mrtcat

Thanks Dubs, it's very satisfying work when you near the end of a build. I'd love to find a way to "mass produce" whilst keeping quality up but there's no alternative to taking your time to get a good finish.

Also +1 for the strings. Massively important IMO

Unless you've got an amazing PA and a top notch sound guy you gear choice is going to be largely unrecognisable to the majority of listeners. I have pretty standard gear and although none of it is cheap stuff (tc head, berg cab, USA Jazz) the most I get is "nice playing mate" or "is that a 2x12 cab - that's not common". General pub / club acoustics don't let quality be heard and in 99% of cases none of us can do justice to the gear we have.

More progress today. I've been working on a few other projects this week so these have had to take a back seat. Should get them finished this coming week tho. [attachment=85919:001.JPG][attachment=85921:005.JPG][attachment=85923:007.JPG][attachment=85924:006. JPG][attachment=85927:010.JPG][attachment=85920:004.JPG][attachment=85928:011.JPG][attachment=85925:0 08.JPG][attachment=85926:009.JPG][attachment=85922:004.JPG]

Really want a Stingray but scared it won't blow me away as I've built it up in my head!

Surely you should just play what you intend to play on that guitar if you buy it. If you intend to play slap then cool play it. If you intend to play Beatles covers that's fine too. If you want to sit at home playing scales - rock on! Horses for courses I guess. However if you are trying out basses purely to impress the staff and other customers you're clearly a tool and need to get a girlfriend.

Some more progress today. PVC back inner horn curves on. Also horn side supports [attachment=85630:003.JPG] [attachment=85631:004.JPG] Curved ply rear butt cheeks. Tricky to do but very satisfying when done [attachment=85632:005.JPG] [attachment=85633:006.JPG]

[quote name='ShergoldSnickers' post='1313885' date='Jul 23 2011, 03:19 PM']Great set of build posts here. Did you heat or steam the ply around the milk churn, or gradually apply pressure dry and at room temp? Love the leaning tower of Pisa photo.[/quote] Thanks SS, The ply is several sheets just 3mm thick so is pretty flexible. The key is to find stuff with three even width plys (not the stuff with one thick central layer and a thin veneer on each face). This is wrapped around a solid round core (in this case a milk urn) using straps. After a few days it "creeps" and holds its shape somewhat. The tough part comes when its put on the cabs as the curve is considerably tighter. Some BFM builders use metal instead but ply is super strong when glued and screwed in a curve. The leaning tower shows how they can be stacked in a "line array". This array could then be suspended over a stage giving really good dispersion.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1313798' date='Jul 23 2011, 01:44 PM']Hm..don't want to rain on your parade but that is a pretty bold statement when you consider that the competition might be.. Nexo, Martin Audio, Turbosound, to name a few.[/quote] Doesn't rain on my parade at all. You're naming the best of the opposition but I'd back a well made BFM DR250 over the Turbosound TMS-High every time and at £300 less built with finish of your choice the BFM is far far better value. The Martin Audio alternative is the F10+ which is ok but still just a basic old school trapezoidal design with admittedly a very nice driver but is still dear for what you get considering the BFM alternative would be an Omni Top 12 which would match it punch for punch and at about half the price. A pair of Nexo PS10 will set you back £1950 and for that I could do you two DR250s and two Titan 39 subs plus give you £100 change. It also staggers me that these companies are still designing stuff where the top end cab sits on a pole abouve the subs. Subs work best when they’re placed either close together for mutual coupling, or spread very wide to cover large areas. The basic rule is to have them either less than a quarter-wavelength apart or more than two wavelengths apart for their pass band, which for 40 to 100 Hz means less than 2.8 feet or more than 56 feet. I don't know that many pubs or clubs where you can get a stage >56ft wide. Price isn't everything, I know, but the performance to pound ratio is important and BFM stuff will beat stuff priced significantly higher. There are certain products that will win but most of these are in a completely different price league.

A little more progress when the Delta Pro 8 drivers finally turned up today Pre bending the fly for the rear butt cheeks [attachment=85402:001.JPG] Pre fitting the drivers (eminence delta pro 8a) [attachment=85403:002.JPG] Horn sheaths go on [attachment=85404:003.JPG] [attachment=85405:004.JPG] [attachment=85406:008.JPG] [attachment=85407:009.JPG]

Yeah the horn loaded DR series tops are definitely an interesting build. Theend result is really impressive though and they wipe the floor with pretty much all commercial passive pa tops for sensitivity and articulation. The dispersion from the tweeters is awesome too.

Got a few builds on the go at the moment. First up is a fEARful cab for a local bass player friend of mine. He's replacing his ashdown cabs with this one so he's in for a lightweight treat with this one. I'm waiting for the drivers and hardware to arrive. Will be spraying it with textured tuff cab in the next week. [attachment=85192:july_241.JPG] Next build is four BFM DR200s. Two of these have been comissioned by a chap running a large PA system he uses for mobile DJing. He's gonna run these with his Mackie subs but I think they'll struggle to keep up so will hopefully be sorting him 4 tuba 30's to go with them sometime soon. The other two are not earmarked yet. They'll be loaded with the flat tweeter array and Eminence Delta Pro 8 drivers. If they're still available on completion I'll put them for sale on here. They'll be about £900 for the pair or £500 each. The following pics show about a weeks worth of building. [attachment=85193:july_242.JPG] [attachment=85195:july_244.JPG] [attachment=85196:july_245.JPG] [attachment=85197:july_247.JPG] [attachment=85198:july_249.JPG] [attachment=85199:july_250.JPG] [attachment=85200:july_251.JPG] [attachment=85201:july_252.JPG] [attachment=85202:july_253.JPG] [attachment=85203:july_254.JPG] [attachment=85204:july_256.JPG] [attachment=85205:cabs_003.JPG] [attachment=85206:cabs_005.JPG] [attachment=85207:cabs_007.JPG] [attachment=85208:001.JPG]

If I had a bass 20yrs it would break my heart to sell it for just a couple hundred quid. I'd keep it and carry on enjoying it.

