BillFitzmaurice.info

Good afternoon everyone. This is my first time posting here, but have owned the amazing tube 36". Might I say it was unbelievable. Now to my question. My daughter plays bass in a band and is looking to up her game as far as a cabinet goes. I have built several subwoofer boxes for my cars and what have you. I am reaching out to you experts to tell me which would be best. I am not a great woodworker, but I can fumble through. It need to be something that I can at least put on wheels so she can pull it in and out of the venues. She's 6', so not a tiny little thing, just don't want her carrying it, if I can avoid it.

Fyi- I just asked here because this is one of the bass cab topic groups.

Hello, and welcome

Down to it:
Probably the most often built cabs for/by bass players is one of the Jack series.
Think Jack 10 or Jack 12 if portability/not lifting is the goal I would think, rather than a J15.

Is it only for live? When live, is it always with or without PA support? Is it for rehearsal as well?
That tempers any suggestions to some degree because, for example, if it were both live and rehearsal, then multiples of single cabs is the way to go, take what you need. eg 1 cab and head for rehearsal, or if bass is DI'ed and it's only for on stage sound when live, more cabs if not through PA.

Does your daughter most often than not turn down the treble, or does she prefer some treble?

Second guessing some answers, I would think a J12 or 2, one with tweeters wired with the on/half/off option, and the other cab sans tweeters.

Once the Jacks are dialled in, many reviews discuss the player having to define their technique some, as the Jacks are very articulate. They will reveal playing discrepancies.

While it could be used as such, and says so on the sales page, I don't see the DR series as bass cabs per se.
Having built 4 x DR250's for PA, I know they take a long time due to their complexity.
So you would also find the Jack series a more comfortable build, given your self described skill level.
There are some more complex cuts in Omni series, so, while it may end up being a better choice, it's not somewhere I would suggest a relative novice start.
The DRs, Omni's, and Jacks are all horn designs, so less power for the same or greater output.
The other option would be one of the Simplexx designs, much more like a standard cab with sides, back, baffle, top and bottom.
Due to better design, even the Simplexx series will perform better than many commercial offerings, at a lower unit cost.

What tools do you have?
Please ask as many questions as you need, we're here to help.

Hope this helps some...

She would use it for rehearsals as well, so I misspoke. I believe that she is more inclined to turn the treble down. J12 might be a great option. As for tools, jig saw, miter, table saw, router.... Ummm I dunno lol

97ss150 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 8:26 pm She would use it for rehearsals as well, so I misspoke. I believe that she is more inclined to turn the treble down. J12 might be a great option. As for tools, jig saw, miter, table saw, router.... Ummm I dunno lol

Cool, so no tweets might be an option too.

Tool wise, sounds like you're good to go. Handy having those items that will make angled cuts easier!

So, perhaps start with 2 single loaded J12's (with the deltalite 2512 for weight or the 3012HO for power handling).
You could put the Penn Elcom removable wheels on each for moving, and one dead lift to stack cabs at the gig once the wheels are out...

Ya no tweets is probably where I need to start. Thinking of like a single just to make sure she likes it and we can build additional later if so. I'm leaning towards maybe the 3012ho, just build it once, ya know

Hi! Welcome to the forum! Glad you like the T36, too.

I'm with Grant in suggesting the J112. When you make the baffle, use it to make a copy baffle or two. This will save some effort when building the 2nd cab.

I built a J10 (Lite version) solely for electric bass, no tweeters with crossover. Haven't felt any need to have them, but I play a Pbass with flats. The amp EQ can likely bring enough overtones into play if she wants a bit more attack/growl (or whatever inadequate adjective you prefer). I think the plans state to leave the crossover out to get a bit more high oomph, if desired.

As loud as the Jack is, I might wait until she's played with one for awhile before committing to two, especially given plywood prices right now.

When using one it must be tipped back to hear the mids. That's true of all instrument cabs other than those that are at least four feet tall, but for whatever reason manufacturers don't tell you that.

97ss150 wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 6:41 pm My daughter plays bass in a band and is looking to up her game as far as a cabinet goes....I am not a great woodworker, but I can fumble through.

If that's her in the pic, it looks like she's currently using an SVT-810. When I was a kid that's what most bass I knew wanted to upgrade to!

What you build probably depends on what you'd like to achieve and how much work you want to put in it. The simplest cabs to build are the Simplexx... They should be at least as good for better than any commercial cab of equivalent size out there, and are designed as an easy cab to build. To replace an SVT-810, maybe two of the 1x15 bass/keys cabs?

If you want as loud as possible, and you don't care about degree of difficulty on the build, I'd go with one or two DR-250s. Years ago I built a DR-250 and a Titan 39 for bass. I use the DR-250 for everything except outdoors and it's a great sounding, very loud, cab for bass. I built the T-39 first, because of the lower degree of difficulty, but if I had it to do again, I'd have just built two DR250s. They sound great and either combo, DR-250+T39 or two DR-250s, are as loud as I will ever need to be. Louder probably The DR-250 with neos are lighter than any 4x10 you'll find out there as well.

I am currently building a couple of Jack 12 Lites that I plan to use for bass, mostly to get a gigable rig that's as light as possible. It looks like other bass players are gravitating to the Jacks, as Grant suggests. It also appeals to me that they can be used as PA cabs in a pinch. My DR-250 weighs about 45 lbs. A Jack 12 should weight around 40 lbs, and should still be relatively easy to build. A Jack 12 Lite requires a bit more woodworking skill, a brad nailer and a pneumatic stapler...but should be around 20lbs. Not sure what the simplex weighs, I am guessing that it won't be as much as my old Sunn 1x15, particularly with neos.

Just my experience and thinking, so offered FWIW.