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fEARful™ Part Eleven (11)

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#901
Hey, I have a quick question for you DIY guys...

I have been looking for a new rig the lat few weeks. Fearful cabs have been interesting to me for a while now. I build basses as a side job, so I have the tools to make the work easy and I trust me ability to construct.

My question is this. I had a lead on a new Eden WTX1000N. The head allows biamping with an appropriate crossover, so I thought it would be cool to possibly build a headcase and a 15 sub, 1212 sub, or pair of 12 subs.

My initial goal was to have a combo that I could add an extension too with extra power to turn into a stage rig.

My problem was that I want a really small bedroom practice combo, and a powerful stage rig.

That got me thinking. Suppose I made a combo out of the head and the headcase. Now I know that the 6 wouldn;t stand to go deep enough to really satisfy bass needs.

So, here is my thought. What if I built a combo that had the midrange and the tweeter, but I also incorporated the most appropriate 8" woofer I could get into the combo. Then as a combo, I could have a tiny bedroom three way that is in a biamp configuration. Then when I wanted to play a show, I could throw the combo on top of say a 15 sub, and instead of running the low biamp to the eight, run it to the 15. The cool thing is that the crossover on the head would allow me to change the woofer to mid crossover point between the 8 and the 6 if it needed to be different than the 15 and the six, via a knob on the front of the head. It kind of solves all my problems.

Now, I know the combo wouldn't be optimal, but I am sure it would kill and a bedroom / house practice setting.

So, my question is, does anyone know of the best 8" woofer (or even 6 inch woofer if they have them) that I could use ... excursion, spl, power handling, etc... and what an aprropriate box volume would be for that driver.

I have WinISD, but I am incredibly confused by this technical stuff. It would be great if someone could impart there wisdom on me.

As I said, the combo wouldn't be perfect, but good enough for small writing sessions and practice, and probably solo gigs, then the beast would come out for concerts.

And any suggestions on running the headcase with the 15 sub, 1212sub, or two 12 subs. Which sounds best? Which is the best compromise between volume clarity and size? etc.

In case you need to know, I play very percussively. The 12's would probably be better suited for my playing style, but if the 15 works with this style.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
 
#902
I'd say just go for a 12/6/1 cube. It's a very small, light cabinet and would probably work fine for your needs. Trying to fit another driver into the scheme would be a complete redesign.

OTOH, if you want something small, just build another really small cabinet from scratch. I'm sure it could be done pretty easily. I doubt you'd get even coffee house volume that would cut over conversation out of an 8, though.

Just my 02c.
 
#903
I definetly understand what your saying. However, its like this. When my band practices, I always bring my stage rig. We're loud. 2 guitarist with 412 cabs, loud drummer, hard rock, etc. However, when we do quick get together practices, they are usually sharing a single 10 combo, or even use acoustic guitars. I need something to amplify. For the last year I have been bringing one of my 8" M-Audio monitors. It has worked out well. It is fairly heavy because of the internal power amp. I figure at that weight and size, I would prefer to have something tonally in line with what I actually play.

Think Phil Jones breifcase or like that 8" aguilar cab. Something real small. Something for me to practice at home with and do the quick practices with.

Now, it wouldn't be a complete redesign at all. Because, suppose I did a 1212sub. The combo would be a headcase. The midrange would have its chamber. When I played gigs it would act as a headcase on top of a 1212sub. about 500 watts or so into the 1212, and 300 watts into the headcase, given the head i may get.

My thought was just, if I make the headcase a bit bigger, I can put an 8' woofer into it and it turns from a headcase into a small practice combo. the eight would not be on during gigs, just the headcase in its own chamber, and the 1212. The beauty of the biamp in this case is that when I take the headcase / combo of the 1212, I can run the low biamp to the eight. Now its a small combo.

I dunno if that better explains it. The beauty is that the pre set cabinets that work will be built exactly the same, the box volume for the eight will be the only experimaental part, and as long as it sounds decent its fine.
 
