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Well, it's about what? seven years since after all the hype...and my curiosity about the Jack cabinets led me to purchase a homebuilt Jack 12. I was hoping Bill Fitzmaurice was on to something, and that it would be the stand alone, low distortion cabinet I wanted. I was not completely impressed with the seller's build quality, but it was actually, for a total amateur, fairly well done. The cab is solid, no rattles. It came with a 150 watt Eminence neo. Looking at the cab, I remembered my experiments playing bass through old school what we called 'Perkins' PA boxes, where the 15" driver is also located at the rear of the throat of the horn, as you do when you are yelling and want it heard better than without forming a 'cone' with your hands around your mouth. Those experiments were disappointing. The bass response was such that all the lows were attenuated, and instead of more volume, it just produced a lot more midrange, and some pretty unmusical over driving of the speaker.
The Jack, as I suspected, performed in a similar, although better fashion. The critique that the Jack 12 "sounds awful" is easy to concur with. Although, to me, it sounds acceptable keeping in mind what it is. I like standard front and rear loaded folded horns, and have used those type cabs for decades. Those project very well, and it sounds like a bass.
In comparison to conventionally constructed bass guitar speaker systems, it is pretty far outside of that thinking. It can get loud for its size.
The cabinet, will push a lot of mids and highs with the piezo array- and as I have used it, with another cab for the lows, it can work pretty well. A LOT of EQ will be necessary, to bring the sound and tone most of us are likely to be accustomed to. Even after doing so- it will not sound anything like your Fearless, Fearful, or even a standard 1-15, 2-10, or 1-12. To me, that limitation, is not ideal. I blew the 150 watt speaker, and now it houses a Black Widow, and it's about the same tone wise. I just never bothered with it after using it a few times. To me, if I need two cabs- one being an 'upper' cab, I'll just grab my Epifani 112UL, or my EA 112...it's easier, and the sound is what I'm accustomed to.
In summary, I believe, that the BFM Jack, although an interesting design, really isn't likely to please most bassists, regardless of the driver size you choose. If I were going to build a cabinet- I'd go with a Greenboy design.
The Jack, as I suspected, performed in a similar, although better fashion. The critique that the Jack 12 "sounds awful" is easy to concur with. Although, to me, it sounds acceptable keeping in mind what it is. I like standard front and rear loaded folded horns, and have used those type cabs for decades. Those project very well, and it sounds like a bass.
In comparison to conventionally constructed bass guitar speaker systems, it is pretty far outside of that thinking. It can get loud for its size.
The cabinet, will push a lot of mids and highs with the piezo array- and as I have used it, with another cab for the lows, it can work pretty well. A LOT of EQ will be necessary, to bring the sound and tone most of us are likely to be accustomed to. Even after doing so- it will not sound anything like your Fearless, Fearful, or even a standard 1-15, 2-10, or 1-12. To me, that limitation, is not ideal. I blew the 150 watt speaker, and now it houses a Black Widow, and it's about the same tone wise. I just never bothered with it after using it a few times. To me, if I need two cabs- one being an 'upper' cab, I'll just grab my Epifani 112UL, or my EA 112...it's easier, and the sound is what I'm accustomed to.
In summary, I believe, that the BFM Jack, although an interesting design, really isn't likely to please most bassists, regardless of the driver size you choose. If I were going to build a cabinet- I'd go with a Greenboy design.
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I built a pair of J12 "Lite" cabinets several years ago. I used the Eminence Beta 12 speakers as they were one of the recommended ones in the plans, opted to skip the tweeters for simplicity, and have no regretted it. I sold my first and favourite bass cabinet (an old GK 410B, the ones with the blue and pink accents) because the jacks were better overall.
A couple things to note:
- Slightly awkward to carry at their size, fit in the back seat of my car. 35lbs or so means you can put one in each hand as long as the doorways at venues/rehearsal space aren't too tight.
- I didn't actually ever need both at once, as all of my gigs had PA support. Even in a small rehearsal room I could use a single J12 tilted back and nobody had any issues hearing me with acoustic drums and distorted guitar, using only 150W worth of amplifier.
- Better drivers than the Beta 12 are available for the build, but I still am quite happy with them. That driver is still totally bright enough for bass guitar application without tweeter.
- The Jack 12 Lite version specifically would be a challenging build for someone with little experience woodworking. It is not a handyman project like the standard J12 might be.
If I had to do it again, I think I'd either build a single 12 with a nicer driver or build the single 2x10 format Jack, as that format would have worked better for the smaller car I was driving at the time and even now I think would be somewhat nicer to carry than two individual 12s.
A couple things to note:
- Slightly awkward to carry at their size, fit in the back seat of my car. 35lbs or so means you can put one in each hand as long as the doorways at venues/rehearsal space aren't too tight.
- I didn't actually ever need both at once, as all of my gigs had PA support. Even in a small rehearsal room I could use a single J12 tilted back and nobody had any issues hearing me with acoustic drums and distorted guitar, using only 150W worth of amplifier.
- Better drivers than the Beta 12 are available for the build, but I still am quite happy with them. That driver is still totally bright enough for bass guitar application without tweeter.
- The Jack 12 Lite version specifically would be a challenging build for someone with little experience woodworking. It is not a handyman project like the standard J12 might be.
If I had to do it again, I think I'd either build a single 12 with a nicer driver or build the single 2x10 format Jack, as that format would have worked better for the smaller car I was driving at the time and even now I think would be somewhat nicer to carry than two individual 12s.
