Custom guitar cabs

[El_Thwatez]

Alright everyone,

Has anyone had any experience with using Pine as a wood for speaker cabinets? If so what are its sound properties like?

Cheers,

Dan

 

[merkaba22]

I put a finger jointed hardwood cab -- 2/3 maple and 1/3 mahogany along with a V30 and some mods by Roy Blankneship that included a Mercury Magnetics 18 OT and the result was spectacular -- both Roy and I felt the hardwood cab (much better than pine by miles and miles) made the clearest and most profound improvement. In later conversation with Paul at /13 the of using hardwood rather than pine is very significant decision. FWIW

It wasn't quite loud enough with some drummers or in large rooms and now I am doing something along these lines to Fender Princeton Reverb II -- just got the hardwood thursday.

__________________

 

[El_Thwatez]

thats one helluva nice finish! U got any clips of it in action?

 

[merkaba22]

thats one helluva nice finish! U got any clips of it in action?

Sorry -- I sold it recently and just got a Princeton Reverb II w/ a Scumback M75 to replace it. I finished a new cab like the one for the BJ but with the center wood being Purple Heart instead of Mahogany and an Oxblood grill -- that in addition to NOS pre-amp tunes and new JJ 6V6's, its really starting to show up -- pics to follow

 

[TheHunter]

I recently bought a custom made cab on ebay from a fella and i love it, its made of 13 ply birch, which seems to be the norm for most cab manufacturers.

My question is what would i need to know to construct my own cabs, demensional spacing, speaker placment, depth, width, height, joints, hardware, etc. I know it sounds basic but i have heard other peoples home built cabs and they sound like crud. I have read a few articles that say the key is spacing and wood depending on what sound your after. Is that true or is it really a matter of preferance. I had a GENZ BENZ G-Flex and it was way to boomy for me, but the idea was awesome. Id like to recreate that idea but add my own flare.

If you have a simple plan, blue print, drawing, scribble, you could share with the class that would be great. ebay folks wanna charge like 10-20 bucks for a cab build blue print plan. Im thinking its not worth that much.

 

[merkaba22]

I recently bought a custom made cab on ebay from a fella and i love it, its made of 13 ply birch, which seems to be the norm for most cab manufacturers.

My question is what would i need to know to construct my own cabs, demensional spacing, speaker placment, depth, width, height, joints, hardware, etc. I know it sounds basic but i have heard other peoples home built cabs and they sound like crud. I have read a few articles that say the key is spacing and wood depending on what sound your after. Is that true or is it really a matter of preferance. I had a GENZ BENZ G-Flex and it was way to boomy for me, but the idea was awesome. Id like to recreate that idea but add my own flare.

If you have a simple plan, blue print, drawing, scribble, you could share with the class that would be great. ebay folks wanna charge like 10-20 bucks for a cab build blue print plan. Im thinking its not worth that much.

The way I have done it was to find a cab design that I liked and used hardwood except for the baffle which is 13 ply birch and finger joints, etc. -- there are two baffle mounting styles: fixed and flexible (like the Fenders) open or closed back w/ or w/o ports. I am not that big a fan of ports but they are getting better so its up to you -- I think the oval semi-open back design is interesting for a number of reasons.

Big thing to understand is that acoustics as a science is still fairly unexplored. In fact the Stratavarius violin is still not fully understood and is in part why the tone of the electric guitar has little to do with guitar itself compared to the amp and effects; that's why, generally speaking, a cheap guitar through a great amp will sound much better than a great guitar though a cheap amp.

YMWV. IMHO, etc.

 

[TheHunter]

I recently bought a custom made cab on ebay from a fella and i love it, its made of 13 ply birch, which seems to be the norm for most cab manufacturers.

My question is what would i need to know to construct my own cabs, demensional spacing, speaker placment, depth, width, height, joints, hardware, etc. I know it sounds basic but i have heard other peoples home built cabs and they sound like crud. I have read a few articles that say the key is spacing and wood depending on what sound your after. Is that true or is it really a matter of preferance. I had a GENZ BENZ G-Flex and it was way to boomy for me, but the idea was awesome. Id like to recreate that idea but add my own flare.

If you have a simple plan, blue print, drawing, scribble, you could share with the class that would be great. ebay folks wanna charge like 10-20 bucks for a cab build blue print plan. Im thinking its not worth that much.

The way I have done it was to find a cab design that I liked and used hardwood except for the baffle which is 13 ply birch and finger joints, etc. -- there are two baffle mounting styles: fixed and flexible (like the Fenders) open or closed back w/ or w/o ports. I am not that big a fan of ports but they are getting better so its up to you -- I think the oval semi-open back design is interesting for a number of reasons.

Big thing to understand is that acoustics as a science is still fairly unexplored. In fact the Stratavarius violin is still not fully understood and is in part why the tone of the electric guitar has little to do with guitar itself compared to the amp and effects; that's why, generally speaking, a cheap guitar through a great amp will sound much better than a great guitar though a cheap amp.

YMWV. IMHO, etc.

Thanks man that helps a lot. I think ill try to build my own in the next few months and ill let you know what i come up with.

