Fearful Part 14: one better than 13!

[MSUsousaphone]

Cool. Yeah. I think I'm going to start a build thread over there. Kind of a 50/50 in people being able to learn from me in the end and also for me to post some plans beforehand so others can catch me if I'm off the path. I've actually glanced over every thread in that whole forum. Most of it is beyond me but the build looks doable. I ordered the deluxe kits from Leland along with foam, PL, and finish. All that's left for me to grab is the wood.

I will say, my knowledge on how amps and speakers work has grown like 10x in this week or two I've been preparing. Wish I had done this, sooner.

 

[singlemalt]

Not only is Leland a great guy to work with, he's got badges and you won't need to deal with Erse.

 

[Ol'Bass'ead]

About an hour south of PDX. And I see you're about 4 hours south of me.

I dont think its ever been more than 4 hours to Portland for me-even when the girls are with me.

 

[makohund]

I dont think its ever been more than 4 hours to Portland for me-even when the girls are with me.

Heh, sorry... was going by google map calculation. Apparently they think you won't go any faster than 55mph.

If guaranteed no fuzz watching, I'm sure you could do a lot better than that, even.

 

[Ol'Bass'ead]

Im like Sammy Hagar-I cant drive 55!

 

[Lukejt]

I finished building my 15/6 about a year ago. It's ruined otherwise decent gear for me. I really enjoy playing through it, it has truly made learning to play the bass more enjoyable. I've tried to purchase a couple different high-end light weight combos, but they simply can't compare. My 15/6 only weighs 44lbs sans grill (I still need to install that). I've picked up a GB Shuttle 3.0 10T and it's made me realize that I want a horn. I've just ordered one of those along with the crossover components and a handle for the top/back corner.

I'm also gassing for an amp with more power and headroom. I've been driving mine with a Yorkville XS400, a GK MB200 (sounds great but lacks headroom on the low end, (the MB200 sounded GREAT on my friends 15/15/1 4 ohm cab btw), and a GB Shuttle 3.0 (also sounds great, but I want more headroom).

I'd love to hear this bad boy through an amp with some more headroom-punch.

Looking forward to adding the high section. Will post pictures once she's all done (again) and the grill is installed.

Thanks to all who helped contribute to the Fearful!

Luke

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

37LBS for a 15/6 is very light. What's it made from? Fibreglass?

 

[Lukejt]

37LBS for a 15/6 is very light. What's it made from? Fibreglass?

You are correct, it's 44lbs.

 

[Lukejt]

I wish it was 37lbs, lb. maybe that was the weight of the Gk212 combo I used to own. It feels feels fairly light, I've got an Ashdown 115 that's 70ish pounds and sounds like mud compared to the Fearful. I'd love to see one of the composite versions.

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

That's still quite light. I am guessing that it is not Baltic Birch?

 

[solarplexus]

44lbs is awesome for a 15/6!

 

[gregbackstrom]

I had a great fEARful gig last night -- a private function for Microsoft in a large ballroom at a local casino. I played my Anchak Audio 1212/6/1 with a Mike Pope MPP-1 into a Peavey IPR-3000. To fine-tune the tonal balance, I added a DBX 131s 3rd band graphic EQ to my rack. I rolled back the 20-30 Hz range, bumped 100-300 Hz about 3dB, and cut 1 kHz - 4 kHz a couple dB. The stage sound was absolutely wonderful, with the best balance of punchy lows to clear mids that I've achieved so far. My Sadowsky sounds great through this cab, and I especially love how it sounds with effects! Fun gig!

 

[JdoubleH]

I finally got mine together and gave it a thorough test drive yesterday.

I posted a few crappy phone pics and some details over in the fEARful club thread, cross-posted to the ff forum.

Of note here is my input plate, as I said earlier I might put the lpad control on the baffle. I didn't. I'm not decided on what I'll do for a grill, so I decided to keep it simple. I added switches for the HF and the mid pad and located it all on the input plate. I think it worked out well.

For bass, I am pretty certain the HF will most likely always be off at the switch - I find myself dialing back the highs with just the 6. I've got fresh XL Nickel rounds on my std jazz and there's plenty of round wound string zing from that mid. Anyone debating whether to add the HF for bass might consider this and the roughly five extra pounds it adds.

 

[dukeorock]

I finally got mine together and gave it a thorough test drive yesterday.

I posted a few crappy phone pics and some details over in the fEARful club thread, cross-posted to the ff forum.

