basstone

I've now heard back from Roqsolid regarding a cover. For one of their Ampguard felt lined covers with your choice of binding the price is £41.36. This price includes postage if you use the discount voucher" basschat" on checkout - this is only valid for purchase of this cover only. follow this link to see the quote https://amplifiercoversonline.com/tinyurls/6 They just want me to send them a handle cut out template before making one. My thought would be a 150mm diameter circular hole in the top corresponding to the handle dish diameter. What do you think?

All good advice above. I found in my build that using 3 clamps per join was advisable to ensure no bowing of the join either at the ends or middle. Pencil line will help to check this. I found that it was possible to effectively glue and clamp opposite sides to reduce the number of gluing stages. I did however fit the other panels dry to ensure that everything stays square and that they will fit properly during subsequent gluing stages. Generally just take your time and make sure that you’re happy with each stage before gluing then once clamped leave it ideally 24 hrs before moving on to the next stage.

I'll let you know the price when I get a response from Roqsolid.

From what I can see on the Hot Covers web site, the pricing is likely to be similar to Roqsolid. The appearance is very different due to the use of a more padded foam backed material and putting the seams on the inside rather than Roqsolid's use of felt backing and external taped seams. The extra padding does make the Hot Covers appear more bulky but I would think they would offer great protection. At the end of the day it is a matter of personal taste. I already have many Roqsolid covers so I will be going down that route.

Suggestion from @stevie to paint the grille screws to match the grille. Not sure there's that much difference?

I'd be interested to hear others experience of alternative suppliers. I have used Roqsolid frequently over the years and found their products and service to be excellent. They did once get a cover slightly wrong but sent me a correct replacement very quickly. Some of my covers are now well over 10 years old and still as good as new. the felt backed material with bound stitched seams offers a good level of protection against knocks, abrasion and also keeps the rain off between car and venue.

@funkle The Roqsolid ones I have in mind have a water resistant polypropylene outer cover with a felt lining. Edges are bound with a colour of your choice. It's their standard Ampguard range. I've sent of an enquiry to them to get an idea of pricing. These are the ones I've bought before for all my amps and speakers. They have proved to be very durable and not only help keep the gear protected, they also help avoid damage to my car during transit.

Possibly, but the next stage for me is to design and build a balanced input stage and icepower module driver to build into the cab. If that goes well I could well build another to use for keyboards and monitoring. So it will be several weeks at best before I decide.

I will probably get a custom cover made by Roqsolid. I have used them many times before and their covers are really well made and they know just how big to make them to be a good fit. I expect it will cost in the region of £50 as a one off including postage. Is anyone else interested in getting a cover as it may be possible to negotiate a discount for greater quantities? Here is the cover I had made for my GK cab to show what they're like. You can choose your binding colour BTW.

Just completed some initial comparison testing using my GK MB500 300w amp with the GK 210MBE cab (2 x 10" neo drivers plus switchable treble horn) for comparison. That is my main rig used with a 10 piece party band which I know is loud enough to sit well in the live on stage mix. I used a passive Fender fretless jazz bass with nylon covered stings, active musicman with flats and active warwick 5 string with round wounds to try a wide range of bass sounds that I regularly use. The BC cab is slightly smaller and lighter that the 210. Both cabs have similar volume but what was noticeable was the better clarity and control of the BC cab and smoother mid range and top, especially at low and medium volumes.The top end also seemed more extended. The bass was also less boomy. A 5 string bottom B was no problem at all. At really high volumes the differences seemed less noticeable and ultimately the 210 could handle a bit more power, perhaps not surprising as it is rated at 400W. The BC cab is well matched in terms of power with the GK amp, rated at 300W into 8ohms. and is certainly loud enough for virtually everything I do. Very pleased indeed as I've been happy with the performance of the GK cab and the BC cab sounds better to me. Now looking forward to using it with a band 🙂 .

Thanks @funklefor the feedback. I was concerned about it being vulnerable to abrasion if just mounted on the back. I'll leave it off for now.

Cab 003 is now finished the first stage of the build (passive). Weighed at 13.2Kg using digital bathroom scales. I hope to do some comparison testing with my Gallien Krueger MB500 and 210MBE cab tomorrow 🙂

I'm not going to have enough space on the back panel to fit the serial number label there. I was wondering about putting it behind the grille at the bottom left corner. It can still be easily read and is well protected there. Any thoughts?

Connector panel fitted, just with a single speakon for initial testing. Crossover fitted behind port to leave room behind the horn for addition of power amp later. All drivers fitted. Getting close!

3 coats of Tuff Cab done. Single sided foam gasket applied to grille batten and trial fitting done. No drivers fitted just yet.

I used a random orbital sander for rounding the edges. Firstly I sanded (with 80 grit) a ~ 6mm flat at 45 degrees along the whole edge then repeat twice to half the angle and approximate a smooth curve. The ply laminates are a good guide to kelp keep it even. Finally finish by hand using 80 grit followed by sanding the whole cab prior to painting. I do have a router but I feel more in control with a sander. It does take a bit longer but less chance of a major disaster. I guess if you're experienced and confident and have high quality routing tools a very high quality result can be achieved that way. Looking forward to seeing what others are doing. 🙂

First coat of Tuff Cab on remaining 4 sides. The high quality of the cab kit is really paying dividends as the panel joins are not visible at all! I put the paint on with an ordinary paint brush to give an even coat then use the roller to give an even textured finish. I will do 3 coats in all.

I missed that one! Thanks @stevie . Fitting the feet also works but it's advisable to let the paint go really dry first. I also put a bit of silicone grease on the feet just in case the paint decided to stick!

3 coats of Tuff Cab on the bottom and feet fitted. 50mm in from the edges seems about right giving clearance for the metal corners. I used the same screws as for the handle (5.0 X 30 black CSK wood screws) with a 3mm pilot hole. The screws do protrude inside slightly but are covered by the 2 layers of felt. I can now stand the cab right way up to paint the rest without damaging the bottom.

Whilst waiting for the paint to dry fitting gaskets to bass driver (supplied with the driver but not fitted) and to horn and handle using 10mm x 1mm self adhesive foam strip.

Ready to start painting 🙂 First coat applied to the bottom.

I am not using the kit input panel so that I can keep my options open for fitting a power amplifier inside the cab later. I plan to fit a sheet steel input panel with a gasket and fixed by screws from the inside. It will eventually have a combined XLR TRS input connector, power inlet & switch and a gain control in the panel as well as an extension cab speakon output - which will come in handy for initial testing with my GK MB500.

Baffle painted with matt black spray paint bought in Proper Job. It came out more of an eggshell satin finish but I'm happy with it - it will match the satin Tuff Cab paint nicely 🙂

I have also used a coat of PVA to prime a porous surface before gluing and it does work well. My concern would be that the rebates are fairly tight even when dry fitted. The thickness of a layer of PVA (plus any possible expansion of the wood as mentioned by @Chienmortbb) might make it more difficult to close the joins effectively unless extra clearance was added by sanding first. Looking forward to hearing how @converse320 gets on and seeing the pictures.

Closer view of the felt in the bottom half of the cab. I decided fit larger pieces covering the small internal bracing rather than fit smaller pieces of felt between the braces