Thanks again.

 

[dragonguitarist]

I recently bought a custom made cab on ebay from a fella and i love it, its made of 13 ply birch, which seems to be the norm for most cab manufacturers.

My question is what would i need to know to construct my own cabs, demensional spacing, speaker placment, depth, width, height, joints, hardware, etc. I know it sounds basic but i have heard other peoples home built cabs and they sound like crud. I have read a few articles that say the key is spacing and wood depending on what sound your after. Is that true or is it really a matter of preferance. I had a GENZ BENZ G-Flex and it was way to boomy for me, but the idea was awesome. Id like to recreate that idea but add my own flare.

If you have a simple plan, blue print, drawing, scribble, you could share with the class that would be great. ebay folks wanna charge like 10-20 bucks for a cab build blue print plan. Im thinking its not worth that much.

Boomy? Where did you have the Density and all that? Also does that mean that it was a punchy bass? My Crate 4x12 w/no ports is punchier than my B-52 4x12 w/ ports, because the bass response is smoother. At least with my setup, I don't know if that's normal.

 

[El_Thwatez]

boomy is typically the description of a very muddy uncontrollable bass and is typically associated with slightly higher bass frequencies, where as the density adds to the lower bass freq's so not quite the same

 

[dragonguitarist]

boomy is typically the description of a very muddy uncontrollable bass and is typically associated with slightly higher bass frequencies, where as the density adds to the lower bass freq's so not quite the same

ok, never heard that description before.

 

[TheHunter]

I recently bought a custom made cab on ebay from a fella and i love it, its made of 13 ply birch, which seems to be the norm for most cab manufacturers.

My question is what would i need to know to construct my own cabs, demensional spacing, speaker placment, depth, width, height, joints, hardware, etc. I know it sounds basic but i have heard other peoples home built cabs and they sound like crud. I have read a few articles that say the key is spacing and wood depending on what sound your after. Is that true or is it really a matter of preferance. I had a GENZ BENZ G-Flex and it was way to boomy for me, but the idea was awesome. Id like to recreate that idea but add my own flare.

If you have a simple plan, blue print, drawing, scribble, you could share with the class that would be great. ebay folks wanna charge like 10-20 bucks for a cab build blue print plan. Im thinking its not worth that much.

Boomy? Where did you have the Density and all that? Also does that mean that it was a punchy bass? My Crate 4x12 w/no ports is punchier than my B-52 4x12 w/ ports, because the bass response is smoother. At least with my setup, I don't know if that's normal.

I had to pull my density back to the 9 o,clock position just to get my clarity back a bit, I had to back all my bass levels off to almost half just to get my punch back.

Like i said the G-Flex is a great cab but its not for me. I like thrash metal so i need my bass responce to be deep but really tight. So that cab didnt work for me.

I think building a cab so that i can experiment with the sound is the way to go for me. Im so picky about my tone as im sure 90 percent of the musicians on here are.

El_Thwatez said it best: Muddy Uncontrolable bass = Boomy

 

[AXCL]

This post is a bit old, but I thought I'd reply anyway. Let me know if anyone thinks I'm raising the dead.

I've built a few cabs and have always used birch ply. If your making one, go with a closed back, or large opening. DO NOT try and port or have a small hole.

Ports do work, but require a lot of math, combining speaker frequency specifics cab size and port size. You can't just make one, you have to know how big/long to make it. A port is designed to boost a frequency in the low end of the speaker range. That is why most subwoofers are ported as they only output lows. If you go closed, you need to ensure everything is sealed or your air leakage becomes a small port and your cab will have a spike somewhere in the low Hz, which if bad enough and in just the right (or wrong) Hz, you can f your speaker(s) if you hit that frequency of death and sound like crap!

When not including ports, guitar cabs are one of the simplest to make. Size doesn't matter much as size issues are most important for again...low Hz. Guitars start to touch in this range (more for tuned down), but only scratch the surface. As long as you approximate the dimensions of your favorite cab you'll be fine. If you were making a bass cab or a sub, you would have to make it much bigger. Even if you make it a bit smaller to save weight, you can add insulation, which makes the speakers see a bigger cab.

You can see this in some mesa cabs. the have an "Oversized" recto cab, but if you hear it side by side with the standard cab (both with V30's) they are very close, and only some will notice a significant difference. It will be a bit fatter and have slightly more low end. The lower you tune, the more you'll hear it. If you tune down, you'll probably like it as it will give you a bit more low end, but you start to get a bit muddy. If your not playing drop C metal, or own a 7 string...stay away from anything "oversized"...I do sometimes, but still like a tighter sound.

If you make it too large, you'll lose the tight bass and just make it equiv to a open back.

I would build your design around a removable, (but air tight) back and you could make 2. One with a large opening, one without.

I'd also go with a ridged sound board. If you don't make a flex just right, it will get very boomy and/or vibrate really bad...again, much more theory and math involved.

As mentioned already, muddy (or at least NOT tight) bass is boomy. If you want tight.

Tight =
no ports / closed back / fixed speaker mounting board / mid sized cab.