DIY Cabs Finally Finished!

Snakeman1066 · #1 10-25-2008, 01:18 PM

Well I wanted to try my hand at Cab building after having tackled a DIY Bass build...

they measure 24" x 24" x 18" the top is loaded with Eminence legends currently Rated at 800 Watts RMS and currently sealed at 8 ohm....the bottom Cab also contains and Eminence Driver dual ported (in the back) and is rated at 300 watts the 15" is 4 ohm

build is compsed of MDF and OSB covered with your standard rubber backed rat fur...lol.......i would have used plywood, but i didn't know how it was going to turn out or even if i could pull it off, so i went with scraps of what i already had...

originally they looked like this

just a black paint job and loaded with general purpose speakers, and aluminum screen for a grill covers...

I decided it was worth finishing....hope you like the finished project

most of the parts all came fom Parts Express, and if you can follow directions in any way shape or form , and own a few simple power tools, you also can build your own.....

fairly sure i'm going to do it again.....and i think as a bass player you owe it to yourself to at least give it a try

will33 · #2 10-25-2008, 01:58 PM

How d'ya like it?

Snakeman1066 · #3 10-25-2008, 02:05 PM

so far so good....much better than anything i could have bought in this price range.....hard to beat two fully loaded cabs with this power for roughly a little less than $500.00

**Stumbo** · #4 10-25-2008, 02:07 PM

How does it sound?

Snakeman1066 · #5 10-25-2008, 02:24 PM

They remind me of the Ampeg signature line put out for Victor Wooten (a lot of Midrange)

I run with two heads so the 4 x 10 gets all my gain type effects, OD, Fuzz etc...

the 15" gets pushed clean

Snakeman1066 · #6 10-25-2008, 06:47 PM

After spending some time with the cabs today i have to say that i think i out-did myself and surpassed my own personal expectations for this project...

the cons....i couldn't find any metal for the grill (pre-made) so i chose to use a vinyl coated welded wire (something like hardware cloth) at certain frequencies especially with the 15 inch cab they vibrate....

i picked up some rubber busings today (used for limb vibration in archery) and solved that little problem

i think i may need to add a tweeter, but with the type of muisc i'm playing....maybe not

more later...

will33 · #7 10-25-2008, 10:04 PM

The crossover and little 5" (hartke?) mid-driver out of that cab sitting next to it would probably do you a little better than a tweeter if you're using overdrive, etc. Some effects and clean sounds too can sound a little harsh to my ear with the cheap "bullet" type tweeters you see in a lot of bass cabs.
Cabs look nice and uniform and square from here, good job.

Edit: If you like the sound you got, you're done. If it's too midrangey, porting the 410 will get some more lows although might not be needed if you're running OD through the top and using the 15 to put in clean bottom.

Snakeman1066 · #8 10-25-2008, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by will33

The crossover and little 5" (hartke?) mid-driver out of that cab sitting next to it would probably do you a little better than a tweeter if you're using overdrive, etc. Some effects and clean sounds too can sound a little harsh to my ear with the cheap "bullet" type tweeters you see in a lot of bass cabs.
Cabs look nice and uniform and square from here, good job.

Edit: If you like the sound you got, you're done. If it's too midrangey, porting the 410 will get some more lows although might not be needed if you're running OD through the top and using the 15 to put in clean bottom.

First of all thank you for the response

according to WinISD i could get away with two 4 inch ports, or one big 6 inch port, (although the box is a little small) and your right that old Hartke HS410MX sitting on the floor is ported, (and i liked the sound of it with Eminence drivers) but I like the sound of my new DIY sealed cab better

(Yea i thought about snagging the little aluminum driver out of the Hartke but....I don't want to molest the old Hartke cab any more as i recently put it up for sale)

I think I'll stay put for the time being and see where this set up takes me

It will be a while before i can justify any more builds to the boss (read that to say WIFE)

besides with the Sludge/Doom/Stoner stuff I'm playing now, i think the cab suits my sound just fine the way it is

JimmyM · #9 10-25-2008, 11:11 PM

Ya, who needs a tweeter or a high-freq driver? For sludge, you really don't want anything past 5k anyway. I'd leave them the way they are, too.

bassbrock · #10 10-25-2008, 11:33 PM

Why is the bottom right woofer cone a different color? Is it a different model Eminence speaker?

