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Anyone Disappointed with a Fearful

#63
will33 said:
I don't think that's really it, but, the Alpha is a bit mellower, not "in your face" driver. Doesn't have the climbing response in the "gank zone" and obviously isn't as loud as the 18sound. Any of those things could be "fixed" if you even consider them as needing fixing with a little more padding/crossover trickery. Matter of personal taste really.
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No personal experience with the 18Sound mid, but
I doubt it would require padding/crossover trickery, just a bit of EQ tweaking at the preamp.
 
#64
CL400Peavey said:
+1 to it kicking most 410's to the curb.
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Totally agree. I've never played on a 610, so when I say it's probably closer to that it's with ignorance, but I have played on a few 410s and it gets way louder than any of them.

I was using just one 15/6/1 with my Mesa Strategy 400 and Ashly SC-40 and the Ashly was peaking contantly....while the fEARful was barely moving.
 
#66
The only downside for me is that my 15.6.1 is too much. Currently, 3/4's of my gigs are on EUB & I'm the only one with an amp on stage - with as many as 8 other people. Just too big on stage and when trying to fit everyone + PA in as few vehicles as possible. It's better than Easter, Cinco de Mayo, and the opening day of deer season combined when I get to fire it up with the rock band - it's been nicknamed "the spleen-launcher" by the rhythm guitarist.
 
#68
gregbackstrom said:
1. I don't hear my 1212/6/1 as "flat." It has more upper-midrange energy, but it's not flat. Just stick your CD Player in front of it and you'll see what I mean. OTOH, Acme's really are flat. My fEARful is "PA-voiced." (but that's not bad ...)
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Because there are so many fEARful variations, the crossover spec has changed over time, and some have chosen to build non-standard crossovers (e.g. a true 3-way with a bandpass for the mid), I don't think anyone can say that any one cab is representative of all fEARfuls. I tend to agree that my 15/6/1 has very strong upper mids.

My ears don't agree that the Acme sound is truly flat. I hear a mid-bass hump and something unpleasant going on in the mids, which I blame on the sealed-back mid driver.
 
#69
wcriley said:
No personal experience with the 18Sound mid, but
I doubt it would require padding/crossover trickery, just a bit of EQ tweaking at the preamp.
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Some of us prefer using a full crossover and low passing the 18Sound driver below that ugly spike, which I do not like much at all when standing on-axis. Since I prefer hearing 3-6K through a tweeter anyway, no worries for me.

I also find that a little more padding than greenboy specs sounds nicer for my purposes, which include plenty of non-bass applications. Neither of those things are all that hard to do for a DIY-er -- and greenboy has provided plenty of info on how to get there. Just using EQ on the amp side works fine for many people too, of course.

The only thing that can even remotely be considered as negative is the size of the 12/6 cabs. Although a single one is enough for most of my typical playing situations, it just doesn't look right to have a cab that small in a rock band. I often find myself taking both cabs just for the "look".


Heh...I got rid of my 12/6 largely because it was too big for most of my gigs! :cool: It was a great sounding cab though...
 
#70
themarshall said:
The only downside for me is that my 15.6.1 is too much. Currently, 3/4's of my gigs are on EUB & I'm the only one with an amp on stage - with as many as 8 other people. Just too big on stage and when trying to fit everyone + PA in as few vehicles as possible. It's better than Easter, Cinco de Mayo, and the opening day of deer season combined when I get to fire it up with the rock band - it's been nicknamed "the spleen-launcher" by the rhythm guitarist.
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Same experience. Last year I mainly gigged my 12/6 (35 pounds) and the 15/6 (45 pounds) stayed in the closet except for loud outdoor events. But I've been wanting a smaller, lighter full range cab for the majority of my needs w/acoustic and low-vol venues. So I got an Arnopol - Greenboy designed Crazy 8 cab. It's just 12 pounds and perfect sound- and weight-wise.

Generally speaking about fEarful type cabs: after gigging them for two and a half years, I believe the concept is gold. It's easy to dial in sound with EQ, and you should expect to do that with any cab if you play in different venues. I never leave home without the [Invalid or Expired Link Removed].
 
#71
I think the term "flat" is often being miss-used. Pro-audio flat is not the same as hi fi. It is what you believe a bass should sound like in the neutral position. Having that is no bad thing for an amp as it gives you the maximum potential to change it using the on board eq. If you have a bass heavy amp, you will be dialling back the low end, a lean amp will need more bottom turned up. This limits personal preference or venue related adjustments.

Having the potential for lots of bass but not needing it is better than needing it and not having the ability to provide it! My main gigging cab is high passed at 12 dB /oct at 50 Hz for most gigs - it delivers so much low end, I can only really use it outdoors!
 
