Say NO to BONDO!!!!!

[Dan_Hoppin]

I am a middle-aged bassist that recently got back into music after raising a family and finally having some free time. Although I build custom kitchen cabinets for a living it had never occurred to me that I could build my own speaker cabinets. I met a kid that had built his own bass cabinet (not a Fitzmaurice design) that sounded amazing (hellacious workmanship though). I got the plans from him and built one myself and it rocks.

So then the singer from my band bought me the Fitzmaurice full set of plans and wanted me to build the band a new PA. I just built a pair of the Titan 39's and they are much better than the Peavy heavyweight piece-o-shit subs we had. The plans were well written and it was a quick and easy build. It probably helped that our shop have every clamp known to man.

I have browsed the forum and there is lots of great info here. The only suggesting I can make is to skip the BONDO!!! That stuff is nasty, cleanup is a hassle, and it is high VOC. For those of you that aren't cautious of VOC content, wait till you get my age and start missing all those brain cells you lost. Our whole shop went low VOC years ago and I don't have all the headaches I used to get.

There are many products that are worlds better, but here is an old standby that is cheap and easy to use.

http://www.amazon.com/Donald-Durham-000 ... B000LNS2LU

It is a powder that is water based. You just add a bit of water, mix it up, and you have about 10 minutes until it gets rock hard. It sands easily and cleanups well. It sands well too. I have been using it to restore old houses for about 30 years and I like it a lot. A lot of big box hardware stores don't stock it anymore, but for projects like this it works very well.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I've never had a problem with bondo, on dozens of cabs. Durham is a PITA, it takes too long to set, and shrinks.

[Tom Smit]

Hey Dan, welcome to the forum! Glad you liked the way the plans were presented. Hopefully this will be of some encouragement for those who are not sure of their own building skills.

[Harley]

... wait till you get my age and start missing all those brain cells you lost.... .

Damn, and here I was thinking it was the acid trips and blocks of hash in the 60s/70s, followed by the valiant attempt to try and fix the world's red wine glut that did it for me....well, I'll be

[88h88]

Bondo is the only drug I take... I figure it's legal so y'know, it's cool to sit in the garage and huff that shit while I'm filling holes.

[Grant Bunter]

Harley,
I represent your exact comments (but in the 70's and 80's), but sheesh that made me laugh...

[Charles Jenkinson]

Hello Dan,
Welcome to the forum! So, you've picked up I guess that most folks here are happy to argue, smell and joke the shit on most topics involving hi end PA systems. Do keep posting about your build and use experiences. We are pretty much all BF ravers and like to hear peoples positive experiences, though many of us have a penchant for expressing negatives ones too.

[bzb]

smell and joke the shit

Dude, speak for yourself. We don't do that over in 'Murica.

As for my patch - I just use Famowood filler. Pretty sure that ain't low VOC, though.

[Charles Jenkinson]

smell and joke the shit

Dude, speak for yourself. We don't do that over in 'Murica.

I was merely attempting to play the Rescuer in the Karpman triangle, using some aspects of the conversation that had gone before to do so, where-in perhaps sometimes I have the boldness to speak for more than just myself: as for the triangle, we don't need anymore persecutors or victims. A gentleman comes here for the first time to express an opinion about something - my concern would be that he gets a reasonable impression of the people on here and keeps coming back.

[bzb]

smell and joke the shit

Dude, speak for yourself. We don't do that over in 'Murica.

I was merely attempting to play the Rescuer in the Karpman triangle, using some aspects of the conversation that had gone before to do so, where-in perhaps sometimes I have the boldness to speak for more than just myself: as for the triangle, we don't need anymore persecutors or victims. A gentleman comes here for the first time to express an opinion about something - my concern would be that he gets a reasonable impression of the people on here and keeps coming back.

I just meant the smell part.

[Harley]

I was merely attempting to play the Rescuer in the Karpman triangle, using some aspects of the conversation that had gone before to do so, where-in perhaps sometimes I have the boldness to speak for more than just myself: as for the triangle, we don't need anymore persecutors or victims. A gentleman comes here for the first time to express an opinion about something - my concern would be that he gets a reasonable impression of the people on here and keeps coming back.

Has to have been an ardent 'weeder' with a reply like that. Get hungry occasionally ??

Oh, btw, welcome to Dan_Hoppin ... who just happens to be...drum roll...a bassist

[Chris_Allen]

I become more and more worried about the stuff I breath in, I'm sure my lungs aren't designed for any of it.

A good breathing mask is now in my arsenal and I use it all the time for most jobs - best thing is that my safety glasses don't steam up when wearing it.

[Charles Jenkinson]

I was merely attempting to play the Rescuer in the Karpman triangle, using some aspects of the conversation that had gone before to do so, where-in perhaps sometimes I have the boldness to speak for more than just myself: as for the triangle, we don't need anymore persecutors or victims. A gentleman comes here for the first time to express an opinion about something - my concern would be that he gets a reasonable impression of the people on here and keeps coming back.

Has to have been an ardent 'weeder' with a reply like that. Get hungry occasionally ??

I've no idea what you're talking about.

[biggerrigger]

I'm hungry all the time that's all I'm sayin.

[bzb]

I become more and more worried about the stuff I breath in, I'm sure my lungs aren't designed for any of it.

A good breathing mask is now in my arsenal and I use it all the time for most jobs - best thing is that my safety glasses don't steam up when wearing it.

You need to stop doing that or you won't keep up with the rest of us crazies.