fEARful 12/6 questions

buldog5151bass

buldog5151bass

Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Oct 22, 2003
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#1
I am thinking a building a 12/6, but had some questions:

- how loud are these? I am using either a Carvin BX-500 or GK MB-500 for a head. Right now I have a Revsound 2x12, but at higher volume gigs (did one outdoors last week with a rock band with no PA support) it it not cutting it. The site says it can replace most 4x10s.

- I assume there are no flatpacks for this?

Thoughts?
 
#7
buldog5151bass said:
Anyone here with experience with this cab and how loud it is?
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I have a 12/6-cube (and a 15/6), but I'm not sure how to convey how loud it is on an internet forum.

I use my 12/6 for rehearsals, and small-to-medium gigs. (I'll be using it tomorrow night, in fact.) It has never struggled in keeping up with an un-mic'ed drummer, and I've never had to crank my amp to get the necessary volume - there's always headroom on tap. (My amp puts about 600W into it.) I'd say it's louder than a 3x10 - but very clear and open sounding.

As seen in another thread, TBer Tom Bowlus has used his 12/6 with a full band, outdoors, and it gave the band what they needed. True, they weren't playing at ear-crushing volume, but that 12/6 is sure a surprising little box.

tombowlus said:
...a single 12/6cube/1 does amazing things on its own:

Brookfest201025.jpg
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(Source)

tombowlus said:
...as I have said before, I kind of think that the 12/6cube is the sweetheart of the fEARful lineup. It can handle an outdoor gig on its own (which I did not expect)...
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(Source)

As I said, I also have a 15/6, and when I ponder which one I would keep (12/6 or 15/6) if I only wanted one, I can't decide.

It's a loud box, to be sure... but, is it loud enough for you? I couldn't say.
 
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#8
"How loud?" is so relative and subjective it's almost impossible to define, let alone answer. There are just too many individual variables.

That said, there have been more than a few nights that I've needed to move away from a single 12/6 cabinet in order to adequately hear the drummer. There were other nights that a pair of 12/6s were barely adequate.
 
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#9
I have a 12/6 cube and 15/6 as well. They are fantastic sounding cabs, but if that's the head you are using, I don't think a single 12/6 at 8 ohms is gonna be loud enough for you. The revsound looks a fair bit more efficient. 400 watts into my 12/6 will nicely keep up with a moderately loud drummer
 
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#10
wcriley said:
"How loud?" is so relative and subjective it's almost impossible to define, let alone answer. There are just too many individual variables.

That said, there have been more than a few nights that I've needed to move away from a single 12/6 cabinet in order to adequately hear the drummer. There were other nights that a pair of 12/6s were barely adequate.
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dazmond said:
I have a 12/6 cube and 15/6 as well. They are fantastic sounding cabs, but if that's the head you are using, I don't think a single 12/6 at 8 ohms is gonna be loud enough for you. The revsound looks a fair bit more efficient. 400 watts into my 12/6 will nicely keep up with a moderately loud drummer
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Obviously, it's tough to compare cabs in the abstract. While I like the Revsound, at times I feel like I am pushing the speakers a little more than I want to. I hate distortion - I like it clean full sound. No one near me that I know of has either the 12/6 or 15/5. I am trying to figure if either would give me more clean volume. Thanks all.
 
#11
I'd expect that you'd need a pair of them to do what you need/want them to do. A single 12" super cab can do some pretty amazing things but I wouldn't say that you'd be able to cover every situation with just one.

I don't have any experience with Greenboy cabs but I do have a pair of Barefaced Big Baby II's which offer very similar performance. I do a lot of gigs with a single cab that would normally be a two cab gig but for really loud stuff I always take two.
 
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#12
The fEARful 12/6 is my main cab. I use a Crown XLS 1500 bridged into it (1050 watts in 8 ohms) and I have the volume on it set at about 4 o clock, nearly maxed out. My Eden WT400 wasn't anywhere near enough power into it. I think its pretty loud kit and I always had enough clean volume with my band. However, if I could go back I'd maybe get a 1212/6 just because I really like the bass enveloping my body, which you don't get with a 12/6 (well, depending upon the room).

Also, I built mine from a flatpack from speakerhardware.com

They're very nice cabs all around, I'm amazed how hard I've pushed mine without any damage.

Here is my build thread...
fEARful 12/6 Cabinet Build Thread
 
#13
If you went with a 15/6 and and amp that had 500+ watts at 8 ohms you would be golden. I haven't had to have my 12/6 loud enough to know exactly how loud it can go.
 
#14
Something to remember. Loud is SPL. A single 12" speaker will only move so much air. More speakers (or bigger speakers) will move more air. The clean you are talking about is largely from your amp. Watts is clean. Yes you can distort your speaker if you overdrive it but as others have said the fEARful design will take a lot. Also something else to remember , a single 12 will be 8 ohms. Most likely you will get less power from your amp running at 8 ohms
 
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