New Builder - 2x Tuba 30 Project

[tmokay]

Hey everyone this is Tyler (aka DJ T Moks), Ive been reading through the forums for a while now and have finally decided to take the plunge and build some cabinets. Right now I DJ on the weekends to unwind from my life sucking day job. I DJ mostly for younger crowds and play top40/rap/hiphop/and some edm(yes this does include a little dubstep). My current setup consists of 2 peavey 15" top cabs and 1 peavey 18" sub. Right now when im dj'ing i feel like i can never hear the base from the songs. This is why I want to build some subs. For now the top cabs will have to wait, even though i did buy some plans for the future.

After digging through the forums i have finally settled on building 2 Tuba30's. I want to build these 24" wide and use the Eminence 3012LF drivers(1 for each cab). Posting this will probably throw me off track but what do you guys think about this plan?

I am also relatively new to woodworking. My dad has all the tools we will need for the build. Are there any suggestions right off the bat from other experienced tuba builders of things that i should watch out for? I know there will be a million things that I will come across as im building the sub and im looking forward to the experience. If it goes well maybe i will try making some top cabs as well.

thanks in advance for the help.
Tyler

[doncolga]

24" is a really good size. Just follow the plans and use plenty of PL. It is a fantastic experience.

[Bruce Weldy]

You are about 1 out of 10 that come on here, actually do the reading and research, then pick the right cab for what you want to do.

Bravo

Time to make sawdust.

[Michael Ewald Hansen]

24" is a great size and i'm sure you've made the right choice. However, just for kicks - how many people and what kinds of venues are you going to play at?

Be sure to read all the placement stickies and read up on a lot of the info about limiting the subs etc. The thing about horn subs is that you can't hear if they are about to die - they just die - if you don't make sure to limit them properly, so thats important!

Otherwise, have a heap of fun - building your first pair of subs is an almost religious experience and you have definately picked the right place to find your design

[tmokay]

the venues that i play at will vary from fraternity basements all the way to 10,000sqft ballrooms. so in some instances these will be overkill and at some venues they will not be enough. i dont have the money to build more than 2 subs. and i still need to get a signal processor like the dbx driverack.

[Vert]

+1 on the DBX

[sine143]

whats your amp situation atm?

[Gregory East]

Can you fit 4 T48 in your plan? Playing big spaces needs big subs and lots of them. T48 have a big efficiency advantage to T30 while not playing quite as low.

[tmokay]

For amps I have 2 Crown XLS202's and one Crown XLS1000. Right now there all hooked up in bridge-mono, one for each speaker. For a crossover I have the PV23XO.

I don't think I have the space for T48's and need the low end from the T30's for the music I play.

[bitSmasher]

You'll actually be surprised at just how little most music goes down past 40hz, and how impractical it can be to pursue sub 40 once you start lugging big subs in to different venues.
We all want low bass, but acheiving it involves a bunch of compromises...

[tmokay]

all the other forum threads that I have read say that Tuba's are better for DJ'ing and Titans are better for live sound. As of right now I probably wont be doing any live sound events. I originally bought the plans for the Titan 39's but was steered towards the T30's after reading more.

[Greg Plouvier]

T30's don't disapoint. The extra low end extension is nice.

[SirNickity]

Just my two cents --

After the part of the plans where you draw the horn path on the side panel, I used a plywood-sized 1/2" dado bit to rout out where the panels go. (I have a router, and don't get to play with it much, so what the heck?) It took a couple extra hours to do, but, if I were starting over from scratch, I would not hesitate to take the time to do this again. It made alignment SO easy.

I would have liked to do BOTH side panels, but I'm just not sure all the pieces are going to be quite that straight and true. There isn't any room for error -- which is good for getting the panels lined up on the first side, but not very forgiving on the second. If they were CNC'd, that would be a different story.

[el_ingeniero]

Just my two cents --

After the part of the plans where you draw the horn path on the side panel, I used a plywood-sized 1/2" dado bit to rout out where the panels go. (I have a router, and don't get to play with it much, so what the heck?) It took a couple extra hours to do, but, if I were starting over from scratch, I would not hesitate to take the time to do this again. It made alignment SO easy.

I would have liked to do BOTH side panels, but I'm just not sure all the pieces are going to be quite that straight and true. There isn't any room for error -- which is good for getting the panels lined up on the first side, but not very forgiving on the second. If they were CNC'd, that would be a different story.

You should be able to make this work by making router patterns to use with a guide bushing. You need one pattern for the speaker chamber, and another for panels 5, 6 and 7. For the second side, just flip the patterns over.

A dado for every joint and a brad nailer should let you glue up the thing in one swell foop.

If you prefer to do one panel at a time, you could use the dado in the unglued side instead of a scrap brace to line up the panels. You'll need to remember to avoid gluing the last 1/2" of the joint where it meets the unglued side, and then use a smear of PL on the inside of that last 1/2" when you put on the second side.

Of course, panel 5 would turn out to be a rabbet. You may as well add rabbets for the top and back to the sides so you can cut the panels for the horn path from all the same width stock. You could also dado the top for the baffle and back of the speaker chamber, although the angles require wider dadoes.

Might as well run dados for your braces on your internal panels while you are at it.

All in all, that's a boatload of dadoing. But assembly should go swimmingly.

[Tom Smit]

Just my two cents --

After the part of the plans where you draw the horn path on the side panel, I used a plywood-sized 1/2" dado bit to rout out where the panels go. (I have a router, and don't get to play with it much, so what the heck?) It took a couple extra hours to do, but, if I were starting over from scratch, I would not hesitate to take the time to do this again. It made alignment SO easy.

It does help with alignment.

I made a sled for this job. 1/4" hardboard with a guide rail, made a little bit wider than the base edge-to-bit centre dimension. Then run the router along the guide rail to size it to the bit that you are using. With the edge of the sled on the outside of the marked panel line, clamp the sled and route.

I would have liked to do BOTH side panels, but I'm just not sure all the pieces are going to be quite that straight and true. There isn't any room for error -- which is good for getting the panels lined up on the first side, but not very forgiving on the second. If they were CNC'd, that would be a different story.

I agree. It doesn't take much to apply the second side. Place, true up, and clamp. Drill a shallow pilot hole through both side and panel, for a headless nail and install the nail. After all the corners have a guide 'pin', lift the side, apply PL to all the edges, and lower the side over the guide pins.