GR Bass Natural Fiber cabs

[Clark Westfield]

I've been rereading this thread, did you contact GR about the cabinet grille cloth?

GR is pretty receptive on getting things right.

Also, I'm into the 212.

what is the 212 + designation?

 

[5StringPocket]

I've been rereading this thread, did you contact GR about the cabinet grille cloth?

GR is pretty receptive on getting things right.

Also, I'm into the 212.

what is the 212 + designation?

The 212+ designation is for the higher powered woofer. For the AT212 Slim, the standard model is 700W RMS and the plus model is 900W RMS but weighs more because of the beefier drivers.
AT 212 – GRBass
The AT212 has an AT212+ weight entry but no 900W RMS power entry because I don't believe it is available yet.

I wrote to [email protected] on 6/21/2023 and asked:
I'm curious why the AT212 Slim is available in 700 watt regular and 900 watt Plus models while the AT212 is only available in the 700 watt model. Is the larger cabinet volume and possibly different tuning of the AT212 incompatible with the beefier driver? Also, is the efficiency and voicing of the 350 and 450 watt 12" drivers similar?

The reply I got back:
Each of our models has a custom woofer, designed and made specifically for that cabinet.
The AT212 does not have the 900watt version because the specific woofer design does not satisfy us yet.
We're almost ready to release the 900watt AT212+ model, but first we want the sound to be exactly how we want it. The Slim version woofers need less air to sound like this, so the normal version has been redesigned.
The weight is important but the sound is more so we do not put on the market anything that does not sound exactly as we want.

Thanks
GR Support

The curious thing about this is that there is an NF212+ available in the natural fiber version, which is supposed to be virtually identical to the carbon fiber???
NF 212 – GRBass
With my fickle lower back, I'd sell a couple things and put an order in for a well-voiced 900W RMS 212 that only weighs 28.4 lbs.

UPDATE:
I just had email confirmation from GRBass that the 900 watt AT212+ is now available.

 

[gtirard]

I've been rereading this thread, did you contact GR about the cabinet grille cloth?

Yes and No. I sent them an email about the colors of the photos on the website being missleading compared to the real product (my cab), but I didn't say anything specific about the grill cloth, because to be perfectly honest, I checked again and I noticed it was indeed slightly more yellow than the photo I posted. Let's say the real color is somewhere between my initial photo (completely grey), and the photo of their website (super yellow). I can't find their answer in my email history, but I think they just replied something like "thank you for your feedback". I'll try to make a new photo
when I'm back from vacation…

 

[gtirard]

So, about the colour of the grill cloth…

My initial photo was slightly more grey than the real color.
I made a new photo, with a test sheet from my printer, where you will see grey color swatches, and made a global color correction in Photoshop to make sure that the reference grey of the test sheet is really neutral grey on the photo, so that the photo looks as true and honest as possible. Hope it makes sense.

So as you can see, the grill cloth is not completely neutral grey, it's slightly yellowish, but more grey than yellow IMO. As I said proviously, it's a bit more yellow than my initial photo (sorry), but much more grey than the photo you see on GR Bass website.

 

[gtirard]

I've seen this today on Facebook

Beautiful photo, showing the real color of the Natural Fiber cabs…

As opposed to the misleading product shoot on their website (they really need to fix this)

 

[Clark Westfield]

I've seen this today on Facebook

Beautiful photo, showing the real color of the Natural Fiber cabs…

View attachment 5157279

As opposed to the misleading product shoot on their website (they really need to fix this)

View attachment 5157284

Does the grille cloth come right off?

if so, can you post a few pics of the speakers and grille cloth?

I want to see the speakers and how difficult it may be to change the color.

 

[gtirard]

Does the grille cloth come right off?

if so, can you post a few pics of the speakers and grille cloth?

I want to see the speakers and how difficult it may be to change the color.

No, I'm 99% sure you can't replace the grill cloth.
But you should ask to [email protected], maybe they can make a custom cab for you with a different grill cloth?
I know they do custom colors for amps, on request, and I know they made a custom powered cab for a fellow talkbasser, long before they added them to their product line…

 

[OldogNewTrick]

Does anybody know what this board made from "natural fiber and recycled materials" actually is?

