What is the deal with FRFR cab makers?

Greg Ferguson said:
I’m sorry but you are dealing with this. It’s a major PITA.

I’m the sort that expects when I’ve paid more than the average it better work more than the average.

Things wear out over time, sure, but it still chaps my as* if I don’t get what I perceive as a reasonable life from something. That’s based partly on what I paid, and partly on the construction of the unit, which is adjusted by my experience from years of buying and using equipment.

I’m happy to wear something out, or to find it needs to be re-tubed or re-capped, because, if my choice of the gear was smart enough, it will be years down the road and the repairs will last for a long time.
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Agree on all points!
 
FWIW, I'm using an RCF ART 708A that I've had for years and it still sounds great. No special treatment. I've been using it for both guitar and bass rigs with the FM3 and FM9. I played a Jeff Beck tribute show last night and used the 708 - it sounded brilliant. It was so nice to be able crank it up loud and get some great sustain and controlled feedback.

Recently I joined a metal band playing bass and the rehearsals were f**king loud so I went ahead and bought the 710 - it's nearly double the power so it's got quite a bit more headroom.
 
hippietim said:
FWIW, I'm using an RCF ART 708A that I've had for years and it still sounds great. No special treatment. I've been using it for both guitar and bass rigs with the FM3 and FM9. I played a Jeff Beck tribute show last night and used the 708 - it sounded brilliant. It was so nice to be able crank it up loud and get some great sustain and controlled feedback.

Recently I joined a metal band playing bass and the rehearsals were f**king loud so I went ahead and bought the 710 - it's nearly double the power so it's got quite a bit more headroom.
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Just to say it, I wouldn't have the nads to play guitar in a JB tribute show, respect.
 
UPDATE on CLR:

Actually talked with Tom King on the phone today. Very long story short, I'm sending him my amplifier only for replacement of the DSP modules. After discussion he feels certain this is the issue. He will test it and replace anything else that is required.

During the discussion, he did say that he is now receiving the parts he couldn't get for nearly 2 years, is adding personnel and attempting to address the issues that have been plaguing Atomic. I don't want to add fuel to the fire of all the dissatisfied customers, so let me just say I will send the amplifier section in tomorrow and report back here on how it goes.

I will mention that, while on the phone, he was nice to talk with, attentive to my description, and spent a good bit of time explaining what he believed it was, and why.

FURTHER RCF COMMENTARY:

After disassembling my CLR, which saw all the similar indoor and outdoor stages and storage as the RCF, though for about 1.5 years less total time, there is no corrosion anywhere to be found. None. I can't explain that one, except to say the CLR does have a sealed pan behind the amp that isn't in the RCF. Even if this helped the speaker itself, why is there no corrosion on the amp and housing if it is simply exposure to the outdoors and humidity?

Baffled by the pristine looking interior of the CLR in comparison.

Updates to be posted as they come!
 
Scooterjohn said:
Did you actually open the RCF and see the corrosion yourself, or was it reported to you?
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They sent me photos. My best guess is the cabinet design somehow draws in more exterior air. Who knows? It makes me wonder if it wasn’t one of those very humid night gigs, but there’s no way to be sure. It is what it is, just damn curious to me.
 
Rick said:
They sent me photos. My best guess is the cabinet design somehow draws in more exterior air. Who knows? It makes me wonder if it wasn’t one of those very humid night gigs, but there’s no way to be sure. It is what it is, just damn curious to me.
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Or there was some mishap when it was constructed and moisture was sealed in there from the start?
 
TravisG406 said:
Or there was some mishap when it was constructed and moisture was sealed in there from the start?
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Anything is possible, and that did cross my mind, but the way I’m going to look at it is it worked great for literally hundreds of gigs, rehearsals, practice sessions so all I know it that it was 100% functional and I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt on the failure being a result of my playing environment. Even the exterior surfaces of the amp don’t look new. While I don’t think it should be that susceptible to humidity damage, it’s at least as likely as any other possibility. All I can prove is it failed, all they can come up with is some corrosion, so I’m just sticking to those facts and moving on.

