Your ideal cab?

[discreet]

[quote name='Jack' timestamp='1389451011' post='2334294']Carve a niche by offering 'old-cab' sound in a tiny, lightweight package. Something midget-sized but 810e/nv610/k140 sounding please.[/quote][size=4][quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1389451205' post='2334296'][/size]Ay this could be good![/quote][size=4][quote name='discreet' timestamp='1389443274' post='2334172'][/size]My ideal 1X12 would sound like an Ampeg 8X10 and be 22 X 18 X 18 inches and weigh 14kg.[/quote]

Edit: Barefaced '69er is the closest so far - if you can make something that sounds the same but is half the size and weight, not only will you make a fortune but you will have rewritten the laws of physics!

Edited January 11, 2014 by discreet

[discreet]

[quote name='topheteatwo' timestamp='1389448604' post='2334259']
My Orange SP212 is perfect, sounds amazing and deep, takes up little space, only bad thing is the price tag
[/quote]

Like so many things, it is subject to the law of The Project Triangle.

[url="http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/project-help/the-project-triangle-HA010351692.aspx"]http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/project-help/the-project-triangle-HA010351692.aspx[/url]

[Musky]

And another vote for the old school type cab.

I'd thought about something like this myself - not huge bass extension, but strong in the low mids. Which pretty much describes the sound of the old sealed Marshall 412.

[Marvin]

It'll be interesting to see what drivers are recommended for these cabs

A 112 self build for approximately £150 is certainly interesting.

A sealed cab could be interesting. I'm currently using a sealed 412 in a practice room and it sounds very nice (considering it's the bottom half of the guitarist's stack). Don't know who made it though.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Marvin

[funkle]

How low do you want to go? -3db/-6db at 50hz? Lower? Higher?

How big is the box to be? 'Super 12' size or smaller?

How loud will it be? On axis? Off axis?

In the days of big wattage in small packages, efficiency may be less important.

Big Xmax? = significant cost?

Is it acceptable to have holes in the frequency coverage? How many drivers do you plan to have?

Port shape, size, location? A chimney effect (for cooling) can happen from ports located at the top and bottom of a cabinet. Four small triangular ports would brace the sides and allow a chimney effect in any orientation of the cabinet.

Wedge shape? Can be useful. Or a strut on the bottom to angle it easily. Cheaper.

Edited January 11, 2014 by funkle

[funky8884]

A Cab that doesn't fart or fall to bits !

[Beer of the Bass]

The 1x12" seems like a good place to start which would cover a lot of different needs. Other things that might be interesting;
-Something genuinely tiny for small rooms, practicing or as a personal monitor would be very cool, like a high quality 1x8". I could certainly use something like that for double bass in my acoustic project.
-As others have suggested, a cab to get that heavily coloured, guitar driver sound that people like about the older 8x10" cabs would be interesting to a lot of players, and not catered for by many existing designs. Sort of like a smaller cab in a similar vein to the Barefaced 69er.

[chris_b]

I already have 3 112 cabs and 1 212 cab.

Why would I need another?

Convince me.

[Musky]

[quote name='chris_b' timestamp='1389456681' post='2334368']
I already have 3 112 cabs and 1 212 cab.

Why would I need another?

Convince me.
[/quote]
Because 4 is one more than 3.

[Jack]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1389451486' post='2334299']
[size=4][size=4]Edit: Barefaced '69er is the closest so far - if you can make something that sounds the same but is half the size and weight, not only will you make a fortune but you will have rewritten the laws of physics!
[/quote]

Not necessarily. I don't need that much volume, but one would assume that a lighter bottom end would allow a higher sensitivity.

[discreet]

[quote name='funky8884' timestamp='1389454086' post='2334343']
A Cab that doesn't fart or fall to bits !
[/quote]

You want the moon on a stick, you do!

[4000]

One that sounds like my old Mk1 Trace Elliot 4x10 (sealed, only 200w), Celestions IIRC, but is no bigger than 1x12 and 13kg. Speaking of Celestions, why do I always seem to prefer the sound of Celestion loaded cabs?

[funkle]

Do you regret asking for opinions yet?

