stevie

Flat isn't a baked-in tone. It's a flat frequency response. If you don't want a flat frequency response in an amp, what response do you want?

Some of this duplicates what Phil has said, but here goes... 1. Crossover For anyone who has assembled an electronic kit, etc. in the past, the crossover is fairly straightforward to build, although doing point-to-point wiring is time-consuming. I do appreciate it's a step too far for most people, which is why I offered ready-built crossovers as part of the kit. Building one-off hardwired crossovers is out of the question now (it's half a day's work), but I've recently acquired a PCB facility, which means I could assemble one on a PCB without too much problem at a reasonable cost. 2. Ply 15mm poplar was chosen as a reasonable compromise between weight and stiffness, but there's nothing to stop you using 12mm or 18m. 12mm will be more resonant but lighter; 18mm will be less resonant but heavier. I'm happy that 15mm poplar was the right choice for that size of cab. The quality of the plywood is probably more important than the thickness. Go for the best quality you can get. The plywood offered by most local timber merchants is normally not good enough. If you can't get 15mm, you're probably shopping in the wrong place. 3. Back plate The input connectors are Speakons. In the first prototype I built, I mounted a Speakon on a small piece of plywood, cut a hole in the back panel, and then glued the piece of plywood with the Speakon behind it. Then I rounded off the hole for cosmetic purposes. It worked fine and looked neat. I wonder if you're referring to the input panel arrangement in the kit. That was CNC'd and would be difficult to replicate any other way. You could just fit one of the standard backplates available from the usual suppliers. 4. Wire I suggest you use 1.5mm colour-coded twin core speaker cable. Avoid the copper coated aluminium stuff. 5. CNC and glue PU glue is great if you want something that sets quickly. I have a tube in my workshop and wouldn't be without it. I suspect Bill recommends it because it expands and helps fill the gaps in the angled joints. But it is messy stuff. It sometimes sets too fast for comfort and oozes out all over the place. I think you'll find PVA easier to use.

Yes, the drawing was just intended to show the port design.

If I were designing this (which I'm not), I'd use this port layout: It offers several benefits. It helps brace the speaker where it needs it most - in the centre (rather at the bottom where the bracing is not needed). It helps with standing waves within the cabinet, which would likely be quite audible in a box this size. It would also make it easier to build a cab with a slanted top baffle if you wanted to do that.

To add to what @Chienmortbb said, there are several reasons why you can't use the BC12v3 crossover. The main one is that we are dealing with a 4-ohm system here, whereas the crossover was designed for an 8-ohm system.

The few specs provided by TKS coincide with the specs of the Eminence Kappalite (non-LF version).

Some makers offer foam bungs for doing this but you can use anything that works. I've used small towels or similar in the past. You don't have to get a 100% seal. I'm sure you realise the power handling at low frequencies will be reduced if you do this. Keeping the ports and using tone controls to cut the bass, as Bill suggests, will increase power handling.

The diagrams are all still valid as long as you use the specified drivers and horn. There are quite a few builders on here who will be happy to advise you if you get stuck. Don't worry. The LNT12 is a fine cab and ideal as a reference.

Indeed. It would weigh over 10kg if it had a ferrite magnet.

Despite the weight, it is actually a neo driver, Richard.

How does protection work on an amp like this? I've always assumed that they all have some kind of protection against sub-optimal loads or short circuits. Am I wrong?

Just bought a bass from Mike. It was really well packed, despatched promptly and communication was excellent. A perfect deal. Thanks!

I was in the same position. the SR500 is really nice to play and very lightweight. But I wasn't too keen on the sound. I upgraded to a (used) Premium Ibanez bass with Nord Big Something pickups. It probably worked out cheaper than just buying the pickups and fitting them to the SR500.

Totally agree. Just watch the two trumpet players at the beginning. Not every one will agree, but for me it's just a self-indulgent pissing contest.

Surprising, perhaps, but a wooden PCB board doesn't represent a fire hazard in itself, although a fibreglass PCB is a much better solution from just about every point of view.

He named this new range after his age. How weird is that? Anyway, we still don't know what the so-called revolution is all about. What's the cabinet material? There's no info on the website, but the corners look like polypropylene.

Biodegradable plastic cabs?

Do we know what the revolution is yet?

This is quite likely, judging by the graphics and the blurb, but there are only so many ways to skin a cat. It will be interesting to see if they have some original thinking up their sleeve.

It looks like an Eminence APT-80 bullet tweeter from the pictures I've seen. Before buying a replacement, I'd check the internal wiring. You might be able to get to the crossover by unscrewing the rear input panel. I suspect it's fixed to the back of the panel. Look for charred or dislodged components and broken leads. The most likely cause - and this is pure guesswork - is the L-pad (the tweeter volume control). Check the rotary movement of the L-pad. If it's stiff and scrapes, it's likely to be faulty. If you haven't got one already, buy yourself a cheap Chinese multimeter from B&Q or The Range. You can use it to test continuity between connections. It will also test for a blown tweeter (open circuit). A quick call to Barefaced wouldn't harm, if only to get their price for a replacement tweeter, although they're normally available from the usual sources.

I've got a Casio CTS-1 on the way as we speak. I'd have loved a Roland DS but it was too expensive. The software solutions suggested were also excellent but a bit fiddly, although they could be an additional option with the Casio (as I did get as far as buying the Apple adapter lead). The reviews of the Casio are glowing, and it has a wide variety of high quality sounds. The only downside is that the keys aren't weighted and it's not built like a tank. We'll have to see how that goes.

Very neat!

There are two ways of designing a bass guitar cab. You either design them to be flat response or you design them to exaggerate particular frequencies. The second option is by far the easiest and cheapest, which is why almost everybody builds them that way. If you don’t like a cab with a baked-in response, it’s not always possible to eq out what you dislike. That’s because the peaks in the response are often due to cone break-up, which means that, even if you do notch out the peaks, you’re still left with the distortion component. So you’re faced with the task of finding a speaker whose ‘tone’ appeals to you, or one that fits with your desired sound, or matches your other equipment. Some players like cabs with pronounced mids while others prefer an exaggerated bass hump or mild upper midrange distortion – and choose their cabs accordingly. That’s fine. Given a decent eq, however, you can easily eq your tonal preferences into a flat response cab – and there’s always effects pedals and modellers. And – importantly IMO, you always know what your starting point is. Amplifying bass guitar isn’t the same as amplifying a 6-string guitar, where the speaker is an important part of creating the overall sound of the guitar. It has more in common with amplifying a double bass. The main reason I prefer to use a flat response cab is not so much for the on-axis response, as that’s only part of the story, but more for the off-axis response, i.e. the power response. I also find that I don’t need a modeller. In fact, the only eq I use in the vast majority of venues is the 3-band eq on my bass.

Thanks for the tip, Al. I've been looking at the Casio CTS-1, which is very similar, and that might just fit the bill.

I'm with @BigRedX on this one. Not everyone wants a coloured cab with peaks and dips at random frequencies. If I need colour, there are plenty of ways of adding it.