cd_david Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 (edited) The massive, weighty cab quest/collecting is at an end. I think I’ve finally scratched the itch. This cab was the final ‘must have/try’ cab that I’d lusted after as a young player. It took me 35 years to find one of them. I drove to London to collect it in December. It came with a blown driver and missing one piece of plastic trim. Thankfully this one didn’t need re tolexing. Only a couple of small nicks which I was able to glue down. the plastic trim was impossible to find. A very flat ‘h’ shape with a coloured insert. I had to create the profile with 3 separate pieces of plastic trim and then get the colour matched and ended up painting both trims so the matched. The colour is remarkably close but the remaining trim had been non uniformly faded/stained with nicotine. the grill frame had cracked but only required gluing. I added some wooden fillets to the baffle as the grill and whole front is angled back and was Probably the cause of the crack as it wasn’t supported and difference of about 20mm between the top and bottom. Baffle painted, new 600w eminence installed and the Badge attached, I’d bought the badge around 15 years ago ’just in case’. These cab restorations often end in great disappointment when I play them in a band context. This wasn’t the case with this. Very loud and consistent timbre. It’s a great cab and now Part of the ‘keepers’. There is no other cab I fancy and I’m no longer searching. That said, if a second one came along or a second peavey 3620? 🤣 Edited June 29, 2023 by cd_david 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reggaebass Posted June 29, 2023 Share Posted June 29, 2023 Really nice job, great work, that’s come out looking like new and I like the badge , back in the day I had a few HH cabs, mine were really reliable but pretty heavy compared to some now, this was one I had 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd_david Posted June 29, 2023 Author Share Posted June 29, 2023 55 minutes ago, Reggaebass said: Really nice job, great work, that’s come out looking like new and I like the badge , back in the day I had a few HH cabs, mine were really reliable but pretty heavy compared to some now, this was one I had Thanks! I’ve had a few of the vertical 215s but the slightly newer ones with the removable front panels. Great sounding cabs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 How close are the specs of the new driver to that which would have been fitted originally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd_david Posted June 30, 2023 Author Share Posted June 30, 2023 2 hours ago, BigRedX said: How close are the specs of the new driver to that which would have been fitted originally? It’s hard to say as they used to ‘HH’ badge up manufacturers drivers. Sometimes Fane but often Celestion as well. The original cab is badged at 200 watts but the blown driver that came with it was a cheap/maplins type replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 8 hours ago, cd_david said: It’s hard to say as they used to ‘HH’ badge up manufacturers drivers. Sometimes Fane but often Celestion as well. The original cab is badged at 200 watts but the blown driver that came with it was a cheap/maplins type replacement. Maplins used to sell Eminence drivers re-badged as Big Cat so not impossible that they were the replacements 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted June 30, 2023 Share Posted June 30, 2023 I love these old designs dating back to before research and science caught up with cab designs and building cabs was as much an art as a science. The scoop horn on the back was really too small to make much impact upon the bass and the 'sound' of this speaker would have been dominated by the direct radiation of the speaker but we tried everything to lift the sound output of the cabs. Everything was suck and see, build a cab and listen, swap speakers around and try again. I still hanker after designing and building some of the more ambitious and impractical folded horns and hybrid monstrosities I dreamed of back then. Thanks for reminding me of where I came from and well done with this refurb. Please don't try to carry it on your own 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubsonicSimpleton Posted July 1, 2023 Share Posted July 1, 2023 My first proper bass amplifier was the bass machine combo version of this cab. After moving it up three flights of stairs to the rehearsal room, it stayed there till the band split and was promptly sold, so I wouldn't have to carry it back down the stairs again. Nice to see that this has found someone who will love it. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chienmortbb Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 On 29/06/2023 at 20:07, Reggaebass said: Really nice job, great work, that’s come out looking like new and I like the badge , back in the day I had a few HH cabs, mine were really reliable but pretty heavy compared to some now, this was one I had I missed this one the first time around. Nice refurb by the way. I have two HH bass amps. One is the VS Bassamp like the one pictured, one is the Bassamp 100. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman Rich Posted August 20 Share Posted August 20 On 29/06/2023 at 21:03, cd_david said: Thanks! I’ve had a few of the vertical 215s but the slightly newer ones with the removable front panels. Great sounding cabs. I used to use a pair of those 2 x 15 vertical cabs, again as David said, with the removable fronts. Got decent ooomph from a Marshall 50 w valve amp powering both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassTool Posted August 27 Share Posted August 27 Nice job! 👍🏼 Took me back to my HH days, I had the 1x15 VS combo with the bottom port in the 70's, think it was on castors..🤔 Would have to be now 😆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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