[The fasting showman]

Great idea Phil, very good of you all to put your time into this.
How about a 1x15 using a sub £100 driver (Eminence Beta-ish cost perhaps) that's smaller than 100 litres. I know that this is a crowded area of the market for secondhand cabs that fit this criteria but it would be great for anybody who wants to build a cab and start with a brand new driver rather than one that could be about to expire.
All the best,
Martin

[Musicman20]

Controversial - please don't use the BF style textured paint.

[LukeFRC]

[quote name='Musicman20' timestamp='1389468460' post='2334540']
Controversial - please don't use the BF style textured paint.
[/quote] it's plans to build yourself - you could finish it in leopard print fur or piano black high gloss if you wanted!

[cattytown]

You got a recommendation for hard wearing leopard fur?

Peronally nice and tight at the low end with decent mid/high end - doesn't need to go all the way to 22K though, so I am thinking something like a 12/6 or 15/6?

Paul.

[LawrenceH]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1389454141' post='2334345']
-Something genuinely tiny for small rooms, practicing or as a personal monitor would be very cool, like a high quality 1x8". I could certainly use something like that for double bass in my acoustic project.
[/quote]

Funny you should say that... watch this space!

[LawrenceH]

Thanks for the contributions everyone! Keep them coming.

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1389442187' post='2334152']
If you're going to work hard and designing, building and promoting the 'ideal' bass cab, won't you be exposing yourself to massive amounts of flak from fanboys, haters, losers, geeks, trolls, flamers, asreholes, fanboy haters, geek flamers, loser trolls, troll losers and... bass players?

Edit: ...and flaming geek troll loser fanboy hater arsehole bass players..?
[/quote]

I think if we pretended it was going to be an 'ideal' cab that was all things to all people then yes absolutely! But what I hope we can achieve alongside the plans is a fairly up-front discussion of the design decisions and compromises. Ultimately it would be nice to present several variants depending on budget and particular priorities. But keeping it simple to start with as, at least initially, we will be working with drivers already in our possession.

Already there are interesting issues being raised about low-end voicing. If people are talking about particular scenarios, it would also be useful to know what they'd be driving the cabs with.

[Jack]

Gallien-Krueger MB Fusion!

I'm incredibly well-served by the barefaced Midget and Compact set-up but something a little more old school would compliment nicely.

[Steff]

300-400 watt, the smaller and lighter the better, 8 oHm to allow combining 2 or 4, voiced slightly up in the low mids because that's what lets you hear your bass on stage without shaping your preamp's eq. For the 12' that is. I don't like the idea of a 1x10.
Just to mention I'm a schroeder cabs fan.

This is what I need as a working musician. Light and loud. If I was to keep one in a rehearsal room, I would have kept my Mesa 1516 and would have bought one more .


By the way I'd be happy to be your guinea pig I do a fair amount of gigs per month, in familiar or new venues so I could test them in different situations.

Edited January 11, 2014 by Steff

[BassTractor]

Thank you so much for doing this! It's a bloody fantastic initiative that one can only hope is appreciated enough.
That is all.

[Bassman Sam]

Good luck guys. This should be interesting.

[rOB]

[quote name='bassman7755' timestamp='1389451445' post='2334298']
Have some easy way to angle it upwards whilst still allowing an amp to perched on top.
Perhaps related to that: some way to semi-permanently secure a ...
[/quote]

A big plus 1 to this

[Steff]

[quote name='rOB' timestamp='1389487517' post='2334808']
A big plus 1 to this
[/quote]

I've missed that... Indeed it would be great to have a cab like that but then how well would it dispense in the venue if it's pointing at let's say 30-40 degrees up?

You got me thinking I would have loved to have a 2 or 3 speaker cab where 1 or 2 speakers are facing forward for the audience and one 10' is angled towards you.
I often find myself carrying 2 4x10 sized cabs to a gig just to be able to hear myself because on a tight stage playing 3-5 feet away from the cab I can't really hear it cos it's aimed at my bum but then I don't wanna stand it on something cos I lose a fair bit of low end... So here comes the idea of let's say 2 tens pointing in the two needed directions. The grill of the cab could be extended to go over the top (still surrounded by the wooden frame for strength) but not all the way and that could be measured or supported in a way that it could carry an amp on top as bassman suggested.
Idea two - how about a cab that (here's where not being a native English speaking person really doesn't help so excuse all the mistakes) has let's say one 12' facing forward, but the construction has an opening at the front/top like a horn facing the player where he would be a few feet away and giving him a reference?
If all that sounds very stupid please just ignore me .