesting tone shaping with their fEARful? Again, not looking for a fight here. If I didn't EQ it this way, the box would have not worked for me and it would be up for sale.

I've got a 15/6/1 just about completed, and I can't wait to see what that cabinet is all about!!!

[JxBass]

Makes perfect sense to me. The fEarful cabs are meant to be very transparent and without their own inherent tone - scooped, mid present, etc. I used my own (not flat) EQ settings when I owned my nEarful 12/6.

[Derek Kiernan]

I wonder if you'd prefer the mid driver with a bit more padding.

[Ncognito]

Originally Posted by Derek Kiernan

I wonder if you'd prefer the mid driver with a bit more padding.

I think that would be perfect. If I knew how exactly how to do that I would. My Ampeg SVT-4 Pro has a graphic EQ along with lots of tone shaping abilities. Some other amps I'd consider using don't have as wide a range of control so they're a no go for me.

[rpsands]

Generally speaking I think it's better to have and not need than need and not have. Cutting with eq is easy, going in and removing padding with a soldering iron not so much. Some extra padding on a switch might be OK.

I use a VT Deluxe with my fEarful, pretty much the opposite of "flat." When I used previously I would boost low mids significantly, cut some low bass and some high mids and either add or remove highs depending on the bass I was using.

The biggest issue with these boxes eq-wise is the ability to dial in "boom" in the midbass area -- if you're that kind of player and need that mid/upperbass thump, many bass heads simply do not let you control that region.

I've found I can get the mids sounding nice to my ears with pretty much any head's high mid and treble controls, or a combination.

I do find over time that the ear gets acclimated to the mid driver's clarity and I wind up cutting upper mids a bit less over time, if that makes any sense.

[Passinwind]

Which mid driver is in this cab?

[Ncognito]

Eminence Alpha-6A.

[Passinwind]

Originally Posted by Ncognito

Eminence Alpha-6A.

Hmmm...your EQ'ing would make a lot more sense to me if that were the 18Sound driver in there.

Anyhow, 4Mal uses the Alphalite 6 in his 12/6 and prefers a 6db pad on the mid driver. I've used a kinds of different padding schemes in my DIY builds pretty happily. Different strokes, eh?

If you're satisfied by what you're getting turning your EQ knobs, game over though.

[Ncognito]

Originally Posted by Passinwind

If you're satisfied by what you're getting turning your EQ knobs, game over though.

Thanks Passinwind

Your help has certainly been appreciated. I don't mind the knob twiddlin'. The fEARful 12/6/1 is a nifty cabinet. Yanking out the 2k made it sound sooooo much better. I really think it will be helpful to others with a similar box. I play in a very busy cover band that requires me to play pick/finger style/pop-slap all in one night thru one head and cabinet. Kind of a tall order. Everything sounded great once I got the EQ right (for me that is).

[derridiandrift]

This is interesting. I'm inches away from pulling the trigger on having a fEarful 12/6 built and I'm concerned about the possibility of not liking it when it's finished.

Ncognito, I used to use the same rig for a very long time... SVT4+Eden D410XLT, so I know exactly where you're at, tone-wise.

My main rig is an SVT-VR + 810. I want to be able to use the 12/6 with my V4BH or with my 1001RB and get something reasonably close to the tone I'm used to from my passive p and jazz basses. Will I be able to do that, I wonder, with a VT pedal and the basic eq sections of these amps?

Would a D210XLT be a better fit, I wonder?

[lomo]

My LDS 15/6 has the 18Sound with an attenuator that I back off to the 11 o'clock position. Perfect for me.

[Ncognito]

Originally Posted by derridiandrift

This is interesting. I'm inches away from pulling the trigger on having a fEarful 12/6 built and I'm concerned about the possibility of not liking it when it's finished.

Ncognito, I used to use the same rig for a very long time... SVT4+Eden D410XLT, so I know exactly where you're at, tone-wise.

My main rig is an SVT-VR + 810. I want to be able to use the 12/6 with my V4BH or with my 1001RB and get something reasonably close to the tone I'm used to from my passive p and jazz basses. Will I be able to do that, I wonder, with a VT pedal and the basic eq sections of these amps?

Would a D210XLT be a better fit, I wonder?

IME, the Eden needs less EQ to sound great. The fEARful will outperfom it SPL wise. I've blown at least 20 Eden horn protection bulbs and that cabinet NEEDS the horn. The fEARful doesn't really need the horn (I know, mine was blown when it arrived to me), but now that it's working, I wouldn't go without one though your mileage may vary.

Get the fEARful. If I didn't use a pick quite a bit the 2k thing wouldn't be as much an issue.

[Sundogue]

I had a pretty extreme EQ setup (as in backing off the upper mids/highs) for the first few gigs with my 15/6 (18Sound mid).

