I know you’re probably asking, what are Superchunk bass traps? They are corner bass traps that extend from the ceiling to the floor. They use fluffy pink insulation, a common in wall insulation found in most homes. There are different ways you can build corner bass traps and below is one of the simplest methods.
Tools and materials needed to create superchunk bass traps
To build an effective corner bass trap, you will need the following tools:
- Tape measure
- Glove (optional but highly recommended)
- Utility knife
- Drill
- Staple gun
- Pencil/pen
- Saw
- Straight edge
- Screwdriver
Material required
- Velcro roll
- Screws
- Roll of unfaced insulation-example R-19
- Acoustically transparent cloth
- Zip
- Flat wood for the base
Steps in designing a SuperChunk bass trap
The first step you should consider is to decide the size of the bass trap you want to build. In my case, I used Owens Corning R19 Fiberglass Insulation. Its 23” so you’ll be able to achieve a 32.5” face. If you want to achieve a 21” face, I would recommend using 15” wide fiberglass insulation.
The reason why I chose bigger insulation is the fact that I wanted to them in my music studio which required a much more bass absorption. It’s good to note that wider-faced corner bass traps perform much better than narrow-faced counterparts. Additionally, R-19 provides a good balance of the material cost and also reduces the number of cuts.
Now measure the distance between the floor and the ceiling to determine the pieces you will need for this project. If you choose thinner fiberglass insulation, you will need more pieces.
Now unroll the insulation and using cut it into squares depending on the width you would like to use using a straight edge.
Now that you’ve got the insulation in squares, it’s time to cut them diagonally. The triangle shaped pieces are the ones you will stack them up to create the Superchunk traps. Now that you have cut the insulation to the number of wedges you need, it’s time to build the bottom platform.
I designed my trap this way because my studio has a trip, so I wanted to the trap to start just on top of the trip and ensure that the front cover fit well and did not protrude. So I cut the 1×2’s with 45 degrees on each end to ensure that the longest side had the same length as the outer edges of the fiberglass insulation wedges.
Notice the 45degrees on the woods below and how they perfectly fit in the corner?
The next step would be to attach the 1×2’s to the wall. If you know where the wall studs are the better, otherwise you can alternatively use this self-drilling drywall anchor to screw into sheetrock.
The next step is to get a piece of wood and then cut it to the exact size of the insulation wedge. If you can find any, you can get these unfinished wood plaques available on Amazon for less than 15 dollars. You will need to screw the wood to the 1×2 base as shown in the photo below.
Now you will have to screw a couple of 1×2’s on the wall as shown in the photo below every couple of inches on the wall. This will make it possible for you to stack the fiberglass insulation and prevent it from collapsing under its own weight.
Note that, rather than using wood for the additional supports you’ve screwed on the 1×2’s, you will need to cut another 1×2 with 45 degrees on both ends so that the longest side is the same size as the width of the face of your bass trap. You will need to screw the1x2’s to the 1×2’s you’ve screwed on the walls.
Now it’s time to provide support to the fiberglass insulation to ensure that it doesn’t sag. For this case using wood will create multiple chambers and will affect the effectiveness of the Superchunk trap. Instead, you will need to use the acoustic transparent shelf. In this case, you can staple some cheap fabric as shown below. You should repeat this process with the rest of the installed supports. You can use Velcro and staple them on the front facing 1×2’s.
Once that’s done, it’s time to stack the insulation wedges as shown in the photograph below.
How to make a cover for corner bass traps
Now that you’ve stacked the corner with insulation, it’s time to design a beautiful cover to contain the fibers in and give the project aesthetic appeal. All that you need is a frame that’s wide and tall as the trap you’ve built above.
You will need to predrill the corners and use some screws to connect the pieces. You can design a frame similar to one shown in the photo below.
You will have to staple Velcro on the wooden frame to match to the ones stapled on the 1×2’s so that they fasten when the frame is fixed to shelves.
The next step would be to spread out the fabric to cover the frame on the ground and spread it out. Then lay the frame you built over and fold the fabric from bottom or top and staple it to the frame. Once you’ve done this, it’s time to attach the bass trap cover to the shelves on the wall. The Velcro’s will hold the cover in place, and there goes your Superchunk bass traps.
