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

[Woodinblack]

Finally got round to gigging it last night. It sounded so clear the band commented on it. Actually they were also impressed with it with the weight and finish of it.

loved it, I was pretty happy. 
 

now I just need a bag, don't want it to get dented up like the tc 112s (must remember to tuffcab those)

[stevie]

Woody, did you manage to compare the BCcab with the TC112?

[Woodinblack]

Not back to back, but I have played the same venue with the same amp and the different speakers, and the new one seems to have a different sound to the TC112s (2 of). Seems to have a bit more presence in the middle, more importantly it makes my newest SR sound fuller (as it sounded a bit rough before). 

[stevie]

Cab kits are going out on Thursday. If you're expecting a kit but I've not contacted you by pm (unlikely), please let me know.

[Aidan63]

Finally got some time and space to paint my cab and finish it off. It has been an interesting process for me and nice to do something different like working with wood and paint rather than gears and lumps of metal. Fortunately this warmer weather over the last few weeks has meant the workshop hasn't been too cold for the paint, curing times have been a little slower but with the water based paint it has worked okay, and I'm pretty happy with the finish. 

I found that as the roller became more soaked with paint (I just put it in a plastic bag between coats rather than clean it each time, as advised on the TuffCab instructions) it tended to skip a little so for the last two coats I used a second almost clean roller for finishing once I'd applied the paint with the heavily impregnated roller and that way I was able to get the subtle ripple effect with the slow and light technique, especially on the front edges which I couldn't do with the loaded roller.

I chose TurboBlue for mine, partly because I like the colour, have a blue camper van and matching blue bass and partly because the unit I trade out of was one of the workshops that was used to build TurboSound PA cabinets in the 80's and early 90's, so it's a little bit of a homage/tribute to that era. Back in 1986/7 I was part of a PA system in Newcastle and we had a couple of Turbosound cabs to start with, they were great sounding, powerful and compact, but kept burning out drivers so we did change to Martin Audio after about 6 months, but I have fond memories of our first new build rig.

Many thanks to Stevie for the ready painted grill it made finishing it off pretty easy

I have briefly tried it with both a TC BH250 and a Hartke LH500 (new to me) and it's pretty impressive, very clear, sounds great at low volume but goes well loud without a problem retaining that clarity. Interestingly the TC gets louder with less 'volume' than the Hartke does and flat out they don't seem that much different despite their power difference, the TC seems to give a good bit more volume than expected into 8 ohms. Both amps are single volume types without a gain and master volume set up, both are class D output, the Hartke has a valve preamp which seems quite subtle upto about 6 and half then goes into full on heft mode.

 

[funkle]

Wow, that looks great! 

[Pea Turgh]

Awesome!  Would love to see a collage of the first batch when all completed!!

[Aidan63]

2 hours ago, funkle said:

Wow, that looks great! 

Thanks, I must admit I was thinking of a couple of racing stripes straight down the grill or maybe across the corner like a Mustang, but should the stripes be blue or white ? So I left it black for now, easy enough to mod in the future.

 

[LukeFRC]

58 minutes ago, Aidan63 said:

Thanks, I must admit I was thinking of a couple of racing stripes straight down the grill or maybe across the corner like a Mustang, but should the stripes be blue or white ? So I left it black for now, easy enough to mod in the future.

 

I’m thinking stripe down with the badge in it - kinda like one of the martini race car teams livery

[Johannes Bass]

Hi everybody! 

Finally getting around to post some pictures on my progress with the cab so far. Thanks a lot Stevie for putting the kit together, I'm having a great time working on it and I wouldn't have managed to prepare the parts like this myself! 

I did the assembly and Gluing quite quickly (maybe too quick). I forgot to glue the brace for the handle before closing the cab. But I solved it by cutting it in half and then gluing it together and to the top inside the cab. And I didn't have enough big clamps to cover all the important spots but I changed the position of one clamp after a few hours and that closed the only gap I had so now I'm pretty happy with how it looks.

I really like the color of wood so I decided for a natural finish. I first gave it some darker color with one layer of varnish and then I went for transparent yacht varnish. They only had the shiny one but I actually like it a lot. I have one layer on the cab now and will add the second today, probably I'll do 3 in total. I think the yacht varnish is very tough and should offer a good protection.

Most of the parts I'm missing will arrive today except for the fatial pro driver which wasn't in stock and will Take about two weeks before it'll be delivered. I'll have to see how to screw the handle well now that the whole cab is already in one piece. Also I found a tube to use for the port which is just slightly loose in the porthole. How do you fix it in the hole?

And it's there an alternative to needled felt I could use? Maybe some kind of acoustic foam? Because if I order it from ebay it'll cost 10£ for delivery and will take 2-3 weeks. And I couldn't find it in other places here in holland🤔

 

[Aidan63]

surplus piece of port and felt here, you have pm

[Johannes Bass]

Thanks!

[Woodwind]

3 hours ago, Johannes Bass said:

Hi everybody! 

Finally getting around to post some pictures on my progress with the cab so far. Thanks a lot Stevie for putting the kit together, I'm having a great time working on it and I wouldn't have managed to prepare the parts like this myself! 

I did the assembly and Gluing quite quickly (maybe too quick). I forgot to glue the brace for the handle before closing the cab. But I solved it by cutting it in half and then gluing it together and to the top inside the cab. And I didn't have enough big clamps to cover all the important spots but I changed the position of one clamp after a few hours and that closed the only gap I had so now I'm pretty happy with how it looks.

