skyboltone wrote:Crate makes some nice cabs for a lot less than $750. I must say though that I haven't played one. I've heard good things. They will stuff them with a variety of different speakers. I wonder if they'll sell one empty? I'd love to have a 4/12" but it would have to come with a roadie.
C'mon Dan, you get the prize for Thinking Outside the Box. Then another prize for forgetting all about it.
For those who haven't been following Dan built a 4 x 10" that's a killer piece. Didn't your nephew end up with a 2 x 10"? It's simple, less speakers take up less space and cost less money. Eminence only makes about a hundred different 10" speakers, there's gotta be a couple that sound killer. For comparison Celestion only makes one (well, maybe two ) "Greenbacks" and only one "Blue".
Here's the plan, adjust dimensions to suit. The important thing here I think is the ultimate "de-tuned" cabinet is a open back Leo Fender. This is a good place to start. It's super light, made of pine. With 4 eminence 1058s it is light enough for this old cripple to carry around. For the one 12" I use 20"X21.5" cause that's what H. Alexander Dumble used. For a 2/12" I believe I'd go with 21.5" by about 26"-30". And make the base dimension the full width of a 1"X12" board. Make an oval port for the 2/12" about 9"X18"+/-. For the one 12" make it 9" by 14". I've gotten it down to knocking these things out in a few hours. As far as the pine vs plywood debate, where is it written that a guitar cab has to be hi fi? It's about tone. Besides, tolex=decoupling.
The Last of the World's Great Human Beings
Seek immediate medical attention if you suddenly go either deaf or blind.
If you put the Federal Government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years time there would be a shortage of sand.
skyboltone wrote:As far as the pine vs plywood debate, where is it written that a guitar cab has to be hi fi? It's about tone. Besides, tolex=decoupling.
For me there's no debate whether to use pine or to use plywood. Pine grows on trees. Hippy chicks dig trees. I don't dig hippies but I dig hippy chicks. So that's that part of it.
Plywood grows in factories. They crank it out as fast as they can. A lot of that crap will give you splinters that will kill a goddam vampire. I ain't no goddam vampire but I don't dig splinters.
Plywood is a necessary evil so use it sparingly. There's only two places where the good stuff comes from, that would be either Russia or North Carolina. Either way there's almost no chance your local lumberyard stocks the good stuff. The not so good stuff is made from Russian wood in Chinese mills. That plywood will try to turn itself inside out and, oh yeah, it will give you splinters that will kill a vampire.
CaseyJones wrote:... The not so good stuff is made from Russian wood in Chinese mills. That plywood will try to turn itself inside out and, oh yeah, it will give you splinters that will kill a vampire.
IME it's pretty hard to get pine that won't try and turn itself inside out. Theres a distinct ripple in Skyboltone's box which (along with the Plastic Wood stains) brings back memories of much cursing and swearing re: DIY carpentry....
You Nth Americans are pretty lucky - at least its *possible* to get wood (especially plywood) OTHER than radiata pine
... and yes I know "your heart bleeds" for us aussies
CaseyJones wrote:... The not so good stuff is made from Russian wood in Chinese mills. That plywood will try to turn itself inside out and, oh yeah, it will give you splinters that will kill a vampire.
IME it's pretty hard to get pine that won't try and turn itself inside out. Theres a distinct ripple in Skyboltone's box which (along with the Plastic Wood stains) brings back memories of much cursing and swearing re: DIY carpentry....
You Nth Americans are pretty lucky - at least its *possible* to get wood (especially plywood) OTHER than radiata pine
... and yes I know "your heart bleeds" for us aussies
I hear you on the ripple. I've gotten a little better since that iteration. That's probably the worst of the ones I've done. I may have taken that pic just because of the ripple. If you turn the crowns out before cutting the dovetails and use a strap clamp they straighten up. Oh, and that's tightbond three not plastic wood. Pre sand condition. The old whip about "you can't make chicken soup out of chicken shit" applies here. I sort through dozens of boards for decent ones. It's still hard. Better I suppose than Gum trees though
The Last of the World's Great Human Beings
Seek immediate medical attention if you suddenly go either deaf or blind.
If you put the Federal Government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years time there would be a shortage of sand.
skyboltone wrote:I hear you on the ripple. I've gotten a little better since that iteration. That's probably the worst of the ones I've done. I may have taken that pic just because of the ripple. If you turn the crowns out before cutting the dovetails and use a strap clamp they straighten up. Oh, and that's tightbond three not plastic wood. Pre sand condition. The old whip about "you can't make chicken soup out of chicken shit" applies here. I sort through dozens of boards for decent ones. It's still hard.
+1 on hard - I've picked the straightest board by eye, kept it over night then whamo - crooked as a dogs hind leg in the morning. Working with pine drives me crazy!
TightBond three eh... I'll have to look into that... Used to be a speciality import - Anyhow I'm envious of the dovetails - mine are all slab joints "glued and screwed". I need a workshop - maybe an old container down by the seaside...
I have a couple tricks to keep pine absolutely straight.
If the board is cupped wet the side that's concave. I keep a spray bottle full of spring water just for this purpose. The cupping is usually due to one side of the board being drier than the other, if lumber isn't stacked and stored properly you'll have that.
Once the weather gets better it's possible to put the board out in the sun for an hour, convex side up. Watch it carefully, when it flattens out it's time to build your cabinet.
Wood grows on trees here. Before the economy went South we had our own private sawmill. A good sawyer can cut so the wood won't warp. We dress our rough sawn boards (after a year of air drying!) by cleaning up one side on a 16" jointer then surface planing using the joined edge for reference. This is precision woodworking, we work to tolerances of +/- .001". Straight flat boards are a joy to work with.
Pine is flexible enough that it can be shoved around vigorously using clamps. A good cabinetmaker knows to check every box for square, diagonals and pincushion before the glue sets. If you're a degree off square in clamps it will be a degree off square when it comes out of clamps.
) "Greenbacks" and only one "Blue".
1272]http://i32.tinypic.com/2hcq9fq.jpg[/img]
