This review contains impressions of a Fearless 210 made for me by Joseph Hawley of jHAWK Customs, LLC (Link Removed).
BACKGROUND
As background, I have several years of gigging experience with 15/6 and 12/6 cabs made by Don Oatman @ Low Down Sound. These well-made cabs were approximately based on Dave Green's "Greenboy" fEarless designs - with notable variations on porting. I especially liked the 12/6 because it was smaller, lighter, and adequate volume-wise for most of my gigs. The main downside - especially with the 15/6 - was the cabs were a bit too heavy and thick on the low end. I wanted to go with a bit tighter low end. I briefly gigged an AudioKensis Thunderchild 115 non-AF, which sounded amazing (especially with acoustic bass), but ultimately was too PA-like for my tastes. I looked into Greenboy's Crazy8 and Crazy88 cabs and found these lightweight cabs were terrific for acoustic bass. I'm still using the Crazy8 in rehersals and low volume gigs. But I found them to be not quite "girthy" enough for high volume electric bass. That's what triggered my interest in Greenboy's "Fearless" line of cabs, which offer all the sonic advantages of the fEARless line but with a tighter low-end. My goal was to have a lightweight cab for gigging that would work equally well for acoustic and electric bass - and provide enough volume for my jazz gigs at wineries here in Northern California.
jHAWK made me an F110 last spring. I was totally impressed with the build quality and the sonic performance surpassed all expectations. I reviewed my F110 here -->http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/bad-fearless-110-greenboy-goes-even-smaller-950735/index2.html#57. The F110's volume potential reaches a good 210, so it is more than adequate for the majority of my jazz gigs. However, there are certain outside venues that require a bit more volume capacity. Also, a louder, mainly electric bass project ("The Stormy Weathermen") is looking to start up again in a few months so I wanted to have a single cab that could handle high volume requirements that sonically performed equal to or better than the F110. I've moved heavy gear in the past, including a 100-pound Eden D410XLT and wanted to cut that in half. I also wanted a smaller form factor for an easy lift into the back of my pickup truck. Greenboy's F112 and F115 were interesting options, but one thing I love that is not offered by those cabs is a dual-driver solution. My favorite high volume cabs in the past have always entailed two drivers -- two 8" drivers in the Crazy88, two 12" drivers in a pair of Genz-Benz 112s, and two 15" drivers in a pair of Bergantino HT115s. I wanted the sonic magic of "enveloping" provided by two drivers in one cab that was lightweight and small. I briefly considered getting another F110, but decided it would be better to have a single-cab solution for ease of load-in/out.
Something Mike Arnopol said earlier in this TalkBass thread really clicked:
SPECIFICATIONS
The Fearless 210 is a 4ohm cab that uses two Eminence Kappalite 3010LF drivers, a Faital M5N12-80 mid-range driver, an Eminence APT80 high frequency driver, a Greenboy-designed crossover, and a variable L-Pad for the APT80. It comes with a switch on the back jackplate [w/two Speak-On jacks]; thw switch attenuates the mid-range driver. I really like that for use in my home studio, where the mids can overwhelm the small room. The attenuated position also provides a more relaxed feel for acoustic bass in a smaller venue, which is what I'm mostly playing these days. As a side-note, I usually leave the L-Pad on full as I like the "air" it produces for acoustic bass. Also, the crossover is so well-engineered that the spectrum of sound is smooth and integrated. The tweeter never "invades" the sound field like it can often happen with lower-grade crossovers. I've tried it attenuated and always revert back to on full. That would NEVER have happened with other cabs I've owned in the past as I usually had the tweeter turned off. With Greenboy's crossover, it now sounds like something important is missing without the tweeter on full.
Dimensions are 28.5" tall, 14.25" wide, and 15.75" deep. This cab is made with 3/8" Okoume plywood, black satin Duratex finish, and Penn Elcom plastic stacking corners. The black semi-gloss metal grill has 5/32" holes. Overall weight is about 47 pounds. One of these days I'll take it to a precision scale and provide an exact update.
