Cabinet selection

Amps & Cabs
1

I’ve been contemplating a Fryette 4x12 cab for sometime now, between the Deliverance and the Fat Bottom, but could use some insight. I will be using it with a Deliverance head. I’ve been leaning towards the Fat Bottom for the reason that it has the angled baffle. I don’t care much for straight cabs usually because I can’t hear them as well as angled cabs, especially in a situation where I’m stuck close to it. That’s why I’m leaning towards the Fat Bottom. But I’d like to get some input from others. How do they compare tonally, response wise, and being able to hear them, especially when in a position of only being able to be a couple of feet away?

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I have FB412 with Fanes and an older D412 with P-50Es. The D412 is the old style with the front-mounted speakers so I can’t really comment precisely on the newer version. The heads I use with these are a Deliverance 60 head and a Pittbull 50/CL as well.

First of all, I have played my Deliverance 60 through the FB412 a bunch of times and it sounds excellent. It scratches a very specific itch for me. Usually I run the Deliverance through the D412 and the Pittbull through the FB412, but I’ve noted two things: the Deliverance is just plain more aggressive than the 50/CL, and the FB412 is more aggressive than the D412. Put them together and it’s deadly.

The main differences between the cabinets (assuming you’re comparing them with the same speakers) are going to be the low-end response (due to the bracing etc.) and if you’re comparing the new D412 then I would guess also the very top-end (due to the front vs. rear mounted speakers). I’ll comment on the bass response only. Fryette markets the D412 as having a “rounder” or “old school” or “omni” feel to the bass response and I think that is absolutely accurate. I won’t try to make precise ascriptions since my D412 has P-50es and not Fanes, but I think there is definitely some truth to the FB cab being very good at controlling the energy you put into it through the front of the cab, including the majority of the bass energy, whereas the D cab tends to radiate a lot of that low frequency energy all around it. The D cab will have a looser feel with transients as well which can be very nice sounding.

Hearing Steve and Joe talk about the new D cab really makes me want to try one. Maybe soon…

Last words: the angled baffle in the FB is truly ingenious and IMO very effective. You will not have problems hearing yourself with it. I don’t have problems hearing myself with the D cab either but I play obnoxiously loud.

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3

Thanks! That was very helpful. I prefer to play really loud too, and am able to in one band. But not so much in the other band due to where we rehearse.

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as it turned out the opportunity to compare the new vs old D412 presented itself to me sooner than later.

(FB412-F70G / D412-P50E / D412-F70G)

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first thoughts:

  • No more caster cups on top? I thought steve was a friend of the full stack?
  • The new D412 does indeed have a similar low end response and overall feel in the transients to the old D412, with the main difference being the midrange and top end (presumably due to driver selection and mounting)
  • The new D412 does not seems hard to monitor compared to the FB, but I haven’t brought it into band practice yet, just low volume with the pittbull. I’ll plug my D60 into it and crank it up.
  • The new D412 compared to the FB412: you can tell it’s the same driver model but the overall response is quite different both on the low end and high end. the D definitely has the omni directional low end thing going on but importantly sounds rounder on the top end too. granted the FB has been driven hard for over 5 years and the new D is virgin, so we’ll see how it plays out. excited to bring this on the road.
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