stevie

OK then. Please enlighten us and explain why blocking off the hole would help.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1316899' date='Jul 26 2011, 12:31 PM']Think the point is it doesn't work the way you think it works.[/quote] It's quite clear how it works. There's a link on the page Lawrence gave that takes you straight to the designer's description. Blocking up the hole is nonsense.

[quote name='LawrenceH' post='1316247' date='Jul 25 2011, 08:56 PM']but a neater solution (IMO) is Jay Mitchell's 'foam donut' [url="http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps/prii/speaker/foamdonut/foamdonut.html"]http://www.stratopastor.org.uk/strato/amps.../foamdonut.html[/url][/quote] I've never seen that before, but it's very clever. And it's properly documented with measurements. Excellent.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='1316462' date='Jul 25 2011, 11:22 PM']I think you'd find adding a beam blocker to the hole in that foam thingamajig would get a better result than either alone.[/quote] The hole in the foam is an integral part of the design. If you block it up with a beam blocker it won't work properly. Have you read the description?

[quote name='Marvin' post='1316071' date='Jul 25 2011, 06:41 PM']Most mass manufactured cabs are simply constructed boxes with drivers in them with little or no acoustic engineering involved in it's design.[/quote] Most commercial bass cabs I've seen are reasonably well designed. I agree that there is a tendency to cut corners to get the price down. It has to be said, however, that very little acoustic engineering is actually required to knock together a bass guitar cab. The real engineering has been done by the driver manufacturer. This is why anybody who can use a saw and and screw together a simple box can build one and it will work. The hardest part is getting the box to look pro.

Most times, 'not flash' is what the music needs. I like the Rhythm Kings - a bunch of great musicians.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1316026' date='Jul 25 2011, 05:54 PM']The top of the cab will be higher if it is stacked vertically, that is a bunch of the point.[/quote] I agree that getting the cab to a height where you can here it properly is what matters. When you've got that sorted, it is a matter of personal preference what speaker configuration you use.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1315993' date='Jul 25 2011, 05:33 PM']No, Fender didn't make tall stacks, they made short combos, and guitartists tend to sit on them or stand in front of them, so all the top end misses them and icepicks anyone in front..[/quote] Sorry, I was too cryptic. When standing in front of and above a speaker, a guitarist will hear more and smoother mids and highs when the speakers are side by side than when they are vertical, assuming the top of each cab is positioned at the same height.

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1315981' date='Jul 25 2011, 05:27 PM']I think audience on axis, but guitard's ears off axis is usually the problem scenario.[/quote] That would be one vote for Leo Fender then.

[quote name='skankdelvar' post='1315972' date='Jul 25 2011, 05:23 PM']If one is out there amid the audience and one can perceive it then, yes, it might indeed be obvious.[/quote] This is a solution looking for a problem. Have you ever been in an audience and not been able to hear the guitar?

[quote name='Mr. Foxen' post='1315830' date='Jul 25 2011, 03:31 PM']It has speakers crossfired and pointing upward. Not like Fenders, but retaining the width requirement to fit amplifiers. Fender ha the option of making amps that fit, and chose not to.[/quote] Stands that raise and tilt guitar speakers have been available certainly since the 1960s. I imagine Fender offered them; Vox certainly did. Angled cabs have also been available since the 1960s. What difference do you think crossfiring drivers make?

[quote name='EdwardHimself' post='1315485' date='Jul 25 2011, 10:33 AM']He can just stick it on it's side.[/quote] He'd probably be tempted to stick it somewhere else. You have to take Bill's contributions on here with a pinch of salt. One of his (many) regular lines is that Leo Fender didn't know how to design speakers and that guitar drivers should be stacked vertically. But go to his site and look at the guitar cab design that he is flogging for 15 dollars.

[quote name='mart' post='1312968' date='Jul 22 2011, 04:51 PM']It does depend a lot on what your current tuning pegs are. In my case the factory-fitted ones weigh about 57g each. Hipshot say their Ultralites are 52g, making for an immense saving of, ooh, 20g across the 4 pegs. However, some folk who have fitted Ultralites say they weigh less - around 42-44g. Based on that, a set of 4 might save me 60g, i.e., near as dammit, one tuner.[/quote] Those tuners are unusually light to start with - so I get your point.

