fEARful part 13: the bad luck's done, son

[::::BASSIST::::]

Nice!

I'll never need that much firepower thats for sure. Heck I brought my 12/6 out tonite at whats considered a 'loud hall gig' for my band and I had tons of volume to spare.

I would love to be able to justify have two of those beauty cabs though!

 

[tombowlus]

Thanks for the nice review and bass porn, Scogman.

+1 And I agree, the 7Pro is really a nice match for these cabs!

 

[Scogman]

So this morning I took the two 15/6/1's and did a little experiment. I plugged one cab into the Ampeg SVT-7 Pro, the other cab into the RH750. I plugged the bass into the Ampeg then went TunerOut of the Ampeg to Input on the RH750.

Used the volume knobs for each get close to same volume out of each. Ran the Ampeg clean with a bit of mid boost at selection 2 of the midrange and boost around 2:30. Ran the RH750 a bit dirty, put tube tone around 10:30 - 11:00.

I think it sounds really good. Getting a stereo clean / grit mix with the two fEARfuls. Nifty thing about this setup is I can A/B pretty easily. Hit the mute on the Ampeg and it goes quiet but Tuner out is still active so RH750 still gets a signal. Hit mute on RH750 (both mutes engaged) and both are quiet but can still use the tuner on the RH750. Un-engage mute on Ampeg and can still hear Ampeg but RH750 quiet now. Un-engage mute on RH750 and both are on again with the mixed sound.

Blasphemy to some I'm sure. Kind of like the quote from Ghostbusters, "Dogs and Cats, living together ..."

 

[Scogman]

Nice!
...
I would love to be able to justify have two of those beauty cabs though!

The only way I can justify having both is that I will be keeping one in San Diego and one in Vegas so I don't have to schlep them back and forth. For things I do, one is plenty. However as fantastic as a fEARful is alone, it really, really rocks when you have two.

 

[cableguy]

Sweet Rig Scogman! I can't believe how loud that must have been with (2) 15/6 and the SVT 7Pro. Brother Trucker is right. But sometimetimes it's good to say *** and see what a rig has. Rock on!

 

[Scogman]

Sweet Rig Scogman! I can't believe how loud that must have been with (2) 15/6 and the SVT 7Pro. Brother Trucker is right. But sometimetimes it's good to say *** and see what a rig has. Rock on!

It's not as much as the loudness as the fullness you get with both cabs. Loud, absolutely. Big, creamy-smooth, gut-adjusting fullness, Oh Yeah!

 

[domestique]

Scogman, great review and beautiful cabs... ron is building me a 15/6/1 and a 15 sub and I can't wait to get them in my hands... Your pics and review just made the next 3 weeks even harder to bear!

FWIW, I plan on pushing the cabs with a Genz Benz Shuttlemax 9.2

 

[Lonnybass]

It's not as much as the loudness as the fullness you get with both cabs. Loud, absolutely. Big, creamy-smooth, gut-adjusting fullness, Oh Yeah!

Hey Scogman-

You posted a couple pix of the boxes stacked tall and horizontal - any discernible difference? I'm almost done with my own pair of 15/6/1s and just curious as to how the various configurations project.

Lonnybass

 

[Scogman]

Hey Scogman-

You posted a couple pix of the boxes stacked tall and horizontal - any discernible difference? I'm almost done with my own pair of 15/6/1s and just curious as to how the various configurations project.

Lonnybass

Lonny, the short stack seems to get a little less mids from the 6" than the tall stack. I talked to Greenboy about it and he says that the short stack will give you more mids than a 15/6/1 with a 15-sub because you have two 6" drivers, but less mids from the 6" than the tall stack because the two 6"-drivers are farther apart and don't get as much coupling like the tall stack. I still thought that the short stack still sounded good, different but good. I can see myself using both configs if I needed that much horsepower. I will usually be using one cab at a time.

 

[Scogman]

Scogman, great review and beautiful cabs... ron is building me a 15/6/1 and a 15 sub and I can't wait to get them in my hands... Your pics and review just made the next 3 weeks even harder to bear!

FWIW, I plan on pushing the cabs with a Genz Benz Shuttlemax 9.2

The 15/6/1 with the sub is a good way to go too. When I was in Ron's shop I put my cab on top of a 15 sub and tried that out. It sounded great. I was considering going that route but need two full range cabs, one for San Diego, one for Vegas. I think you will be very happy with Ron's work. I am, Ron builds fantastic cabs. When you get it going let us know how it sounds with the Genz Benz. I hear good things about those amps.

 

[KingRazor]

Heh, now I'm getting crazy ideas in my head.