It took me a while before I actually grew to appreciate more of that in my sound, mostly because I never really heard it that well before.

I still cut quite a bit at 1.3kHz (like as much as -9 to -12dB!!!). But I've done that with nearly every cab I've used with my BX1200 as it sounds rather irritating to me. In fact, right around 1kHz has always been a very annoying frequency for me with every cab I've ever used. Now, on either side of that I might even boost a bit. But 1kHz? Yuck! Doesn't matter what speaker it's coming out of...not just the 18Sound mid. I've hated it out of Peaveys, Edens, SWR, Ampeg's, etc. over the years.

Don't count me in as one who thinks a fEARful sounds great flat. Any comment I've ever made about "flat" has always been that the cab itself is flat, or uncolored. Which is why it takes so well to any tonal profile one is looking for. That's where I think a lot of people are confused. They think we are saying they can just plug into it and it will magically give them "their" tone. Well, yeah it will, but one has to EQ it to do so. It will deliver any tone you want with great clarity. But the player has to dial in "that" tone.

And of course, unless one likes the cab's tone with whatever amp they have (as their amp produces it), if they only have a very limited tone stack, they may have a hard time finding "their" sound. Personally, I think any amp that has a decent EQ section will work.

fEARfuls have (by comparison) very little of their own inherent tone. The player has to provide that, either with an amp that can do it, an EQ that can, or a combination of those. That's why some may prefer a different cab design altogether. But that is more the fault of the amp driving it than the cab, because the cab will produce any tone you can put into it.

But I agree, it requires EQ'ing. If you looked at my EQ (parametric and graphic), you'd know I'm not playing through my fEARful with my amp's tone controls set anywhere near flat. fEARfuls are more PA like than a typical bass cab. Up to the player to input what they want out of it.

[Ncognito]

Thanks Sundogue

I also have always been a 700hz-1k cutter, but this baby doesn't need the cut there nearly as much as 2k. I also agressively add around 5k and up.

In any event, the cabinet rocks with the right EQ!!

[4Mal]

Yep. Alphalite 6 lite here. 6 db pad. ...would be too midrangey for my passive basses without the pad for my taste. I often will push the upper mid's in a rock setting a bit. Fender P or PJ with Chrome flats.

For the acoustic support work I do, near to flat is really nice. GK MB2-500 (A07) and Tacoma T'chief with a K&k installed.

My Godin Acoustibasses, being active are a litle easier to meld.

What sounds best to my ear is driving the 12.6 and 12.sub with my WT800, biamped. It's a killer rock rig in a very tidy package. Sadly I don't often get a chance to fire it up in anger very often. Mostly it's low volume acoustic settings for me.

This is the happiest I've been since my SVT/fridge days tonally.

[Derek Kiernan]

Do you have a passive-style tone control on your bass(es)? Seems to me rolling it down somewhere from about 2.5-4 and turning up the tweeter a bit would get you really far considering how you're using EQ. I've been using this kind of approach with a pick and my Thunderchild - thick and shimmery It might be what you're looking for. You seem to cut at least a fair amount of content in the same range, which seems roughly around 500 Hz to 5 kHz, so if the cap on the tone control cuts too much you can likely swap it out for something half the value or a little less and get most of what you'd want.

[Ncognito]

I use EMG's with the typical volume, volume, tone set-up. If I had variable mid EQ with cut/boost maybe I could get it right, but I don't like to EQ a cabinet from my bass controls. With what I use there would be no way to get a sound I could live with.

[wcriley]

Different strokes for folks, I guess.

I push a (12/6 Alpha) with a G-K 1001RB.
Varies with room, but my starting point is usually: Contour and Presence all the way down, Bass 12:00, Low Mid 1:00, High Mid 11:00, Treble pretty much moot because I engage the 5K high-cut.

EQ on the bass changes as needed for the song, but is usually flat except for a slight boost somewhere in the ballpark of ~500.

[cableguy]

I love my 12/6 but am still not finding my happy place just yet. I blame a lot of this on my preamp. I use a Tech 21 Sansamp RBI which only has bass/mid&treble controls. I'm going to switch away from my rounds to chromes to see if I can dail in a little less bite. Down the road I see looking at a new amp with a little more tonal control. But as of now I have to cut quite a bit of high end out of my amp to get close to the sound I want. But like I said, I think this is more of a preamp issue than anything else. So you're not the only one to notice the extra highs with these cabs.

[Nightlyraider]

I've been playing with my 15/6s in their working state for about two months (about to duratex!) and I still find myself playing with the EQ.

It doesn't help that I have a 210/212 stack right next to it that I like to play with also, but I know how to EQ that.