THICK closed back 1x12 driver cab

[music321]

years ago, before knowing any better, i made a closed-back 1x12 cab. The dimensions are fine. The front and back are laminated pine. The sides, top, and bottom are poplar. Here's the issue:

All of the boards are 11/16 inches thick. I'm thinking of selling this thing, and making one out of much thinner wood (probably 5/16 douglas fir marine plywood).

My main motivation for wanting a new cab is to optimize the driver. My gut feeling is that this thick, heavy box is killing some harmonic content, and causing too much focus on the fundamentals. Of course, this may not be true. This is the only 1x12 cab that I've ever used, so I can't say whether a thinner box would be better or worse. Aside from a thinner box being easier to move around, do you think that I should build one, or stick with this thick one? Thanks.

 

[Rockyrollercat]

11/16ths pine/poplar is not really a heavy cab. If you play at quiet volume you might try a 1/2" pine cab but my experience is 3/4" birch ply is the best (for rock and roll anyway).

The Stagecraft cabs and others are so cheap it really makes you think about all the trouble to build your own.

RRC

 

[Onioner]

I've no experience with thinner wood, but i don't think it'd make a positive improvement.

Edited for more detail: generally you want sturdiness in a cab, for better projection. Pine is already giving you some resonance. For many folks, it's already too much color. I like pine, but I've found sturdier construction to be better, as it limits the coloration from pine. A little color is nice, but go too far and it can quickly start to sound pretty awful.

Basically, i don't think thicker wood is going to choke your sound at all, and thinner, especially thinner pine, is going to introduce some seriously off putting harmonics. If you wanna try something different the try opening up that back. Closed backs can indeed lead to a feeling of being choked.

 

[Dewey Decibel]

That's not really all that thick. You should ask yourself what kinds of sounds you're looking for. Conventional wisdom is if you play clean to lightly overdriven you'd prefer a more resonant cab, for more distorted sounds a deader cab. More resonant cabs tend to be open back, and built with solid wood (usually pine). Deader cabs are usually ply (baltic birch) and closed back.

Baltic birch is high grade plywood, not only is it void free but the layers are thinner then with other types, which makes it stronger. Marine ply is not the same thing.

I'm not sure what you mean about "optimize the driver". That's going to be more about tuning the cab for a specific speaker, looking at the Thiele Small parameters and designing the cab around that. What I mean is, how the speaker acts/reacts is going to have to do with the volume/shape of the inside of the cab, not the thickness of the sides. How the cab resonates will have to do with the thickness/material of the sides and baffle. The size/thickness of the baffle being the most important IMO. How the baffle is attached is another important aspect.

 

[music321]

thanks for the replies. By "optimize the driver" (or something similar that I typed) I just meant making a cab that is the ideal thickness for the driver.

So, I understand that the cab is of decent thickness. however, the baffle is also as thick as the rest of it. Might this be an issue? I have heard of people using 1/4" baffles.

my cat is attacking me as we speak, since he wants to be fed. I'll sign off now.

 

[zacmac]

In my experience the baffle thickness is the one that matters. Try that and see if it helps, if not, put a donut hole in the back of the cabinet and vent it. 112 closed backs always sound kinda boxy and dead to me

 

[music321]

when porting it, is tuning an issue, or can I just make a few holes?

 

[FFTT]

Take a look at the design of the Reeves, Port City OS 1X12

It's everything you've described in the title.

 

[sharpshooter]

The issue of "tuning", is generally used as a means to lower the freq responce to get a bit more bass, and, no, you don't "just drill some holes".
Most typical 12in. guitar speakers have a cone area of ~80>90 sq. in., and as such, any rear opening of equal or greater value can contribute nothing to the "punch", or forward projection of a cab,,such a cab will have the max amount of "airy-ness", that is possible.
In order to increase the forward projection of sound, we need to decrease the opening to less than the area of the speaker. Since speakers are not linear, the opening needs to get down into the 50>70% range to be effective, (volume dependant).
Most "open back" cabs have far too much open area to be able to generate much punch, more so at higher volumes. The best shape for the opening is a true ellipse,,a narrow slot, or a square, are the worst.
The above is about open back cabs,,a "tuned" cab is a whole other can of worms.

 

[music321]

I checked out some info on tuning, and it's not something that I want to mess with. I guess what it comes down to is whether you think, based upon theory (without hearing my cab, of course) I'm doing myself a disservice by having a front baffle as thick as it is (11/16).

 

[woad_yurt]

From my experience, the dimensions of a cab have way more effect on your sound than does the material of which the cab is made. Keep in mind that I'm not saying that that two cabs with the same interior dimensions but of different materials or thicknesses won't sound different.

Old JBL literature specifically recommends 1.5 cubic feet of interior volume with a 4" circular port for my particular 12" speakers and it sounds great. So, I would email the manufacturer of your speakers and ask them the recommended interior volume and port size for whatever you have before building something new.

 

[music321]

good to know. thanks.

 

[Sirloin]

Get one of these 112 cabs. Thanks me later.