#904
I now understand a little better. It sounds like it would work. Other folks than me would have to help with tuning the cab to your driver. Maybe one of the drivers that SWR used for the Henry the 8x8 might work. Or perhaps there's a heavy duty car subwoofer that might be OK. Or this one might a good bet: Faital Pro 8PR200 Speakers - Faital Pro 8PR200 mid-bass, bass guitar speaker and subwoofer 8" speaker that has a lightweight neodymium magnet - Faital Pro 8PR200 400 watt 8" efficiency of 95dB SPL woofer for all high power mid-bass applications. Fa
 
#909
Ive actually handled one (at NAMM), and if they do decide to release it-and it has characteristics resembling its siblings-Im pretty sure its going to be the go to for a small, fairly capable cab-practice or otherwise. Hmmmm.....how about a 15, 2-10s a 6 and a tweet?
 
#910
edwin,

The Faital Pro 8PR200 looks nice. I don't know much about these theil small parameters, not much at all, but I have just been looking at 8's that have high SPL, and high xmax. I figure they will be able to go deeper without dumpin out.

The only other one I see that is close is the 18 Sound 8NW900. It looks to be more efficient by 2 or 3 and the xmax is only 1mm less.

I'd assume the price will be similar between the two.

The only big differences...

18 Sound 8NW900 - Higher efficiency.

Faital Pro 8PR200 - Has slightly better xmax and has a mechanical Q about the same as the Kappalite 3015LF. I have no idea what mechanical Q is, but its around 2.3 on the 18 Sound. I dunno whats better.

Any ideas on which one of these drives would do a better job matching up with the 6ND410?
 
#912
Ol'Bass'ead said:
Ive actually handled one (at NAMM), and if they do decide to release it-and it has characteristics resembling its siblings-Im pretty sure its going to be the go to for a small, fairly capable cab-practice or otherwise. Hmmmm.....how about a 15, 2-10s a 6 and a tweet?
Click to expand...

Unless you're looking for a step backwards, there's no good reason to use a 15, 2x10, a 6, and tweeter.
 
#913
Foz said:
...those extra watts rarely get used for loudness....its about headroom and smooth/solid low frequency extension.
Click to expand...

BurningSkies said:
[FONT=&quot]Exactly. I bought an amp recently that’s good for up to 3000w. It cost 400$. So roughly 13c per watt. I’m not a watt counter, but because my sound is dependent upon having big solid lows and clean headroom I play at the same volume but have better tone.[/FONT]
Click to expand...

Alright I'm hearing this.

So the Carver PM-350 I just got for a low-down song would be well put-to-use with a fEARful for those now once-in-a-Blue-Moon reggae gigs.

I kinda miss playing reggae- but the plus of playing lots of 'rock' gigs these days is I can get away easy with a mid-powered head into a single cab! :p
 
#915
Ol'Bass'ead said:
I was thinking it would be, sound wise, close to a 1515/66 in a smaller package.
Click to expand...

Perhaps, but mixing different size drivers that are covering the same frequency range could be problematic. Instead of the 2 10s, it might make sense to just use a 12, which would be smaller and lighter than two 10s. A 1212 would pack a pretty good punch, if you want a smaller package. By the time you get to a 15/1010/6/1, you might as well do a 1515/6/1. An 18 Sound mid would probably keep up pretty well with two 15s.

I'm using a 15/6/1 and a 12/6/1 and they mesh pretty well, so maybe a 1215/6/1 might be an option.

Who knows?
 
#917
MWBass said:
1n3,

I understand what your saying. I just feel that since the bass cabinet is a fearful, and the headcase which can be built however you want is a fearful, i'm not that far out of place. But I understand that the current questions are a bit out of the line.
Click to expand...

You could save yourself some time and trouble and just build a 12/6/1 cube as an airhead and use it as your small/ light/ awesome combo. Then pair it with either a 15/6 or a 15 sub, and have a great rig which is easy to load and totally versatile. The 12/6/1 cube as a combo would cover a lot of ground, and wouldn't be overkill for bedroom or acoustic practice. I think you'd be allot happier with it than an 8.

That said, I once covered a college big band rehearsal with 100w into a single 8 (GK 200RCB head, old diy cab w/a pioneer 8" whizzy).
 
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