Between 4 and 6 fEARful 12/6s, with maybe two of them being 12 subs, or even throwing some 15s in there, for bass, kick, and keyboard amps. Heck, with the right amp head it might even work as a good guitar amp.

A whole band using fEARful cabs.

 

[scottbass]

Heck, with the right amp head it might even work as a good guitar amp.

A whole band using fEARful cabs.

Uh, good luck getting any guitard to admit that a fEARful sounds better than his preferred 4x12 open back cab!!!

 

[singlemalt]

The second 15/6 is Duratexed, sealed, and prewired for final assembly. I beat the cold weather, and now my very patient wife can have the garage back.

I'm ordering up the 6" grill, some hardware, the hi pass and Lpad parts today, so this project moves to the back burner for a week or two. Looking at the pictures, it seems I should just part with another $40 for the other horn, just to keep things looking balanced. As long as I'm ordering parts, just to get to the free shipping level...prolly be a wash!

I'll put the batting in after I get through with all the messy drilling and mounting of the drivers and grills. The top is not glued yet so its easy to get around in there.

I'm still running the horns off the GK's high side, so I'll need to clean up some input wiring on the old 15/6/1 so I can use the four wire speakon cable. There's a little Lpad fix to do in the old one as well. I'm getting there!

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This rig now stands just over 6' tall, the GK's knobs are at eye level.

Now I can move on to finish carpentry in the new Studio/Mancave, I mean office, which got painted a deep green. I've got a pile of salvaged maple flooring for all the trim work, work surfaces, and shelves.

 

[Mr. Pickles]

Art of Noise 15/6/1 fibreglass fEARful on the way to me soon! I'll be pairing it with an early blackface EA iAmp800. Here's a pic Robby sent to me, which is also on his site:

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[Drop-D]

Hi all-

I have been drooling over these cabs for a while now. But, with a bulging disc in my lower back I have to get rid of my 120lb Mesa Boogie cabs. So with an excuse to finally pursue a fEarful cab(s) I wanted to get some opinions:

1. Who around here has the lightest cab? What does it weigh in at?

2. Does going with fiberglass, which at this point I assume to be the lightest material, affect the massive low end these cabs are known for?

3. I need massive volume about 1/3 of the gigs/jams I go to. Is there a preferred cab configuration that will get allow me to have the volume I need on tap without throwing my back out? I am fine with matching a couple cabs if need be. Just looking for options.

4. And, finally I wanted to take a shot in the dark and see if anyone knew of anyone rockin' a fEarful in the Kansas City Missouri area. I figured it was worth asking.


Anyway, sorry for the questionnaire. Just wanted see what options I may have.

Thanks!

 

[scottbass]

1. Who around here has the lightest cab? What does it weigh in at?

Art of Noise builds the entire line of fEARful cabinets using a composite material called "Nidacore". The weight depends on which model, of course. I believe the 15/6 comes in under 40 pounds, but someone with more knowledge should chime in here. Of course the 12/6 is even a few punds lighter than the 15/6. Robby Hoinsky is the president of Art of Noise and he is also a TalkBass member. You should contact him.
Art of Noise Audio | fEARful Cabinet Design

2. Does going with fiberglass, which at this point I assume to be the lightest material, affect the massive low end these cabs are known for?

From what owners of the composite cabs and Greenboy himself (inventor of the fEARfuls) say, no. Not in the least.

3. I need massive volume about 1/3 of the gigs/jams I go to. Is there a preferred cab configuration that will get allow me to have the volume I need on tap without throwing my back out? I am fine with matching a couple cabs if need be. Just looking for options.

Each cab is progressively louder, in ascending order: 12/6, 15/6, 1212/6, 1515/66. I use a single 15/6 driven by an Ampeg tube preamp and a 1500 watt Crown power amp. I have never been too quiet, even at outdoor gigs without PA support. If you are in an incredibly loud metal band, you may want to pair a 15/6 with a 12/6. This will give you incredible versatility for small, medium and large gigs. Others have been known to use two 15/6 cabs. The 1515/66 (2x15) is of course capable of being driven to incredibly loud levels, but it is bigger and heavier.

4. And, finally I wanted to take a shot in the dark and see if anyone knew of anyone rockin' a fEarful in the Kansas City Missouri area. I figured it was worth asking.

Leland Crooks at Speaker Hardware builds wood fEARfuls in Kansas. He is also a TalkBass member. Contact him. He will be incredibly helpful.
Featuring Eminence Speakers, Crown Amplifiers, DIY Speaker Kits - Speaker Hardware, over 30 years Audio experience

Good luck! You will be blown away by these cabinets.

