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fEARFUL the solution to everything
- Thread starter Warwick Qc418
- Start date
We understand your irrational, archaic objections.
However, resistance is futile - you WILL be assimilated.
However, resistance is futile - you WILL be assimilated.
bassboysam said:Sorry but i have to ask, how does one hear the uncoloured tone of their bass? what tone are we talking about? How can you even know what the uncoloured tone is? how is "bass" defined here? Is it the wood? Pickups? Strings? Bridge? A combination of stuff? how do you know if a cab or amp is or is not adding colour? what is the reference point? and why do we call it colour when we cant see it?
Anyone? i am really curious.
I have driven 3+ hours on several occasions with my big arse 66 in tow just to let someone try it for an hour. No bother to me. I just asked that they brought all their amps and a couple of fancy basses for me to noodle on (unplugged) while they abused my baby.
Honestly this is one really positive factor in the Fearful thing. Its no bs and it is all very much about sharing and helping others.
The negative thing is that someone asks about a cab. Someone recommends Fearful. Then that person researches and finds that its a network of builders. Then you have to contact the builders and find out if they will accept the project, how long it will take, etc. The process could be streamlined down a bit. But then it wouldn't be the same.
A lot of people love the whole customization process. But I think more people just want a good off the shelf cab that has the size of speakers, impedance, and power handling the player has in mind.
I hear you on this. I loved the setup I had prior to building my 66. The only reason I built the 66 was because I wanted more, I wanted something different, and nothing at my local GC tickled my fancy. I hadn't done anything for my self in years (single father) and I needed a project to look forward to just to keep myself normal. 20 days later and the Grey Ghost was done. Best thing I did, but some of my buddies don't get it. They like their Eden's and GK's. Who am I to blame them? I like how their rigs sound too..... I just like mine better. Mainly because I can sound like THEM if I want to, but they can't sound like me if I don't want them to.
I have played my Mesa through a vintage flatback 810. It was very nice, very heavy, and very large. It is one of the tone icons from the past that still is viable, something which a lot of the rigs from the day can't say. No idea what bass rigs will be 40 years from now. I suspect the Fearful stuff will fare better than some of the contemporary stuff around now when examined after a few decades.
Well, putting your ear to the wood will tell you what everything but the pickups/electronics sounds like.
And plugging into a "transparent-ish" studio pre and powered monitors will tell you what the whole thing sounds like.
Me, I like what mine sound like from the post-EQ DI of my amp. (Sometimes with some pedals in the chain, sometimes not.). In a decent PA, or studio monitor, or even good cans, I like it. So that goes to the house (if available), and I hear pretty much the same thing in my cab. Or if I'm not in the PA (like last night, pretty common) I just turn it up and *everybody* hears the same thing.
Especially the poor guitar player, if he ends up standing in front of it for a set.
No Ampeg, Markbass, Aguilar or GK cab would work for me long term -- not interested in carrying multiple cabs or 150+lbs around. Any cab I need help to get on stage is out.
Pretty much only the GK 4x12 / 8x10, or Markbass 8x10 would potentially work, and neither one would have the midrange dispersion I crave. Been all dedicated midrange driver for years now and I'm not going back.
Could most players find something that'd work from amongst the big vendors? Yeah, probably, but it wouldn't bring as much stick per pound.
Yep, and some of us may just prefer having both options. Still waiting on the first completely uncolored bass cab though. Or uncolored anything cab, for that matter.
I guess you could instead define it as platonic ideal forms of tone.
on one end of the spectrum there is the ultimate clean tone. The straight wire with gain (constructed out of unobtanium). Perfect harmonic and fundamental.
The other side you have the "holy grail amp tone"*. Let's just say it's some ineffable combination of heft, sustain, note definition and power.
Neither is ever completely achievable is it?
*for me its a Traynor YBA1a
what kind of movie there is this morning?
I'm preparing pop corn and beer, let's see what happens. boy...be prepared...
by the way, I'm way more tired of reading the exact same arguments and posts commented by the same authors with the same words and sentencies (wich happens almost every week on TB) than following an absurd but somewhat new opinion...kind of strange for a forum
The previous comment works best for me. A new discourse about tone/voicing/form factor. Lovely. I wonder anyone gets the time to actually play bass. You know, get better at it.
Ya dun need a termite studio Laddy - get a 12/6 flat pack driver kit and you could put it together in a day on a kitchen table.
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Or if you just want to try one check out the fEARful user map
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Well, most of the companies I mentioned have cabinets that weigh significantly less than 150+ lbs. As a matter of fact, ALL of them have lightweight offerings. Most players realized long ago that they don't need a thousand watts on stage, and they don't need a single cabinet to handle that load.
Your needs (and mine, for that matter) are more of an anomaly, not the norm. We do ourselves a disservice when we pretend that we represent the norm.
I've played my custom 15/6 and 1212/6 in front of a lot of musicians around here. Well over 100 gigs in the last few years. Some have been curious, but none (that I know of) have been willing to spend the time and money to try one for themselves. Their needs are met with commercial offerings.
Do tell? This is why sales of any cab larger than a 210 have fallen to nothing? Or why any 810 has been sold in the past 10 years?
I think your statement of "most players" is erroneous, and I counter with:
Many players out there are in situations where they have to hang with Marshall half stacks, drummers with anger management issues, and zero PA support.
Further more its not about power. Power is cheap. Its about displacement. If you get enough with a 410, or and 810, or a 1515/66 powered by what ever amp then that is as much as you need.
Can't say I follow your first paragraph..
Honestly, I'm seeing less and less "Marshall half stacks". Outside of the metal genre, most guitarists seem to be going with smaller and smaller amps and cabinets. It's not surprising today to see even national acts with a backline of smaller combo tube amps.
It's been my experience that, outside the limited confines of TB, most bassists don't think that 1,000 watts is a "minimum requirement" like most will parrot here. Again with "displacement", most are getting all of the stage volume they need with commercial offerings. Not to say there aren't more efficient offerings out there, but most players simply don't see the need.
If 210's were all anyone needed thats all that would be sold. I still see offerings of larger cabs from all manufacturers though.
If greater volume needs didnt exist there would be no "what is a louder rig than what I have?" threads.
My point is that this isnt a "confines of power" discussion. I can go pick up a 1,500 watt amp and pre amp for less cash than some 300 watt heads are going for. The confines of most amp/cab/volume discussions are the cab. People need to have realistic expectations of what their cab can do.
