Hello From New Castle PA

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Tony_S
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Hello From New Castle PA

#1 Post by Tony_S »

Hello. I was thinking of replacing my current bass set up and I saw this site and the cabs that come out of here and they seem pretty legit! I currently have an Ampeg 6x10 powered by a Peavey VB-2 bass head with 225 watts and my band mainly plays heavy metal. I have to compete with a Framus Dragon with cab and a B52 with cab and a drummer that smashes drums. My surrent rig is nice and I like it but I am looking for more low end without it being too muddy. With the drop tunning we already play in I know that its hard not to have the muddiness happen no matter what but the less the better. I want lows that can be heard as well as felt but I like the low and upper mids as well. I know that I need to scoot around on here a little more before I find exactly what Im looking for but any and all advice is helpfull. Thank You.

biggerrigger
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#2 Post by biggerrigger »

Welcome to the site. I am sure you will find just what you are looking for in one of Bill's designs. I am sure that one of the members will chime in soon with a recommended design that will suit your needs.
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2-DR250's Melded array
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DJPhatman
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#3 Post by DJPhatman »

I'm thinking 2 J115 lites. I wouldn't do a 2x15 Jack, as that would be BIG, though not as big as a 6x10 Ampeg! :shock:



Response will smooth out a bit more with 2 J115s, but you get the idea! :wink:
I know money often seals the deal, but seriously, quality is an investment, not an expense... Grant Bunter
Accept the fact that airtight and well-braced are more important than pretty on the inside. Bill Fitzmaurice

Tony_S
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#4 Post by Tony_S »

Ok now comes my noob questions. Would going to a 15" speaker give a very muddy sound or are the J115s different in that regard? Ive heard a few of my buddies play regular 15" with their set ups and they sound ok but when they try and play anything with some speed it seems to run together a bit but that may just be the mix of tunnings and speaker not just speaker.

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DJPhatman
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#5 Post by DJPhatman »

Tony_S wrote:Ok now comes my noob questions. Would going to a 15" speaker give a very muddy sound or are the J115s different in that regard? Ive heard a few of my buddies play regular 15" with their set ups and they sound ok but when they try and play anything with some speed it seems to run together a bit but that may just be the mix of tunnings and speaker not just speaker.
My bet would be it sounded like $hit because they were using a $hit design cabinet.

I would have recommended J112 lites, but your want for the "low lows" prompted the J115 reply. You will find ALL of Bill's designs are as near a hi-fi sounding cabinet as you will ever want/need. Build them according to the plans, making one cab with a melded array, and you will make your guitarist and drummer cry for mercy! Although I am a non-gigging student of bass guitar, I have J12s. They are the BOMB! I'm waiting on a 2nd cab, being built out of light-weight composite materials, for stacked goodness.
I know money often seals the deal, but seriously, quality is an investment, not an expense... Grant Bunter
Accept the fact that airtight and well-braced are more important than pretty on the inside. Bill Fitzmaurice

Tony_S
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#6 Post by Tony_S »

Ok cool. Thank You very much. Its all just strange to think that if theres a way to make speakers sound better that they would make them all that way to get the absolute best sound possible but I guess not. Now what kind of speaker would you use in a J115? Ive taken just a quick look on some of the pages on here and theres a lot of options to choose from. and you sugessted the J155 lite instead of the regular J115 is there a reason for that or just cuts down on the weight of the overall cab?

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DJPhatman
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#7 Post by DJPhatman »

Tony_S wrote:and you sugessted the J155 lite instead of the regular J115 is there a reason for that or just cuts down on the weight of the overall cab?
For the weight. They have exactly the same response.
Tony_S wrote:Now what kind of speaker would you use in a J115? Ive taken just a quick look on some of the pages on here and theres a lot of options to choose from.
I believe the premium driver is the Eminence Deltalite 2515. For some reason, the plans are missing from my CD. :oops:
I know money often seals the deal, but seriously, quality is an investment, not an expense... Grant Bunter
Accept the fact that airtight and well-braced are more important than pretty on the inside. Bill Fitzmaurice

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AntonZ
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#8 Post by AntonZ »

DJPhatman wrote:I believe the premium driver is the Eminence Deltalite 2515. For some reason, the plans are missing from my CD. :oops:
The Deltalite 2515 is the recommended driver, Kappalite 3015 is the premium driver. Be careful not to purchase a 3015LF, as that is a subwoofer driver.