PS for the whole fEARful story, users forums, authorized builders, etc. you should go here:
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It's chock full of information and it's free.

 

[msquared]

4. And, finally I wanted to take a shot in the dark and see if anyone knew of anyone rockin' a fEarful in the Kansas City Missouri area. I figured it was worth asking.

I don't know of anyone using a fEARful in KCMO, but there is a sometime Talkbasser named Andy DeWitt who gigs regularly in town with a Carvin LS1503, which is similar to the 15/6/1 fEARful design. It's not exactly the same cabinet but it was a design inspiration for the fEARful equivalent. According to several posts on here it's close enough to be in the same ballpark, sonically. I've heard and played through his rig on several occasions and it sounds fantastic.

Art of Noise builds the entire line of fEARful cabinets using a composite material called "Nidacore". The weight depends on which model, of course. I believe the 15/6 comes in under 40 pounds, but someone with more knowledge should chime in here

My understanding is that the Nidacore specs changed and now he's building them out of fabric/epoxy composite, the result being that they're even lighter than before.

He has a NOS Nidacore 15/6/1 he's selling in the classifieds right now which weighs in at 47lbs. Pretty good for that classification of cabinet.

 

[greenboy]

I don't know of anyone using a fEARful in KCMO, but there is a sometime Talkbasser named Andy DeWitt who gigs regularly in town with a Carvin LS1503, which is similar to the 15/6/1 fEARful design. It's not exactly the same cabinet but it was a design inspiration for the fEARful equivalent.

Nope. Not true. When I bought one of the first LS1503 it was because I had already gone though a couple years of problems trying to get my proto-fEARful built, and was in the process of hooking up with someone who used to be on TalkBass and claimed they'd build me a cab using my plans. But when I saw the LS 1503 product blurb for the first time I decided that in spite of some things that I knew were probably not gonna be all the way there for me, it'd at least be worth exploring at the price.

I emailed Alex Claber about it who also was looking for the same things in a cab, and told him maybe I'd luck out and not have to worry about getting my design built any longer. But ultimately I was not fully satisfied with the LS1503 for my own bass use so I had to go once again go round and round with this douche who claimed he was building my proto-fEARful cab for me but in fact never did follow through.

I also was disappointed that Carvin immediately began degrading their LS1503 product spec in terms of bracing. They went from a good stout BB midrange chamber that also braced the front panel, to an inferior cup that just glued on, and probably went from true BB to some other ply product. And you will see that in the Boutique megathreads, people reported having problems with box vibrations. And crossovers, The crossover appeared to be borderline for anybody using typical wattage. Enough so that some escaped unscathed while others had burnouts.

To put a nail in it, later still Carvin went from a decent OEM Eminence woofer with decent xmax, to a cheesier woofer with way less mechanical power handling. And a mid driver that's not so beefy either. So a box that was an outstanding value went to becoming one I would not want to depend on, unless using two (or more). A risk.

According to several posts on here it's close enough to be in the same ballpark

That's like saying every 210 cab sounds the same, and has the same abilities get really loud without being at risk. Myself, I thought the box was an outstanding buy in its first rectangular incarnation, but due to Carvin's unannounced not-publicly-documented downward tweaking, I'd consider it a liability for anyone fully using more than maybe 250 watts.

Tonally its different and some may like it that way (I still enjoy it ferinstance, but I have the original mid driver and a 3015 in it). but it's definitely not stout and reliable, and not capable of repeated high SPL use.

 

[msquared]

Down, boy. I wasn't suggesting that he get one instead of building from your design.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

Hi all-

I have been drooling over these cabs for a while now. But, with a bulging disc in my lower back I have to get rid of my 120lb Mesa Boogie cabs. So with an excuse to finally pursue a fEarful cab(s) I wanted to get some opinions:

1. Who around here has the lightest cab? What does it weigh in at?

2. Does going with fiberglass, which at this point I assume to be the lightest material, affect the massive low end these cabs are known for?

3. I need massive volume about 1/3 of the gigs/jams I go to. Is there a preferred cab configuration that will get allow me to have the volume I need on tap without throwing my back out? I am fine with matching a couple cabs if need be. Just looking for options.

4. And, finally I wanted to take a shot in the dark and see if anyone knew of anyone rockin' a fEarful in the Kansas City Missouri area. I figured it was worth asking.


Anyway, sorry for the questionnaire. Just wanted see what options I may have.

Thanks!

My AoN fibreglass 15/6 is 39LBS... doubt you could get a lighter cab with as much volume capability... that sounds *this* good. If you could go a bit heavier the 12/12/6 version would be louder.

Yes, my cab does have massive low end.