Thinking of building an extension cab...

[The Dali]

Any suggestions? I don't need one. Don't know if I'd like one. But, I have a desire to put one together.

I have a few large pieces of MDF that I was going to use... is that suitable? I know I could get the wood pretty cheap, but I'd like to use what I already have.

As far as speakers... I was going to use my Laney Cub10 to drive this... would a simple 12" cab work, or should I look at building a 2x10 or 2x12? What experiences do you all have with extension cabs?

For me the fun will be in the project itself, and the tone and sound of the cab is secondary (although I want it to sound good, obviously).

I'm thinking of red tolex with tweed grill ot vox-style grill.

Anyone build one before?

Thanks!

 

[gvis]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

Cool project. A lot depends on what sound you're after. In general, I like oversized cabs vs standard sizes. I'm convinced baffle size makes a big difference, where standard sizes are punchier with more midrange emphasis (but also choked sounding to me) and larger sizes are smoother and bigger sounding; applies to either open or closed back.

And you'll wnat to consider open or closed back. Or convertible if you want to chose, although convertible will never give you as tight a seal when you close it up, because an only closed cab is just sealed tighter; more punch and less chance of the boxiness you get with a slightly open cab, where only small amount air goes out the back.

For wood, MDF is heavy, and most cab builds use a 13 ply birch, which is lighter and probably more resonant. Just make sure you get voidless birch, meaning no missing pieces in the slabs that create air pockets. I'm guessing the average birch at Lowes isn't voidless, at least from what I've bought for other uses.

Hope this helps. Just went through all this recently, on everything I've mentioned (except the MDF), so I'm basing it on my personal experience (listening/comparing, not building).

 

[jeremy]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

mdf is heavy but basically tonally neutral, meaning it wont color things much. i like to build my cabs out of pine because i think it enhances the tone and its light. i use finger joints to make the box then add the baffle and back. the back i make out of pine also and i use 3/8" birch ply for the baffle.

single 12", 2x10 or 2x12 is up to you, they all sound different.

 

[PRSfan nym 1985]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

another idea I can suggest since you're building it and you already have a 10" speaker might be to try a 10 and a 12 in the cab.

I've tried some Gibson amps, a Vibro King with 2x12 ext cab, and others in the past that blended 10's and 12's and I absolutely loved the results.

If I wasn't so darn broke I'd be blending 10's and 12's now.

Oh and take a look at Eminence and Weber speakers they are both pretty affordable, have a ton of options, and both are USA made.

 

[The Dali]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

mdf is heavy but basically tonally neutral, meaning it wont color things much. i like to build my cabs out of pine because i think it enhances the tone and its light. i use finger joints to make the box then add the baffle and back. the back i make out of pine also and i use 3/8" birch ply for the baffle.

single 12", 2x10 or 2x12 is up to you, they all sound different.

Yeah, the stuff I have is seriously heavy, but I like the idea of building from materials I already have. I just checked and the stuff is 3/4 inch.

My question about the speaker is if i am using a Laney Cub10 (Weber 10" speaker) would I see much of a difference using the single 12"? Like, would that be a waste of time? I also have my Traynor amp that I can use a cab with... that has two 10" Celestion speakers.

By way of history, I am kinda weird with my amps... I have the Traynor (made in Canada) which is a KILLER amp, but I bought it because my wife's maiden name is Traynor.

I bought the Laney Cub10 because my daughter's name is Delaney and we call her Laney.

Both amps sound awesome, so I got lucky (I have other amps with no name relation...:1: they were bought based on sound!!!).

This cab will be called "Drew" after my son. Any idea where I can get custom amp nameplates? :friday:

 

[gvis]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

I almost went through this company for a nameplate, but my final design doens't leave much room now.

http://amplates.com/

I just wnet thru the 10 inch vs 12 inch thing. It really depends on what sound you're after. If you want a tighter, punchier sound, 10's are great. I had 12's with a different amp and decided to run both amps thru the same 12's, because I just like the bigger, fuller sound you get. More bass too, although many bass amps use 10's in their cabs, so a larger cab with 10's should get you more bass if needed.

I did consider mixing 10's and 12's but I was running out of time, money, and patience on finalizing my setup, so I went with all 12's. I stiull have 4 10 inch new ramrods, so maybe one day I'll make a 2x10 clsoed cab and see how it mixes in.

If you've never used a 12, it may be worth trying...once you know the sound you're after. But yes, all of my 12's sounded different than all of my 10's. And all of 12's sounded different than all of my 12's...and same for 10's...lol. Speakers really do make a big difference.

And if you're just going with one speaker, then maybe MDF would be fine, but there's no way I'd want a 2 or speaker setup with MDF; super heavy.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

I think MDF guitar cabs pretty much suck...

I'd go with pine or birch plywood if it were me.

Look around at cabs both vintage and new...you never hear anybody raving about the killer sonic quality of an MDF cab and trust me whan I tell you, there is a reason for that.

 

[The Dali]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

Alright... so now you are making me re-think the MDF. I think the birch or pine is pretty cheap, so no biggie...

Any thoughts on 1x12 versus 2x12?

 

[gvis]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

Any thoughts on 1x12 versus 2x12?

Depends. Are you looking to push one speaker hard and get breakup from just it? Or are you looking for a bigger, fuller sound (2x12)? You could drive the 2x12's to breakup as well with the right amp/speaker combo (not sure about your laney and what speaker you had in mind), but some people like the sound of just one breaking up.

I thought I always liked 2x12. But just for yuks, with my set up of separate 1x12 large cabs, I tried just the closed back and wow, very cool. I'm running swamp thangs, so they don't break up much, which is what I want, but the result was very direct. When I run both, the top cab is open back; more high end and spreads out into the room. Both mixed still sounds better to me, but running one was very cool. Haven't tried both closed back yet.

I could be wrong, but I'm guessing most here would say 2x12 over 1x12.

 

[Crane]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

I built 4 baffles for my cabinet - x2 10" and x2 12" and tried all combinations.
Ended up with a single 12"

 

[The Dali]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

Thanks. I'm not sure what I'm looking for really! I'm probably looking for a fuller sound in general, since the Laney is pretty small.

Hmmm... just saw this on ebay which might make more sense. I could still cover it with tolex, or us a red stain..

TRM 2x12 Cabinet

 

[The Dali]

Re: Thinking of building an extension cab...

Here is a photo...