stevie

pm'd

Send a pm to John, who is Chienmortbb. He's been looking into sources for the B&O modules recently and might be able to help.

On the matter of finishing, one of the beauties of rolling your own is that you can choose the finish and colour you prefer. If you're using paint, which I think most people will, you can easily change the colour to suit your mood, or if you see something you like better - not something you would want to do to your expensive Bergantino. I notice, for example, that Tuffcab is available in orange. So that's an easy way to match the cab to your Orange amp. I've been waiting for Blue Aran to get some light grey Tuff Cab back into stock, but it's not happening. So I'm going to order some of the new matt black Tuff Cab and use some pigment to make it the colour I want. I want a Marshall-ish tolex kind of finish. I'll post the results, as I think that could be a useful option for some.

The waiting list is starting to build for the second batch. So, JohnA, just send me a pm and I'll put you on the list. If we do get to 20, I think I'll have to call a halt there. I've been taking a crash course in CNC routing. Luckily, Chimike has kindly agreed to sort out the CNC files for me, which should ensure a more reliable and cheaper result. This is definitely becoming a group project, and it's very good to see Basschatters chipping in to help where they can. Please keep your woodglue warm and your clamps at the ready. This will happen. And it'll be worth the wait.

My goodness, that deal was three-and-a-half years ago. Oops. Better late than never, eh, Colin?

Just catching up on my feedback and I noticed Colin says he bought "some kit" from me a while back. I can't remember what the kit was, but if the sale had been anything other than perfect, I would definitely remember. Glad to add to his feedback thread.

Bought my Ibanez SR500 bass - a while ago actually, I'm only just catching up. Everything went well and I'm happy to start a feedback thread for him.

Catching up on my feedback - sorry for the delay. Dave sold me a set of very nice Gotoh tuners. They were new and I got a nice discount. So I have nothing but good things to say. Recommended.

Rechargeable batteries. Now there's a subject. There isn't a voltage problem with the 9-volt ones. They all measure 9 volts. In fact, most measure just over 10 volts when fully charged. The problem ones are the 1.5V ones, which only produce 1.2V. It's not normally a problem, but it can be for some devices that really need 1.5V - like my Canon camera, for example. The only exception to the 9-volt rule are the Li-Ion ones just mentioned. I can only speak for the ones I have, of course, but both of them are max. 7.2V or so. If your device is OK with that, they do last for ages. But unless they've changed them recently, they won't produce 9 volts. A handy tip from someone who's been using rechargeables for over a decade. The best rechargeables by a country mile are made by Eneloop (Panasonic). I'd certainly not buy any more Energizers - most of mine failed after a year - I have pre-Eneloop Panasonics that are still going after ten years. Another tip: Ikea sell Eneloops under their own brand for a fraction of the normal price. Google it. For some weird reason, Eneloop don't make 9V batteries though - which is a shame.

Would any of you CNC specialists consider contributing to the Basschat cabinet project by casting your expert eye over a dxf file and making a few tweaks?

The U-shaped piece is the largest piece but I'm sure you'll be fine if you cut it to the right size first.

It's all good. Now everyone knows to treat the felt with care - something I should have mentioned.

I did quite a bit of work to arrive at the damping for this cab. I tried polyester wadding, acoustic foam and different types of felt. The one that was most effective at damping the main standing wave was the 'fluffy' felt that I used in my first cab. However, I decided to recommend the firmer, needled felt because it's more practical - it stays in place better. It may well be that some combination of the two is the answer, but that will have to wait until I have more time to experiment. The point of internal damping is to minimise internal standing waves and the reflections at higher frequencies that travel through the cone. The damping efficiency of the different materials available varies by frequency, but here we need something that works down to a relatively low frequency, as the main standing wave is about 250Hz. As you can imagine, the more damping material you use, the more effectively you damp internal reflections. On the other hand, use too much and you'll kill the output from the port. What I did originally was to measure the output from the port with no damping in the cab. Then I used different quantities of the various damping materials whilst observing 1. the output from the port and 2. the behaviour of the main standing wave. The balancing act involved is in minimising the standing wave whilst maximising the port output. I'm afraid the only way you can do this scientifically is by measurement. As Sharkfinger says, the needled felt is fragile - so you need to handle it carefully. If you grab it and pull it, it will come apart. But if you cut it to size before fitting it to the cab you won't have any problem, especially as each piece you fit is fairly small anyway. Take a look at the photos on the previous page.

Oh, and I've added tweeter protection to the crossover. Bass guitar is never going to stress the compression driver in this system, but better safe than sorry.

Thanks to the stupendous work of RichardH, I am pleased to announce that we have the final drawings for the complete design of this latest version. On page 1 of this thread you'll now find a PDF containing the technical drawing, exploded assembly view, wood cutting list, crossover circuit and crossover layout - everything, in fact, that you need to build one of these from scratch. LukeFRC, who's about to go on holiday for two weeks, has done a great job with the design for the logo and name, and has sourced and ordered badges for the grille, and stickers for the handle and input panel at a price that is difficult to believe. They'll be available when he gets back, and I think I should let him do the reveal. The CNC cabinet kits are progressing at a pace that is causing me to pull my hair out, but we should have one or two pre-production prototypes soon. I expect these to be perfect, but it would be foolish to order an entire batch without making sure. The first two will go to those in the queue who are close enough to the supplier to collect. Failing that, I'll offer them to those who placed their orders first.

Decisions, decisions... The good thing about that driver is that it works well in a relatively small cab.

I know how good it sounds, Shark - I've got one myself. I did a very similar project to this a few years ago, but with an Ashdown Mini 15 cab. Yours should have a bit more lower-end oomph. The midrange tone from that driver is just fantastic, and I've now got it in a larger cab. Unfortunately, not many people are prepared to spend £200 on a 15" chassis. But we know better.😀

It's a genuine 500-watt driver. Don't worry about it.

Not a bodge job at all - that looks fine. I should have warned you about the difference in driver sizes. You almost always have to open the driver hole up when switching from a pressed steel to a cast chassis. My tool of choice for that is the jigsaw. When were you thinking of connecting your amp?😀

Fixed! Thanks tauzero. 🙂

If there are any other queries about the parts list, please post them. I've included supplier information whenever possible because some of these bits are not easy to source, but if you know of a better/cheaper supplier, do let us know.

Thanks for the corrections, chaps - much appreciated. I've posted an updated parts list in response to your comments and to include an additional few items. Next week, I'll post the final drawings and cutting list (thanks RichardH) with the crossover circuit and layout for the Faital PR320/Celestion CDX-1425 system. Anyone wishing to cut their own wood and build their own crossover will then have all the information they need. All the quotes are now in for the CNC kit cab. I'll be choosing a supplier early next week and progressing the matter so that we can get moving on the kits again.

PVC pipe is not the easiest material to glue but silicon sealant does a reasonable job. Wood glue won't stick to PVC at all.