It would be economically unfeasable if that panel product was a GR own made product.
So there must be someone manufacturing those panels, also for other customers and other uses.
I do not know of anything wood based matching the criteria, so it'll be a NFC panel of some sorts...
The inquiring mind needs some more info.

@GR Bass Staff - any info?

 

[gtirard]

Does anybody know what this board made from "natural fiber and recycled materials" actually is?

It would be economically unfeasable if that panel product was a GR own made product.
So there must be someone manufacturing those panels, also for other customers and other uses.
I do not know of anything wood based matching the criteria, so it'll be a NFC panel of some sorts...
The inquiring mind needs some more info.

@GR Bass Staff - any info?

I have asked the same question to GR Bass support, because I wanted to use the same material for the finish of a custom amp head, but they didn't answer yet.

If they invented the technology, and even if a 3d company making the panels for them, I can understand they don't want to provide the panels separately to end users (I know the panels used for their regular carbon fiber cabs are not standard either).

 

[OldogNewTrick]

...If they invented the technology, and even if a 3d company making the panels for them, .....

I seriously doubt that they have invented anything or have the manufacturing capabilities required.
There are only a handful of companies involved in the field of NFC panels but they highlight mainly their involvement with automotive and aerospace industries.

Still, I applaude GR for using the NFC panels as an alternative to carbon composites.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

Can anyone comment on the durability of this NF material, whatever it is? Equivalent to CF? Something else? How easy is it to dent? And so forth. Thanks!

 

[bertthebassist]

The Natural Fibers are too new to know how durable they are.
There simply is not very many of them out there yet.
The construction process is similar to the Carbon Fiber.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

The Natural Fibers are too new to know how durable they are.
There simply is not very many of them out there yet.
The construction process is similar to the Carbon Fiber.

I was Mike Arnopol's first commercial customer for the fiberglass cabs he sold for a while. Great idea, but there were big issues with the hardware coming loose that took a while to sus out. I tried several and they didn't work out. So I'm gun shy about "natural fiber" whatever that is!

 

[Barticus]

I was Mike Arnopol's first commercial customer for the fiberglass cabs he sold for a while. Great idea, but there were big issues with the hardware coming loose that took a while to sus out. I tried several and they didn't work out. So I'm gun shy about "natural fiber" whatever that is!

Who is Mike, is he the owner of GR bass?

 

[JKos]

Who is Mike, is he the owner of GR bass?

No, Michael Arnopol of Michael Arnopol Soundworks.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

No, Michael Arnopol of Michael Arnopol Soundworks.

Correct. He had a ton of great ideas for bass amplification. The fiberglass concept didn't work out, apparently due to limitations of physics. Some of these issues take time to unfold, which is why I'm asking the "tough questions" now - esp. with the price tag!

On the plus side, GR has done the carbon fiber thing for a while and there don't seem to be reports of structural failure with that medium. That's a good sign.

 

[5StringPocket]

I'm impressed with the cabinets and the carbon fiber composite looks pretty strong, but I wonder how dent-resistant those chrome corner trim pieces are? I'd imagine you'd handle with care and use protective covers but things do happen...

 

[Barticus]

I'm impressed with the cabinets and the carbon fiber composite looks pretty strong, but I wonder how dent-resistant those chrome corner trim pieces are? I'd imagine you'd handle with care and use protective covers but things do happen...

Fair point on the metal trim parts I saw one for sale recently that had some damage on the metal edge that probably should've been replaced with some type of composite edge corner versus metal IMHO.

 

[lomo]

Correct. He had a ton of great ideas for bass amplification. The fiberglass concept didn't work out, apparently due to limitations of physics. Some of these issues take time to unfold, which is why I'm asking the "tough questions" now - esp. with the price tag!

IIRC Mike also developed significant health issues (respiratory, etc) related to working closely with the carbon.

 

[N. Kentucky Bass]

IIRC Mike also developed significant health issues (respiratory, etc) related to working closely with the carbon.

He did, unfortunately. But I think this was from residue from the fiberglass. Carbon fiber, I think is a different process and substance? (Which is unrelated to the "natural fiber" I presume!)