2x12 guitar cab

[killersoundz]

Got an order in for a custom 2x12 yesterday. Decided to take a few pics to post here since I haven't shared any yet.



Clamping......



Got a little propane heater out in the garage to keep things warm.



Clamping on the trim pieces to make the bezel. I wouldn't normally use that many clamps but the 12mm baltic birch was a little warped and not cooperating.



After a black primer on the baffle, some sanding, cutting out the handles, and a roundover. This is my second 1/2" roundover bit in 4 years and it's rubbish already.



Inside shot, going to clean that up a little more with some sanding.

More to come!! I need to have this finished up by Friday.

[greywarden]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

Nice, you do some top notch finish work, I saw the build thread for the speaker in your avatar.

Is going to be open-bcked or closed?

[killersoundz]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

Nice, you do some top notch finish work, I saw the build thread for the speaker in your avatar.

Is going to be open-bcked or closed?

Thank you. This will be closed, I still have to glue in the pieces which the back secures to.

[killersoundz]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab



Building crosses in my garage... ;)




Grill cloth frame



New newspaper grill cloth trend



Vinyl rolled out



can you spot the seam???



No I didn't think so!! I'm a seam master! :D











More to come..

[killersoundz]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab



Speakers in..



Grill cloth on frame



test fit



speakers back



All done!







Square drive screws

[kduggan]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

Nice work. What kind of handles are those? Metal or Plastic?

[killersoundz]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

Nice work. What kind of handles are those? Metal or Plastic?

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=262-315

[SnoopKatt]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

Beautiful cab! Where did you get that front badge from?

[killersoundz]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

Beautiful cab! Where did you get that front badge from?

Thanks! I have a local sign engraving business cut that for me, I don't think they have a website, I'll look though. You can probably find something similar on the net.

[killersoundz]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

The speakers are super super broke in, the customer bought them used. The bass is a bit sloppy according to him so I'm going to put a baffle-back brace in it and some fill, that will make the bass as tight as it can get, otherwise it's just the speakers.

I personally like relatively resonant guitar cabs, the bass is beefy and it makes breakup come earlier and overall has a lot more character. Some people don't like this though and are used to the way modern guitar cabinets are built, like subwoofer boxes. It's all subjective though.

Probably the most extreme example of this is a 4x12 I built for the guitarist in my band. It has a 12mm (1/2") baltic birch back, completely unbraced and it flaps around quite a bit. When I first built it, we tested it out, then I decided to put a brace in as I had intended, then it really sounded like something was missing so he had me chop it out of there.

Some people like the tight bass of a rigid box, but also makes the usually unpleasant highs more apparent and decreases speaker distortion, which I find to be 'sterile'. To each his own.

[mzisserson]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

Awesome man! Just awesome!

[Paul Carmody]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

Very nice job on the build. You clearly know what you are doing.

I personally like relatively resonant guitar cabs, the bass is beefy and it makes breakup come earlier and overall has a lot more character. Some people don't like this though and are used to the way modern guitar cabinets are built, like subwoofer boxes. It's all subjective though.

Probably the most extreme example of this is a 4x12 I built for the guitarist in my band. It has a 12mm (1/2") baltic birch back, completely unbraced and it flaps around quite a bit. When I first built it, we tested it out, then I decided to put a brace in as I had intended, then it really sounded like something was missing so he had me chop it out of there.

I find this part very interesting. I'm actually a SansAmp guy myself :o but I totally understand what you're talking about--and it's like the antithesis of HiFi speakers. The guitar amp is part of the instrument--and not just the head. Getting it all to work together (guitar/pedals/head/speaker/cab) to make "just the sound you want" is hard! That's why I went to the SansAmp and EQ; it works for me, quick and easy. But gosh, when I play with someone who does have it all together, the guitar can sound so good it just makes me want to stop what I'm doing an listen. (Well, it helps if they're a good player. If they're a mediocre player with a great sound, I'm just fine drowning them out :D:eek

[killersoundz]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

Very nice job on the build. You clearly know what you are doing.


I find this part very interesting. I'm actually a SansAmp guy myself :o but I totally understand what you're talking about--and it's like the antithesis of HiFi speakers. The guitar amp is part of the instrument--and not just the head. Getting it all to work together (guitar/pedals/head/speaker/cab) to make "just the sound you want" is hard! That's why I went to the SansAmp and EQ; it works for me, quick and easy. But gosh, when I play with someone who does have it all together, the guitar can sound so good it just makes me want to stop what I'm doing an listen. (Well, it helps if they're a good player. If they're a mediocre player with a great sound, I'm just fine drowning them out :D:eek

Yep, creation of sound (guitar) speakers/enclosures are the polar opposites of reproduction of sound speakers (home audio, pro audio, car audio). The idea is to shape the tone to be as musical and pleasant sounding as possible.

The enclosure itself and how it's constructed can make a world of difference. Guitar speakers in a rigid MDF subwoofer type box will not sound anything like the same speakers in a resonant unbraced plywood box. I prefer the resonant boxes, as I said, they have so much more character and it brings out the speaker distortion, which is a key part of the sound.

The real magic of 12" guitar speakers and distorted guitar is the high freq. rolloff, this is necessary otherwise if you played guitar through a full range speaker it would sound just awful (like a bee hive). They typically drop off at 5k but most still play up to 10k with presence. The downside to this is the directionality. They start to beam around 2000hz and everything above that is like a laser beam, you can only hear on axis. This is a problem because many guitarists dial in way too much highs/presence when they're standing off axis, so anyone ON axis with the guitar speakers is in for a nightmare.

The particular speakers he had me put in this cab (Celestion G12T75's) are known as some of the 'fizziest' around. They naturally have a 'scooped midrange' and some razor blade highs. For recording, this is fine, but for live use, the darker the tone the better and you'll make less people in the audience mad with the beaming highs.

[jeff_free69]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

WOW what a BEAUTY !
Looks like it came from a boutique shop !!


I went to the darkside myself (Line6 PodXT for recording), but there's nothing like the real thing for room-filling tone. I keep some small, old tube amps around (ampeg jet and Fender champ), though they're so old I'm afraid I'll get electrocuted if i crank them up.

But I sure don't miss moving those big-uns around. Did you put removeable wheels on the top one ?

[billfitzmaurice]

Re: 2x12 guitar cab

They start to beam around 2000hz and everything above that is like a laser beam, you can only hear on axis. This is a problem because many guitarists dial in way too much highs/presence when they're standing off axis, so anyone ON axis with the guitar speakers is in for a nightmare.

That situation is made literally thrice as bad when drivers are horizontally mounted. It's not just an issue of beaming, which starts at 1.2kHz with a twelve, it's also a matter of comb filtering in the highs and the halving of midrange dispersion. When so mounted for cosmetic reasons (there is no acoustical benefit to so doing) the drivers should be cross-fired.