nekomatic

From the fact that the cabs are secondhand and one socket is worse than the other, I’m very inclined to suspect that it’s those sockets that are bad. Maybe they’ve been repeatedly used with a non-genuine Speakon plug that has damaged them. The obvious thing to test would be whether you see any problem with a different cab. 
 

The good news is that it looks like it should be easy to remove the connector panels and replace the faulty connectors on the cabs. If you don’t fancy doing it yourself it shouldn’t be too expensive to have a tech do it. 

Did you buy the amp, cabs and cables together or did you already have the cabs?

Can’t remember exactly but I’m pretty sure I just squeezed mine flat between a couple of pieces of wood and a couple of clamps. 

2 hours ago, p4ul said:

Afrobeat Jam in a record shop - House band invite players to join them for improv jams, no sign up sheet, no Ukuleles yet. Got to have some chops to keep up with the HB but welcoming and good vibes, musically interesting.

Ooh, nice!

May not be what you had in mind by ‘funky’, but as a ’90s indie kid (and adoptive Manc) I couldn’t not post this. 
 

Get an observatory, you lot - this is the cab design thread!

😉

6 hours ago, rwillett said:

I have to confess to using some paints and stuff sometime ago that stank to high heaven, and for some reason t'CFO isn't keen to repeat the exercise. I have no sense of smell (lost it 2014) so I have no issues which is part of the problem, she can smell it and I can't.

Tuff Cab has very little odour, fwiw, so hopefully your equivalent one is the same. 

3 hours ago, rwillett said:

I did look at anodising some telescope parts years ago, the theory looks quite easy, its the practise that worries me...

If you're banned from even painting indoors I don't think anodising is going to be on the cards!

A few weeks back we happened into a pub in Didsbury, not that far from us, and found it full of flyers for a forthcoming Jazz Jam - which isn't something you see that often. So on the day of the Jazz Jam I turned up and found an excellent young guitar-led trio going by the name of Fisherman Dice, and… no jammers except me! But they were dead friendly and let me sit in for three tunes, and mentioned that they run a bi-weekly jam over in Chorlton, of which I got the impression that it was well attended, and last night I went along to that and found the same bassist and drummer but a different guitarist and… no jammers except me. But they were dead friendly and let me sit in for three tunes   

Anyway the Didsbury one was a new venture by the manager of the pub, which changed hands not long ago, and despite the low attendance he said he was keen to repeat it, and I've let the Fisherman Dice guys know that if he does and they can bring a keyboard next time (which the Didsbury venue has space for but the Chorlton one absolutely doesn't) then I can pretty much guarantee a couple of pianists who go to the other jam I've been going to, and possibly some soloists too. So it would be nice if that could become a thing. But my ulterior motive of finding a drummer who'd be interested in getting together with one of the aforementioned pianists to do some occasional trio stuff is no further forward…

1 hour ago, rwillett said:

The round speaker grille is great but the delivery is the same price as the grille. 100% delivery costs feels wrong to me for some reason.

CPC sell them so if you can think of sixteen quid’s worth of other stuff you need from CPC (and who amongst us can’t do that?) then you can get free delivery. 
 

To be honest even if you have to pay delivery I’d struggle to find a cheaper way of making a decent grille, as long as you have the means to cut it (I used a Dremel but am sure hacksaw or tinsnips would do). Note that the plastic edging is just a stretch fit around the round grille so you can re-use it (with glue) for the rectangular version. 

2 hours ago, rwillett said:

Clearly people use metal grills and they look great, but wondered if they need to be 10mm (or another minimum distance) from the speaker or the holes need to be a certain size, do you need rubber mounts on them to stop them vibrating?

The speaker specs will tell you the maximum cone excursion, Xmax, which for this driver is 5.5 mm. Sometimes they give a separate larger figure for the excursion where damage will occur, but I think if we go past Xmax that means we’re into the realm of abusing the speaker anyway. So the cone should move at most 5.5 mm forward (or backward) from its rest position, add a couple of mm for (waves hands) stuff, and I guess that should be fine. 
 

I don’t think the size of the holes matters acoustically, but guess the percentage that is hole rather than not hole might do? I’d say picture what a speaker grille usually looks like and go for something not too different from that. 
 

You want to avoid the grille vibrating too much at an annoying frequency, so I would probably mount it as rigidly as you can. I screwed mine to blocks round the edge of the baffle and one in between the speaker and port and that seems fine. 

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

I use 13A twin core mains cable.

6 A twin core mains cable would also be fine. 

The phenomenal Rioghnach Connolly and Honeyfeet, finishing their UK tour on home turf at Manchester Academy 3. If there’s a band out there that’s more fun live I want to know about it. 
 

Also because the plastic corners do need a rounded edge, or at least the ones I’ve used did. 

Which Harley Benton supply is it? That might help us suggest what would work with it. 

Assuming you don’t want to solder anything, something like this ought to be suitable. It may say 12 volt input but the small print says it works down to 8 volts. 
 

Be aware though that if you plug in a phone that draws 3 amps from the USB port, that gadget will need about 1.7 amps from the 9 volt supply, which would be quite a lot for a pedal. I couldn’t quickly find a similar item with a lower maximum output. 

Well the bassist made it to the gig and (presumably) back again, so however they did it it must have worked. Thanks again for all the help!

I have several of the rollers spare and would be happy to post a couple to any cab constructor. You’d need your own handle but I think that’s a standard size. 

A recital of piano music by Anthony Burgess, played on Anthony Burgess’s piano at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation. A musicologist sat next to us warned us to expect ‘second-rate Walton’ and I think he was being harsh, but Burgess definitely a great writer who could also compose rather than (as he apparently wished to be) a great composer who could also write. 
 

Pleased to report I didn’t viddy any ultraviolence and also slooshied no Ludwig Van, although there was some Ravel in between the Burgess. 

Thanks! With luck I will not need to make an emergency trip to Knutsford in the big car this lunchtime then. 

Is it likely to fit? Asking for mrs nekomatic who has booked a bassist for an orchestra gig this afternoon and trying to figure out who they can get a lift with…

Dunno what the bass is but it’s a 2011 Corsa!

Game on! Looking forward to seeing more of these nifty little cabs coming to life. 

4 hours ago, neepheid said:

Well, I have (admittedly this example is at the device side, not the plug side)

 

To be fair, that particular piece of kit has to be a good 40 years old.

Model A or B, btw?

On 11/11/2025 at 12:00, BaBaRe said:

Thats me on double bass in a piano trio:

 

 

That's very nice indeed! Listening to the oud album on Bandcamp now.

4 hours ago, BaBaRe said:

I do a lot of original music, a fusion trio, a harp and double bass duo, a world music group and also sideman work with singers, and a 50's r'n'r band. I've composed four full scores for theatre and continue to explore different avenues of expression with multiple instruments and diverse lineups. 

This sounds great, please feel free to share recordings/videos/links!