New BassChat 8"Cab design

[rwillett]

One advantage of having a speaker with mounting points is that other things can be attached.

 

I've put two side panels on the Mod Dwarf, they just slip on and off, so nothing permanent, so that sits on the top and the Gnome on the back of the cabinet

 

It's all quite secure and I'm a little surprised how neat and tidy it is.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

6 hours ago, rwillett said:

If anybody is interested in a grab handle for their cabinet, I brought two of these from Blue Arran but decided to use side handles instead.

 

https://www.bluearan.co.uk/index.php?id=ADH3424

 

They were only £2 each so its not worth trying to sell them. If anybody wants them I'll post for free.

 

Rob

 

I bought a new handle for the case I use for my Performer about ten years ago. I finally fitted it a few months ago ...

[Stub Mandrel]

5 hours ago, rwillett said:

One advantage of having a speaker with mounting points is that other things can be attached.

 

I've put two side panels on the Mod Dwarf, they just slip on and off, so nothing permanent, so that sits on the top and the Gnome on the back of the cabinet

 

It's all quite secure and I'm a little surprised how neat and tidy it is.

 

 

In six month's time the 'super portable' rig will be the size of an Ampeg stack with all the add-ons...

[rwillett]

2 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

In six month's time the 'super portable' rig will be the size of an Ampeg stack with all the add-ons...

If only...

[Obrienp]

On 09/01/2026 at 13:26, rwillett said:

Perhaps somebody on Basschat is local to you who can help with the cutting? My knowledge of the East Anglia area is zilch so can't comment.

 

One option might be to clamp or screw down a length of straight wood on the inside of where the cut should be and to slowly cut through with a hand saw. That's how it used to be done anyway. If you go off the edge, at least it's on the waste side of the wood. That's one of the most difficult bits, the others (to me anyway) are cutting the large hole for the speaker and the port hole. I used a cheap trim router, but it could be done using a small hand saw. I am very happy to print you off the port pipe for nothing and post it down. If you are concerned about making a mess the speaker hole, I can also print you a little cover for the edges to hide any mistakes, that's the thing below. Its amazing what you can hide if you try hard enough

 

There may be other options that people can suggest. If you were closer, you;d be welcome to come round and do it here or take some tools off to try.

Rob

Thank you very much for the offer. Would the port pipe for a 12” cab be the same size as an 8” cab? 
 

I hope to be getting round to the build in about a month. I have a mate who has an impressive workshop full of woodworking machinery. He is pressing me to have finger jointed panels instead of using batons (he has a machine for that). He is also suggesting solid wood rather than ply. I’m not convinced, especially regarding weight. 
 

[rwillett]

I can't comment on port sizes for a 12" as I haven't a clue 😊

 

Other people have commented before on the wood and construction method. Your friend seems to want to make things unduly complicated and heavy but I will defer to people who know more about this. 

 

Rob

[Mottlefeeder]

31 minutes ago, rwillett said:

...

Other people have commented before on the wood and construction method. Your friend seems to want to make things unduly complicated and heavy but I will defer to people who know more about this. 

 

Rob

Finger joints and dovetail joints instead of battens along the edge should make a stronger, lighter joint, but makes each panel larger before machining and therefore more expensive.

Using solid wood instead of ply would probably not be as stiff, and possibly prone to cracking as the tenperature/humidity changed.

David

[LawrenceH]

I've never built cabs from solid timber (though I have built plenty of other stuff), but for a given density/type of timber, solid is actually noticeably stiffer than ply. Weight would depend on the timber species (and individual planks) chosen but ought to be roughly equivalent to the same species as ply.

Machine-cut finger joints would look cool IMO. Functionally they'd work very well and no screws necessary. The extra cost in timber is insignificant if jointing solid planks together to make a sheet manually - it only matters if working from standardised sheet material where a design has been tightly optimised to fit the sheet with absolute minimal wastage. Sensible timber choice and splitting shouldn't be an issue, especially when you've got a protective finish on. Plenty of 100+ year old furniture without splits.