DIY Rig Home Improvement Project

[JSK5String]

I built this rig a little more than a year ago. About a month ago, I swapped out the original Carvin power amp for a LMII. Then I got a wild hair to make the thing look more like a classic rock bass rig than a piece of oak furniture, so I'm in the process of coating it with Duratex. Here's a couple of pics before the home improvement project started...




Here are a couple of the "in progress" shots. I made a couple of improvements on things that have been bugging me over the past year.
- I rounded all of the edges and corners more than I did originally.
- I also framed in the back where it wasn't even all the way around. I didn't do it the first time because with a natural finish the seam would have been nasty. Now the Duratex will hide that nicely.
- I'm upgrading the handles and I used my Dremel tool to route the wood so the handle will be counter sunk just a bit into the finish, rather than sitting on top of it.
- One piece of feedback I got on the original build was to lose the framing lumber I used as the rack mount pieces. So, I did. I'm now using some of the left over oak plywood.






The Duratex is scheduled for delivery tomorrow, so I'll post some more pics in a day or two as I get further on the project.

As always, love the feedback from my brothers in the low end.

[mikeddd]

Very nice improvements IMO. I remember you posting this rig when you first built it; I thought it was pretty nice back then. It's always cool to see someone's idea of "my perfect rig" and watch them bring it to life. I'm looking forward to seeing it in Duratex. I probably asked this before, but: Is the cab divided? It looks it. How did you arrive on the porting arrangement? I.E. the triangular ports for the 15" and the round ports for the 10's?

[JSK5String]

Thanks mikedd. Yes, it is divided in the middle with a piece of plywood and sealed with silicon all around. To be honest, I arrived at those ports because I liked the way they looked, no other reason! And I'm looking forward to seeing it in Duratex also!

[Interceptor]

Get yer bondo or wood putty out and smooth it out before you apply the Duratex.

Duratex doesn't hide unfilled wood.

If you hit it with a router, be careful to round at a pitch that matches the corners.

[lelandcrooks]

Spot prime bondo and glued areas with Krylon or rustoleum primer. Sand everything with 60g. Nice cab.

[wcriley]

Primer! So that's the trick!
I had a heck of a time painting over the squeezed-out PL on my Jack10s.

[JSK5String]

Originally Posted by Interceptor

Get yer bondo or wood putty out and smooth it out before you apply the Duratex.

Duratex doesn't hide unfilled wood.

If you hit it with a router, be careful to round at a pitch that matches the corners.

Did that, all holes are filled and sanded smooth, thanks though. I only used the router to counter sink the handles. I used a palm sander followed by a sanding sponge on the edges and sides, they're all pretty good.

[JSK5String]

Originally Posted by lelandcrooks

Spot prime bondo and glued areas with Krylon or rustoleum primer. Sand everything with 60g. Nice cab.

Did both of these things also. I didn't post any pics of it with the primer, but I did hit all the necessary spots with primer. Again, thanks for the tips though.

[Sundogue]

Originally Posted by JSK5String

...To be honest, I arrived at those ports because I liked the way they looked, no other reason!

Do yourself a huge favor and download WinISD, input the T/S specs for your drivers into it. Calculate the internal volume of each cab and input that as well.

Find the optimal tuning for each section of your cab for those drivers and do the tuning with the correct size/length ports.

Your cab may very sound great as is, but you may improve its performance, even significantly, for very little effort. You may increase it's optimal output, prevent unnecessary early unloading of the drivers that could blow them, or you may even end up with tone you like more than what you have now.

Now would be the time to do it, so that you can mod it as needed for the correct ports/tuning and THEN cover it in Duratex.

You may think its unnecessary, but after years of designing and building my own, I really wish I knew then what I know now. You seem to have a great cab you really like playing through, so why not take a little extra time and make it everything it could be?

[jlepre]

Very cool build. How much does it weigh?

[JSK5String]

Originally Posted by Sundogue

Do yourself a huge favor and download WinISD, input the T/S specs for your drivers into it. Calculate the internal volume of each cab and input that as well.

Find the optimal tuning for each section of your cab for those drivers and do the tuning with the correct size/length ports.

Your cab may very sound great as is, but you may improve its performance, even significantly, for very little effort. You may increase it's optimal output, prevent unnecessary early unloading of the drivers that could blow them, or you may even end up with tone you like more than what you have now.

Now would be the time to do it, so that you can mod it as needed for the correct ports/tuning and THEN cover it in Duratex.

You may think its unnecessary, but after years of designing and building my own, I really wish I knew then what I know now. You seem to have a great cab you really like playing through, so why not take a little extra time and make it everything it could be?

Since we seem ot have been seperated at birth, I think I'll trust you and take this step...

[JSK5String]

Originally Posted by jlepre

Very cool build. How much does it weigh?

62 pounds all in...

[jlepre]

Not bad!

[JSK5String]

Well, it's done and loaded, but it's getting late so I won't be able to post the "after" pics until tomorrow night. I will say, it looks flipping awesome. Three coats of Duratex with a brush followed by one coat with the texture roller. Turned out great.

I know, no pics = no completed rig. I'll get some up tomorrow...

[Sundogue]

Did you ever figure out WinISD?

I must have started a reply PM about ten times (only to be interrupted with family things and never getting it out to you).

I'd still take the time to learn how to use WinISD if it were me. Once you build one cab, it never seems to be enough. It also helps tremendously with understanding how speaker cabs really work.

[JSK5String]

I did dive into it pretty deeply, thanks for the tip Sundogue. No problem on the PM. I spent some time messing with it and got it pretty well figured out.

The 10" half of the cab is vented just right (purely by accident!). The 15" side wants just a little bigger venting. I'm toying with the idea of adding a round vent like I have on the 10's, but on the back or bottom of the cabinet. Do you have any thoughts on that?

[JSK5String]

Before & After shots:

Before

After


Before

After


Before

After

I added the extra rubber feet so I could run my input cable under the amp instead of over the top of it. They ended up centering the amp head in the rack space. And I got that going for me, which is nice...

Before

After


Before

After


As always, I welcome the feedback, as you never know when I'll get a wild hair and want to build another one. Hopefully never. Riigggghhhhttttt...

[monkeyking]

Looks great before and after! Well done. With it being fairly tall and not too deep, I think some tilt back wheels and a handle bar would be a great way to go.

[JSK5String]

Originally Posted by monkeyking

Looks great before and after! Well done. With it being fairly tall and not too deep, I think some tilt back wheels and a handle bar would be a great way to go.

Great suggestion, I was thinking about that. I just might have to add those...

[metalinthenight]

NICE. I thought it was tasty before, but now...pure awesome.

Something about it now makes it look finished and more professional. Not quite so DIY (take that for what you will, but I dig it).