fEARful™ Part Twelve (12)

[::::BASSIST::::]

I started my 15/6/1 build today. Sort of "worked backwards" and got a lot of small, nitnoid stuff that takes up time at the end, done.
Mikeddd 15/6/1 - TalkBass Wiki

Looks great Mike.

 

[mikeddd]

Well, it's a start at least. I was paranoid about trying to paint the port after it was assembled. I'm sure with a spray gun it's easy, but with a rattlecan? I wanted to be sure I painted the port pre-assembly. I spent two hours cutting the 7 holes in the port divider. First, I coudn't find my step drill. Then I discovered the step drill can't cut a 1.25" hole all the way thru a 1/2" piece before it "steps" to the next size. While removing the step drill, the chuck fell out of my drill press. Ran to Lowes and got a 1.25" spade bit, hammered the chuck back in and it all went smoothly from there. LOL! It was a long process for something so simple.

I'm nervous about the crossovers; so many parts and connections! I should've just paid the extra $30 and had Leland assemble them. But nooooo....I wanted to do it myself. Oh well, there will be more pride in ownership this way. /rationalization

Hopefully will get some parts together tomorrow after work.

 

[paparoof]

I'm old.

Grew up around Port Washington. Played the Stone Hearth and the rest of those venues when we came out here from the Milwaukee scene in the 70's. I spent much of my youth playing the beer halls north of Milwaukee. Really had a ball, that was a fun circuit.

By the time the 90's hit, I was hanging at John Hawk's in Milwaukee soaking up the jazz. Miss that scene.

I've been working with singer / songwriters and jazz players for years. I've been blessed to get to hang with such great people.

The Stone Hearth?? Oh wow you just made me feel young.

THANK YOU!!!

 

[Dekker]

Mikeddd 15/6/1 - TalkBass Wiki

I plan on finishing the cab completely, then starting on the crossovers. The crossovers will take me a few days, so that will give the cab plenty of time to dry.

Looks good, Mike!

It was not clear in the photo-journal, but did you forget to paint the bottom of the BACK panel that will be visible through the port holes? You might want to paint that too because it will show whenever the cabinet is at eye level.

Dekker

 

[wcriley]

I made that mistake. The bare wood shows on the top cab when I stack them, but only if the lighting is just right.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Looks good, Mike!

It was not clear in the photo-journal, but did you forget to paint the bottom of the BACK panel that will be visible through the port holes? You might want to paint that too because it will show whenever the cabinet is at eye level.

Dekker

I'm not greenboy, but if it was my design that section of the cab would be lined with damping. Otherwise midrange reflections can go right out the port, causing phase zits.

 

[mikeddd]

Looks good, Mike!

It was not clear in the photo-journal, but did you forget to paint the bottom of the BACK panel that will be visible through the port holes? You might want to paint that too because it will show whenever the cabinet is at eye level.

Dekker

Sir, I owe you a beer! I did forget. And here I was thinking I had it all covered. Thank you so much for the heads-up! Lucky for me I won't get anywhere near needing to install the back in the next couple of days, so there's time for it to dry.

Thank you for the kind words; it took a long time yesterday to get not much done. LOL! I could've not used the attentuator faceplate and just stuck the shaft thru a 1/4" hole in the jackplate. But I want as professional a presentation as possible; even though it's "just for me." With as much as one of these costs to build now (thank you, China) I'm not cutting any corners. Cutting my fingers, sure. But not corners. *chuckle*

BILL: Maybe I am misunderstanding, but are you saying you'd put damping material in the port? It's my understanding that you never block the port at all. In fact GB recommends stopping the damping material above where the port starts, just to insure you don't lose any port volume.

 

[4Mal]

hey folks -

I have a question about the 12/6 powered by low-wattage amps. I apologize if this is a common question, I've read a fair amount of the mega-threads, but certainly not all.

I have a little 15w all tube guitar amp (Egnater Tweaker) and my bass sounds beautiful through it (with the matching 1x12 Celestion cab), but I don't dare turn it up for fear of killing the speaker.

I'm thinking I'll probably build the 12/6 sometime this year anyway (for use with my Ampeg B500DR) but it's gonna be a while before I can build it and in the mean time I'm just wondering if 15 watts would actually be able to drive the 12/6 at all.

Anyone ever run it with a really low-power head? Can you get any thump out of it at all?

I've run mine with a Princeton reverb powering it. The PR is just 'cherry'. I prefer the recorded tone I get from running it into an Avalon U5 and taking the speaker line direct as opposed to mic'ing ...

When mic'ed, I'm using a combination of an LDC mic in the room and a Sennhheiser 421 on the cab. After seemingly endless dinking about, I'm more in love with the Avalon than ever ...

The PR is housed in a Fender Deluxe sized cabinet with an Altec 417 - it's a screamin' little guitar setup! For bass, it sounds way cool to put the amp on a chair in the middle of a room and just mic the Altec... definately not the sort of sound you get from a fEarful let alone the Avalon but nice to have in the bag of tricks anyway.

The little PR drives the cab OK for practice. For my uses it would not be loud enough for coffee house / wine bar use. The 12.6 is not efficient enough to make it a decent match.

IMO, YMMV and all the other 40 disclaimers.

 

[edwinhurwitz]

As far as using low power with a fearful - it'll work.

My current recording setup is a blueprinted Fender Champ ran wide open into a fearful 12/6 mic'd with an EV RE-20. Very full, breaks up just bit at MF, gets almost hairy at FF. Really fun!

