Show your Bill Fitzmaurice cab

[Dragonlord]

I could do some recordings of my rig using an Omni 15 vs a pair of EA Wizzys, both powered by my iAmp 800....but I'm not sure a mic is going to present an accurate representation of what the Omnis sound like. The movement of air is hard to capture with mics.

Definitely, but it's still better than nothing... it could give some rough idea to someone who's tried a wizzy.

 

[Maurice Carr]

No, what I meant was that we rarely gig, I'm a hobbyist,

[embarrassed] Oh, I knew I had something stuffed up - sorry about that [/embarrassed]

Mo

 

[Chuck King]

This is all very interesting (sincerely). I've bought plans for several of Bill F.'s cabinets and I'm kicking around which one(s) I want to build, so all information about them is useful.

But...

This is a "Show your..." thread, and it's been three pages of posts with NO NEW PICTURES?!?!?

 

[bgavin]

The best place to see pictures is on the Frapper banner at Bill's site.

 

[bassksun]

The best place to see pictures is on the Frapper banner at Bill's site.

b-
I think the thread starter wants TBer's to show "their" BFMs.

 

[Petebass]

The best place to see pictures is on the Frapper banner at Bill's site.

But Bills site is full of people from all walks of life. I prefer a bass player's perspective.

 

[BBMS]

Here's an Omni10 (with a Tuba24) I built:

 

[Bassflute]

Here's an Omni10 (with a Tuba24) I built:

Esp compared to the trace stuff in the background.

Thanks,
Cameron

 

[BBMS]

The Omni10 sounds very good. As another review indicated, the highs are very clean, and it has very nice depth. I did have another TalkBass member A/B the Omni10 and the Trace Elliot 1248. He preferred the TE because it has more "punch" than the Omni10. In defense of the Omni10, I built it with B102 drivers, with the intention of using the cabinet with the T24, which the B102s are more suited. Also, the TE has 4 12s. OTOH, it's pretty close. The main reason I started building the cabinets was to have somthing with greater depth for stability in moving around on my "industrial or agricultural" cart (as another TB'er pointed out). The TE is much taller than deep, which made it a hassle to pull around. The Fitzmaurice cabs are much more suited for my purposes. I still use the TE with a five stringer. I also have two Ampeg BA112s,a BA210SP, and a Carvin BRX212.

 

[mchildree]

Ok, I had the chance to do a very unscientific and down-n-dirty series of recordings last night after sound check.

The signal chain was my iAmp 800 --> (2) EA Wizzy cabs or (1) Bill Fitzmaurice Omni 15 --> AKG CS1000S condenser --> Mackie 1604 VLZ --> laptop running Cool Edit Pro. I set the iAmp eq to my usual gig tone for electric bass, which is flat with the Contour I preset engaged (enhances fingerstyle playing according to EA manuals). The eq on the mixer and in Cool Edit are flat. The room is pretty large and "live", so I was limited to placing the mic 3 ft. away from both rigs...this was the most I could do before too much "room" crept into the sound (there's still more than I'd like, but you can't close mic either of these cabinets). I used my G&L L2000, strung with nickel rounds and my Fender '62 RI P-bass strung with TI Jazz Flats. Played fingerstyle only, and tried my best to consistently play the same little passage that covered a good bit of the neck up to the 12th fret. I'll give you the mp3s and let you judge for yourself before I add any of my own impressions.

Things to keep in mind: I didn't change any of the gain or volume settings when changing between basses or cabinets, but I did use the passive input for the Fender and the active input for the G&L, which accounts for the fact that the Fender is a bit louder. Also remember that the pair of Wizzys takes the load on the iAmp down to 2 ohms. The single Omni 15 is an 8 ohm load.

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[Crockettnj]

wow, even with the tweets off the omni seems to have far greater upper end extension (upper mids? highs?) than the wizzy. At least it sounded that way through my tiny little ipod earbuds.

thanks for the sound clips.

 

[bgavin]

I'm playing the MP3 back through a 60w Yamaha amp and a pair of Pioneer HPM-100 reference monitors.

The L2000 sounds louder than the P-Bass.

I hear the Whizzy sounding more scooped in the mids. The Omni seems more full here. I also hear greater high extension with the Omni.

Nice chops, by the way.

As to the Omni tweeters, what I hear most is finger noise. Installing an on/off switch with the tweeters is a good thing. IMO, the slight improvement they add to the timbre is not worth the extra finger noise.

 

[billfitzmaurice]

Ok, I had the chance to do a very unscientific and down-n-dirty series of recordings last night after sound check.

I prefer the tone of mine with the LPad on the tweeter set at 12:00, with it wide open the upper end is a bit much. Also, the response of an O15 built without a tweeter isn't he same as the response of one with the tweeter turned off. The midrange crosses over to the tweeter at 2.5kHz, so if you turn the tweeter off that effectively limits the -10dB HF response to about 3kHz. If the tweeter is omitted, allowing the midrange driver to run to the top of its range, the -10dB HF response extends to about 6kHz. For bass use I'd expect 4 out of 5 players would find the tweeter unnecessary.

 

[Bassflute]

Ok, I had the chance to do a very unscientific and down-n-dirty series of recordings last night after sound check.

