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Super MWM


Dave A

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12 hours ago, glens said:

 

Agreed!  I was merely expressing a notion, not passing judgement or hurling insults.  To continue the expansion that got truncated on the exterior would require it be done in the middle, and that might be desirable for another reason as well, but then the back chamber volume would need to be recovered, by what, shortening the primary horn section?  Tradeoffs is tradeoffs.  I'm anxiously awaiting measurement reports on this.  I really like the idea.

A smaller back chamber causes a slight peak above horn cutoff, which, to me is the least important aspect of bass horn design (it's a "so what" parameter). HORN LENGTH is the most important, and should take precedence. That is a "trad-off" one should never make in this case, since Dave Wanted a 31 Hz. horn, corresponding to an open B string on a 5 String Electric Bass. From a directivity standpoint, the splayed mouths of the horn were the result of sticking to the limits of 5 foot lumber rather than doing fancy joining techniques to make the lumber wider. Going taller was a better/easier compromise which ended up increasing efficiency between 40-90 Hz.

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3 hours ago, Dave A said:

The beauty of Duratex is durable, most any color you want, roller applied or sprayed if you wish and no fumes. I am going to try spraying this one day as I am interested in what the finish would be like.

I have never tried it, I do like the way it looks, plus it was friends subs and I was kind of afraid to try something new to me on their subs.

I may paint the inside of mine black, have been thinking about it anyway, if I do I might try the Duratex. Is the texture still where it can be wiped out as far as dust goes ?

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5 hours ago, dtel said:

I have never tried it, I do like the way it looks, plus it was friends subs and I was kind of afraid to try something new to me on their subs.

I may paint the inside of mine black, have been thinking about it anyway, if I do I might try the Duratex. Is the texture still where it can be wiped out as far as dust goes ?

All textured paint is harder to clean and the roller for Duratex does just that. Brushing it on will leave brush marks but be much easier to clean. I have to think spraying is best but have yet to try that. When I do I will report on what I find.

  If you mix just s tad of water in the Duratex it will roll on with less texture but don't over do it.

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Thanks, a special sprayer is probably needed, I guess so, if I use it I may have to brush.

 

Still can't make up my mind, never asked the wife what she thinks yet but the normal answer is whatever you want, which is no help.

 

After doing two with the black I kind of like it just having a hard time deciding.

 

What do you think, leave it or black in the openings?                      ignore the dust, and it's not a good picture

 

 

mwm (2).jpeg

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Excuse me for hopping in, but if by " leave it or black in the openings" you mean to paint openings of bass bins in black and leave the rest of the boxes intact, I would go for that.

Having a two color combination, black 402s and black openings in bass horn would make a hansom combination.

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I agree it would be aesthetically pleasing, but feel the accumulating dust would be more obtrusive on a supposed-to-be-black surface, and that would require more housekeeping than with stained (however) finish in there.  I don't know how close to a draw that is.

 

How's about black cloth covering the openings?

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9 hours ago, dtel said:

Thanks, a special sprayer is probably needed, I guess so, if I use it I may have to brush.

 

Still can't make up my mind, never asked the wife what she thinks yet but the normal answer is whatever you want, which is no help.

 

After doing two with the black I kind of like it just having a hard time deciding.

 

What do you think, leave it or black in the openings?                      ignore the dust, and it's not a good picture

 

 

mwm (2).jpeg

Black would look better than the brown I used for your speakers. I like your wood appearance and would rather vacuum it more often or live with dust. I don't know what sprayer would work with Duratex but they have a spray grade which the tintable happens to also be by the way. I do intend to check on this in the near future if you want to wait for what I find out. The brown I picked was as mentioned in part to hide dirt on it. As dust accumulates quickly here in the shop I can say it is doing a decent job of being dusty but not looking bad while doing so. The textured paint on my old MCM 1900 was dirty and you could scrub and never get it entirely clean looking.

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I see lots of dust in there, Eldon... To me, a satin finish would not show as much, but you still have to dust. I always liked the idea of having the stain get darker the deeper into the horn you go. Like a sunburst on a guitar, but it would be a ain to do on the cabs like that.

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12 hours ago, parlophone1 said:

Excuse me for hopping in

No, I really meant anyone with an opinion. Yes, I mean just the sub and just the openings.

 

The wife doesn't want grills on any of it she likes to see the horns.

 

5 hours ago, Dave A said:

The textured paint on my old MCM 1900 was dirty and you could scrub and never get it entirely clean looking.

That was something I was worried about.

1 hour ago, Marvel said:

I see lots of dust in there, Eldon... To me, a satin finish would not show as much, but you still have to dust. I always liked the idea of having the stain get darker the deeper into the horn you go. Like a sunburst on a guitar, but it would be a ain to do on the cabs like that.

