New BassChat 8"Cab design

[Richard R]

As I have ranted previously on this forum, the main reason I dislike B&Q is the appalling music they play. Dire cover versions of good songs. I walked out a few years ago because they were playing an easy-listening smooth jazz version of London's Calling.

 

That red port looks the business though. If the cab is black TuffCab and you design and print a red "BC8" logo to go in the opposite corner it would look very cool. Red paint on the screw heads of the speaker too.

 

 

Edited Saturday at 19:19 by Richard R
Red head screws

[Jackroadkill]

1 hour ago, Richard R said:

an easy-listening smooth jazz version of London's Calling.

 

 

To be fair, I'd have been effing raging, too.

Edited Saturday at 20:21 by Jackroadkill

[rwillett]

And of course it's now pouring with rain today which is highly annoying.

 

So I've made little jig to fit the Katsu router for making the speaker hole and the port hole. The two sections need to be bonded together and a a slide fits in the middle to act as a pivot and to lock the router in place. 

 

 

Just need the rain to stop now....

[rwillett]

18 hours ago, Richard R said:

As I have ranted previously on this forum, the main reason I dislike B&Q is the appalling music they play. Dire cover versions of good songs. I walked out a few years ago because they were playing an easy-listening smooth jazz version of London's Calling.

 

That red port looks the business though. If the cab is black TuffCab and you design and print a red "BC8" logo to go in the opposite corner it would look very cool. Red paint on the screw heads of the speaker too.

 

 

I'd have walked out as well, smooth jazz version of London Calling? Wow...

 

Not sure on the colour, Blue Aran is wholly out of stock of Tuff Paint, but have now ordered the speakers and Speakon connectors from them.

 

I suspect that black makes sense but red highlights would be good. However I still might look for red speaker paint or just paint it red and do a black port instead.  

 

Rob

[Pea Turgh]

Paint it with emulsion and topcoat it with matte or satin varnish.  It’s what I did with my micro cab.  2 years in and it looks pretty good still 👍

[rwillett]

28 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Paint it with emulsion and topcoat it with matte or satin varnish.  It’s what I did with my micro cab.  2 years in and it looks pretty good still 👍

Definitely an option, I did like your blue cabinet at the bash,

Rob 

[rwillett]

So as its rained pretty much non-stop since 30 secs after I brought a load of wood for the cabinets, I thought I'd think about something I can do indoors.

 

I want to make the 8" cab easy to use with my Warwick Gnome. My original intention was to print a cage on the back of the cabinet that the Gnome would slide into. Then I looked on the bottom of the Gnome and there are four M3 holes in the base. 

 

They are quite deep, but I didn't want to open the unit up to check, I needed a few mm maximum. 

 

So instead of building a large (and easily broken) and cumbersome cage, I made two sliding angular rods. I'm sure there's a proper name for this type of connection but I have no idea. The inside rod connects to the base of the Gnome, the thinner side is the base and the larger is away from the base. The outside section connects to the back of the speaker.

This is dead easy to print, about 20 mins for two of them and works very well. There are three screw holes in the larger that will fix the two rails to the back of the cabinet and that's it.The amp will just slot in and gravity will hold it down. 

 

The inside rails are slightly thinner than the four rubber feet so the Gnome will still sit on a desk or another speaker with no issues. So my intention is not to take them off as they don't interfere.

 

I like simple (and elegant) solutions

 

Rob

 

 

 

Edited 13 hours ago by rwillett

[basstone]

17 minutes ago, rwillett said:

So as its rained pretty much non-stop since 30 secs after I brought a load of wood for the cabinets, I thought I'd think about something I can do indoors.

 

I want to make the 8" cab easy to use with my Warwick Gnome. My original intention was to print a cage on the back of the cabinet that the Gnome would slide into. Then I looked on the bottom of the Gnome and there are four M3 holes in the base. 

 

They are quite deep, but I didn't want to open the unit up to check, I needed a few mm maximum. 

 

So instead of building a large (and easily broken) and cumbersome cage, I made two sliding angular rods. I'm sure there's a proper name for this type of connection but I have no idea. The inside rod connects to the base of the Gnome, the thinner side is the base and the larger is away from the base. The outside section connects to the back of the speaker.

