Sound settings

    Ok, I promise not to make a habit of this, but I have (probably) a stupid question. When I was younger I was in a band but I was that guy that just showed up, plugged in my guitar to my amp and started playing. So, because of that, my experience in how the guitar sound is mixed and produced is limited. As long as my on stage amp sounded good in my cabinet, I was content. The sound going out of the Perkins Boxes was the sound guy's job. :P Now, I would be the guy in the way all the time trying to learn everything about mixing, etc.

    So anyway, here goes:


    When I load a profile that does not have a cab and I play through my homemade 2X12" cabinet, I normally lose a lot of low end and gain a lot of distortion/fizz. Shouldn't it sound like the amp profiled is connected directly to my cabinet and sound good? If so, is this telling me my cabinet sucks? If I add a cabinet in the KPA from another profile it sounds more like I would expect it to sound but isn't that like using 2 cabinets now? And doesn't that also apply to profiles that include a cab in the profile. Playing it through my cabinet is redundant isn't it?


    Thanks,
    Dennis

    You don't mention what amp you use to feed the cab, so let's skip this for the moment :)
    I'd start by pointing out that it's not rare to use a cab profile with a real guitar cab: it depends on the transducers. So, if your cab has got a quite wide amplitude response in the high region, it will sound fizzier than a cab with a narrower response.


    OTOH, since you lose lows, it also seems there's something wrong with your cab, like a wrong resonance frequence in the cabinet and/or the two transducers installed in counter-phase. Provided, of course, that the power amp is ok.
    it might make sense to have it checked, or at least to pass a 20-20k frequency sweep through it to have a rough idea of the way it works.
    How do you amplify the cab?

    Well, first of all, thanks for the info that some people do use the profiled cabinet along with their own cabinet. I wasn't sure that was the right thing to do. I actually get the best sound through the headphone output (listening either in headphones or from my computer). That is what prompted my questions about a dual cabinet situation. I'm using the non-PA version of the KPA.


    I'm using an old 100 watt Standel Public Address Amplifier. It has 4 inputs and a spring reverb. I also have a solid state Marshall 50 watt MG-50RCD 1X12" combo. I use the PA with the cab because I thought the "clean" sound would not color the profile like the Marshall combo would.


    You might have something concerning the wide response in the high end of the cabinet. Now, don't laugh too hard when I say this... The two 12" speakers came from an old Stereo/TV floor model combo that I acquired for free some years ago. I had the speakers laying around and figured I would use them for the cabinet. It is a closed back cabinet but as to the frequency response of the speakers, I have no idea.


    I wish I knew someone locally with a commercial cabinet so I could try it out before I go buy 2 new speakers. I just tried using the Marshall combo and it does sound different (not as much high end) but it's hard to compare because it only has one 12" speaker.


    Maybe I will try recording the same exact sound through the Marshall combo speaker and then through one of my cab speakers with the PA and then compare them.

    Well, I that explains the fizziness.


    AFAIK, guitar-cab speakers roll that high end off. The TV ones obviously don't.


    I'm guessing they'd be a bit light-on in the low end too; they probably relied on cabinet resonances and / or low-frequency reinforcement via a port somewhere on the cab/s.

    Quote from Monkey_Man

    they probably relied on cabinet resonances and / or low-frequency reinforcement via a port somewhere on the cab/s.


    In general, the cabinet is a huge part of the overall response.
    In general, it's not possible to foresee a cab's behaviour by just knowing the transducers' technical data. The cabinet must be designed for the overall project and expectations.


    Note that most sellers offer a return policy, so it's really easy to try some cabs at home :)


    Last but not least Re: cab with cab: if it sounds good, it's good! :D

    The cabinet was patterned after a commercial 2X12 closed back vertical cabinet with wheels on the bottom. I found a "how to build one" article in a magazine one time. However, it's looking as though I might need some new speakers or at least try some commercial cabinets at home to hear the difference. The power should not be a problem as I never exceed 3-4 on the volume here in my basement but point well taken. I've been a guitar teacher since my gigging days so no one wants to hear a student at 10! 8o


    Thanks to all for your input.