I sprang for fEARful about 5 years ago. That was before the fearless models. But I'm finished with cabs for many years. 
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Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
- Jan 21, 2006
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@jlepre — Fearless are (often) quite light, a bit smoother in response, and in a word a little more refined. I can't say I hear a big difference, as each can be EQ'd to sound how I want. At that point there is not really much difference that matters to me. I'm deliriously happy with my fEARfuls, so I haven't gotten anything else. 
I think you're going to be happy with your F112, and I'm using the word happy as a conservative term here.
I owned an F110, and going by that and Ed Friedland's review of the F112, don't be shy about giving that cab some juice!
Edit: My apologies, I forgot to mark any differences I found! I concede to the other comments; the Less cab seemed more refined.
I owned an F110, and going by that and Ed Friedland's review of the F112, don't be shy about giving that cab some juice!
Edit: My apologies, I forgot to mark any differences I found! I concede to the other comments; the Less cab seemed more refined.
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I'm a fairly decent woodworker and have thought about building a Fearful 126. Would it work if I bought the components used in the fearless f112 and put them in Fearful cab? Where would I get the crossover? What horn are they using? Looks like the mid driver is different but the sub is the same.
okcrum
in your chest
Yeah. But you're not going to be the idiot that tosses a bottle or chair at it, or tips over a mike stand, or picks up a stand and steps back putting the base through the grill and possibly damage a driver either.
But like everything, YMMV. I personally don't like the look of metal grills. That said, if I'm roading something a lot, I've come to appreciate their practicality. (I always make provisions for worst case because I'm not a particularly lucky individual.)
Yeah, you can always hammer them out and respray if needed. I never could sew worth a damn.
- Dec 3, 2003
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You'd need to buy a FEARLESS cab and reverse engineer it. The mid drivers are not even the same size and the crossover design is proprietary. Even if you reverse engineer you may have to make your own inductors too. I don't know, and even though Dave Green is a close friend I would not ask him.
As an aside, I was pretty heavily involved in the early stages of the fEARful thing. Dave and I (and others) tried pretty hard to give DIYers the resources to do their own designs and/or mods, and quite a few have. Personally, I'd love to see a lot more of that though.
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popgadget
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The Fearless cabs are not tuned quite as low as the fEARful, and the different drivers and crossover smooth out the the overall response. It's a very noticeable difference with full range program material. They are noticeably more compact and lighter.
If you are a competent builder, and your primary use is for an electric bass, the fEARful would be a good project. As has been pointed out, you won't save a lot of money in the process though.
The F112 shown with the fabric grill has the fabric attached to a wood frame. It was the first and last one I would do that way. The frame was fairly complex to make it rigid enough due to the close driver spacing, it was way more work than I expected.
If you are a competent builder, and your primary use is for an electric bass, the fEARful would be a good project. As has been pointed out, you won't save a lot of money in the process though.
The F112 shown with the fabric grill has the fabric attached to a wood frame. It was the first and last one I would do that way. The frame was fairly complex to make it rigid enough due to the close driver spacing, it was way more work than I expected.
One of these days, I'm going to check out these cabinets to see if I like them as much as some of you do.
I'll just do a Fearful cab. I like the look of natural wood. Is solid wood suitable for construction?
Doug Parent
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You can buy a flat pack of precut wood and all the guts for a 12/6/1 for around $600 from speaker hardware, I'll probably be doing that this summer. They do offer upgraded lightweight drivers for $100 more or so if I recall, I might go that route. I've built my own Home stereo speakers from a kit from parts express, still surprisingly time-consuming even when it's all cut out for you. That said, one speaker will take a lot less time than two, and I won't be putting veneer on the fearful. Heck, it'll almost build itself 
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That's typically not considered a very good choice for bass cabs in terms of structural engineering, good plywood is generally much more desirable if optimizing stiffness/weight and panel neutrality is part of your design brief.
Jim Carr
Dr. Jim
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I understand the appeal, but high quality plywood is stronger, stiffer, lighter, less prone to warp or split, resists cracking as it ages, damps resonance, and gives you a lot of choices. There are a lot of good products that will work very well, but Baltic Birch 1/2" plywood is the gold standard, and Okoume marine plywood in thinner grades is as strong and even lighter than Baltic Birch.
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Thanks for the input guys. I do appreciate it. I think I'm going to use ply for this "first" one and think of other ways to church it up. I've got other projects woodworking related that I can do for nicer woods at the moment.
I did read on some other sites that species of wood is important. Denser woods like pauduk and bubinga or Wenge would be good choices for cabs do to stiffness/rigidity but not on the lighter side. I may try this later on. I'm not looking to gig a cab like this. It would be specifically for my practice room.
I did read on some other sites that species of wood is important. Denser woods like pauduk and bubinga or Wenge would be good choices for cabs do to stiffness/rigidity but not on the lighter side. I may try this later on. I'm not looking to gig a cab like this. It would be specifically for my practice room.
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Is okoume pretty common? Local lumber yard hasale birch ply and ash ply. Would ash be suitable?