Poll for carbon fiber cabs owners

[gtirard]

I've seen reports of vibration issues with carbon fiber cabs here and there, or other problems of reliability.

Is it a small but vocal minority, or does this concern a significant percentage?

 

[gtirard]

My NF210V arrived with a vibration issue that made it useless.
GR Bass support was super nice and efficient, they repaired my cab very quickly (I live in France).
It sounded great and worked perfectly well until I sold it (because I prefered another cab).
Now I have the feeling that there's a structural risk in the technology itself, but maybe I was just unlucky?

 

[darev]

Huh, I guess there is such a thing as too light.

 

[Gecko 5]

I had a GR 212 Slim. Gigged it 8-10 times. Loved it.
Sold it to get a GR 212 Slim Plus. After 2 gigs, one of the rubber feet fell off.
I have 2 friends that also have GR 's. They had the same issue.
Still love it
EDIT - GR was super helpful and sent me 4 new feet. From Italy
But they also said they never heard of this happening.
I posted my foot problem in a GR Facebook group.
NUMEROUS people responded that they had the same problem with the rubber feet tearing off

 

[TOOL460002]

I voted "carrots" because I legitimately didn't know CF cabs were a thing, and I'm really into light gear. Cool thread. Thanks.

 

[gtirard]

I had a GR 212 Slim. Gigged it 8-10 times. Loved it.
Sold it to get a GR 212 Slim Plus. After 2 gigs, one of the rubber feet fell off.
I have 2 friends that also have GR 's. They had the same issue.
Still love it
EDIT - GR was super helpful and sent me 4 new feet. From Italy
But they also said they never heard of this happening.
I posted my foot problem in a GR Facebook group.
NUMEROUS people responded that they had the same problem with the rubber feet tearing off

Interesting, I'm not surprised. I think their support is a mix of bad faith and very helpful, probably like many other brands, but I'm used to more sincere and trustful relations with other high end music gear builders.

Fortunately, social media like Facebook and Talkbass enable us to know if a problem is isolated or structural, it's the purpose of this poll.

Is everything fine with the replacement feet they sent you?

 

[gtirard]

I voted "carrots" because I legitimately didn't know CF cabs were a thing, and I'm really into light gear. Cool thread. Thanks.

Yes, like many of us, light gear is great if it's not at the expense of reliability.
I've added the questions "I would / would'nt buy it again" at the last minute, because some of us may find small issues acceptable.

 

[monsterthompson]

I had a few problems with a composite material cab years ago. It wasn’t carbon fiber, and I’m sure the builds are better now. I wouldn’t go down that road again, and I’ve been pretty happy with Barefaced cabs. Still curious what others have to say here.

 

[gtirard]

I had a few problems with a composite material cab years ago. It wasn’t carbon fiber, and I’m sure the builds are better now. I wouldn’t go down that road again, and I’ve been pretty happy with Barefaced cabs. Still curious what others have to say here.

Exactly the same. After my GR Cab was fixed I sold because I prefered the sound of my Barefaced cab, which was almost equally lightweight (and felt much more reliable). But I'm still curious.

 

[chris_b]

Exactly the same. After my GR Cab was fixed I sold because I prefered the sound of my Barefaced cab, which was almost equally lightweight (and felt much more reliable). But I'm still curious.

I've been gigging my Barefaced SC/SM and BB2/SM rigs for more than 10 and 6 years respectively. I've had no issues so far. I don't feel the need to go to CF cabs.

 

[Kevin Hailey]

I’ve been using a GR 110 for just over two years. Zero issues.
Certainly don’t want to see it bounce down a set of stairs like an old Epifani cab I had (with no problem)

 

[logdrum]

Even @agedhorse asked about this CF structural integrity (I vaguely remember ). In fact I was surprised because he works in the PA world also and designs cabinets and expected him to know. But it looks like it is not used widely as you would expect. I might be wrong in what I remembered and my search did not point to his post about it - apologies in advance. I'd be interested in what he says about CF use for cabs.