RCF:

D7B6F432-BADD-4B80-925F-765C602E7520.jpeg

CLR:

526A032C-6603-411E-8C6F-6965E29202C5.jpeg
 
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Dave Merrill said:
Just to say it, I wouldn't have the nads to play guitar in a JB tribute show, respect.
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There were some great local players there - there ended up being 6 different groups of folks each doing 3-4 tunes. I did Led Boots, Blue Wind, Shapes of Things, and Train' Kept a Rollin'. I had a great bass player, drummer, and keyboard lined up but they all had other commitments for the night the gig ended up happening so I scrambled a group on short notice. There were some clams but it was still a great time.

There are some Jeff Beck tunes I think are completely untouchable - Nadia and Angel come to mind off the top of my head.
 
I am still very impressed with the GR Guitar 1x12 carbon FRFR.. 11 lbs, sounds great. I have tone matched my Friedman Dirty Shirley 40 1x12 damn close. Just out of curiousity, today I bypassed the cab block and went into the FX return of the amp and it sounded great, I played for an hour without making any adjustments whatsoever.
I have used it as behind me like a normal amp and in front for a monitor..
Here is a buddy holding it up by his pinky
The guy behind him is looking it up on his phone

IMG-3160.jpg
 
I have 2 of the 2x12" GRs carbon. While they are not exactly FRFR, more like a guitar cab, esp. when standing off axis, I like to use them stacked as backline, nice natural feedback. At the rehearsal room combined with 2 CLRs on stands.
Next gig I will do with the GRs only, will see how that goes. Weight is a clear winner anyway.
 
Cool, the 1x10 works very well, I bought and returned a QSC CP12 and K8.2 and had borrowed a friend's CP8
It is flat enough that what I dial in on my JBL 305 desktop monitors translates well.

I did buy and return a ISP wedge.. not because it didn't sound good, just because I really wanted the GR
I don't know why more people don't talk the ISP
It isn't expensive, readily available and sounds very good.

https://reverb.com/item/6532284-isp-technologies-vector-fs8-175-watt-full-spectrum-powered-cabinet
 
ccoker said:
Cool, the 1x10 works very well, I bought and returned a QSC CP12 and K8.2 and had borrowed a friend's CP8
It is flat enough that what I dial in on my JBL 305 desktop monitors translates well.

I did buy and return a ISP wedge.. not because it didn't sound good, just because I really wanted the GR
I don't know why more people don't talk the ISP
It isn't expensive, readily available and sounds very good.

https://reverb.com/item/6532284-isp-technologies-vector-fs8-175-watt-full-spectrum-powered-cabinet
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Probably better to post an actual product link vs a Reverb listing with a one-line description ;)

https://www.isptechnologies.com/portfolio/vector-fs8/

Unfortunately, not much better there.

The spec listing provides almost no useful information and there's no frequency response chart at all.

Additionally, there's no onboard DSP for fine tuning.

It looks interesting but minimal info from the vendor is a red flag to me.
 
CLR power/dsp section arrived at Atomic the afternoon of 2/23, and I received an email from Tom confirming receipt. I will report turnaround time and cost when I have it.

Things have gone silent at RCF. I imagine they’re still having trouble procuring parts. Nothing to report there.
 
ccoker said:
I did buy and return a ISP wedge.. not because it didn't sound good, just because I really wanted the GR
I don't know why more people don't talk the ISP
It isn't expensive, readily available and sounds very good.

https://reverb.com/item/6532284-isp-technologies-vector-fs8-175-watt-full-spectrum-powered-cabinet
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It looks pretty cool, I like the fact they used a Coaxial driver. How did it sound? As to expense, at just shy of $700 it's not that inexpensive, for a few hundy more the EV PMX is a solid choice, 11 lbs heavier and has almost the same footprint !
 
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