I really like the color of wood so I decided for a natural finish. I first gave it some darker color with one layer of varnish and then I went for transparent yacht varnish. They only had the shiny one but I actually like it a lot. I have one layer on the cab now and will add the second today, probably I'll do 3 in total. I think the yacht varnish is very tough and should offer a good protection.

Most of the parts I'm missing will arrive today except for the fatial pro driver which wasn't in stock and will Take about two weeks before it'll be delivered. I'll have to see how to screw the handle well now that the whole cab is already in one piece. Also I found a tube to use for the port which is just slightly loose in the porthole. How do you fix it in the hole?

And it's there an alternative to needled felt I could use? Maybe some kind of acoustic foam? Because if I order it from ebay it'll cost 10£ for delivery and will take 2-3 weeks. And I couldn't find it in other places here in holland🤔

 

I absolutely love this Johannes.

Makes me think of a 1970's hifi speaker - 

 

What will you use for a grill?

 

 

[Johannes Bass]

Thanks man, they look great too!

I haven't decided yet.

The wood on the front looks so nice that I'm now considering to just put a round grill over the 12" driver and the horn. 🤔

[Woodinblack]

I finally got round to getting a Roksolid cover for my speaker, so now it is coming to gigs with me, and it is doing well. For some reason the last gig I have had to turn my volume down as it was too loud.

[Aidan63]

3 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

I finally got round to getting a Roksolid cover for my speaker, so now it is coming to gigs with me, and it is doing well. For some reason the last gig I have had to turn my volume down as it was too loud.

I was really impressed with the cover, the BC discount and the free cable bag that came with it, I phoned them up and said so, top service. I have blue trim on the cover to match the cab of course

[Aidan63]

Asked about the Roqsolid cab cover, I keep my cab at work so protects when being moved and keeps the dust off in the workshop, this is the standard Ampguard model with the felt lining; blue binding no pockets or flap covers, it goes all the way almost to the floor with the standard feet fitted to the cab, worth repeating the link https://www.amplifiercoversonline.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=102&products_id=8339

 

 

[Woodinblack]

Mine has the 'nappy' bit at the bottom, where there is a bit that goes underneath to keep it on. I also don't have the standard feet.

I have that on my speakers and thought it was worth having. Very happy with it, and them.

Edited January 25, 2020 by Woodinblack

[stevie]

It's interesting to see how many builders have decided against having a standard black cabinet. I guess that's one of the benefits of DIY.

[Passinwind]

16 hours ago, stevie said:

It's interesting to see how many builders have decided against having a standard black cabinet. I guess that's one of the benefits of DIY.

My wife actually made me promise not to build any more black cabs over a decade ago. And I'm considerably more than OK with that. 😎

[RichardH]

4 hours ago, Passinwind said:

My wife actually made me promise not to build any more black cabs over a decade ago. And I'm considerably more than OK with that. 😎

Quite - just how many taxis does one person need?

[tauzero]

Mine will be black. As my shed is waterlogged (I think there's an issue with the felt on the roof but haven't had a chance to check yet) and the garage is full of bikes, I took advantage of Mrs Zero's absence last weekend to do some glueing and clamping. I now have a topless cab with port and crossover fitted - next stage (this weekend when I can either put a bike on the drive or paint outside) is primer in the port and rattlecan matt black paint on the inside in and behind the port, then put the top on, stick battens on, paint the front, and felt it up. I think that means sanding and filling will be next week, then the Tuffcab stage will be the following weekend. Then gigging it the weekend after that, with luck.

A note to anyone thinking of a Roqsolid cover - they've got a 10% off sale until the end of January, as I've just found out.

[6v6]

Hi all, not been on the forum for quite a while but just checked out this thread and the cab design looks great! 👍

I built a DIY cab back in 2013 (using the Beyma SM212, similar to the v1 basschat cab design) and it's been great, still gigging it now.

May get some bigger gigs soon, and also starting to use some FX which may benefit from a full-range cab (current one is only a single driver), so this new design looks ideal.

Would this likely pair OK with the existing cab or would it be better to build two (one with no mid/tweeter/crossover) as a modular solution?

Any info on the flatpack kits?  Looks like a great time-saver vs sourcing locally and cutting it all up myself 😀

 

[RichardH]

Stevie will fill you in on the flatpack situation, but to chip in on the modular solution - this is what I am (slowly) doing - though Stevie has suggested not only building the "sub" without the tweeter, but also to add a low pass filter so that only the bottom end is being used. So in fact, you may find that the existing v1 cab with a suitable low pass filter on it would fulfil those duties and save buying an extra driver and building a second cab. It may be that the two drivers wouldn't work too well together, but I'm sure Stevie will be able to comment more definitively!

Edited January 31, 2020 by RichardH
typo - sell > well!

[Chienmortbb]

3 hours ago, 6v6 said:

Hi all, not been on the forum for quite a while but just checked out this thread and the cab design looks great! 👍

I built a DIY cab back in 2013 (using the Beyma SM212, similar to the v1 basschat cab design) and it's been great, still gigging it now.

May get some bigger gigs soon, and also starting to use some FX which may benefit from a full-range cab (current one is only a single driver), so this new design looks ideal.

Would this likely pair OK with the existing cab or would it be better to build two (one with no mid/tweeter/crossover) as a modular solution?

Any info on the flatpack kits?  Looks like a great time-saver vs sourcing locally and cutting it all up myself 😀

 

Richard is correct. A lower cabinet with a limited top end will help, two full range cabinets is not such a good idea and Stevie has hinted at an idea to run a lower cabinet with a limited bandwidth. 

However I know he has been busy lately. I think that putting this cabinet on top of your "MK1" may work but it may be a bit middy. 

Keep an eye o this thread.