I'd need a bit more than the Champ to play a jazz gig, but not all that much. 15 to 20 Watts would be plenty. The Champ sounds incredibly good through the fearful. I've been tempted to use it live with the amp off stage, and me in the mons. It is that good.

Good to know! I'll have to try mine with my '67 Showman. I bet it will sound great!

 

[billfitzmaurice]

BILL: Maybe I am misunderstanding, but are you saying you'd put damping material in the port?

On the cab back behind the port, not in it. Perhaps I misunderstood what was being referred to with the paint issue.

 

[mambo4]

I use a bar table to get the 12/6 up to height. Last gig I put the cube on a table 4' behind the back of the stage, which let me get almost 10 feet away from it, NICE!

Wait a tic...I though one of the primary reasons for the f Earful designs was to get an even sound anywhere on stage...to eliminate the need for getting "up to height'...do you still need to raise the cab up off the stage to hear it well? -or is that just to avoid coupling?

 

[BurningSkies]

I'm not greenboy, but if it was my design that section of the cab would be lined with damping. Otherwise midrange reflections can go right out the port, causing phase zits.

This is how I can tell you're not greenboy.

He tells people not to use damping on the back wall down in the port region, but to avoid it up to a few inches above the parallel of the port shelf.

 

[singlemalt]

It'll do just fine if you end up crammed in a corner with the cab rubbing the outside of your knee. The 12/6 did just fine sitting in the gravel parking area of Saturday's outdoor gig just a couple feet back from my little spot of carpet.

The off axis sound is great.

But it sure is nice to get out in front a ways and hear more of everything on the stage. If I get the chance, the 12/6 sits on the 15/6/1 and I put it behind and on my side, the high hat side of the drummer.

That particular gig, the stage is a portable fold out thing, and has minimum space for a four piece band, let alone all the gear, so putting the fearful back behind, and off the stage gives me some room. The table just makes it easier to reach the mute button and see the tuner.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

This is how I can tell you're not greenboy.

He tells people not to use damping on the back wall down in the port region, but to avoid it up to a few inches above the parallel of the port shelf.

There's no reason to do so IMO, assuming the duct entrance isn't less than a few inches from the back wall.

 

[Lonnybass]

Team-

What does the break-in period look like on the 3015LF?

My old Acme rig came with the recommendation from the manufacturer that the drivers be eased in so that the surrounds could loosen up - so I always ran some CDs through them for a while to get the cones moving before I ever gigged them. Just want to find out if the same applies here.

Lonnybass

 

[BurningSkies]

There's no reason to do so IMO, assuming the duct entrance isn't less than a few inches from the back wall.

It isn't that close to the back wall, but I'm guessing that gb is displaying a fair amount of caution in worrying about the port tuning and if you've treated the rest of the box well, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

 

[BurningSkies]

Team-

What does the break-in period look like on the 3015LF?

My old Acme rig came with the recommendation from the manufacturer that the drivers be eased in so that the surrounds could loosen up - so I always ran some CDs through them for a while to get the cones moving before I ever gigged them. Just want to find out if the same applies here.

Lonnybass

The speakers definitely changed a bit once I'd played with them for a while, but I didn't break them in with anything besides playing them up to full gigging volume from day one...no creasing or any other problems.

 

[alembic5]

Sansamp Bass DI > GK 700RB-II > 12/6-12/sub = Victory! This set-up totally kicked ass at my outdoor show today. Brought the 12/sub home afterward and will play the club tonight with just the 12/6. GB you & your design rock!!!!!!!!!!

Where you playing man? I'd love to come hear your rig sometime! I'm only 25 min down the road. I'm currently playing a Carvin LSx 1503 cab with either my F1 or BX500 and have been very pleased. The fEarful 15/6 is on my list, but I'd like to hear the 12/6 if one is being played live in a public setting!

 

[mikeddd]

FWIW, I'm not planning on breaking in my drivers first, nor am I intending on hitting them with a kilowatt right off the bat. I'm just going to noodle a bit at bedroom practive levels for a couple of hours then turn it up to "Man, that's loud in this little room!" levels.
That should do it.

Relevant info: I'm currently using one channel of a Crown XLS1500, which is 300w@8 ohms. Bridged at 8 ohms would net me a kilowatt. /rubs hands together with evil grin on face I WILL go there when it's broken in (and nobody is home) just to see what a 15/6 can do, and to see if my cabinet construction is up to par/check for leaks/etc. Though leaks should show up easily/early on. I'm planning on PL'ing every single seam and brace from inside the cab before I stuff it and put drivers in...leaks should be non-existent.

 

[greenboy]

It isn't that close to the back wall, but I'm guessing that gb is displaying a fair amount of caution in worrying about the port tuning and if you've treated the rest of the box well, it shouldn't be much of an issue.

Several factors here. As some DIYers might do as I do and extend the shelf for a lower tuning, and then it does get close to the back panel, especially for 12/6 and 12/6cube. If that's not the case one can always run the batting right down to the bottom and shoot a light black spray on the damping. But frankly if the rest of the walls are sufficiently lined I haven't been able to hear any issues... though perhaps if I had fine-grained measurements of with and without, there would be something it could detect which my ear cannot.

Lots more stuff for the DIYer to digest which in the end I didn't consider worth getting into. If there were audible problems I would have, of course, seen this in a different light.