Tony_S
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#9 Post by Tony_S »

When it comes to the melded array in one of the cabs how will I find the size that I will need or is that already in the plans? And I see that there is also talk of crossovers alot on here as well what should I look for in one of those and if I'm going with one cab with the melded and one without will that change the crossover that I will need to get? Sorry for all the questions I'm just new to all of this stuff and no one I know has ever built their own cab before.

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AntonZ
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#10 Post by AntonZ »

Tony_S wrote:When it comes to the melded array in one of the cabs how will I find the size that I will need or is that already in the plans? And I see that there is also talk of crossovers alot on here as well what should I look for in one of those and if I'm going with one cab with the melded and one without will that change the crossover that I will need to get? Sorry for all the questions I'm just new to all of this stuff and no one I know has ever built their own cab before.

Melded array size is in the plans.

You can not use off-the-shelf crossovers, details also in the plans. As far as I know Leland from SpeakerHardware is the only place that sells crossovers for these cabs (ready made or DIY kit). You could actually get entire Jack 15 kits from SpeakerHardware, with everything except wood included. Saves a lot of time searching for bits and pieces, highly recommended.

I would be inclined to omit any crossover bits in a woofer-only cab. But I am not sure whether or not that would indeed be the correct thing to do. So I will leave that one to Bill or some of the other knowledgeable folks around here.

Tony_S
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#11 Post by Tony_S »

You can not use off-the-shelf crossovers, details also in the plans. As far as I know Leland from SpeakerHardware is the only place that sells crossovers for these cabs (ready made or DIY kit). You could actually get entire Jack 15 kits from SpeakerHardware, with everything except wood included. Saves a lot of time searching for bits and pieces, highly recommended.

Thank you guys for all the feed back. Yea this is why I asked Im not the most handy of person so I was looking on speakerhardware at what all they have and I could get the jack 15 flat pack which I could just put together without having to cut any wood, I think haha but that was another reason why I asked because theres a few different packages on there that will fit the J115- a peizo kit, an asd horn driver kit, and nsd horn driver kit and for the life of me I have no Idea what those mean haha Im thinking they refer to the different types of array I can choose from but I dont know what is better to use over another.

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LelandCrooks
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#12 Post by LelandCrooks »

Flat packs. Just the plywood.
Driver kits. Just the drivers and crossovers.
Deluxe kits. Drivers, crossovers, all the bits and pieces to build the cab. Everything except damping and finish.

Piezo kits. For melded or straight array cabs.
Horn driver kits. For cabs using the compression horn drivers.

The piezo array cabs are an easier build.
If it's too loud, you're even older than me! Like me.
http://www.speakerhardware.com

Tony_S
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#13 Post by Tony_S »

What size array would you guys think I should get for the style of music I will be playing? Just on a looks standpoint the arrays with the 12 and up look sick with the neon colors and the all black cab.

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LelandCrooks
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#14 Post by LelandCrooks »

Straight array with a switched bank, so you can turn half of the or all of them off.
If it's too loud, you're even older than me! Like me.
http://www.speakerhardware.com

Tony_S
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Re: Hello From New Castle PA

#15 Post by Tony_S »

Is there a switchable bank that I can purchase off of your website? I did not see one but I could have been looking in the wrong place. As I'm looking into buying the parts to build the cab I am looking into the jack 115 piezo deluxe kit off of your website. Will this give me the option for the switchable or do I have to order just the flat pack then the driver and array then anything else I forgot to order?

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