Cab resonance - fixable?

[SnoozyWyrm]

I accompanied a friend of mine to go check an old VHT 4x12 cab. The dude selling it was offering a pretty good price for it (around 150euros) so it sounded like a deal.

So we go to the dude's place. We fool around a little and talk music, bands etc. and then we test the cab. We hooked it up to a Mesa 2x90, an ENGL preamp and an R&R preamp.

While noodling we both noticed that the D3 (wherever fingered/played) was overpoweringly loud. Like it resonated the whole cab and buried other notes in relative loudness. We tried moving the cab around but it did not help. The cab was on casters which the owner did not want to remove (to test if it affected the tone in any way).

Is a problem like that fixable? We said to the seller that we'd communicate again soon, but if such a problem is not fixable there is really no point.

 

[wakjob]

Not sure on this one...is there a sound post in those cabs?

If so, I usually drive a sheet rock screw through the back panel dead center into it.

That, and my usual cab mods...
Foam batting on the bottom and one side.
Caulk/glues all the seams.

 

[Shask]

Usually all cabs resonate and are louder on certain notes than others. For me it is usually the 3, 4, or 5 fret on the top string. One of those notes will be louder and shake everything, regardless of amp. Sometimes part of that is the room also.

 

[SnoozyWyrm]

If so, I usually drive a sheet rock screw through the back panel dead center into it.

No recordings available at the moment.

Reinforcing the integrity of the interior and dampening with the batting I can understand. What does the screw do tho?

Thanks for answering guys!

 

[bostjan]

I had a MESA cab that did this sort of thing on low C. I had two cabs at the time, so I switched to the other for a while, then found a tear in one of the speaker cones. I replaced the speaker and the problem went away. This, in no way, means that the same thing describes your case, but there might be something at play other than the most obvious potential cause.

Look in the cab and see what you see.

 

[spudmunkey]

Instead of taking the casters off, could you have turned the cab on it's sides or top to test further?

 

[c7spheres]

I doubt it's the cab. Probably the 2:90. It's why I got rid of mine I had a long time ago. I couldn't get rid of enough bass no matter what I did. no way to know for sure without being there though.

 

[wakjob]

No recordings available at the moment.

Reinforcing the integrity of the interior and dampening with the batting I can understand. What does the screw do tho?

Thanks for answering guys!

A "sound post" is a piece of wood connecting the baffle to the back panel to stop vibrations...

Not a sound clip.

 

[SnoozyWyrm]

...A "sound post"....

Ι had a good laugh!

Cheers mate!