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Which Fitzmaurice Cab for my Needs?

Bobo Fret

Bobo Fret

Supporting Member
Jan 3, 2008
380
129
58
#1
I have a Kemper Profiling amp (to be used as a pre-amp) that I want to amp up.

I have a Fryette 2/50/2 power amp: 50 amps in Class A mode, 65 watts in Class AB mode. It'll do 4,8,16 ohms.

Looking for a suitable Full Frequency Flat Response (FRFR) cabinet that will accurately reproduce the modeled amps.

Predominant use is guitar, but bass duty as well. Maybe as a e-drum monitor, but rarely.

For referance, my guitar amps run in the 30-45 watt range and all are using 1x12 speakers.

I was considering a fEARless F112 but I'm intrigued by the Fitzmaurice designs as well.

What do you think between the Jack, DR and Omni series as far as my needs above?

Denke schoen
 
#2
Jack in the BFM cabs. Hands down. A pair would be best. DR's are best used with subs, and the Omni's have a particular sound that some bass players love and some don't. The Omni is a great standalone PA cab. For modeling your guitar it would work well.

F112 vs Jack is a close call. F112 goes lower. It's a great cab, as is the Jack. Two very different designs, with accordingly different sounds. For modeling either will do you a fine job.
 
#3
Hey!

Are you planning building these cabs yourself, or are you going to have one of the authorized builders do your build?

For guitar a 40-50 watt amp and a 112 cab be brutally loud. For bass not so much. What are your realistic volume needs for all the instruments you plan on using?

Do you have any specific size requirements? Generally as you go to a smaller cab you start to really decrease your SPL output.

I would also take a look at the response charts on BFM's site. How "flat" do you need/want your cab to be? With some DPS you can get just about any cab "flat" within a certain frequency range, but if the cab wont produce the content in a region, no amount of tweeking will get you there.


If you are looking for a smaller cab, these are my three favorites.
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fEARful 12/6/1, fEARless F112, and greenboy Bassic12.

I was fortunate enough to sit down with all three of these cabs. They all are great in their own ways, and are a trade off in options.

If you are doing your own build, it is very hard to beat the 12/6/1 for full range response. If you are having one of greenboys builders do a build, the F112 is smaller and lighter. It doesnt go quite as low, but still will hold down everything a 5 string bass can put out. The bassic12 I played was 22 pounds, and very small but had a shockingly loud output. Its more of an old school flavor, but still had my b string ringing out.
 
#4
Thanks for the reply guys.

I'm going to have someone build for me.

Forgot to mention it's a 5-string bass, but that was addressed now.

No real space requirements, but weight could an issue with my recent bilateral shoulder reconstruction. Just got rid of an old SWR Goliath III Jr. 2x10 and I'd like lighter than that. I can use a dolly though, so in the end, not a biggie.

Nod given to neodymium drivers

How flat do I want it? Well, as flat as possible within the entire electric guitar, 5-string bass realm.

Realistic volume requirements: small club at the most. For just funtime/jamming I do pretty much run my guitar amps full bore. In other words, I have enough clean headroom with my existing guitar amps. I would like to get similar clean headroom for bass.

It's a modeling amp, so I can dial in the gain from the Kemper and get overdrive and distortion at lower volumes as well. Not reliant on tube breakup for that in this application. In fact, I very much don't want that in this application. The cab should impart nothing of it's own tone (to the degree that can be done). So something that sounds good at lower volume and doesn't NEED to be pushed would be cool too.

Can all of these cabs incorporate an L-pad? Might be a nice feature.
 
#5
SEffren said:
Can all of these cabs incorporate an L-pad? Might be a nice feature.
Click to expand...

Regardless of the cab you end up with, you should be able to get an variable attenuator on a tweeter.

A mid driver is a different matter. The F112 already has a padding switch for the mid driver. With the 12/6/1, you would have some padding with the 18sound mid driver, but I suggest you go with the Alphalite driver, as it doesnt need padding.

Here is a link to response graphs for the Jack 12.

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#6
Well the Jack 12 and F112 both look to have a fairly flat and broad frequency response.

I got the low end down, but how far into the high frequencies does bass and guitar even extend?

I guess it doesn't matter. Totally full frequency would just make it that much more useful as a PA if I ever needed to act as such. If my reasoning holds true.

I guess both the Jack 12 and 12/6/1 could be self built. I'll have to look into the particulars to see if it's beyond me.

I had just read that the concensus among at least some of the Greenboy builders was that the fearless was the logical next evolution of the fearfuls. So I chose F112 or F115 to consider.
 
#7
SEffren said:
I had just read that the concensus among at least some of the Greenboy builders was that the fearless was the logical next evolution of the fearfuls. So I chose F112 or F115 to consider.
Click to expand...

I do not think that the fEARless like replaces the fEARful line at all. They are different design goals.

Having sat down with those three cabs, I would take the 12/6/1 over the F112 for my tonal goals. The F112 is amazing, and I would love to own one too, but I am still glad I chose to go with the 12/6/1.

In choosing between the 15/6/1 and the 12/6/1 (or F112 and F115) you have to consider the following:

The 15" based cabs will go louder, and are more sensitive, but they will not be as small or as light as the 12" based cabs.

What does that mean? You have a set of trade offs to consider, and have to decide what is most important to you.
 
#11
I estimate with either cabinet you will want more amp to work with for bass guitar. 100w is ok for jamming with a drummer that has some control,300-500w for a drummer with less. I will throw some weight behind the fearless 112, due to its kick back design, should help hear yourself better.
I have a fearful 12/6/1 which is excellent for bass. Maybe good for guitar if you are using cabinet models in your modeling rig, never tried it don't know. I love it for electronic drums though.
 
#12
Kemper is fantastic. A real game changer.

In any case, if you walk into a store to try your Kemper with cabinets, consider walking over to the FOH department to try out some combinations there. A good HiFi amp and cab can really leverage the abilities of the Kemper, or any modeling.

Bill has his own forums that he answers questions about his cabinets.
I'd say the Jack Lite are about as state of the art as it gets. He may recommend you add a bottom (sub) in some cases.

Greenboy designs are also state of the art for baffled designs. Straight forward science. No gimmicks.

I don't think you should worry too much about l-pads on the mids and tweeters. Some other off the shelf cabinets have a huge imbalance between the driver components and thus why they stick on attenuators. Just so someone has a chance of dialing in a usable tone. Better matched drivers, and crossovers will handle EQ from your Kemper fine. If the cab's "flat" and the pre-amp and amp are controllable, it's not going to need L-pads.
 
#16
I think I spoke with the OP in a PM and aside from greenboy cabs, the AudioKinesis cabs are a very strong contender as well. I have a lot of experience with a TC115AF. Wonderful cab :)

I think crazy detail, a strong B string, etc is gonna be tough with such a low powered amp, so I'd make sensitivity a pretty huge priority. I suppose a point for the FEARLESS cabs is the wedge position to get as much sound pointing to your ears as possible.
 
#17
I'd do a 15/6 with the tru-3-way xover mod...

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

wait a bit and a new one using the selenium D220ti will be out - contact one of the Authorized Builders for details [they will be in the loop as fast/faster than anyone].

new15-6-d220ti_zps312bc6ca.gif
 
#20
Yes Mark, that was me. I appreciate your insight very much.

I'm just trying to do my due diligence as a consumer here. I'm brand new at modelling gear and pretty ignorant of the more boutique bass stuff. I think I'm essentially going to be blessed with a number of great options here.

I ran accross a big-ass thread on Big E cabs today on TB. Anything there I need to look at? No prices on the website. That's not scary at all.
 

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