2 x Basschat 12" Cabs did the trick!

[GlamBass74]

Greetings all

 

I had the pleasure of playing to the good folk of Blakeney in Norfolk last night for their yearly "Party in the Pastures" event. 

 

We had to provide our own PA and to say it's a bit Heath Robinson is the understatement of 2023. I don't go into the PA, so I have to provide some decent oomph when playing outdoors. 

 

I wasn't sure what to take. We were playing in a circus big top tent with one side taken off so the punters could sit on hay bales and enjoy a few shandys....

 

I ended up going for my pair of basschat 12" cabs that I put together last year. I've not had many gigs this year where 2 needed to come out to play, but I felt they'd be my best chance of getting the sound and the level I needed. 

 

Let's just say that I wasn't disappointed!

 

I even stretched to the expense of a 9v battery for my active Yamaha bass. Wowzers! That made a heck of a difference! Top end came to life! If only I could find a decent rechargeable battery to use. The ones I have tried recently generate noise in the preamp. I must investigate further. 

 

I stood the cabs "portrait" mode so they looked rock n roll 😁. I have mirrored baffles, so the top one was in effect upside down, but nobody would've known. This keep the HF elements close together. 

 

They were powered with my trusty, cheap TC BH800 head with a bit of compression via one of the toneprint controls. Simplicity itself (just like the owner)

 

My tone was clearer than it'd been in ages thanks to the active bass actually being used in "active" mode and really full. I could feel notes as well as hear them. I was mildly concerned for the faital drivers at first, but I needn't have worried. 

 

EQ was pretty much flat. I added a little top end at first (as I usually do when using the bass in passive mode) but this was removed a couple of songs in. 

 

It was one of those gigs where the tone I was hearing and feeling was making me smile as much as the event itself. 

 

We had a great crowd in front of us dancing and singing the night away. It was a very pleasant end to a weekend (although i'm paying for it this morning zzzzzzzzzz)

 

I even had a fellow bassmonger come up after the gig to ask what the cabs were as he couldn't see any badges on the front. I was more than happy to educate him. 

 

Another big thmbs up for the basschat designs. They really did a fine job. 

 

As usual, thanks to all who were involved in their development. 

 

Just wish i'd taken some photos!

 

Jon

 

 

 

[nilorius]

6 hours ago, GlamBass74 said:

 

 

I ended up going for my pair of basschat 12" cabs that I put together last year. I've not had many gigs this year where 2 needed to come out to play, but I felt they'd be my best chance of getting the sound and the level I needed. 

 

Jon

 

 

 

But what cabs do You mean by ''basschat 12'' '' ? Brand and model would be nice !

[GlamBass74]

There is a large thread on this forum about a 12" speaker cabinet design that is available for all to build. 

 

I'll see if I can find it for you

 

[nilorius]

12 minutes ago, GlamBass74 said:

There is a large thread on this forum about a 12" speaker cabinet design that is available for all to build. 

 

I'll see if I can find it for you

 

Don't feel bothered. Could just say that they are made by basschat 12'' cab design and nobody knows much more. That would do.

[Merton]

33 minutes ago, nilorius said:

Don't feel bothered. Could just say that they are made by basschat 12'' cab design and nobody knows much more. That would do.

It’s a design from some members of Basschat and made freely available to everyone on here. There’s a great big thread in the Amps and Cabs section

 

edit:

here it is

 

 

Edited August 21, 2023 by Merton

[diskwave]

All sat here now waiting for the obligatory pics.. which of course you did take....didnt you?

[Phil Starr]

On 21/08/2023 at 10:41, GlamBass74 said:

 

Another big thmbs up for the basschat designs. They really did a fine job. 

 

As usual, thanks to all who were involved in their development.

Jon your builds have inspired and entertained us. I think the whole point is that a decent home build can exceed pretty much anything you can buy. Those cabs of yours have been put into shootouts against top speakers from the likes of Barefaced, Vanderkley and the likes and they come out on top. The only designs that have come close in listening tests IMO are the 15" Greenboy designs, another home build. I guess the build costs for your cabs came out at around £400? For that you get the equivalent of speakers selling at around £1,000 ea.

 

I'm sure you could find a pic or two of them set up at home so people can get an idea of what is possible.

 

For those of you at home a group of us here have designed a series of cabs, most of them simple builds with all the details available to copy. It has been an interactive process with a lot of Bass Chatters asking questions, sharing their builds and reviewing the cabs after they've been built and gigged. It's been a real co-operative effort.

 

To date we have the following designs in order of size/expense

 

BC 112T (Mk 3) a lightweight 300W 12 with horn FRFR cab as good as anything available commercially

BC 112 (Mk1) Conventional 112 with a powerful bass response and high excursion driver, compact and portable. (There was a Mk 2 but the drivers were discontinued) Very simple build

BC 112 'Easybuild' a more compact 12 Deliberately designed with reduced  bass response to cope with the poor acoustics of the average English pub. There's a video somewhere of me building one in 37 mins, hence 'Easybuild'

all of the above will comfortably keep up with a drumkit

BC110T the 'lockdown cab' this was built to re-use the 30l cab from the easybuild using a 10" driver and a quality horn. It has a simple crossover that can be built with 3 components and no soldering. 10-11 kg so lightweight and portable. Lovely clear sound and no horn tizz from this carefully integrated design, it's my go to cab for most things.

BC House Jam Micro Cab a tiny cab with a 6" driver that is startlingly loud, it was designed for home use where you want a great sound but without annoying the neighbours. 

 

I'm currently working on an 8" design which has a remarkably full and extended response without a tweeter and because of it's lack of nasties also works well with a double bass.

 

 

[GlamBass74]

I've had a photo cull recently Phil and haven't really got any decent images of the 12's left (shame on me)

 

I can take a pic or two of them and post them on here, but they're not really very exciting visually 😁

 

They won't be coming out for a gig for a few weeks now as all my dates are either tiny, have sound limiters (joy of joys) or resemble god's waiting room (ssshhhhhh!)

 

I'm still enjoying the 8" fane cab I built (its now my "go to" house practice cab) I must get round to building another. Tiny stack!

 

I've got a couple of cabs in the garage to finish off (any chance of those fearful 12 cube crossovers parts @stevie 😉) and then I may have a go at an SM212 in a smaller enclosure. I have 2 x 50L rear ported cabs and the bass on tap is insane in smaller venues. Great outdoors though!

[Phil Starr]

46 minutes ago, GlamBass74 said:

I can take a pic or two of them and post them on here, but they're not really very exciting visually 😁

Are you mad? Pictures of cabs are never boring

 

I'm toying with the idea of a 2x8 design, there's a few drive units that just call out to be made into cabs and the 6" and 8" Fanes both appealed.

 

I've still got my Mk1 and the bass is as crazy as you say. I've crossed it over to the 6 at 200Hz and it makes a lovely smooth balanced combination but soooo deep sounding. Next time you get an open air gig try the SM212 cab with your BC112T on top.

 

[GlamBass74]

I built a 75L shelf ported cab for one of my SM212's (i'm a bit of a fan) as a mini sub for PA duties 

 

Now that's a beast!

 

Maybe I should try that under a BC112T

 

I can't believe Beyma discontinued the good old SM212. Such a great piece of kit. 😌