Building a Guitar cab

  • Hi all,


    As I didn't find any topic on this page on buildig own gear, I thought to give it a try to start a new thread.


    As some of you have seen, I'm combining the KPA with a Bogner 2x12 cab (=Awesome!), but as I'm still searching for something for the small gigs and studio work I came up with the idea of building my own cabinet.


    But, there are some questions left which I can't find any clear answers on, and I know that there are a bunch of gear geeks here :D


    My idea is to build a 1 x 12" cab which has the same width as the KPA+Case (just for the eye). When you look up to all kinds of website, most of the cabs are build from 18mm Birch Plywood, BUT, what if you use another type of wood? Is there really a big difference in sound reference if you use oak, mahogany, peach or whatever kind of wood (Yes, oak and mahogany would be a back breaker..)


    Next I'm going to figure out if I want it front or rear loaded and ofcourse what kind of speaker I want. My main examples are the cabs from Bogner and Koch as I think they have a great sound for my purposes.


    If anyone of you has any experience, tips, tricks or whatsoever, please hook me up!


    Next question for you guyes; IF I decide to build one, shall I post the progress here? (And ofcourse soundclips when finished).


    Thanks!


    Regards
    Sander

  • If you decide to build one, I suggest you use the dimensions of an existing commercial cabinet that is designed for the speaker of choice. That will greatly increase the likelihood of ending up with a great sounding cabinet.


    One popular design, with detailed available plans is the EV Electrovoice TL series cabinet. Har cabinet design works well with EV, Celestion, etc speakers.

  • Not a popular opinion, but a cab is a cab in my opinion. I'm pretty sure no one would be able to tell the difference between a Mesa and a cheap cab based purely on the lay-out of the inside of the cabinet. Open up a cab and they all look very similar in my opinion.

  • I'm an amateur cabinet builder, having built about 10 or so in the past 15 years. I've done a bit of reading up on enclosure design, but I'm certainly no expert. That being said, most of the real design issues are focused on low end, which makes bass cabinets a bit more tricky to design than guitar cabs. You have a lot more freedom with guitar cabs, and it's pretty hard to build a really bad guitar cab since there is no low-low end and no crossover or diaphragm phase alignment between mid/tweeter.


    As far as the cabinet's effect on tone, the biggest effect will be from open vs closed back. Opening the cabinet is more about allowing ambience from the back wall rather than for porting like is done in bass cabs to define low-end performance.


    A secondary effect is the baffle stiffness. Many cabs use stiff plywood or MDF to eliminate resonances in the baffle, but some prefer pine baffles that are less stiff and put their own stink on the tone. The stiffness of the rest of the cabinet is less important for guitar, but you will probably want to throw in a couple simple cross-braces if you go less than 1/2" ply on a 20" wide cabinet.


    The last guitar cabinet I made was about 2 years ago. It was a 1x12 that I made arbitrarily at about 16"x16"x12", closed back, 1/2 Baltic birch. It sounds great, no issues.

    I hate emojis, but I hate being misunderstood more. :)

  • Not a popular opinion, but a cab is a cab in my opinion. I'm pretty sure no one would be able to tell the difference between a Mesa and a cheap cab based purely on the lay-out of the inside of the cabinet. Open up a cab and they all look very similar in my opinion.

    What? Man... the cab is most important thing in whole signal chain... sorry but IMO is a noob answer from your side.. :/


    My few comparison:


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    Stay Metal!

  • Read my post again. I said that if you open them up, they all look similar. Which I'd say, based on the several cabs I've had, is pretty true.


    They sound different, not better or worse, in my opinion. Buying an expensive cab doesn't mean a cheaper one can't be as good if not better. I've had vintage cabs, handbuilt cabs, cheap cabs and everything in between. I liked some more than others. In the end, I kept what I liked best and it wasn't handbuilt and it wasn't expensive.


    As I said, not a popular opinion. And if I had any recording gear and tons of cabs (which I don't), I'd dare anyone to try a blind test and tell me which is which. I doubt a lot of people would be able to tell. Also no need to talk down to me because my opinion differs strongly from yours.

  • In my experience everything has an influence on the soundquality of a cab, some more like the Speakers and some less like lets say the screws used. Many of these things have an impact that can be heard.

  • Amazingly, there aren't many books dedicated to the subject but I've bought this one twice. Speaker cabs are heavily dependent on volume and porting, but most of the technical literature is geared towards hi-fi applications with very little practical information with respect to guitar cabs where the construction style, speaker types and porting methods are largely traditional and unchangeable. Which is a shame, really.


    "LONDON POWER DIY Speaker Cabinets for Musical Instrument Applications"
    http://www.londonpower.com/Speaker-Book


    -djh

  • "My idea is to build a 1 x 12" cab which has the same width as the KPA+Case"


    That limits it down to the speaker chosen, open or closed, as was said.
    Size, of course will make a big difference but you already locked that down.


    The birch plywood you refer to is a very thin finish layer of plywood. For staining or what have you. Plywood is many layers.
    A lot of them are just dimension fill.
    If somebody tells you to use a certain dimension or plywood vs an MDF or even a composite, that is OK but if they tell you to use birch or another species, that will not make a difference. It is only a finishing layer.
    Only a solid wood species would change this.


    You are skinning it, right? If so, that fine finish layer means nothing.
    MDF is a good choice but it is heavy. Great for subs.


    Construction methods and how you build it should be your main concern.


  • MDF isn't really used as much these days as it used to be. It's wicked heavy and you can achieve a less resonant box with lighter plywood and just a little bit of bracing. MDF shows up mostly in low-end enclosures now, where proper bracing is cost prohibitive.


    Regarding plywood: Baltic Birch is different:
    http://www.woodworkerssource.c…ts-better-when-to-use-it/

    I hate emojis, but I hate being misunderstood more. :)


  • MDF isn't really used as much these days as it used to be. It's wicked heavy and you can achieve a less resonant box with lighter plywood and just a little bit of bracing. MDF shows up mostly in low-end enclosures now, where proper bracing is cost prohibitive.


    Regarding plywood: Baltic Birch is different:
    http://www.woodworkerssource.c…ts-better-when-to-use-it/


    He is building a small cab. "the size of the KPA+case"
    He is not building furniture.
    Did the Baltic birch article go into explaining its resonance value?


    As I said, the MDF is heavy. Maybe not the ideal if you are a perceived total tone snob and weak in the arms but it has many good qualities.
    No it would not be my choice for moving around.


    We could go on for days with this but he needs a speaker in a box. Lets not over analyze.
    A cabinet is a cabinet for the most part. Manufacturers don't go looking for exotic woods to slam their speakers in.
    Box shape, size and build quality are key.


    Carpenter and cabinet builder 35 years.

  • Interesting thread. I'll be happy if you post your progress in making it. I once thought about it and dropped the idea after seeing the ridiculous price of empty Palmer cabs on thomann. That's more or less the cost of necessary plywood in good quality.


    And I agree that expensive cabs do not mean good. Most expensive cabs are branded and/or roadproof.
    Unlike guitars, there is no vibration in the wood, it's just the speaker and the air shape around it.


    good luck man!

  • Building a cab is ok, but you can usually find something similar to what you need and adjusting it. For a little 1 speaker cab, I just bought a cheapo Laney 1x12 cab, took out the speaker and put in a cheapo eminence 12" coaxial in there. Its dimensions were 22.5" x 16" x 14", just prefect to go under a rack with my kemper in it. It sounds just as good as any other.