mrtcat

[quote name='TPJ' post='1332409' date='Aug 8 2011, 05:14 PM']Fantastic job. The cab build quality looks great. I tried to build various BFM cabs but I just suck at carpentry. I tried and failed. It's great to see them built properly.[/quote] Thanks TPJ, If you ever try another build I'll happily offer any help I can. Tom

[quote name='Dubs' post='1332096' date='Aug 8 2011, 02:04 PM']Very impressive mate. Bet they sound amazing.[/quote] Cheers Dubs, yeah they sound brilliant. It's like HiFi for PA.

Just some more pics to show the final results. 1st up are the DR200s with the flat six tweeters. These sound great and unlike the crossfiring tweeters they need less eq to make them "shine". These are for sale in the For Sale section. They are covered with textured Tuff Cab. I spray a base layer then apply a thick top coat which is finished with a textured roller. This is a very durable covering. There's no handles on them as many people prefer them without but I can add whichever ones you want for an extra £30 for the pair. [attachment=86494:Copy_of_IMG_2323.jpg][attachment=86495:IMG_2321.jpg][attachment=86497:IMG_2325.jpg ][attachment=86498:IMG_2326.jpg][attachment=86499:IMG_2328.jpg][attachment=86500:IMG_2329.jpg][attach ment=86501:IMG_2332.jpg] Next are some photos of the DR200s with the cross firing tweeters. These are sold already but I can make more for £550 each. The new owner is delighted with them and as he's local I went to his gig on Saturday and heard them for myself - EPIC!! although his subs struggled to keep up a bit. [attachment=86502:IMG_2335.jpg][attachment=86503:IMG_2336.jpg][attachment=86504:IMG_2338.jpg] Finally I have my old DR280's. These are utterly immense volume wise. They're loaded with eminence kappalite 3012's but they have Pulse tweeters which although still very impressive, aren't as perfect as the 1016's in the other cabs. These are also for sale at a bargain price - see for sale section. [attachment=86505:IMG_2340.jpg][attachment=86506:IMG_2341.jpg][attachment=86507:IMG_2342.jpg] If anyone wants [b]any[/b] BFM cab built then contact me for a price. I ask for material costs up front and the balance when you receive the completed cabs. Thanks for following this thread! Cheers

Final instalment. All four now complete and sound amazing. Clarity, imaging and very very loud. [attachment=86448:001.JPG][attachment=86450:003.JPG][attachment=86453:008.JPG][attachment=86454:009. JPG][attachment=86451:005.JPG][attachment=86452:006.JPG][attachment=86456:011.JPG][attachment=86455:0 12.JPG]

Tweeter arrays glued up ready to be wired. [attachment=86098:004.JPG][attachment=86099:005.JPG]

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