Snakeman1066 · #11 10-25-2008, 11:55 PM

They are all Eminence Legend BP 102's all bought from the same source on a closeout and actually two of them appear grey, one black and the other has a slight blueish tint? Not sure different production runs? kinda cheesed me off a bit when i opened the boxes but really does it matter all that much? The stickers on the back of the drivers are all the same. Your guess is as good as mine

murphy · #12 10-26-2008, 07:08 AM

Congratulations.
They look fantastic.
You are inspiring me.

Snakeman1066 · #13 10-26-2008, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murphy

Congratulations.
They look fantastic.
You are inspiring me.

Thanks.....

i'm not sure about fantastic

I think everyone should at least give it a try, very rewarding to be playing through something i built with my own two hands

toobalicious · #14 10-26-2008, 09:08 AM

nice job.

not to nitpick, but youve got the handles mounted upside down. they will be a lot easier to carry if you flip them around.

bassbrock · #15 10-26-2008, 09:40 AM

What low end are you getting out of the sealed 4x10? 60Hz? And did you design these yourself in WinISD or are you following a set of someone else's plans?

will33 · #16 10-26-2008, 10:24 AM

The different colored cones may have come from different production runs or may have been leftovers off the shelf that didn't make it out to various wholesalers. Doesn't affect anything other than the look.

Partsexpress sells this stuff http://www.parts-express.com/webpage...ctGroup_ID=371 for outdoor or marine applications but it will add some mass to the cone which will affect the sound a little bit. A light dusting of plain old spray paint will make the color look uniform to anyone other than yourself and won't add enough weight to the cone to really affect anything.

Snakeman1066 · #17 10-26-2008, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassbrock

What low end are you getting out of the sealed 4x10? 60Hz? And did you design these yourself in WinISD or are you following a set of someone else's plans?

to be honest with you i didn't get WinISD until after i built the cabs....

I looked at roughly seven diferent manufacturers designs and took measurments of their cabs for close to the power i wanted to achieve....I then calculated based on how much wood i already had on hand...not to mention 24" x 24" panels come pre-cut at my local Lumber yard (handy if you don't have a table saw that can handle a 4 x 8 sheet or you need an extra when you mis-routed...lol)

so to answer your question it a hodge podge design, however i did use WinISD to calculate the best drivers and ports for the boxes once they were complete (based on my budget)

more like 70hz but thats based on math and not actual measured response

Quote:

Originally Posted by toobalicious

nice job.

not to nitpick, but youve got the handles mounted upside down. they will be a lot easier to carry if you flip them around.?

lol...

i tried then the other way and this felt much more comfortable...

will33 · #18 10-26-2008, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakeman1066

more like 70hz but thats based on math and not actual measured response

...

WinISD says that's pretty close. Sealed would fall off in the mid-high 60's, porting it would drop that to the low 50's with a bump around 100hz. Guesstimating 4.2-4.3 cu.ft.

Snakeman1066 · #19 10-26-2008, 12:34 PM

if i were using the 4 x 10 cab by itself i probably would port it in a second, however paired with the 15" i'm just not sure i want to do that (Read on the fence)

now if i come into a situation where i end up using this as a stand alone cab (Which i might) then it is a possibility...

when i had the generic P.A. speakers in it i seriously wanted it ported, but with the legends in it;....again i'm not so sure

thanks for confirming my math skills will33

will33 · #20 10-26-2008, 12:48 PM

I'd think you could leave it like it is too if you're always going to use it as a 2 amp full stack, OD top + clean bottom.