Stevie’s 12” FRFR Cab Build Thread (Basschat Cab v3)

[stevie]

19 hours ago, converse320 said:

I can duly report Its really really good for keyboards.  Certainly much more obviously impressive than on bass actually.   I think with a pokier high resolution amplifier it will be even better.  Very happy.

Piano is a much more exacting test of sound quality than bass. You can get away with a lot with bass guitar, but keyboards - and particularly piano - reveal shortcomings  fairly quickly. It's not that you can't hear the the shortcomings with bass, but piano makes them more obvious.

[RichardH]

1 hour ago, stevie said:

Indeed. It's the first build I'm aware of that's based on the plans rather than the CNC kit. Perhaps not surprising, as Richard is responsible for producing the plans that appear on the parallel thread.

I wouldn't say responsible - I took what had already been done and adjusted/amended to suit - I'm just the monkey - never the organ grinder!

 

1 hour ago, stevie said:

Piano is a much more exacting test of sound quality than bass. You can get away with a lot with bass guitar, but keyboards - and particularly piano - reveal shortcomings  fairly quickly. It's not that you can't hear the the shortcomings with bass, but piano makes them more obvious.

I knew there was a good reason I took up bass rather than keyboards...

[stevie]

On 13/11/2019 at 23:04, converse320 said:

Leather corners would be great.   The radiuses are pretty tight though as its fairly thin ply, so not sure if it would work - but thats a great suggestion, I was going for the Mesa Boogie basket weave look as I'll be using a D-180 with it.  The fabric is going to be this one:

https://www.mojotone.com/Cabinets_x/Grillcloth_x/Mojotone-Black-Tan-GrillCloth

 

Can't wait - this is going to look amazing!

[Chienmortbb]

One of the inserts I used instead of T nuts came out yesterday as I re-fitted the Faital Pro. I decided to use one of those self-threading inserts. Big mistake! The insert stated to pull the plywood laminators aprt rather than screw in. Copious amount of wood glue and a lot of pressure patience and the original insert has now been installed. 

[funkle]

Tricky. Good work. I guess there’s no perfect solution when considering alternatives to screws...

[Chienmortbb]

27 minutes ago, funkle said:

Tricky. Good work. I guess there’s no perfect solution when considering alternatives to screws...

Ironically I epoxied the T nuts on the MK2 and they are as solid as a rock. I think you are right, there is no prefect solution. 

[LukeFRC]

Half way though trying the tuff cab leather effect. Undecided if it’s going to look any good in the end 

 

Edited November 16, 2019 by LukeFRC
Maybe the other photo won’t be so blurry

[funkle]

@LukeFRC you need to do the leathering effect at least twice to make it decent. I did it three times, I think. I can’t quite remember. 

[LukeFRC]

On 16/11/2019 at 18:26, funkle said:

@LukeFRC you need to do the leathering effect at least twice to make it decent. I did it three times, I think. I can’t quite remember. 

I’m up to two - it sometimes is lifting to much paint off with it - dabbing it on again with a bunch of scrunched up sheet is working quite well. 

[LukeFRC]

Mesa style leather corners cut, decision time - tan or turquoise colour on the dark blue paint (photos taken in appalling light)

[funkle]

I like tan. But it’s your cab dude....

[stewblack]

Tan man

 

[LukeFRC]

33 minutes ago, funkle said:

I like tan. But it’s your cab dude....

 

25 minutes ago, stewblack said:

Tan man

 

that was what I was thinking too...  

[RichardH]

Sorry, my browser somehow managed to re-post my previous post from a couple of days ago - please remove!

Edited November 18, 2019 by RichardH
Editor/browser weirdness

[RichardH]

Yup, got to be tan!

[LukeFRC]

On 07/09/2019 at 14:35, funkle said:

Worked out how to wire everything up with Stevie. 

@funkle, @stevie et al.... maybe silly questions here... but

Red is positive, black is negative right? 

and how on earth do you tell the polarity of the HF driver? I might be I missed something obvious on it!

[stevie]

There should be a red mark on one of the terminals, Luke.

[LukeFRC]

3 minutes ago, stevie said:

There should be a red mark on one of the terminals, Luke.

I don't think there is - I'll just go check! 

[stevie]

I can tell you how to connect it if the red mark isn't there. But it certainly should be.

[LukeFRC]

Just now, stevie said:

I can tell you how to connect it if the red mark isn't there. But it certainly should be.

ah yes - found it - the whole thin  bit of plastic it's mounted on is red or black .... slowly getting there!

[stevie]

And that wiring looks right. Just make sure that the three green wires are in the centre of the connector strip.

Edited November 21, 2019 by stevie

[LukeFRC]

5 minutes ago, stevie said:

And that wiring looks right. Just make sure that the three green wires are in the centre of the connector strip.

That was funkles wiring, I’ll check mine later- I’ve got a grill frame drying currently and a window surround to build

[RichardH]

Bit more progress on the cab build....

Rough cut for the baffle holes

 

Making the port hole the right size...

...yup, it fits

One baffle done... 

...which is then used as the template for finishing the second.

...and there we go

 

I am still intending to run the second one without tweeter, but since I have two horns I thought I might as well have the baffle cut for them, and then seal the horn instead of fitting the compression driver. If I then want to run them as separate cabs or for keys or something, it will "simply" be a matter of another driver and crossover.

I bought the horns ages ago (as well as the two drivers) - I suspect if I'd held fire and read the comments from people who have them up and running, I might have just gone for one cab, but hey ho!

 

Edited November 21, 2019 by RichardH
image duplicated

[stevie]

While Chienmortbb was here this afternoon repairing my coil winder, we alpha tested the BCcab 112 with  a "sub" (same cab but with a lowpassed 12" bass driver). It was impressive. I had been concerned that the bass might sound excessive, but it wasn't in the slightest. It didn't sound like there was any more bass, but the overall sound was bigger (no surprise) and the bass was tighter (which was a surprise).

I guess this will be a project for the New Year.

 

[RichardH]

1 minute ago, stevie said:

While Chienmortbb was here this afternoon repairing my coil winder, we alpha tested the BCcab 112 with  a "sub" (same cab but with a lowpassed 12" bass driver). It was impressive. I had been concerned that the bass might sound excessive, but it wasn't in the slightest. It didn't sound like there was any more bass, but the overall sound was bigger (no surprise) and the bass was tighter (which was a surprise).

I guess this will be a project for the New Year.

 

Sounds like my build could be a good guinea pig for this, Stevie...