Cabinet Plans

[djk]

I'm looking for some help.

 

I'm in my seventh decade and now just play for pleasure, doing the occasional open mic night with a friend. The venues we go to are quite small and more often than not they don't like a bass being plugged directly into their PA system, so I'm looking to put together a very small, lightweight and portable rig that I can take anywhere and either DI into the PA system if the house is OK with that or use directly. I have a few larger amps and combo's but having arthritis makes it a challenge to move them about, especially when just doing two or three numbers.

 

As part of the plan I have a TC Electronic D Class bass amp on order and recently picked up a used Ashdown 2x10. Which was very cheap as the cab is a wreck but the speakers are fine and want to mount the speakers in a pair of individual 1x10 cabinets that I can pair up if the need arises. I have the skills to do this, in addition being retired I have the time to make the cabs, and though my local Men's Shed have access to a full range of professional tools and woodworking machinery, what I don't have are any plans or designs.

 

I've just completed a ported 1x12 cab using an unmarked speaker which came out OK, however I'd like to be a little more "professional" with the 1x10's. 

 

If anyone knows of any plans or designs that I could use I'd be very grateful.

Edited June 25 by djk
spelling

[BassmanPaul]

Simplest is to measure the 2x10 and build two boxes half the size of the 2x10. That way the speakers should be happy in their new home.

 

[JPJ]

You could try the Basschat 1x10 here 

[chyc]

5 minutes ago, JPJ said:

You could try the Basschat 1x10 here 

Totally agree with this suggestion here. I've made it four times, and it was super easy. If you're not bothered about the tweeter just get rid of that portion and it becomes even cheaper and easier! There's a video on YouTube which uses the same build technique albeit for a 1x12 cabinet.

 

If you're near me, I have an unloaded cabinet I can give to you to try, although you would need to construct a new tweeterless baffle if that's the direction you'll be going. Ashdown drivers are different to the Basschat 1x10's Celestion Pulse10, but I can't imagine they'd be miles different.

 

 

[Downunderwonder]

9 hours ago, BassmanPaul said:

Simplest is to measure the 2x10 and build two boxes half the size of the 2x10. That way the speakers should be happy in their new home.

 

This.^

 

If it is shelf ported you could run it through the centre, slap new sides on and call it good.

 

That would only work for a tall skinny 210 as opposed to one that is squat with diagonally mounted drivers.

 

You want to maintain the cross sectional area amd length of the ports, half the area for each cabinet. Half the original cab volume each.

 

[djk]

First I'd like to thank those above for their replies so far. It looks like I'll have a go at the Basschat 1x10, or two of them. One with horn and one not. 

 

For those interested, this is the state of the cabinet I bought, which I'll look to pass on once the speakers are out. 

[Phil Starr]

Nice Job 😮😂

 

The grille looks to be in good nick and you'vegot corners and the sockets on the back. I can't tell what's underneath but I'd be looking to 'restore' rather than build a new cab. The BassChat 110 which @Stevie designed to fit the 30l cab I'd designed and built for another project would probably work fairly welll but was designed for particular Celestion speakers. they are probably similar to your speakers but won't be identical. 

 

Pull the sheet (!) off and see whats underneath, then clean that off then all you would need to do is paint it up with Tuff Cab and you have a restored Ashdown 2x10 which will be worth something. You might love it and if you don't someone else will and give you the cost of the components to make the BC110T properly,then youd have had two fun projects.

 

I think you can make this look as good as new for pocket money

[djk]

OK, things have moved on a bit albeit slowly.

 

I decided to go down the build rather than restore route, mainly for weight reasons and that I don't need the full power of the 2x10.

 

I decided to build two of the BC110T cabinets, then I can either use one or two as needed.

 

I have a really good timber merchants nearby who will cut timer to your requirements. So I used OptiCutter, an online layout system to produce a cutting plan for 2 cabinets and sent the PDF to the merchants who cut it for me. Total cost £32.

 

I've manage to build the basics of the first cabinet, some pictures attached.

 

The speakers are now out of the Ashdown cabinet and they have turned out to be from Eminence. I've emailed them to see if they can provide the specs. I have also incuded a photo of the speaker in case anyone here can shed some light on them.

 

It all going well and I'll post further progress as I go along

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Eminence generally will not give out specs on OEM drivers. Chances are that's a 16 ohm version of the Beta 10. Measuring them yourself isn't difficult, but you need the necessary gear. 