This is dead easy to print, about 20 mins for two of them and works very well. There are three screw holes in the larger that will fix the two rails to the back of the cabinet and that's it.The amp will just slot in and gravity will hold it down. 

 

The inside rails are slightly thinner than the four rubber feet so the Gnome will still sit on a desk or another speaker with no issues. So my intention is not to take them off as they don't interfere.

 

I like simple (and elegant) solutions

 

Rob

 

 

 

I really like this idea. I can see an application for an amp on top of a tilted cab to stop it sliding off. I often tilt my small cab on a small stand on a small stage!

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, rwillett said:

. I'm sure there's a proper name for this type of connection

 

Dovetail 🙂

 

[rwillett]

3 hours ago, basstone said:

I really like this idea. I can see an application for an amp on top of a tilted cab to stop it sliding off. I often tilt my small cab on a small stand on a small stage!

I made a little tilted stand for a speaker to sit on, rubber feat, 4020 extrusion and I printed the sides up. Not sure I'd put an Ampeg 8x10 on it, but for small speakers and cabs, dead easy.

[rwillett]

4 hours ago, basstone said:

I really like this idea. I can see an application for an amp on top of a tilted cab to stop it sliding off. I often tilt my small cab on a small stand on a small stage!

If your amp has some method of screwing the dovetail into it, then its just a case of fiddling with the numbers to work out how to make it all fit. The design is easy to scale in each dimension. It also requires the base of it to be attached in a fairly rigid way to the cabinet. As I'm making the Basschat 8" cabs, I don't mind putting six screws in (which is two screws too many really) into the back of the cabinet. 

The other method would be to attach a little sledge like below, the front would go over the top of the cab, the amp would sit in the middle and the back would stop it slipping off. Immediate issues would be if you cab has a top handle, does the cab have a nice front edge you can use, would the back lip interfere with cables?

 

[basstone]

51 minutes ago, rwillett said:

If your amp has some method of screwing the dovetail into it, then its just a case of fiddling with the numbers to work out how to make it all fit. The design is easy to scale in each dimension. It also requires the base of it to be attached in a fairly rigid way to the cabinet. As I'm making the Basschat 8" cabs, I don't mind putting six screws in (which is two screws too many really) into the back of the cabinet. 

The other method would be to attach a little sledge like below, the front would go over the top of the cab, the amp would sit in the middle and the back would stop it slipping off. Immediate issues would be if you cab has a top handle, does the cab have a nice front edge you can use, would the back lip interfere with cables?

 

Good idea also. Velcro is also handy if there are suitable flat smooth surfaces. The dovetail approach appeals as it’s easy to extend the idea to different cabs

[Obrienp]

Idiot boy question: what diameter drainpipe do you need to buy to get an internal diameter of 64mm? How much difference does it make if you are out by a few mm?

[Phil Starr]

1 hour ago, Obrienp said:

Idiot boy question: what diameter drainpipe do you need to buy to get an internal diameter of 64mm? How much difference does it make if you are out by a few mm?

Just buy ordinary round rainwater downpipe, it's a standard size of 68mm outside diameter and has to be a standard size to use all the fittings.  I stick to this or 110mm pipe as they are going to be around for a very long time. I used to specify ready made ports but the availability changes all the time and it put people off building.  It also comes in black

[Phil Starr]

I can't help myself,

 

I looked at this and thought that you could print feet that would replace the rubber feet provided and also fit into the dovetail groove. 

 

I have to keep away from thoughts of 3d printing, the possibilities are endless.

[Rosie C]

8 hours ago, rwillett said:

I want to make the 8" cab easy to use with my Warwick Gnome.

 

...

 

 

 

Very elegant! I'm quite keen on doing mine with a TE Elf, but if I'm honest it's because (a) I like the black/green colour scheme (b) it's a nod to the 1990s cabinets that needed a van with a tail-lift  which aren't very good reasons and really I should just go with the Gnome and piggy back on your project  

[Rosie C]

25 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

Just buy ordinary round rainwater downpipe, it's a standard size of 68mm outside diameter and has to be a standard size to use all the fittings.  