 

[gtirard]

Even @agedhorse asked about this CF structural integrity (I vaguely remember ). In fact I was surprised because he works in the PA world also and designs cabinets and expected him to know. But it looks like it is not used widely as you would expect. I might be wrong in what I remembered and my search did not point to his post about it - apologies in advance. I'd be interested in what he says about CF use for cabs.

1. It's always difficult to find an old comment from him, even with the "filter by member" search feature, because he posts so many comments… I tried several times, then decided to stop. Now when I see a comment from him that I know I'd like to be able to find in the future, I use the bookmark feature. But it's getting hard to searh inside my list of bookmarks now.
2. I guess it's a bit of a challenge for him to give a technical opinion about a competitor's technology, but I'm always impressed with the way he manages to always provide technically relevant analysis, based on his expeirence, without being partial or disloyal to competitors. I hope he chimes in.

 

[logdrum]

1. It's always difficult to find an old comment from him, even with the "filter by member" search feature, because he posts so many comments… I tried several times, then decided to stop. Now when I see a comment from him that I know I'd like to be able to find in the future, I use the bookmark feature. But it's getting hard to searh inside my list of bookmarks now.
2. I guess it's a bit of a challenge for him to give a technical opinion about a competitor's technology, but I'm always impressed with the way he manages to always provide technically relevant analysis, based on his expeirence, without being partial or disloyal to competitors. I hope he chimes in.

He seems to be pretty level headed about competitors, he is pretty professional about it. For example someone was bashing GK and he was was defending GK in a way and rightly so. Between him and Jeff from Genzler they know a lot about cab design. The vertical array on Genzler cabs-- I saw that first on hi-fi and they adopted it for bass cabs. I won't be surprised if opposing woofers like those found on Barefoot Studio monitors will be adopted. I also expected Barefoot to explore CF as they are usually bleeding edge, but who knows if there are more acoustic issues if you use that material for what they want to achieve.

 

[gtirard]

1. It's always difficult to find an old comment from him, even with the "filter by member" search feature, because he posts so many comments… I tried several times, then decided to stop. Now when I see a comment from him that I know I'd like to be able to find in the future, I use the bookmark feature. But it's getting hard to searh inside my list of bookmarks now.

Reply to myself - ChatGPT can help finding inside Talkbass:

ChatGPT - TalkBass carbon fiber comments

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[Dabndug]

My GR 112 and 210 cabs have done a few gigs (powered by my TH500) and have been stellar. No dents, no failures and the easiest load-in outside of going purely FOH.

 

[Krakmann]

Salud!

Mine, a Lightbox 112, has been perfect from day one and no issues since then (edit: like 3 years ago?). It's not the best sounding cab in the world, but I got it for the weight (and it sounds perfectly fine) and would do it again in a second if it ever fails. Every time somebody lifts it, there is eyebrow arching and "where did you buy this? I have to tell my buddy".

 

[Fonkamex]

I am glad you bring up this question. I didn’t know carbon fiber cabs already exist. I love innovation.

 

[FightMilk]

Had a powered GR 212. The small knobs on the back for bass and treble adjustments were pushed out of the cab by the force of just playing bass. It caused a giant super loud buzz rendering the amp what I thought totally busted. I pushed the knobs back deeper into the cab and it went away. Amp sounded so good but I wouldn’t risk that happening live so it was sold. Why are knobs moving around this bass amp is beyond me lol.

 

[micguy]

Carbon fiber is often used as a replacement for steel, as it can (in many places) save weight.

Replacing wood is different. Carbon fiber composite is 3x the density of maple - it’s far more dense than any wood. So, if you want to make a light weight cabinet from carbon fiber, you need to use thin cross sections. That brings with it vibration, damping, and strength (impact) issues that need to be managed

It’s a good material for some applications. I’m not sure this is the best application for it