[milobender]

Well I got side-tracked from the new Wolf inspired axe... had to stop and build a PA



It's just under 7 feet tall, 1-12" for lows 2-6" for mids and 1 small hi freq horn per side, 3 stereo amps, 2 stereo graphic eqs for crossovers, 1 stereo Crest crossover, and a dinky Mackie 1402 VLZ mixer for the time being It sounds great! Can't wait to get it out of the house for a real testing

As a note: I used Maple veneered plywood from Home Depot... it's total SH#T! I've never had the misfortune of working with such lousy, and still expensive, plywood... I won't make that mistake again.

Brian

[Tennessee Jedi]

Brian -you're a can -do guy !
Built the P.A.
Built your git box
Even built your house !

Snowed in yet ?
Peace and happy holidays

[milobender]

Thanks man, happy holidays to you and your's too

No, not snowed in yet... we had a foot of light snow last week, the wind came up and blew every inch of it away, to Nebraska, in about an hour! Of course I could barely walk outside (leaning about 45 degrees 'o) and I needed goggles to see anything! It was like being in a frozen sand storm

[jonarobb]

That looks very cool. Should be interesting to hear how it performs at a gig.

Nice looking room. Is that a Yeti on the couch?

[milobender]

Yeah! all 150 pounds of him! He's pretty scary... if you're a couch He's a total couch potato...

I'll post a review when we've had them to the first gig.

[tigerstrat]

That looks very cool. Should be interesting to hear how it performs at a gig.

Nice looking room. Is that a Yeti on the couch?

I thought it was an alpaca!

[milobender]

I forgot to mention... The box/speaker design is based on ideas of Kevin O'Connor. That is, the lowest box has one speaker in it, but the box is sized for two, with the lower cut out not having a speaker in it (he calls it a "detuned" cabinet). The idea being, to have the backward motion of the speaker reflected out the cutout, like a bass reflex, but acting more like an open backed cabinet with a wall that is built in... if that makes sense The same for the mid cabs, but the top one also has the horn mounted in it (it's sealed so no effect on the top mid 6"). The frequency spread coming out the hole is lacking the highs of the front of the speaker, but according to him, the SPL is the same (which of course makes sense), so, in effect you have the same SPL as 2 speakers, using only one (albeit lacking the highs of two). So in effect, SPL wise, each side has 2-12"s, 4-6"s and 1 horn.

So far I like the effect... it's a really big sound, with a bit of a natural "reverb" or room sound due to the delayed wave coming from the hole. I have to get into some different rooms to see how the eq is (with the lack of highs coming from the hole) but that's why I designed the crossovers using 31 band eqs for the bass and mids, and used full range speakers for both.

Alpaca?

[milobender]

Well we finally had the mini wall out of the livingroom and in a medium sized bar, JJ's in Laramie, for our first gig out last night, and it worked really well! I've been waiting for a recording, to post some examples, but unfortunately the tape player was plugged into an outlet that wasn't hot, the batteries in it ran out (we thought it was running on the wall juice), and it didn't save a single thing... next time...

At any rate, when we got everything hooked up in the afternoon, I put on Little Feat's Dixie Chicken album and it sound REALLY GOOD! Plenty loud and enough headroom to think it might even work outdoors... Everything was mic'd, including 5 drum mics thru their own Mackie 1402 mixer sent to the main board as a seperate stereo feed... Bass, guitar, stereo drum pads, vocals for bass, guitar and drummer, two women singing, and a hamonica player on about a 3rd of the night... We had nothing but complements about the sound, and alot of people stayed/danced all night

We had the stack of PA/Monitor amps (5 of them and a feedback eliminator and Celestion signal processor, in 3 racks, and the stack of mixer/signal processors (in 3 racks, mixer in a 12 space standing upright, 1 high freq xover, 2 31 band eqs for the bass and mids xover, Lexicon effects, and power conditioner/lamp ) all on stage with alot of blinking lights on everything, so it looks really cool

....no snake or sound guy yet...

Brian

[philsaam]

hi Brian ---hey you got skills -----you mentioned the low quality ply --would you like to hear a fix for weak boxes -----? take out all the components -put your boxes into back of your truck ----take them to a line-a-bed coating outfit and let them spray the line-a-bed coating covering the entire cab --cabs ---your boxes should be road ready after the coating cures ---like your hands on know how -skilled is to vague a term for abilities ---best of everything to you bro ----phil

[milobender]

Thanks for the kind words Phil and I think that is definately a good idea... I like the wood look though, (however I did consider staining them this really lovely blue I have... ) and I figured these were/are in the realm of research and development... so, when they get to the "really beat-up" stage, I'll just make another set, this time with good wood. I still haven't seen more pics of your bass ... if you want to see what I've been working on, go to : http://www.9mileskid.com

Hopefully I'll have some examples of the way these sound in the not-too-distant future...

Brian

[BuddhaG]

I'm really looking forward to hearing how this sounds!

[philsaam]

Hello Brian --milobender--I thankyou for your invitation to view your instruments--may I comment ----------EYE CANDY , --a serious instrument with tastefull embellishment --sublime ---truely sublime ---I compliment you sir -you are a master of your means ----you have the Touch --the TOUCH of a Master BUILDER----yet you maintain low tones ----I dont know you my friend ,but I am impressed by the most important of all ---a overall look of an instrument that has a feel without having to touch it -so many tasteful blends of shapes and figured wood color matches --you put alot of thought into your 6-string --an ohmadge , a tribute of sorts , more like a gift to yourself -an impressive player ----but its a self portrait in the highest fashion of your skills and a quest for an instrument that will allow you to talk from your heart ---I am flattered that you invited me into your world -----you honor me ----I see a very highly skilled musician /craftsman in you Brian ----really good work !! you should be proud !!!!!!!!!!!thankyou again for your hospitality---spread the love--------phil----Due to the fact I am poor-I am waiting for a neighbor to assist me in taking pics - I dont have camera - let alone walk to good --things are not like they could be ------they are like the way they are---by next Saturday it looks ----pics are getting taken ----sorry for the wait , please bear with me---phil

[milobender]

Thank you for the very kind words Phil. I'm sorry to hear your legs are not well, but I understand your eyes, and heart, are just fine As the saying goes "getting old is not for the faint of heart"

I meant no pressure, only anticipation, curiosity, and excitement about seeing more photos of your bass. Thank you for your efforts and talking with us here. Take care.

Brian

[milobender]

Well, as promised, we did get a recording of the second gig... it's not a very good recording, the microphones were certainly less than "perfect" Soooooo, I did a bit of eq adjustment, raised the highs, and the lows (it was really midrange heavy) and tried to get it close to how it really sounded. But I couldn't get completely rid of that "hollow" sound... anyway, it will give you an idea... next on the list is a Zoom H4n

There wasn't anyone doing sound... it was a set-it-and-forget-it kind of night. Here's a link to the songs... Bring It On Home is pretty good for hearing the PA, and most of the last half of the night has some good stuff in there

http://www.9mileskid.com/jjsinlaramie041109.html

You can see the PA electronics in the photo between Jess (playing bass) and Mandy, unfortunately not the speakers

[Chuckles]

That Light Up or Leave Me was absolutley smokin'! The jam is just sick. Sick sick sick.

You guys sound great for a trio, which is hard as hell to pull off. Your axe sounds sweet and you've got a killer rhythm section.

Dude... nice job. Nice to hear that piece of lumber you put together in real action!

Thanks for posting it.