Help! Speaker Cab nightmare!!!

[wmhill]

Or Gene Simmons would have already done it.

 

[Stevorebob]

It's not ironic.

Anybody know why Fender designs are free game? Because they didn't defend themselves until it was too late. Every Tom, Dick and Harry is pushing Jazz Bass clones out and making bank on every one of them.

The idea that Jim and now Alex are being vilified for trying to protect that which is theirs is absolutely astonishing to me.

At issue here is a non-commercial build. There is no design or intellectual property theft. Jim is being "vilified" for coming on too strong in a fair-use instance.

 

[TinIndian]

I had a large post that I erased before I posted it about all this. But really the only thing that is a nightmare at this point is this thread.

 

[bobdabilder]

We're not dreaming

I had a large post that I erased before I posted it about all this. But really the only thing that is a nightmare at this point is this thread.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Op shot the horse, Jim buried it. They stood around lamenting it for a minute. Now every man and his dog wants to dig it up to beat it some more.

 

[Downunderwonder]

Now where is the rattle coming from?

 

[BadExample]

Now where is the rattle coming from?

The keyboards!

 

[Pops OB]

Never discuss religion, politics or speaker cabs.

 

[BadExample]

Never discuss religion, politics or speaker cabs.

Or ethics!

 

[BAG]

Now the OP certainly is no threat to Berg's business but I'm sure there are others out there that would love to build a knock-off and sell it for considerably less and skip the whole science and R&D step and that is probably always in the back of someone in a position like Jim.

But what if it had worked wonderfully? He would likely have built another. Then another for a friend and so on. That’s taking the bread out of Jim’s kid's mouths

And anyone like that would not be going into public forums asking where they went wrong.


It'd be interesting to know how Jim, and any other builder of cabs, amps, basses etc for that matter, got started.
Did he by chance build his first cab by taking some measurements or ideas from existing cabs at the time?
I don't know the answer to that but it would be a very, very rare builder (of just about anything) who's first build was entirely, 100% original with no nods to what came before.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

It'd be interesting to know how Jim, and any other builder of cabs, amps, basses etc for that matter, got started.

For me, it started with DIY home audio speakers in 1979. I read articles about transmission line enclosure design and thought I could make a few improvements - my first build (and all subsequent ones) were original to a fault. But I tried to learn from my mistakes, and over the next decade or so built somewhere between 60 and 70 original transmission line designs, most of which sucked. But eventually I did come up with effective solutions to some of the issues, solutions which I later learned had also been discovered by other people.

Eventually I started building home audio speakers commercially, then the Great Recession hit, and people stopped buying "expensive toys". I figured that a bass cab fell into a different category, being a "tool of the trade". I spent several months reading threads on TalkBass, looking for a niche that wasn't being filled, before launching my first commercial bass cab.

I've gotten to know a lot of speaker manufacturers in the home audio world, and a few in the bass cab world. To the best of my knowledge, I have yet to meet one who would deliberately steal someone else's work. I'm not saying that copying never happens, but in my experience creative people want to create, not copy.

In fact, one of my mentors once told me that it was a total waste of time and money to patent a loudspeaker design because speaker manufacturers are so proud of their own ideas that they wouldn't build someone else's even if it was better. How true: This person later offered to let me take over his loudspeaker business and use all of his intellectual property, and I declined, because I'd rather build my own designs. That's how stubbornly, egotistically, unfathomably devoted to being creative our kind are.

 

[BAG]

Thanks for chiming in on this Duke. I stand corrected and can fully understand the "I can do something better than what's currently available" attitude.

I've also had a quick look at your cabs...... alas, they would probably cost more than double to get one here in Australia.

 

[DukeLeJeune]

Thanks for chiming in on this Duke. I stand corrected and can fully understand the "I can do something better than what's currently available" attitude.

Thank you - your questions were quite valid!

I think anyone who is attracted to the idea of copying something for profit can better make use of his talents elsewhere... there's just not all that much money to be made in bass cabs.

I read somewhere that being able to be creative is a major factor in job satisfaction, one that some people are willing to take a pay cut for. My guess is that many if not most of us bass cab builders did something else at one time that paid more money but was less satisfying, so we took that pay cut and now we'd never go back.

I've also had a quick look at your cabs...... alas, they would probably cost more than double to get one here in Australia.

I doubt that anything I make would justify the added cost of shipping. But thanks for taking a look!

 

[BAG]

I doubt that anything I make would justify the added cost of shipping. But thanks for taking a look!

Your gear gets some seriously good reviews. It's unfortunate that the shipping these days is stupid expensive. Add the exchange rate and we're looking at big dollars. When you consider that an Adam Clayton bass costs nearly $4000 over here your cabs probably aren't that expensive........

 

[Kro]

For me, it started with DIY home audio speakers in 1979. I read articles about transmission line enclosure design and thought I could make a few improvements - my first build (and all subsequent ones) were original to a fault. But I tried to learn from my mistakes, and over the next decade or so built somewhere between 60 and 70 original transmission line designs, most of which sucked. But eventually I did come up with effective solutions to some of the issues, solutions which I later learned had also been discovered by other people.

Eventually I started building home audio speakers commercially, then the Great Recession hit, and people stopped buying "expensive toys". I figured that a bass cab fell into a different category, being a "tool of the trade". I spent several months reading threads on TalkBass, looking for a niche that wasn't being filled, before launching my first commercial bass cab.

I've gotten to know a lot of speaker manufacturers in the home audio world, and a few in the bass cab world. To the best of my knowledge, I have yet to meet one who would deliberately steal someone else's work. I'm not saying that copying never happens, but in my experience creative people want to create, not copy.

In fact, one of my mentors once told me that it was a total waste of time and money to patent a loudspeaker design because speaker manufacturers are so proud of their own ideas that they wouldn't build someone else's even if it was better. How true: This person later offered to let me take over his loudspeaker business and use all of his intellectual property, and I declined, because I'd rather build my own designs. That's how stubbornly, egotistically, unfathomably devoted to being creative our kind are.

The Duke LeJeune bass origin story, I love it. I've wondered a few times how you got into MI cabs. Not sure if it's already there (I haven't seen it), but this or something like it would make a cool little writeup on your website.

 

[BassmanPaul]

Seriously?

Yes I am very serious!

Edit: Further to this, a company in Toronto copied a TL cabinet. They made hundreds of the things. I bought a pair of them myself!

 

[BassmanPaul]

Now where is the rattle coming from?

Where else? The drummer!

 

[bolophonic]

So you tried to rip off my design and then you come on a public forum and ask why it doesn't sound good? Seriously? Like another poster said, by the time you add up the cost of materials, the cost of the wrong components you purchased, a non optimal crossover (There's no such think as an off the shelf crossover that works properly, regardless of what Eminence or others try to make you believe) plus your time, and you think you saved how much??

The dude is attempting to learn how to build a cab after being inspired by your design. He's not importing a line of knock-offs. After reading your reply to the OP, I would never consider laying down cash to support your business. I'm just one guy, but that's how easily you can damage your own reputation these days.

 

[BadExample]

Where else? The drummer!

Lead geetarists head? No offense to his actual geetar.

 

[maxmaroon]

I often wonder how many posters realise that they are combining their own personal narrative to the information posted. Many times the posters then begin to address and reply to their own interpretation of the OP's intent rather than the actual information posted. It's quite fascinating as I'm sure most of these individuals believe that there is some sort of interaction happening: and there is! but they are really talking to themselves.

The same exact thing I'm doing right now