The standard design specifies a Penn Elcom cup handle on top. Earlier in this thread I commented on the downsides of this design. Lifting from the top seemed too risky. I wanted a two-handed lift to negotiate the two-foot elevation into my pickup truck. I got two hernias from lifting heavy bass gear around San Francisco and am now very cautious about safety. I decided to go with two side handles (shown below) mounted about 1/3 down from the top. Two screws on the port side enter the lateral port brace for extra strength. jHAWK recommended these handles as they are lightweight and each provide 88 pounds of lift capacity. The combined capacity of 176lbs easily cover the weight of the cab. Most important: they enable a two-handed lift, which means I can squat down and safely lift the cab onto my cart, into and out of my pickup truck, or on and off a stage. The handles are the Penn Elcom H1008-00 http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/bad-fearless-110-greenboy-goes-even-smaller-950735/index2.html#57
With the side handles, the F210 is WAY easier than I thought it would be to lift and move around. Slides right into the back of my pickup cab with tons of room to spare for other gear. Also consumes an extremely small amount of space on stage and in my storage closet. For its performance, I couldn't be happier with the F210's portability.
WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE
The tone of the F210 mirrors what I've said earlier about the F110. I understand the whole family of Fearless cabs essentially sound the same - the bigger they they, the more girth is provided. Tonally, the F210 was exactly what I anticipated hearing. The "enveloping" effect was there, which added an extra full smoothness to the tone. So was the girth. As for volume - the F210 gets LOUD! Definitely at or above the territory of a good 410. In a nutshell, the F210 sounds like a "big rig." In fact, you'll do a double take because you'll hear the big rig sound and wonder "where is the big rig?" It's hard to believe that massive sound is coming out of such a small box. I completely agree with what Mark Robertson said earlier in this TalkBass thread in responding to my query about the sonic difference between the F110 and F210:
Gearwise, my amp is a Puma 900, which puts 900 watts @ 4ohms into the Fearless 210. For the new project, I'll be using a Rob Allen Solid 4 fretted electric bass (similar to an early 50's P bass). On my jazz gigs I usually use a Rob Allen Deep 4 fretless acoustic bass with black nylon tapewounds (for an upright-like tone).
ACOUSTIC RECORDING OF F210
Here is an acoustic recording from a recent winery gig using the F210, Puma 900 and Deep 4 fretless. [It was our first performance of this duet, so mercy, please!
] All EQ settings on the bass and Puma were neutral. I also used an Fdeck HPF-Pre but probably didn't need to in this outdoor venue.
PHOTOS
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BACKGROUND
As background, I have several years of gigging experience with 15/6 and 12/6 cabs made by Don Oatman @ Low Down Sound. These well-made cabs were approximately based on Dave Green's "Greenboy" fEarless designs - with notable variations on porting. I especially liked the 12/6 because it was smaller, lighter, and adequate volume-wise for most of my gigs. The main downside - especially with the 15/6 - was the cabs were a bit too heavy and thick on the low end. I wanted to go with a bit tighter low end. I briefly gigged an AudioKensis Thunderchild 115 non-AF, which sounded amazing (especially with acoustic bass), but ultimately was too PA-like for my tastes. I looked into Greenboy's Crazy8 and Crazy88 cabs and found these lightweight cabs were terrific for acoustic bass. I'm still using the Crazy8 in rehersals and low volume gigs. But I found them to be not quite "girthy" enough for high volume electric bass. That's what triggered my interest in Greenboy's "Fearless" line of cabs, which offer all the sonic advantages of the fEARless line but with a tighter low-end. My goal was to have a lightweight cab for gigging that would work equally well for acoustic and electric bass - and provide enough volume for my jazz gigs at wineries here in Northern California.
jHAWK made me an F110 last spring. I was totally impressed with the build quality and the sonic performance surpassed all expectations. I reviewed my F110 here -->http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/bad-fearless-110-greenboy-goes-even-smaller-950735/index2.html#57. The F110's volume potential reaches a good 210, so it is more than adequate for the majority of my jazz gigs. However, there are certain outside venues that require a bit more volume capacity. Also, a louder, mainly electric bass project ("The Stormy Weathermen") is looking to start up again in a few months so I wanted to have a single cab that could handle high volume requirements that sonically performed equal to or better than the F110. I've moved heavy gear in the past, including a 100-pound Eden D410XLT and wanted to cut that in half. I also wanted a smaller form factor for an easy lift into the back of my pickup truck. Greenboy's F112 and F115 were interesting options, but one thing I love that is not offered by those cabs is a dual-driver solution. My favorite high volume cabs in the past have always entailed two drivers -- two 8" drivers in the Crazy88, two 12" drivers in a pair of Genz-Benz 112s, and two 15" drivers in a pair of Bergantino HT115s. I wanted the sonic magic of "enveloping" provided by two drivers in one cab that was lightweight and small. I briefly considered getting another F110, but decided it would be better to have a single-cab solution for ease of load-in/out.
Something Mike Arnopol said earlier in this TalkBass thread really clicked:
He was talking about Greenboy's new F210, so I decided to take a closer look.
