Bass Cabinet Build

[makohund]

At bass frequencies it isn't just sound properties. It's an air pump, a complex machine. More akin to tuning a gasoline engine than a guitar speaker. Get your piston size wrong, or bore/vs stroke, valve shape/size/timing, or non-matching cam... it might run, but it'll run like crap.

How's that for terrible car analogy, lol?

 

[Bass_Pounder]

Hmm.. How much of a redesign and I think it's a little silly that you can't use a different speaker with similar sound properties in any of those cabinets.. Isn't each one going to be a little different due to the builder?

Like I said, for bass it is very important that a cab is designed for specific speakers, or vice versa. Ignoring that will lead to poor performance, and be a waste of time money & effort. It's not a guitar cab, you can't just stuff good sounding speakers in a box. Well, you can, but odds are the results will suck, even if using the best speakers on the planet.

The performance requirements for reproducing bass and doing it well are a completely different universe. The interaction between the speakers and the box (air volume, port size/length, tuning), particularly in lower frequency ranges, are huge. For guitar they are relatively inconsequential.

Besides cab volume and port tuning, you may also have to change some design specs of the crossover and padding of the mid to match woofer efficiency.

 

[Passinwind]

Hmm.. How much of a redesign

A different size cab with a different crossover and different port tuning -- all of which you will need to design yourself. The end result will sound different after all that too. Find a used 3012LF if saving money is your goal and the fEARful thing is appealing. Couldn't be much more different than a Portaflex though.

 

[makohund]

Besides cab volume and port tuning, you may also have to change some design specs of the crossover and padding of the mid to match woofer efficiency.

Yeah, that too, since we're talking about a multi-way with passive crossover. I was just listing the basic stuff that applies even for the simplest single fullrange woofer cab. Where there's much more wiggle room, and at least a chance of happy accidental good pairing.

Mess with a fearful design without knowing exactly what you are doing... yeah, it's gonna bite you. And steal your wallet while it does it! Way cheaper to just build it right in the first place.

 

[KJP1990]

Thanks for all your help and I will heed the warning about messing with speakers. I just got back from playing with a PF500 and the ampeg 2X10 cab in the pf series.. they really sound good together. Ill look around a bit more today and get back to you guys.. keep the ideas coming please!!

 

[KJP1990]

At bass frequencies it isn't just sound properties. It's an air pump, a complex machine. More akin to tuning a gasoline engine than a guitar speaker. Get your piston size wrong, or bore/vs stroke, valve shape/size/timing, or non-matching cam... it might run, but it'll run like crap.

How's that for terrible car analogy, lol?

I understand what you're saying about airflow. I do play bass now but this is my first head and cab.

 

[Passinwind]

Thanks for all your help and I will heed the warning about messing with speakers.

It's a much bigger deal in a multi-way system, because designing passive crossovers is a pretty major PITA even for someone with a lot of experience. The whole fEARful thing very nearly stalled because of that.

 

[astack]

Or maybe a classic TL 606, altered for lighter build (1/2 inch ply) and a non-lf emi 3015 or faital in it.

This.

A simple TL606 with a 3015 sounds like a safe bet for you. That box and speaker both overlap in a sweet spot that's about as forgiving as you'll get for bass cabs (not much, but some), unlike with the fearfuls. The box and tuning can be +/- 10% and still sound good.

The 3015 is very efficient and can take a lot of power, so with a good amount of power, you can cover a lot of gigs.

The Faital Pro 15PR400 is another alternative for that cab, but it won't be any cheaper. Slightly wider frequency range and flatter response, but otherwise similar spec wise.

 

[KJP1990]

I'll check out the tl606 and 3015!!

 

[KJP1990]

I really like the fEarful designs the best

 

[Cirk]

Check out speakerhardware.com . They have all the parts you'll need at a reasonable price. They also have flat packs available so you don't have to cut your own wood. Nice folks too, from what I hear.
Note: I am in no way affiliated with speakerhardware, just read lots of good things about them.

 

[Jools4001]

I use a Barefaced Big One cab which is very similar to a fEarful 15/6. Same design philosophy, same 3015LF woofer, it's a great cab but needs a lot of power to go loud...that's not a particular problem with today's cost effective power amps, but since you already have the Ampeg, if I were you I would go a different route to this type of cab...since you wanted to do the portaflex thing.

Building cabs isn't cheap, it enables you to get a quality cab cheaper than a commercial alternative, but if you want to do it properly it's not cheap in absolute terms, especially if you're fixed on relatively complex cabs with crossovers etc...

if I was in your shoes, I would keep it simple since the simpler you keep it the more cost effective it will be, and you can't get much simpler than buying a single Eminence 3015 or Faital 15PR400 and sticking it into a suitably sized and ported simple rectangular box. This speaker is very efficient, so it'll go loud without much power and goes high enough for all but the slap happy. There are several builds on here using these drivers, can't recall the names of the users who've built a single speaker cab but they're on here if you look....something like the Starliner that John K built should get you in the ballpark if you just chop the dimensions and the ports in half (because this was a 2 x 15)...or take a look at Bill Fitzmaurices Simplexx designs...google will get you there.