Yes lots of dust, Christy refuses to touch anything stereo on that wall, it's up to me, which is not really a good thing. The sub is satin clear but the top front and sides have many coats the inside has way less, I was worried about it dripping and running and looks half done or kind of dried out looking.

There is some dust in the openings but it's not as bad as it looks, the mwm bass bins were oiled and need another coat, it just looks dry and needs something but I may spray with clear satin or matte since oiling is no fun inside the openings and it's alot of square feet and its an ongoing thing.   

 

I like the idea of faded darker towards the back, but honestly, I would probably screw that up.

 

But the sub came out ok but the bottom of both openings have very little clear satin on them, I was worried about drips and runs, and have that look like the mwm's have, they just look dried out and kind of powdery, it's part of why I was thinking about black. Also, the brace on that prototype is MDF and it was actually stained about 4 times compared to the rest of the cabinet, I couldn't get it to take stain very well, not evenly at least. I can dust it or wipe it with a damp rag and when it dries it looks the same like it needs to be dusted.

 

Never thought about stain, I could lightly sand the inside to get off what little clear is on it and maby stain it with a black stain, like ebony. The worst that would happen is I would have to leave it dry for a while and then paint it black if it didn't work out well. 

 

I'm just tired of it looking like that, just wasn't sure what look I wanted, some are permanent. 

 

 

.

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After looking at it closely I don't think I could use the black stain because anywhere close to corners not sanded perfectly will not take stain. The wife said she thinks black would look better if that's what I want to do. Maby some matte clear over the flat black to make it easier to wipe out?  I don't know :mellow:

 

Didn't mean to disrupt this thread, but being over 20 pages I figure it would have no problem going right back as needed, and this is also something for people to consider since I did this and it's about a year and a half and I have wanted to change it for a while now, that's not really normal. 

 

 

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Elden, if you are going to paint the insides and you're going over stain or stain and poly, I would suggest using a good bonding primer and forget about trying to sand, it's not necessary at all.  Stix bonding primer is the absolute best I've ever used and saves a lot of time regardless of what you're painting over and it's still water cleanup.  Just my .02 worth on paint that will wipe down easily, if it's not at least a semi gloss, it's tough to wipe down anything black without leaving residue from whatever you're wiping with, unless you're going to go black and then lacquer or poly over it.  

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I will remember the Stix because it would be hard to remove every bit of poly, good idea, never heard of it before. I looked it up and it looks like you can get it everywhere which is good, and I will get to see what it looks like white, should be strange.

 

Your right, I may have to lacquer or poly over the black to make it a little more slick to be able to clean it, maby a satin or matte over flat black. Because is going to be harder t keep clean anyway with black.

The more I think about it I want it different than it is no. But the other side of is I would like to do it where it sits, I would hate to disconnect all electronics off the top to move it out.

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Never thought of that, but was thinking grills would not do so great, when it's turned up a little you can feel it hit your leg when you're in front of it, probably would stretch out the cloth and sag ? Didn't want that anyway.

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I do not see cleaning to be a problem.

What ever finish on the speakers, just do not use wet cloth because that way you are producing mud on the surfaces.

I would first vacuum clean and then dry clothed, preferably with cheap microfiber cloth. Do it every so often and the boxes should be clean enough.

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I used to wipe over my LS once a month with a lemon oil. Not necessary as they were lacquered cabs, but it cleaned off the surface well and all the dust came off on the rag.

 

Bruce

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10 hours ago, parlophone1 said:

What ever finish on the speakers, just do not use wet cloth because that way you are producing mud on the surfaces.

Never thought about that, it's just spreading the dust into mud and covering everything. I need to start doing it dry.

1 hour ago, Marvel said:

I used to wipe over my LS once a month with a lemon oil. Not necessary as they were lacquered cabs, but it cleaned off the surface well and all the dust came off on the rag.

 

Bruce

I think I will need to put something on the mwm bins, it's too much to re-oil to keep them from looking dry and probably whatever I put in the openings of the sub.

 

This is how one friend has his sub, it's not a good phone pic. But you can see what it would look like black in the openings.

 

speakers.jpg

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If you would go for the look, then black should be as much as possible similar to the texture of the horns. Probably some kind of satin black. Or the opposite, paint in black (nothing to do with the Stones 😄) and put glass on horizontal surfaces.

I never had such beasts, but would glass rattle in these?

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I don't know about rattle, it might but the cork or the little cushion things that come in many sizes and thicknesses should work. The only horizontal surface is the bottom, the brace is full of slots.

 

I know this thread is not about these subs but it also something people who are building a Super MWM need to be considering, finishes, they are actually harder to clean on the inside than these subs.

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