SPECIFICATIONS
The Fearless 210 is a 4ohm cab that uses two Eminence Kappalite 3010LF drivers, a Faital M5N12-80 mid-range driver, an Eminence APT80 high frequency driver, a Greenboy-designed crossover, and a variable L-Pad for the APT80. It comes with a switch on the back jackplate [w/two Speak-On jacks]; thw switch attenuates the mid-range driver. I really like that for use in my home studio, where the mids can overwhelm the small room. The attenuated position also provides a more relaxed feel for acoustic bass in a smaller venue, which is what I'm mostly playing these days. As a side-note, I usually leave the L-Pad on full as I like the "air" it produces for acoustic bass. Also, the crossover is so well-engineered that the spectrum of sound is smooth and integrated. The tweeter never "invades" the sound field like it can often happen with lower-grade crossovers. I've tried it attenuated and always revert back to on full. That would NEVER have happened with other cabs I've owned in the past as I usually had the tweeter turned off. With Greenboy's crossover, it now sounds like something important is missing without the tweeter on full.
Dimensions are 28.5" tall, 14.25" wide, and 15.75" deep. This cab is made with 3/8" Okoume plywood, black satin Duratex finish, and Penn Elcom plastic stacking corners. The black semi-gloss metal grill has 5/32" holes. Overall weight is about 47 pounds. One of these days I'll take it to a precision scale and provide an exact update.
The standard design specifies a Penn Elcom cup handle on top. Earlier in this thread I commented on the downsides of this design. Lifting from the top seemed too risky. I wanted a two-handed lift to negotiate the two-foot elevation into my pickup truck. I got two hernias from lifting heavy bass gear around San Francisco and am now very cautious about safety. I decided to go with two side handles (shown below) mounted about 1/3 down from the top. Two screws on the port side enter the lateral port brace for extra strength. jHAWK recommended these handles as they are lightweight and each provide 88 pounds of lift capacity. The combined capacity of 176lbs easily cover the weight of the cab. Most important: they enable a two-handed lift, which means I can squat down and safely lift the cab onto my cart, into and out of my pickup truck, or on and off a stage. The handles are the Penn Elcom H1008-00 http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/bad-fearless-110-greenboy-goes-even-smaller-950735/index2.html#57
With the side handles, the F210 is WAY easier than I thought it would be to lift and move around. Slides right into the back of my pickup cab with tons of room to spare for other gear. Also consumes an extremely small amount of space on stage and in my storage closet. For its performance, I couldn't be happier with the F210's portability.
WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE
The tone of the F210 mirrors what I've said earlier about the F110. I understand the whole family of Fearless cabs essentially sound the same - the bigger they they, the more girth is provided. Tonally, the F210 was exactly what I anticipated hearing. The "enveloping" effect was there, which added an extra full smoothness to the tone. So was the girth. As for volume - the F210 gets LOUD! Definitely at or above the territory of a good 410. In a nutshell, the F210 sounds like a "big rig." In fact, you'll do a double take because you'll hear the big rig sound and wonder "where is the big rig?" It's hard to believe that massive sound is coming out of such a small box. I completely agree with what Mark Robertson said earlier in this TalkBass thread in responding to my query about the sonic difference between the F110 and F210:
It's kind of the difference between any single woofer and dual woofer greenboy cab, honestly...just 'more.' I've always felt a difference in the two woofer cabs in that they sound more 'enveloping' and less 'linear' than a single woofer cab...You'll sense more 'girth' for sure, lots more volume potential, etc. The F110 and F210 would be a great choice for folks who find greenboy cabs to be too deep in the lows...they're still greenboy cabs for sure, but the lows are slight attenuated compared to the 12" or 15" based cabs. The could be wonderful news to some upright players because the clarity and evenness of tone really shines with these two models
Gearwise, my amp is a Puma 900, which puts 900 watts @ 4ohms into the Fearless 210. For the new project, I'll be using a Rob Allen Solid 4 fretted electric bass (similar to an early 50's P bass). On my jazz gigs I usually use a Rob Allen Deep 4 fretless acoustic bass with black nylon tapewounds (for an upright-like tone).
ACOUSTIC RECORDING OF F210
Here is an acoustic recording from a recent winery gig using the F210, Puma 900 and Deep 4 fretless. [It was our first performance of this duet, so mercy, please!
] All EQ settings on the bass and Puma were neutral. I also used an Fdeck HPF-Pre but probably didn't need to in this outdoor venue.PHOTOS
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