Discussion on developing Build Your Own Amplifier Cab

[fender3x]

My favorite place for cab plans is the Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design website:

http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/

Designs go from fairly simple (Simplex cabs) to fairly difficult (DR cabs).

It was actually the help that I got from the forum associated with that site that lead me here. When I decided to try to build a kit guitar, I wanted the same sort of help that I got from that site. The help there is phenomenal, and it does not hurt that the owner is a bonafide audio engineer.

My main cab for Bass is one of his DR250's. It's one of the hardest to build, but it's a fantastic cab. It's as loud as an average 4x10, but weights 20 lbs less than a G&K Neo.

When I play outside and want extra oomph I pair it with one of his Titan 39 subwoofers. That gives me similar output to an Ampeg 8x10. The difference is that I can carry both cabs. With my back I'd need a forklift for the Ampeg cab.

Still questing for the lightest gig-able bass cabs...I have plans and plywood to build a couple of his Jack 12-Light cabs. These use thin plywood and aircraft bracing for stiffness. They should be louder than most 112 cabs, and weigh in at 20 lbs.

I have been really impressed by these cabs. I started building them because I wanted light and loud, and figured I could EQ to get the sound I wanted... But the reality is that I really like the way they sound.

[Simon Barden]

My favorite place for cab plans is the Bill Fitzmaurice Loudspeaker Design website:

http://www.billfitzmaurice.com/

Still questing for the lightest gig-able bass cabs...I have plans and plywood to build a couple of his Jack 12-Light cabs. These use thin plywood and aircraft bracing for stiffness. They should be louder than most 112 cabs, and weigh in at 20 lbs.

I've got a Jack 210 home-made cab that I bought, sight unseen, from a friend. My experience of 2x10" cabs was that they are fairly compact but this is a big beast. It's got a piezo tweeter in, which helps even out the sound as it is quite heavy in the mids. Couple of 300W Eminences in it, so it's capable of handling loads of output. I'm thinking of cutting it down to a 1x10", to save weight and storage space (I only bought it so the bass player in the band had something to play through if we held a 'working out songs' rehearsal at my place. I think it was rather over-engineered on the woodwork side, with thick plastic corner/edge protectors from an H&H cab. Though over-enginering can sometimes pay sonic dividends. A friend of mine had a 4x10" cab made from 25mm ply, with lots of internal bracing to stop any resonances and it sounds awesome, if almost impossible to move.