Guitar cab build

[J_Mac]

I can't seem to find any threads about cabs, probably just being thick.

I'm going to build two 1x12" cabs to run my Axe FX in stereo, playing in drop B and 8 string. They need to be compact but as full sounding as possible. Either placed on either side of the room or in a small stack. So I just need help with dimensions and wood choices. I was thinking approximately 20" x 20" x 12" and a combination of cheapo plywood and maple. I priced up the birch plywood but it came in at over £100 for the two cabs. Possibly something like basic plywood for the bottom, back and sides and perhaps a maple top to enhance the brightness. I have a load of maple lying around.

I have no experience with cab building, has anyone got any ideas on this plan?

Cheers

 

[KR250]

Make sure to add a lot of bracing inside the cab to keep a tight sound.

 

[Defyantly]

You could look up bass subwoofer enclosure builds. There are a ton of them on youtube and check out caraudio.com they should have a build section there. I used to do competition sub setups and i assume there is not much difference in build a guitar cab versus a sub box, but i could be wrong.

 

[DandHcostoms]

I built a 212 cab out of pine and it has pretty good low end on it. For the cab I got dimensions on an orange 212 and used those, could probably do the same for a 112. I wouldnt use standard ply just because of all the voids it typically has, but then again i'm not a cab builder so that's pure speculation.

 

[Deegatron]

Head over to AX84.com. they had a discussion over there when they designed their 1x12 cabinet. As I recall, the maths were mentally blistering.... but if your into that, prolly a lot of insight to be gained there....

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

Look up a cabinet simulator applet online. Enter the stats for your speaker of choice, run the simulation based on the internal volume of the cabinet.

 

[Soya]

Do you have any speakers in mind? That size seems reasonable, I wouldn't worry about using maple to brighten it up, plywood or pine will be fine.

 

[odibrom]

I've done 2 112 cabs a few years ago without any knowledge whatsoever about the science behind this. They're open back loaded with Celestions Century Vintage (those loaded with neodimium). They turned out pretty nice. My Cabs are more or less like Cubes, or squared prisms with the sides longer than the face/speaker section. My cabs don't have a lot of bracings, but I made sure the joints were solid. My cabs are all in Plywood with 15mm thick, baffle included. I guess that the deeper they are, the more bass resonance they'll enhance.

Since I'm using a Triaxis, a G-Force and a stereo Power amp, I figured that I'd EQ the tone to taste after, so I didn't give much care about the physics of it. In the end, they sound pretty nice, which is what I want/need.

This to say that IMO, for 112 there's no need for much precision in calculation, but it is a good idea to make sure the joints are solid, really solid, either with bracings or with another method. I used screws to hold the glue in place while it cured/dried, then removed them and filled their holes with wood paste. I don't have any bracing whatsoever, just a few blocks inside to strengthen a bit more the already solid joints. I'm looking for pics, but and facing difficulties getting access to the FTP...

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

For an open back the cab dimensions aren't going to affect the sound really. Close backed they will. But anything you build will probably sound pretty good unless it is tiny.

 

[spudmunkey]

Is structural strength is a focus, while a well-made box with a tight-fitted back and baffle can be really strong, you can really robust-it-up with some corner blocking like:


Then if you want to make it convertible open/closed backed, I would still say to add cross blocking at the top and bottom, and then a removable panel can fit between then, screwing into those vertical blocks (which ideally would go all the way down, but I sketched this in paint and didn't feel like doing *that* much work. ha!

 

[Soya]

That's the way I build my cabs, plus it keeps the screws away from the router bit when doing a round over on the edges.

 

[odibrom]

Is structural strength is a focus, while a well-made box with a tight-fitted back and baffle can be really strong, you can really robust-it-up with some corner blocking like:
View attachment 68599

Then if you want to make it convertible open/closed backed, I would still say to add cross blocking at the top and bottom, and then a removable panel can fit between then, screwing into those vertical blocks (which ideally would go all the way down, but I sketched this in paint and didn't feel like doing *that* much work. ha!
View attachment 68600

I've done my CABs like your first image and used screws to help the glue settle down and make a solid joint, then removed the screws, filled the holes with wood paste (glue and wood dust) and in the end rounded off the corners with a router...

The inner blocks I used don't follow the joint all the way from end to end, just at the baffle and back door. I've made a back cover but actually never used it... still looking for some pictures...

 

[J_Mac]

Do you have any speakers in mind? That size seems reasonable, I wouldn't worry about using maple to brighten it up, plywood or pine will be fine.

I've got two Celestion Vintage 30's lying around.

 

[J_Mac]

That's the way I build my cabs, plus it keeps the screws away from the router bit when doing a round over on the edges.

Good point!

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

I've got two Celestion Vintage 30's lying around.

Then you should just look up the dimensions of a recto 212 and build something slightly bigger than that.

Wait you're doing two 112s. Make somethi g slightly bigger than half the size of a recto 212.

 

[Soya]

I've got two Celestion Vintage 30's lying around.

They have a tendency to be pretty bright and somewhat harsh on the high mids and highs, definitely no need to brighten up the cab then.

 

[odibrom]

... make them deeper...

 

[odibrom]

So, I finally found those photos, well, i knew where they were, was having problems with the server (it migrated for a new one and now have different rules to work as expected). On with the fotos, a bit old but the cabs remain the same.

The Front

The Back

Both cabs

The Baffle is screwed and can be removed. I also have some covers for the back but have never installed them. These cabs sound great as are, so why change?

 

[LiveOVErdrive]

Oh also are you building them because you want to build them or to save money? Because the seismic 112 cabs are stupid cheap and rock solid. I think when I priced them out it was about the same cost as building one.

 

[Winspear]

Nice dimensions there ! Actually a little more volume than the Zilla Fatbaby 1x12 which I can confirm sounds pretty huge