[quote name='JTUK' post='1304436' date='Jul 15 2011, 10:01 AM']One cab soution...?? zillions of them... 1 speaker solution...? not a chance, IMV. I can't recall ever hearing anyone with a single speaker sounding any good.[/quote] Bit of a sweepeing statement tbh as there are some very good single speaker cabs out there. I think this is a "horses for courses" type thing tho. You have to remember we all have differing tastes. For me the solution would be two 1x12 cabs (take your pick - BFM, Barefaced, Aguilar etc etc) as you get portability, tone, depth, low volume etc. If you get to use a PA (and I strongly recommend you do if possible as you have far better band sound control if you let an engineer sort it) then you can use just one cab as a monitor.I'd never ever ever leave a cab at a practice venue as some young punk would trash it for sure. I have owned a couple of compacts but only really enjoyed them when I had two together as I found the bottom end lacking with just one. I do know a lot of people who genuinely love them tho and I'm aware this is purely a personal taste issue on my behalf. However I have also gigged with a cheap ashdown 15 cab which surprised me. I found the barefaced finish quality very disapointing tho especially at the price. Likewise I've been disapponted with the odd 4x10 and I've never been able to get on with a 2x10 as every one I tried just sounded like half a 4x10. I'd give up home practice tone in favour of gig tone anytime cos only I hear the practice tone. Headphones are the way forward for me here anyhow. Dream soution if this was me? No brainer - 2 BFM Jack 12's would win time and time again. I then get to choose the finish, can have one with tweeters and one without and I'll know it's well made cos I would have made it!

I always buy plywood for speaker builds from one particular wood yard as the three young lads working in the warehouse, who fetch your order, are all really helpful and seem really happy to be helping the customer. I have emailed their boss this afternoon as a result of this thread. Not enough praise out there. If we don't tell these people when they're doing something right we can't expect them to keep doing it right.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I'm gonna give it a whirl so have set the ball rolling with Bill. I should be registered soon so let me know if you want a quote for having something built. I will make anything on the site (www.billfitzmaurice.com) with the exception of the home audio/home cinema stuff as thats more furniture like. All builds will come with photo's to show the birthing process. On an additional note I've had a lot of requests to build some fearful projects too. I'm checking with greenboy regarding the legalities of building his designs for money. If I get the all clear from there I'll offer commissioned builds of their designs too. Thanks again

In my band we always seem to disagree on the set order. It p###es me right off cos I'll write a set list out trying to build up to a cresceno at the end of both halves. Then someone always comes out with "I don't like that song too early in the set" or "why not just swap these 20 songs around a bit" and I end up having to write it all out again. When someone else gets of their arse to write a set list it always seems to make no sense to me with it being up and down all over the shop. Does anyone have a formula or a theory for how to put your set together? If so it'll help me put a set together then be able to explain to the rest of the band why it should stay that way. We play classic rock cheese btw

I've always said that it's a good job weddings pay so well! There's always a lot of waiting around and then 60% of the guests find a band annoying as they can't hear themselves talk and then you get asked to play heaps of standard stuff that you are really bored of playing. To cap it all off the hot lady in the white dress seems to be preoccupied with another bloke. Oh well at least they pay well!!!

Maybe it's just me but do the normal folk out there not appreciate good basslines? I've watched most of Glastonbury this weekend as our drummer is ill and gigs have been cancelled. I have been pretty uninspired by the bass players in the bands that are known as bands but have seen some great bass playing with the solo artists. For example I think Coldplay, Biffy, U2, elbow et all were very average but I loved the playing behind Jessie J, Tinnie Tempa (hate his music and found the bbc coverage frustrating as every other sentence was muted due to swearing), Paulo Nutini, Plan B etc. The exception was Mumford & Sons as I really enjoyed his bass playing. It might just be me tho

[quote name='lanark' post='1279277' date='Jun 23 2011, 01:05 AM']What do people fasten them to? Do you have a frame or just any old stuff that looks secure?[/quote] I have a simple bolt together lightweight frame made from some thin angled steel (bolts together to make a simple goalpost shape) from wickes. The missus stitched the backdrop so we can feed the horizontal steel through the top before bolting the uprights on. Theres some rubber feet on the bottom so we just lean it up against the wall behind us. The horizontal is made from two pieces so we just overlap it and gaff tape it to suit the width of the stage. At its widest its about 6m and its about 2.5m high. Very simple and basic but it's never failed in 4 yrs of playing pubs, clubs and biker fests. I think the key to ours is that the black cloth we use is very lightweight (i.e pretty cheap).

I just bought some black cotton sheet and then printed our logo onto that iron on paper you use for putting pics on t-shirts using ms publisher. Our logo is nr white so i printed it in very pale grey so I could cut it out and then simply ironed it on. Did the same with our website address and it works well. Total spend was about £40 [attachment=83207:Kefalonia_148.JPG]

This forum makes people sell because it makes them want to buy. Lots of people own fenders so it stands to reason that a lot of people will have one to sell when looking to fund the next purchase. It's all about the GAS. Fenders are like marmite and lets face it that's one of the most recognisable brands there is.