The signal chain was my iAmp 800 --> (2) EA Wizzy cabs or (1) Bill Fitzmaurice Omni 15 --> AKG CS1000S condenser --> Mackie 1604 VLZ --> laptop running Cool Edit Pro. I set the iAmp eq to my usual gig tone for electric bass, which is flat with the Contour I preset engaged (enhances fingerstyle playing according to EA manuals). The eq on the mixer and in Cool Edit are flat. The room is pretty large and "live", so I was limited to placing the mic 3 ft. away from both rigs...this was the most I could do before too much "room" crept into the sound (there's still more than I'd like, but you can't close mic either of these cabinets). I used my G&L L2000, strung with nickel rounds and my Fender '62 RI P-bass strung with TI Jazz Flats. Played fingerstyle only, and tried my best to consistently play the same little passage that covered a good bit of the neck up to the 12th fret. I'll give you the mp3s and let you judge for yourself before I add any of my own impressions.

Things to keep in mind: I didn't change any of the gain or volume settings when changing between basses or cabinets, but I did use the passive input for the Fender and the active input for the G&L, which accounts for the fact that the Fender is a bit louder. Also remember that the pair of Wizzys takes the load on the iAmp down to 2 ohms. The single Omni 15 is an 8 ohm load.

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First time I've actually got to hear some of Fitz's cabs. I am really intrigued, now. Seems like his claims are true!

I might have to try building one of thos things. Do his plans include any options to do a 4 ohm cab? And how about uprading the speakers/ tweeters to something more high-end? Not meaning to insult any gear you may have, just wondering about the plans themselves.

Thanks,
Cameron

 

[Rick James]

Nice licks. My O15 kills, and my DR250/T39 is even better. You said you didn't adjust the amp volume? The O15 tracks sound just as loud as the Whizzy tracks, but the Whizzys are supposed to be 103dB efficient, if their specs are for real two of them at 2 ohms should be a lot louder than one 8 ohm O15?

 

[mchildree]

As I expected, what can be heard in these recordings isn't exactly what I heard as I did it. I'll be the first to admit that my high-range hearing is severely damaged, so I don't hear things that others might.

I do agree that the tweeters seem to add a but more detail, but at the expense of finger and fret noise. That little bit of extra detail probably wouldn't be heard much in the context of a full mix, anyway.

As to the differences I perceived "in person", the Omni was much fuller in the lows, but seemed to be in the range where it's felt more than heard. I can't say whether one sounded more scooped than the other, but if you'll notice (especially with the P-bass) the mids get a tad honky at times with the Wizzys, which didn't happen with the Omni. It seemed to be more pronounced as the volume was increased. At very loud volumes..and I'm talking volumes I'd never play, it was apparent that the Wizzys were at the limit of their practical range while the Omni sounded like it was idling. I noticed too, that the Omni tended to make everything (even my upright) sound very clean, very clear. Two Omni 15's? We're talking sonic destruction....

Maybe the Omni 15 vs Wizzys comparison isn't as fair as an Omni 12 might be, due to driver size etc. Also, on a practical note, the Omni 15 is large enough that I probably wouldn't use it for bass on most gigs. I'm seriously considering building one of the smallest Omnis for upright bass now, since small cabs universally work better for URB.

Comparisons aside, I have to say it's pretty thrilling to get sound this good from something I built myself.

 

[mchildree]

Nice licks. My O15 kills, and my DR250/T39 is even better. You said you didn't adjust the amp volume? The O15 tracks sound just as loud as the Whizzy tracks, but the Whizzys are supposed to be 103dB efficient, if their specs are for real two of them at 2 ohms should be a lot louder than one 8 ohm O15?

Thanks!

Nope, left the volumes unchanged. As I said, the only difference is the input I used on the iAmp...the active input is padded somewhat, I'm sure. Again, I think the recordings might be a bit deceptive. The apparent loudness of the pair of Wizzys was a little more than the Omni, but it might be due more to the pronounced mid response. However, I agree that it would seem the 2-ohm load of the Wizzys would generate a bunch more volume than the 8-ohm Omni. The difference really wasn't that great, though. Interesting, huh?

Also, there was quite a bit of "depth" (for lack of a better term) from the Omni that didn't really show up on the recordings. The mic was a mid-level small diaphragm AKG, so I guess we can't expect big-time performance from it.

 

[Rick James]

his plans include any options to do a 4 ohm cab? And how about uprading the speakers/ tweeters to something more high-end? Not meaning to insult any gear you may have, just wondering about the plans themselves.

Thanks,
Cameron

You don't need 4 ohms, this thing has 105dB efficiency for real, I run my Eden 2 notches lower than I did with my last cab, and that was an El Whappo. Same goes for upgrading the components, its already better than any cab I've ever heard, including the AG, which I sold after playing one gig with the Omni.

 

[Bassflute]

You don't need 4 ohms, this thing has 105dB efficiency for real, I run my Eden 2 notches lower than I did with my last cab, and that was an El Whappo. Same goes for upgrading the components, its already better than any cab I've ever heard, including the AG, which I sold after playing one gig with the Omni.

and you don't work for Fitz?

Seems like Mr. Fitz may just be the real deal. I'm gonna get on one of these babies soon, then.

Been looking for a big cab for a 4x10 type gig, but every 4x10 in the world sounds boxy as hell to me. Maybe this omni 15 thing will work.

Is the response really fast, or would you consider it slow/medium? How about slap/fretless?

Thanks for your help,
Cameron

>>> Fitzy needs to put some MP3's on his site <<<

 

[BBMS]

If you built the Omni10, the two 8 ohm drivers could create a 4 ohm cabinet. MY