Hastily purchased some plywood (horribly bent, laminated crap) and with my newly built guide board I set about building my first ever cabinet in the garage. It was big, it was really big! It feels like a long time since I cut those first pieces with a battery powered saw, it was hard, time consuming work. First cab built, I had already learned a lot about the application of power tools and the massive failures in my build. No to be repeated, my second build was this time using birch and more suitably placed handles.
The 3015 is an awesome driver, and the 30" T48 is one mean cabinet. I realised very quickly that these were far more than I ever needed, but EQ'ed flat they provided more of the good stuff than I had ever heard previously - an experience which completely changed my perspective of live sound.
The cabs went straight into an installation and powered by a Behringer amp for use 6 nights a week. For 99% of the time, I wasn't in charge of these cabs but left them for the guys at the bar to abuse. Installed without a limiter, just an EQ, crossover and amp, I left it to the inexperienced to see what they thought.
More than 2 years on they were still going strong before their application was no longer required and they went into storage.
I went to collect the speakers tonight with the intention of taking them out of service. The new van is capable of fitting both of them in, but they are still massive. I took them out of the van an took a shot with them next to one of my 16" T39.
The cabs were beat. Lots of deep scratches, battle scars and damaged corners. These cabs had been well used.
Fitted with wheels and hole handles, they were still a bit cumbersome for the venues of the UK, so my decision to retire them had not changed.
Removing the driver cover showed an absolutely pristine 3015LF driver - It looks like it has never been used.
The smell of ply that came out of the void brought back memories of the original build. In unscrewing the driver I found the bolts to be quite loose. Used with T-Nuts and no glue, they had obviously worked themselves out a little during their time in service. Given that it only took a couple of minutes to remove the cover, it is probably good preventative maintenance to check these every quarter.
So, I now have two broken in 3015LF's to put into a new cab!