 

I am imagining all around the country there are bass players with a 2m length of black downpipe in their garage, with a little 6" piece sawn off the end   

[rwillett]

1 hour ago, Rosie C said:

 

Very elegant! I'm quite keen on doing mine with a TE Elf, but if I'm honest it's because (a) I like the black/green colour scheme (b) it's a nod to the 1990s cabinets that needed a van with a tail-lift  which aren't very good reasons and really I should just go with the Gnome and piggy back on your project  

Rosie,

 

Flip the Elf over and see if there are mounting screw holes on the bottom. The manual may say something about it, another clue is if TC offers a mounting bracket for the Elf. I have a Cioks DC-7 power supply and they offered a mounting bracket so I looked at using those holes. (Didn't work out, but that’s a different story). The holes don't have to be on the bottom, they could be on the sides or the back. They don't need to be very deep or big, M3 is plenty big enough (3mm) and 1-2mm of thread is fine. 

 

Rob

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, Rosie C said:

I am imagining all around the country there are bass players with a 2m length of black downpipe in their garage, with a little 6" piece sawn off the end   

 

<waves>

[tauzero]

Hmm, the TC BAM200 has screw-on feet...

[rwillett]

1 hour ago, Phil Starr said:

I can't help myself,

 

I looked at this and thought that you could print feet that would replace the rubber feet provided and also fit into the dovetail groove. 

 

I have to keep away from thoughts of 3d printing, the possibilities are endless.

Looked at that as well and that was my second plan until I turned the Gnome over and noticed the mounting holes, then I changed tack. The first plan was a cage that the Gnome slotted into.

 

The rubber feet are quite nice TBH, I didn't want plastic feet as they slip, printing in TPU (flexible plastic) is a PITA, so I decided to keep the rubber feet. They are 5mm thick, so that's enough for the dovetail section to be 4.6mm high. This means that I can leave the dovetails on and I still have the Gnome as before with no slippy feet. The dovetail sections don't need to be too strong, we're not supporting a nice old and heavy tube head, so a few M3 screws or bolts is fine. Also the dovetail outer sections are only 8.5mm high on the back of the cabinet (or they will be once the sodding rain stops) so are unlikely to be damaged as they are quite robust.

 

Really good ideas @Phil Starr you ought to get a printer

 

Rob

[rwillett]

2 minutes ago, tauzero said:

Hmm, the TC BAM200 has screw-on feet...

No mounting holes? Sides, back, top?

[rwillett]

2 minutes ago, rwillett said:

No mounting holes? Sides, back, top?

Actually just had a thought, you could put a wide dovetail under the feet, put the feet back on, and then design an adapter that works on the dovetail bit AND ignores the rubber feet. Best of both worlds and may just require a longer screw.

 

Rob

[Phil Starr]

1 hour ago, Rosie C said:

 

Very elegant! I'm quite keen on doing mine with a TE Elf, but if I'm honest it's because (a) I like the black/green colour scheme (b) it's a nod to the 1990s cabinets that needed a van with a tail-lift  which aren't very good reasons and really I should just go with the Gnome and piggy back on your project  

Coincidentally I used my 8 with a TC Elf last night at rehearsal, I usually go straight to PA but I have a new drummer and we aren't locking in as well as Id like so I thought using back line would be more familiar than PA and monitors for him.  The little 8 sounded really lovely straight out of the box and remarkably just like the PA sound. It kept up with the drummer nicely too. I had all the controls set flat and didn't need to adjust anything, I'd say its a good pairing.

[Rosie C]

55 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

Coincidentally I used my 8 with a TC Elf last night at rehearsal, I usually go straight to PA but I have a new drummer and we aren't locking in as well as Id like so I thought using back line would be more familiar than PA and monitors for him.  The little 8 sounded really lovely straight out of the box and remarkably just like the PA sound. It kept up with the drummer nicely too. I had all the controls set flat and didn't need to adjust anything, I'd say its a good pairing.

 

Thanks, this is good to know!