[Phil Starr]

Bill is well informed on this sort of thing so I'd be reasonably confident that this is a 16ohm beta. If you check the magnet size that should tell you if it based on the Beta. They'll work Ok in the 30l cab but with that tuning they are going to have a pronounced peak in output at 120Hz, 2-3db extra wich will give a very old school bass sound.The betas also have a pronounced upper mid peak so this is going to make a sound in the classic smiley face/midrange suckout territory. If you want that artificial warmth tamed a bit you can tune the cab a bit lower. That would entail using longer ports than that specified. Without reliable specs though we are in the realm of guesswork.

 

It could be that you have one of these 

 

Edited 20 hours ago by Phil Starr

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

The main issue with the Beta 10 isn't tone, it's the paltry 3mm xmax. That limits it mechanically to 30 watts or so. That wasn't so bad when it came out some 30 years ago, but it's not up to today's standards. This also could have been built on the BP102 motor, where xmax is a far better 6.2mm. No way of knowing, really, unless you have a friend with a Klippel analyzer. 

[djk]

Bill/Phil,

 

Many thanks for the information. 

 

I must admit I did check the Eminence web site and thought they might be these.

 

Cheekily I asked Eminence for the spec and they referred me to Ashdown, who are just down the road away's from where I live. I've asked them the same questions and will see what comes back.

 

I'm going to build to the cab to spec and see how it goes. As I said at the outset these will be just for jam sessions and small pub open mic nights where they don't want a bass through the PA.

 

I quite like the Old School sound, my favourite genre is blues, so it may well work in my favour. 

 

Regarding extending the port, I was thinking of using a bit of 4" pipe, slit and taped to slide over the end so I can move it in and out to see how it changes the sound.

 

I've got plenty of ply left, had to buy a full sheet in the end, to make new baffles and change the speakers for the Celestion's further down the line if necessary.

 

Once again thanks everyone for their help and support.

 

David

[Downunderwonder]

Measure up your Ashown box. Find the volume of your new box.

 

One of these experts will cheerfully work out what port length is required to emulate the original design tuning in the half size boxes.

[djk]

T

Quote

Thanks for that, I'll measure the old cabinet tomorrow and leave the dimensions here.

 

[Pea Turgh]

Tart up the old cab to put the original drivers back in when you upgrade the new ones - should get you a few quid back.

[Phil Starr]

56 minutes ago, Pea Turgh said:

Tart up the old cab to put the original drivers back in when you upgrade the new ones - should get you a few quid back.

Great advice:)

[Chienmortbb]

15 hours ago, djk said:

Regarding extending the port, I was thinking of using a bit of 4" pipe, slit and taped to slide over the end so I can move it in and out to see how it changes the sound.

BE aware that if you just leave the pipe/port at the same length, you will get unexpected results. You may remember the old Bose Bug Eyed PA tops, where the ports extended outside the front baffle, it is my understanding that you do not change the tuning much. However, you will have more internal volume (in litres). @Phil Starr, @Bill Fitzmaurice and @stevie will probably correct me. (flak jacket and tin helmet donned)

[JohnDaBass]

51 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

Great advice:)

+1

From the proceeds from the sale invest in a Celestion 10 speaker, either the ceramic one used in the BC110 or a lightweight BN-300X (8 or 4 Ohm)

[Phil Starr]

2 hours ago, Chienmortbb said:

BE aware that if you just leave the pipe/port at the same length, you will get unexpected results. You may remember the old Bose Bug Eyed PA tops, where the ports extended outside the front baffle, it is my understanding that you do not change the tuning much. However, you will have more internal volume (in litres). @Phil Starr, @Bill Fitzmaurice and @stevie will probably correct me. (flak jacket and tin helmet donned)

I modelled the cab with 50,40 and 30 Hz tuning, all f them work with the standard Eminence Beta but with slightly differing frequency responses. Because speakers in roughly similar price brackets tend to have reasonably similar performances it often happens that they will 'work' when swapped even if a little more performance could be gained by proper matching. Without proper specs I'm guessng  of course but in this case I can't really expect problems.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

By and large 50Hz tuning will give the best results with the average driver. Premium drivers may work better with 40-45 Hz tuning, but these aren't premium.