Single speaker, relatively loud, simple and as cheap as it practically gets with a quality driver

 

[KJP1990]

I use a Barefaced Big One cab which is very similar to a fEarful 15/6. Same design philosophy, same 3015LF woofer, it's a great cab but needs a lot of power to go loud...that's not a particular problem with today's cost effective power amps, but since you already have the Ampeg, if I were you I would go a different route to this type of cab...since you wanted to do the portaflex thing.

Building cabs isn't cheap, it enables you to get a quality cab cheaper than a commercial alternative, but if you want to do it properly it's not cheap in absolute terms, especially if you're fixed on relatively complex cabs with crossovers etc...

if I was in your shoes, I would keep it simple since the simpler you keep it the more cost effective it will be, and you can't get much simpler than buying a single Eminence 3015 or Faital 15PR400 and sticking it into a suitably sized and ported simple rectangular box. This speaker is very efficient, so it'll go loud without much power and goes high enough for all but the slap happy. There are several builds on here using these drivers, can't recall the names of the users who've built a single speaker cab but they're on here if you look....something like the Starliner that John K built should get you in the ballpark if you just chop the dimensions and the ports in half (because this was a 2 x 15)...or take a look at Bill Fitzmaurices Simplexx designs...google will get you there.

Single speaker, relatively loud, simple and as cheap as it practically gets with a quality driver

Hey Jools, I searched for the Big One and came up with this from their website..

http://barefacedbass.com/index.php?page=big-baby

Is that similar?

 

[Jools4001]

Hey Jools, I searched for the Big One and came up with this from their website..

http://barefacedbass.com/index.php?page=big-baby

Is that similar?

Not really. The Big One was discontinued a couple of years back. The nearest thing to the Big Baby would have been the fEarful 12/6, but Barefaced have completely redesigned the new Big Baby with a new driver and everything.

Barefaced used to use quite a few Eminence drivers and I think their Compact used to use a 3015HO...to be honest, that's the sort of design I would be looking at in your shoes...

 

[stiles72]

I have several Ampegs, and am quite happy with all of them except my PF500. I've had three go up in smoke so I no longer trust it for gig use. I wouldn't invest a lot of money or time in a cab for one of these heads - I'd say just go shopping for a good inexpensive used cab, whether that turns out to be a 410 or a single 15 or a pair of 15's. Check out the pawn Shops, Music Go Rounds, Guitar Centers, etc... You may even find a matching PF cab at a decent price. The driver in the cabs is more than capable of handling the head - but I found the cab needed to be ported to suit my tastes, and so I modded it accordingly. Here's a link to my mods: http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f15/ampeg-portaflex-pf115he-mods-866811/

 

[makohund]

I really like the fEarful designs the best

Me too, have a 1212/6/1 and a 15/6/1. The first at practice space and go-to for most gigs, the second mostly at home but sometimes megastacked.

They can do or cop about anything if you can dial in the sound you want, and have eq on tap for it. But if what you really want classic portaflex cab sound with nothing more than a PF500, a Bassic or Dually will get there more simply.

 

[webmonster]

I'll check out the tl606 and 3015!!

Please do! I'm building a TL606 cab and will load a 3015HO into to go with my existing TL606 cab with a 3015HO.

This is the 1st cab I've built so I've played it very safe. I've stayed with 3/4" plywood and I've taken my time.

 

[CL400Peavey]

I'll check out the tl606 and 3015!!

I would say take a look at the TL606 plans. Convert them to 1/2" and add bracing. This will make the cab a lot lighter, and will actually be stronger than the 3/4" the plans originally call for. I would also recommend you look at the Faital Pro 15PR400 over the 3015. I prefer that driver, and it will have a little more low end booty.

I really like the fEarful designs the best

Me too, have a 1212/6/1 and a 15/6/1. The first at practice space and go-to for most gigs, the second mostly at home but sometimes megastacked.

They can do or cop about anything if you can dial in the sound you want, and have eq on tap for it. But if what you really want classic portaflex cab sound with nothing more than a PF500, a Bassic or Dually will get there more simply.

I have fEARful cabs and a greenboy DuallyT. All of them sound great with my PF-500.

 

[KJP1990]

after doing more and more research I am coming to the conclusion that this is going to be more expensive than just buying a cab. Yes I have the wood I would need but the speakers are just not adding up and the fact that I need to buy specific speakers for a specific cabinet baffles me to be honest..

Would a Peavy 1502 Blackwidow work well in the tl606?

 

[KJP1990]

No knowledge of the black widow and pl606? I know I must be getting aggravating and annoying but I want to do this right..

I have seen some plans for 1x15s on here and they seem much simpler than combining speakers in a series with a transistor.. That said I have found a wiring diagram that lays out a great 2X10 with a tweeter/driver. I played the Pf210 the other day an really liked it so I am now leaning more towards that.. I took some pictures of the inside and it looked pretty plain jane (totally closed with some sound buffering material)