#72
I like the 12.6 a lot. It does have a lot of low end but I find that with the GK head I use with the 12.6 - the low end is controllable. 90 % of the time I'm using 2 bare 1x10 cabs though... I just don't need the volume potential of the 12.6 for most of my work and being able to spread the 1x10's for stage monitoring helps. I do a lot of very low stage volume gigs. So sort of a specialized application... I can make the 12.6 work and have done that several times but this specific setting really works better for me with the 1x10's ...

Where I love the 12.6 is outside and on large stages where I can get away from the cab and let it bloom a little. My piezo'ed Barker Vertical sounds amazing through it. Organ like lows begins to describe it ... much more usable outdoors....
 
#73
I'll second that, 4Mal.
I've played outdoors with the same G-K amp as you and a single 12/6. Acoustic rock band with no PA support.

That little cab more than held it's own.
Hoping to get a chance to use the pair outdoors with an electric rock band this summer.
 
#74
I think the one major negative is the hype, or the perceived hype, around these cabs. Those of us that have one and love tend to be very, very enthusiastic about them. A lot of scientific jargon can get tossed around, especially about crossovers and off-axis stuff. Makes it seem as if this is the holy grail of all bass cabs.

I think the truth about the fearful design is that, unless you're an absolute guru about eq and gain-staging, it takes a bit of work to dial them in. Anything capable of sounding so good is also capable of sounding really bad. I should know- I have made mine sound really, really bad.

Easily fixable and tweekable, but my drummer was not happy for a while.

Anyway, one of my buddies on TB bought a 1212. It was not to his taste, and he put it up for sale a few hours later. I bought it, and he had a Dually built. Now we're both pretty happy :bassist:

And before y'all chime in about he didn't give it enough time, this is a pretty experienced player with more experience with amps and eq than I have, by far.

Does he knock or complain about the fEArful?- heck no. He just knows what he wants, but is willing to try different things.

So yeah- I think there gets to be a bit much on the hype side about these cabs. There are far more fEARFul posts than there are people who've actually heard one. There's bound to be some backlash. And that's about the only true negative I can think of...
 
#75
Bass Unique said:
I think the term "flat" is often being miss-used. Pro-audio flat is not the same as hi fi. It is what you believe a bass should sound like in the neutral position.
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Nope, flat is a measured straight line frequency response curve in some specified space or loading arrangement. Now can we argue about what the heck the neutral position is before we get to what a bass should sound like? ;)
 
#76
swspiers said:
I think the one major negative is the hype, or the perceived hype, around these cabs. Those of us that have one and love tend to be very, very enthusiastic about them. A lot of scientific jargon can get tossed around, especially about crossovers and off-axis stuff. Makes it seem as if this is the holy grail of all bass cabs.

I think the truth about the fearful design is that, unless you're an absolute guru about eq and gain-staging, it takes a bit of work to dial them in. Anything capable of sounding so good is also capable of sounding really bad. I should know- I have made mine sound really, really bad.

Easily fixable and tweekable, but my drummer was not happy for a while.

Anyway, one of my buddies on TB bought a 1212. It was not to his taste, and he put it up for sale a few hours later. I bought it, and he had a Dually built. Now we're both pretty happy :bassist:

And before y'all chime in about he didn't give it enough time, this is a pretty experienced player with more experience with amps and eq than I have, by far.

Does he knock or complain about the fEArful?- heck no. He just knows what he wants, but is willing to try different things.

So yeah- I think there gets to be a bit much on the hype side about these cabs. There are far more fEARFul posts than there are people who've actually heard one. There's bound to be some backlash. And that's about the only true negative I can think of...
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Hey, I know that guy. :).
 
#78
swspiers said:
Anyway, one of my buddies on TB bought a 1212. It was not to his taste...and he had a Dually built. Now we're both pretty happy :bassist:
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Having played through a number of fEARfuls and now Duallys, I can totally understand the difference in tastes. I love them both, but I can say that fEARful is a more versatile cab as far as the wide variety of music you can play through them. The Dually is a straight up balls-to-the-wall rock and roll cab.

Is a jazz bass better than a precision? Some people will tell you yes, some will say the opposite, and some will want both :)

This is where forums (fEARful/TB) can really be of assistance. You have a lot of people playing a wide variety of music that can help with decisions.
 
#80
There you go Scott. I let Don do my talkin' for me. :bassist: Couldn't have said it any better. Just different strokes.

Without a doubt your 1212 is way more versatile. This Dually only knows one speed....balls to the wall.

barryaudio said:
Having played through a number of fEARfuls and now Duallys, I can totally understand the difference in tastes. I love them both, but I can say that fEARful is a more versatile cab as far as the wide variety of music you can play through them. The Dually is a straight up balls-to-the-wall rock and roll cab.

Is a jazz bass better than a precision? Some people will tell you yes, some will say the opposite, and some will want both :)

This is where forums (fEARful/TB) can really be of assistance. You have a lot of people playing a wide variety of music that can help with decisions.
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