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Thank you very much for the extra advice. I will shut up for now. I need to get the parts in.

Many thanks @Phil Starr. That sounds good. Would the dimensions of that quite big port be given at the start of the thread? If not, how would I work out what they need to be and if one big port could be problematic, could two smaller ones do the same job? Apologies again for the idiot boy questions.

Now I have decided to go for the Faital Pro 12PR320, has that already been modelled? I am fully bought into Apple these days and WinISD only runs on Windows. There is an app for iPadOS called Speaker Box but the pro version that gives you a cabinet design, cutting plan and parts list is £7 a month!! That’s a lot of money to spend on an unknown quantity. Has anybody tried it and is it worth the cash? Sub-question is it friendly to those with very little knowledge of acoustics and speaker design?

I can’t really give you an A/B on that because I changed the pickups as well. The original pots look like standard Far East issue, so you might get an improvement with CTS but unfortunately they will have to be mini-pots as well, unless you can work out a way of getting full sized units through the f-holes. Good luck!

Just to tie things up; I received the CTS 250K mini-pot yesterday and installed it this afternoon. It has given the tone more top end than the 100 K volume pot but not a huge increase in volume. Comparing the two, I would say that using the 100K is a bit like having a 0.010 uf capacitor permanently engaged. Overall, I think I prefer the 250K tone. It makes the set up a bit more flexible and IMO the DiMarzio P-127 set is a tonal improvement over the standard pickups. The bottom end response is improved and it just sounds more refined. I also sorted the grounding of the chrome covers and realigned the bottom, treble side pickup’s alignment. The bass is now quieter than it was stock, which is a bonus. Lessons: 1) It seems any standard P bass pickup set can be fitted under those chrome covers. 2) To keep the standard electronics, you would need a pickup set with 4 conductors; 3) If you decide on new pots, you will need mini pots: both Alpha and CTS do them; 4) You will need to enlarge the holes for the pots, if you go for CTS;

A lot of criticism for this Ricky for being the same size as a full scale bass but on reflection, my Guild Starfire 1 is also as long as my big boy Precision and quite a bit wider. However, it is one of the lightest basses I own, so the bulk is less of a problem. In some ways having to use full-scale strings is actually a plus: greater choice and no short scale premium. Unfortunately, the Ricky doesn’t seem to have that as a redeeming feature.

Just to tie off my previous off-topic post but I think I have fixed the vibrations in my BF Two10 cab. Judicious use of silicone sealant, epoxy glue and some rubber tape off fleaBay seems to have cured it.

Sounds like a good option for somebody. 👍 I’ll keep you posted. Probably in panicked calls for help when I mess up😏. Just collecting the parts at the moment.

Thanks for the offer but I already have the GPA -100 power amp, plus I currently have 4 amp heads. I really need to cull the herd a bit rather than enlarge it.

I have a Gnome iPro and I really don’t like it with the Monza. It is possible to get a sound I like with that combination but the EQ settings have to be really radical and there is nowhere to go for variation once it is dialled in. I already have the HB GPA-100 power amp, which I use occasionally for guitar with a multi effects pedal as preamp. I have also used it with a Monza and Bass Flyrig V2 for rehearsals and small gigs. The advantage of the Flyrig is that it has two preamp channels and all the effects I use built in, a tuner, plus a good DI (it’s raison d’etre). It just reduces the kit required in cramped conditions. An active cab would reduce it further but I really don’t like the affordable options available at the moment. I could use a 12” active PA cabinet but it doesn’t look right. Also I want the challenge of building a cab and the sense of achievement when it’s built.

Thank you for the advice @Phil Starr. I hadn’t thought about thicker ply changing the internal dimensions. I will have to do some calculations to make sure I am getting at least 30 litres internally. I have decided to go for @Chienmortbb’s 12PR320. It will save me quite a few quid over buying a new one and keep the overall cost down. I wanted to do a 12” simply because I have 10” well covered by my Monzas and BF Two10. I had a little Mark Bass 8” combo and that has somewhat put my off 8” drivers, even though the real limitations were in the EQ department. Illogical I know.

Sounds brilliant! Unfortunately, I think it is going to cost quite a bit more now but still worth it IMO.

I hope this thread isn’t dead, as I am hoping some kind soul will be prepared to answer a few questions. I fancy taking on a simple and relatively cheap 12” cabinet build. I say relatively cheap but everything seems to have got a lot more expensive since the last post above and some of the drivers mentioned don’t seem to be available anymore. However, if I can come in around £250, I will feel it was worth it and hopefully will enjoy the process. I actually want to build a powered cab using the Harley Benton GPA-100 power amp. I’m thinking of extending the height of the compact cab in this thread (30L) and putting the GPA in a full width box on the top. This would provide a simple, relatively light (I hope) cab for rehearsals and small tricky acoustics gigs, when I don’t want to use a big amp and my LFSys Monza(s). I would use my Flyrig 2 for the preamp. Anyway, the GPA can churn out 200 watts at 4 ohms, so I was thinking of getting a 4 ohm speaker rated at 300 watts RMS/AES to get some headroom. Although not cheap, I was thinking of something like the Faital Pro 12 PR 310. Would this 30L design be OK for something like that, or would it require more cab volume? Having recently been unimpressed by the 10mm ply in my BF Two10, I was thinking of using 15mm. Will that have a huge impact on the weight? Apologies in advance for directing more idiot boy questions in the direction of @Phil Starr, among others.

Interesting! I guess that, plus the positioning further from the neck, is what makes the sound less like a Gibson mudbucker. The name “Bi-Sonic” is misleading then. I may have gone too far towards the mudbucker tone with the humbucking P-127 then. However, I have the ‘60s British Invasion bass tone in my head and a lot of that was achieved with Gibson humbuckers.

Well I’ve got through stage one of fitting the DiMarzio P-127 set. This was not without a few tech issues. I was delighted to score 3 CTS 250K audio taper pots with long shafts on FleaBay for just under £10! I have not seen these on sale in the U.K. before (250K with long shaft). Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get them to go through the f-hole, however I tried. Ditto full sized Alphas. The only mini pot I had in my parts box was an Alpha 100K B but having got everything else into the bass, I was keen to have something to play, so I put it in but using screw terminal blocks to connect it up. I am now waiting for a CTS 250K A mini-pot. The P-127 is meant to be pretty hot, so I was kind of expecting the 100K pot to tame it. It still has a lot of grunt but does sound a bit blunted. I am reserving judgement on whether the P-127 is going to give me a tone close to a big humbucker. It certainly has some of the qualities of the D-145 mudbucker I have in another bass. It’s definitely punchy and has more bottom than your average P. I am reserving judgement until I have tried it with a 250K pot. One thing that seems to be a bit worse, is the amount of hum coming from the bass. I added some copper tape to improve the shielding in the pickup cavity and I may have made the hum worse. I am not sure if the earth wire in the cavity is connected to the ground properly. I can remedy that when I change the pot. It seems that the chrome pickup covers act as an antennae for interference when I touch them. I need to make sure they get grounded properly. Here is a pic of the P-127 set in situ. I need to realign the treble side to eliminate the slight gap. Fortunately the rails are not touching the chrome covers. More to follow after fitting the 250K pot.