Layers of tissue are great for cone splits, but with a surround you might like to try superglue - just a minimum amount.

[quote name='mart' post='1312675' date='Jul 22 2011, 01:06 PM']That's my impression - based on the Hipshot specs, and the weight of my pegs, fitting ultralites would remove a weight equivalent to one tuning peg on my bass. So I did exactly that - I took a peg off, and saw how the balance changed. And, basically, it didn't much - it was still neck-diving badly.[/quote] From memory (I weighed them but it's a while back), the Hipshots or equivalents weigh 200 grammes and a standard set of tuners weighs 450 - 500 grammes. So taking one tuning peg off wouldn't be indicative. It completely cured the neck dive on my Yamaha. Not a cheap option, but it also reduces the overall weight of your bass and certainly beats hanging a hammer on your strap. :-)

Actually, that's really not a bad idea. If you used a mat the same colour as your strap it probably wouldn't even be noticeable.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1312562' date='Jul 22 2011, 11:51 AM']1. [url="http://store.hipshotproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=5"]Hipshot make Ultralite versions of the clover key machine heads[/url] fit those.[/quote] This is by far the most effective solution IMO. You have about half a kilogram hanging off the end of your headstock at the moment.

If you're saying you don't really know what you're doing, I'd leave it. You'll need the right sized drill bit and preferably a pillar drill if you're going to attempt it. I can understand your reluctance to use a jack in, but the binding posts will give you an excellent connection. Just use those and catch up on the gardening or decorating or something. :-)

But isn't Ashdown renowned for its wonderful after-sales service?

[quote name='Phil Starr' post='1307456' date='Jul 18 2011, 09:20 AM']I love these old cab designs, I don't think the designers knew themselves how they worked half the time. Reading the article in the link about adding weighs to the tone arm to extract more subsonics and needing to protect the room from the speaker reminds me of some of the loony articles more recently written about cables in hi-fi systems.[/quote] The fact that the design was published in Hi-Fi Answers speaks volumes.

Yes, there is a point where it ceases to be a port and it just becomes a gap. The cabinet then changes from a reflex to a dipole. If you blow across the neck of a bottle you'll get a sound, but if you try it with a jam jar you get nothing.

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='1306659' date='Jul 17 2011, 01:45 PM']Exactly. All the parts are the same as a standard bass reflex, they're just rearranged. It would be easier to visualize as a bass reflex with the driver mounted in the usual fashion, but that's what one's imagination is for. Now if one has no imagination... [/quote] It doesn't look like a reflex cab no matter where you stick the driver. There is no Vb. The resonator chamber isn't loading the driver as it would in a normal reflex cab, because it's separated from the driver by a hole. Take away the resonator chamber and what you've got an arrangement that is closer to a transmission line than anything else. Not only that, but according to the patent, the design is flat to 7Hz using a 15" driver without any special characteristics. I'd like to see that in WinISD.

[quote name='alexclaber' post='1306489' date='Jul 17 2011, 11:02 AM']Stevei, tsn't a reflex cab a Helmholtz resonator? Though I see your point, you're suggesting that the cab works by solely exciting the resonant system of the two masses of air in the ports vibrating against the spring that is the volume of air in the enclosure divided by the area of the port:enclosure opening. But what's happening with the woofer backwave, why wouldn't that act like the frontwave from a woofer in a normal ported design?[/quote] A reflex cab contains a Helmholtz resonator, which is the vent, but a reflex system is more than just the vent. This design seems to rely solely on the vent to produce sound - just like blowing over a bottle. The contribution from the rear of the driver would be what you would expect from a driver in free air (or from the air blowing over a bottle)- practically nothing. I think the only reason the driver is not boxed in is because it would raise its resonant frequency. However, if you imagine this system with the driver boxed in, it starts to look very much like a bandpass system.