I built a 2x10 and it didn't quite have the tone I wanted. Then built a 2x12 and that still didn't quite do it. Then built a 1x15 and that was the one. It had a bit more "girth" and fullness to my ears.
I'm glad I can help. It's a great cab and I'd love to see more of them out there
They look hand drawn with a crayon. Hard pass on anyone in this era that can't public decent on-axis FR, let alone a decent dataset for a speaker.
While I tend to agree with this position, in this case I would tend toward a bit of slack. The guy is a 'small shop' operator who sells plans for speaker enclosures, and by extension, some portion of design engineering. It's not a finished audiophile product in which that sort of thing is de rigueur. What bothers me is the paucity of information about what sort of drivers he intends to be used in the designs, and I'm not sufficiently convinced by what's there to invest the $20 per design to find out.
And then there's this, which I also didn't find especially persuasive:
To be fair, it does support the assertion that they have "6dB greater average sensitivity" than 'the high-priced spread'... at least somewhat.
(And I agree that the curve looks crudely drawn... it kind of reminds me of a hurricane map I saw on TV one time, where it appeared to have been 'edited' with a black Sharpie. 
)A decent cal mic from Cross Spectrum is $US90* and I can think of a couple of excellent and free or low cost measurement suites apart from REW that would allow anyone to publish excellent, accurate measurements that I could only have dreamed of doing when I first got into measuring speakers in the 80s. Being a small shop is no excuse for the poor published measurements.
* Much better mics in terms of distortion and better max SPL are about $US600.
I won't argue the point. As far as I'm concerned, the expense and bother of just maintaining a Web site is significant for a small-potatoes operation - witness just how often you encounter sites that show signs of not having been updated for several years, this one among them.
Love my 210. The way it can project into a band mix is awesome and useful! I can't imagine a box store cab could be as loud and versatile when paired with a quality amp head.
Plus it only weighs 41 lbs.
Plus it only weighs 41 lbs.
I have a J12 Lite with the kappalite which I built during covid for my Traynor YBA100. Great paired together as a single cab solution in small to medium size band/venues. Nice being able to haul tube amp in one hand, cab I the other and bass over the shoulder. As mentioned, you need to alter your tone controls, but what I find is the Jack12 really brings out the nuances of a tube amp and no one will ever accuse the bass of being muddy in the mix.
If interested, I am moving across the pond and can't take it with me so for anyone wanting one already assembled, please DM.
I guess I should update this post... I ended up building the Cyclops and couldn't be happier! You can find the full build process (Along with updated plans) in the original Cyclops thread starting at the end of page 16. Thanks again to @Jared Houseman for bringing that design to my attention.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,951
- 5
- 220,594
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
The Jack comparison measurements in practice do not match my experience with the pro cabinets being compared against.
It a great hobbiest project, but they will not beat out the pro cabinets like the plots suggest.
It a great hobbiest project, but they will not beat out the pro cabinets like the plots suggest.
I value your opinion, but respectfully disagree.
My Jack 2/10 lite and Jack 15 (each used as single cabs) blows an Eden 4/10 out of the water, not even close. I've done A/ B/ C comparisons with the same amp head.
The one thing that BFM can't control for is quality control. Each hobbiest has different craftsmanship skills. But, if you follow the directions successfully they're pretty accurate.
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- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,951
- 5
- 220,594
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
That's fine, you can disagree all you want but the math doesn't.
There's a good reason why these types of cabinets quickly fell out of favor and there are no (real) pro audio guys using them (that I know of). It's always the guys who are convinced they can game the system by getting something that can't be gotten (just like perpetual motion machines or casinos, the math doesn't lie).
Either you sacrifice size, low frequency extension, linearity, mid extension and in the case of horns (especially folded horns) heavy mid coloration and distortion. I've done the math, built and measured prototypes, even measured a Jack 12 and there's no way it's hitting that kind of average sensitivity, not in half-space anyway).
IMO, the Cyclops design is a much better set of tradeoffs for most players, most of the time.
If the tradeoffs work for you, great, because that's all that matters for your satisfaction.
Right, no I get it.
Your here to poopie on all of the DIYers to pump up and sell Mesa Boogies.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 60,951
- 5
- 220,594
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
No sir, I do not sell anything, and I routinely suggest other equipment where it’s better suited for the player’s needs.
What I was addressing was the factual inaccuracies that seem to get promoted mostly by the DIY communities that tend to ignore facts that interfere with their tinkering.
There are good reasons that there are no commercial cabinets or that design, and I posted exactly why. I never said not to build one, nor did I discourage you or anyone else from DIY’ing one either.
Thanks for being the DIY police that no one asked for. I guess
Wrong again. It's really simple. Two reasons, cost and size. It's always going to be more cost effective to buy a big box store cab than to build one. It has absolutely nothing to do with their performance. Your argument here is analogous to... Porsche's are terrible vehicles because there are far more F150's sold.
Just to prove you're not biased. I challenge you to say one positive thing about a BFM cab.
Oh 100%, I built the Cyclops knowing what I was getting into. It's by no means a hifi cab, lacks dispersion, and is a little chunky, but it nails that huge rock cab sound while scratching my DIY itch. The Cyclops also seems like the perfect "One-Cab" solution for my particular needs at this time.
Let's behave rationally guys. I love DIY and understand the desire to defend a project you are passionate about, but @agedhorse knows his stuff. If he says the comparisons are fishy, he's probably right. BFM isn't exactly "nonbiased" in this matter, so a "Peer-Review" of his marketing claims is a welcome addition to the discussion.
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