Of note here is my input plate, as I said earlier I might put the lpad control on the baffle. I didn't. I'm not decided on what I'll do for a grill, so I decided to keep it simple. I added switches for the HF and the mid pad and located it all on the input plate. I think it worked out well.

For bass, I am pretty certain the HF will most likely always be off at the switch - I find myself dialing back the highs with just the 6. I've got fresh XL Nickel rounds on my std jazz and there's plenty of round wound string zing from that mid. Anyone debating whether to add the HF for bass might consider this and the roughly five extra pounds it adds.

True...I play upright, and that extra bit of air is beautiful, so I'd rather have too much, and turn it down/off than to have not enough...more is more!

 

[TrevorOfDoom]

question: I'm wanting to build my own cab and of course, why wouldn't i build a fEarful?
buuuut... i'm not exactly looking for hi-fi reproduction. I want a bit of grit and character from my drivers. yes, i want the quality low end and efficiency that the fEarful offers, but i also want a little cab character.
so here's the question: can i substitute the 6" mid driver with a guitar speaker, such as the Jensen Mod 6-15? ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed])
or if anyone has any better ideas...?

 

[domestique]

question: I'm wanting to build my own cab and of course, why wouldn't i build a fEarful?
buuuut... i'm not exactly looking for hi-fi reproduction. I want a bit of grit and character from my drivers. yes, i want the quality low end and efficiency that the fEarful offers, but i also want a little cab character.
so here's the question: can i substitute the 6" mid driver with a guitar speaker, such as the Jensen Mod 6-15? ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed])
or if anyone has any better ideas...?

Why not just add your grit with effects?

I run my two 15/6/1s with a Genz Benz Shuttlemax 9.2 which is a pretty clean sounding amp to begin with. So, I use a VT bass Deluxe into either the FET, tube or FET/Tube blended channels. If you close your eyes it sounds just like a B-15, SVT etc. depending on the character knob on the VT basss deluxe.

In essence I have 18 channels to choose from: 3 Master channels: first FET clean, second Just Tube channel, third FET/Tube blended.

VT bass Deluxe has 6 channels. that can run into either the FET, tube or FET/tube.

Add that to all the combinations on my basses (G&L L2000, Dingwall Z3, Dingwall ABI) and the combinations are endless.

 

[BurningSkies]

question: I'm wanting to build my own cab and of course, why wouldn't i build a fEarful?
buuuut... i'm not exactly looking for hi-fi reproduction. I want a bit of grit and character from my drivers. yes, i want the quality low end and efficiency that the fEarful offers, but i also want a little cab character.
so here's the question: can i substitute the 6" mid driver with a guitar speaker, such as the Jensen Mod 6-15? ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed])
or if anyone has any better ideas...?

Hi Trevor, you should sign up at the fEARful message board/community and pose a few questions about it there.

 

[Passinwind]

question: I'm wanting to build my own cab and of course, why wouldn't i build a fEarful?
buuuut... i'm not exactly looking for hi-fi reproduction. I want a bit of grit and character from my drivers. yes, i want the quality low end and efficiency that the fEarful offers, but i also want a little cab character.
so here's the question: can i substitute the 6" mid driver with a guitar speaker, such as the Jensen Mod 6-15? ([Invalid or Expired Link Removed])
or if anyone has any better ideas...?

Compare the power handling and the sensitivity rating to the spec'ed fEARful driver. You won't hear it before you blow it up, and then you definitely won't hear it afterwards.

I've used a pair of Celestion Vintage 10s driven by a tube amp on top of various 115 or 112 cabs. You could do something similar with one of the fEArful sub cabs and probably be pretty happy.

 

[MSUsousaphone]

Domestique has a great point. There's not a lot of pedals that can add hi-fi to a grit character amp (if any) but there a tons of pedals that add that grit and character to a hi-fi amp. I use the Swell B-DRIVE. Thing is FREAKING sweet. Swell just came out with the B-PEG that models an SVT. Then you could have the best of both worlds at the click of a footswitch.

 

[singlemalt]

No. Maybe... No

Stick to the plan. Or at least start there.

You can get whatever sound you want out of these cabs, just put that sound in

Sounds like you might be looking at some kind of biamp system with separate effects on the highs. If you end up not liking the stock fEarful, there are options for more advanced gear geeks. Like using an external crossover and driving a biamp rig.

If you end up going that way, a fEarful enclosure is still optimized for the 3015LF and the 18 sound mid is one killer mid driver.

Sticking to the plan will get you a whole new ball game. You will likely be very happy with the result.