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Do you use fEARful?

#121
Splintered Skul said:
There's a lot of buzz on TB about fEARfuls and I'm curious as to how many of us out of the total actually use them. It may just be me, but I feel as though it's about a %40. So I'm genuinely intrigued as to how close I am. And also if you have a fEARful but you use a different cab instead I'd like to know why? Or if you personally tried a fEARful but picked something else instead.
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Yeah, a lot of fanboys hangout on this forum so it seems that way - but, if more bass players see this thread and vote in the Poll the percentage of FF users will be much smaller than you think. Oh and no, I don’t own one.
 
#123
I like my fEARful 12/6 stack because I've never heard such clear basslines in a band mix context. My guitarist/drummer like them for that reason too.

But I hate the way it makes my vintage 70's equipment sound like sh*t. My Acoustic 370 has been reduced to basement practice amp (wayyyy too harsh and noisy through the fEARfuls, needs a big old 2x15 to smooth out the rough edges) and my Morley Power Wah sends an earsplitting feedback out of the 6" drivers if I get too close to my stack.

There, a legitimate complaint about fEARfuls! But I still use em, they work well with a clean high powered PA head and quality dirt pedals for tone shaping.
 
#127
CL400Peavey said:
To be fair, you had a cab (which I am sure is a fine cab) built by LDS. But that cab is not a fEARful.
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I had a cab, built to exact fEarful plans, by LDS. These are the exact plans Don used:

fEARful%2015+6.png


I'd say that is a fEarful.
 
#128
BurningSkies said:
Looking at the 'standard' BW 15's, they have an xmax of .9mm, and a thermal power handling that looks like 350/700w. The sensitivity is listed at 99dB (1w/1m, I assume). http://www.usspeaker.com/peavey 15058bw-1.htm

The 3015LF of the fEARful cabs lists 450/900w (thermal), with an xmax of 9.6mm and a sensitivity of 98.4dB. http://www.usspeaker.com/kappa lite-3015lf-1.htm

That suggests on a quick perusal, that they're a little bit 'louder' given the same wattage, but that they'll start distorting much earlier and with much less low end than a 3015LF speaker in the right sized box.
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I would never say that the BW's are capable of the same volume as the 3015LF's in correct boxes. I just said my BW loaded Peavey 215 cab gets louder than I will ever need and I like the way it sounds.
 
#129
Dave Irwin said:
What do you mean by real world? A player gigging on a Fearful that doesn't post on TB? I've noticed TB has a larger forum than many other instruments but any forum typically represents only a small percentage of people fitting the demographic.
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You are over thinking my statement. I have never seen anyone playing through a fEarful cab in a live music setting, you know the real world, as in not online. If not for this forum I wouldn't even know they existed.


BurningSkies said:
Does that mean the many times I've played stages from small coffee houses up through outdoor festivals with my rig are not 'real world'? While it may be the first time many other players or the audience have seen or heard them, it usually doesn't make them less 'real' besides that mine don't have a name plate on the grill. But then, my other cabs generally got their name plates removed too.
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If I had ever seen your band play then I wouldn't be able to make my previous statement ;)
 
#130
I use an AudioKinesis. Nothing against the fEARful stuff - just didn't have a small enough, light enough, loud enough, smooth enough package back when I made my investment into my rig... and now that I have the AudioKinesis, I'm not sure I want to play anything else!
 
#131
Toastfuzz said:
I like my fEARful 12/6 stack because I've never heard such clear basslines in a band mix context. My guitarist/drummer like them for that reason too.

But I hate the way it makes my vintage 70's equipment sound like sh*t. My Acoustic 370 has been reduced to basement practice amp (wayyyy too harsh and noisy through the fEARfuls, needs a big old 2x15 to smooth out the rough edges) and my Morley Power Wah sends an earsplitting feedback out of the 6" drivers if I get too close to my stack.

There, a legitimate complaint about fEARfuls! But I still use em, they work well with a clean high powered PA head and quality dirt pedals for tone shaping.
Click to expand...

I can see that being a problem. It may be "too clear" for some things. Older things might sound as good if their vintage circuitry shines completely through. And sometimes certain model amps and cabs were just meant to be
 
#133
And an update on percentage: it has been currently been hanging between %20-25. Everyone, and especially non-fEARful users are encouraged to vote. I'm sensing this thread being very fEARful driven now. And I'd just like to kindly ask that fEARful users not argue with others about about their reasoning as to why they don't use them. It is simply a sharing of opinions and a gathering of information for the common good ;)
 
#135
Lonnybass said:
I brought my pair of Fearful 15/6/1s to the most recent Twin Cities get-together which was held about 8 weeks ago. Didn't even plug a bass into the rig for more than a couple of minutes.

The rest of the time, I was just running an iTunes mix into the rack. I swear, the setup was surrounded by people the entire time...not saying anything, just listening. Including a guy who was blind, who was there for at least a half hour, with a smile on his face.

Lonnybass
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It's true. I was one of those people standing there thinking I need to add a tweeter to my 12/6 and then build another 12/6/1 so I can use the whole rig as a home stereo.
 
#136
It does seem interesting that a few brands stand out in terms of the number of TB posts relative to the number of actual users. In my observation, that phenomenon can happen for one of two reasons: 1) The maker treats customers really well. 2) The maker treats customers really badly. ;)

In the case of the fEARfuls, you have a designer who has gone overboard to provide not only a well thought out design, but also comprehensive performance data. And you have a cottage industry of builders who provide both craft-shop quality and personalized customer service. I think this is sufficient to explain the cult following, even if the tone isn't necessarily what everybody is looking for.
 
#138
Splintered Skul said:
I can see that being a problem. It may be "too clear" for some things. Older things might sound as good if their vintage circuitry shines completely through. And sometimes certain model amps and cabs were just meant to be
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Yup.

I've run my old 1960-something B25 head through my 12/6 and it sounds pretty nasty. Yes, I'm connecting it correctly for the 8 ohm load. That same head sounds great through the 215 cab it was designed for cause that cab masks the nasty. The fearful masks nothing.

I gig with a streamliner 900 on top of the fearfuls and it's pure heaven cause the streamliner just don't make no nasty.

My playing on the other hand....
 
#140
I didn't vote as strictly speaking I don't have a fEARful. I've just recently got 2 115 fEARless cabs.

I don't feel the need to convince anyone else about my choices but for me they are great sounding cabs that have a great fat/tight bottom end and an even tone across the mids and highs. Perhaps the best thing for me is that they handle EQ remarkably well which allows me to sculpt all the various tones I'm going for. Couple this with a great ability to handle all my effects and I'm loving it.

For the record I used a 2x Acme lowB2 rig for around 10 years and was very happy with it. I'm liking the fEARless cabs better though

Cheers

Ben
 

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