wood shop in bay area

[John Roman]

I've been looking for a wood shop to complete the cabinets and baffles on my BassZilla speakers. I had a shop lined up and now their too busy. I was going to handle all the wood work myself but I realized I just didn't have the tooling or space. I'm located in San Jose, CA. Recommendations would be great. These speakers won't take much to do I expect, but I'm fairly particular about the final results.

John

[ironbut]

Hey John,

You should give Southern Lumber a call (or just run over there).
If it's pretty basic, they can do the cuts and maybe you could just assemble it. Or, they will be able to recommend a finish carpenter who can do it all.
If it's really complex, you should probably go with a cabinet shop. Santa Cruz County is full of them.

http://www.southernlumber.com/

[John Roman]

Thanks Steve,
I thought of them as well but the baffles are rather involved, at least IMO. Turns out the shop I had lined up may handle this for me anyway. I should know later today. I used to go to Southern Lumber just to check out the wood, what a great selection. Smells great too!
Regards,
John

[ironbut]

One very cool thing about lumber stores/yards is their scrap. You can buy "end cuts" of about any wood they sell for just about nothing. So when you're thinking about what wood to use and the best way to finish it, just pick up an arm load of "maybes", take em home and experiment away.

[howardnair]

john -if you were on the east coast i would do them for you just because i can--go to the lumber yard and ask for some cabinet makers not commercial shops--there are some talented guys who would probably enjoy the work and most likely less money per hour

[John Roman]

Good ideas guys,
Thanks,
John

[Davenportt]

Howdy,

I live in the Bay Area, near Berkeley, and I am strongly considering building some Platinum Basszillas.  I've never heard them, but I bought the plans.  I currently run Hammer Super 12s.  Please let us know how they turn out.  I'd be thrilled to have the opportunity to hear a pair.  Please contact me directly if you wouldn't mind letting me hear them when they are built. 

Also, if you don't find a woodworker you like, I know one, but he's in SF and has made high quality audio related items before.

David Thompson

[John Roman]

Well thanks Dave,
SF is a bit far to go but I'll keep it in mind. When I get them completed I'll post some pictures to the speakers forum. At which point you are certainly welcome to stop by to check them out. This may take a couple of months to sort through. Nevertheless I'd be curious what a fellow Bottlehead thinks of them, sonically as well as aesthetically. I'm building the Platinum Mark II edition. I actually had them complete and playing for a couple years and then began the process of upgrading the crossovers, and finishing the cabinetry, which has lasted several months now. I've been using some Thiel CS 1.6's in the mean time. Their decent but for tube gear not quite efficient enough (86 db). Plus they're a two way monitor that I augment with a Velodyne sub. The coherence is just not right. By any chance , do you think your friend in SF may suggest someone closer to San Jose? Or perhaps I could get his number and contact him directly? Just a thought.
BTW, how do you like the Hammers? Seriously considered those for awhile as well. What gear are you using?

 Again, thanks and I'll keep you posted.

[John Roman]

Well I had to give the cabinet shop the heave ho. They were just to busy I guess, took him 3 weeks just to get en estimate ready. So I told him I just needed to table this expenditure for now. So I'm heading over to southern lumber tomorrow to see what I can figure out. Santa Cruz it next on the list. Any other ideas are welcome.

[Davenportt]

Hi John,

I've been away, hence the slow response regarding quality woodworker in SF.  His name is Thomas Reed and his number is 530-277-3975.  He build a dining table for me that has a beautiful hand shaped bevel on it almost exactly like the upper baffle used by Jonathan Noble's basszilla seen at tip#72 on Olsher's site.

About the Hammer Super 12s, they are an extremely good value.  I think that Olsher's review was pretty spot on.  Mine are stock with no mods yet.  I built them of MDF and would not repeat that with other speakers in the future.  One fault they have is that there is a slight boxy quality to their sound.  Perhaps a bracing issue or perhaps due to their mdf.  Next time I'll use Baltic ply 1".  Anyhow, I have experimented with removing their backs and find the sound just lovely running them as open baffles.  I was surprised that it didn't screw up the sound.   Lost a bit of bass, but they really opened up and became seamless in their presentation, very invisible box quality, just music.   Presentation (almost like wearing headphones, very involving in a non-fatiguing way) is what I like about the Hammers.   I owned Spica TC-50s before this and found the Hammers to be the perfect next step up.  I have compared in my own system and space a pair of very expensive Merlin speakers and I prefered the Hammers overall, though clearly the Merlins offered more detail.   My room is 20' x 20' and the speakers are set on the diagonal plane.  The Merlins just couldn't fill the space with enough pressurization.  The Hammers totally fill the space. 

In the future I would be tempted to make any box speaker with a removable back so that I could experiment with mods and O.B. mode.   I'm hoping the Basszillas will do the same things the Hammer do, but better.  Keep us posted.

David

[John Roman]

Hello David,
I'm not surprised at your assessment of the "Hammer 12's". John Wyckoff was an interesting designer, the 12's were certainly a passionate contribution to the audio world.
If you find the Hammers running as open baffle interesting then you will find the BassZillas beautifully integrated top to bottom. I'm a fan of Dick Olsher's approach to writing. So much hyperbole flows from audio reviews it becomes difficult to determine veiled from musical, unless of course one is able to review them in a setting that allows an extended listen. Open baffle is a concept that I became aware of through Tony Gee at www.humblehomemadehifi.com. Which led to Mr Olsher's offering. I've been enjoying this design for several years. So now it becomes time to finish them properly and get back to their open engaging tone. No lack of bass there.
Thanks for Thomas Reed's #, I'll give him a call as my efforts have stalled  since the shop I was considering was tabled. Just to small of a job for them to break in on their busy production schedule. I will keep the group posted as I get closer to completing them.