#132733  by zambiland
 
Anyone make any cabinets like this? I'm thinking JBL cabs, ca. early to mid 70s style. I see lots of Jerry cabinet constructions, but no bass cabinets. I'm using a Sunn 200S right now and it sounds very nice, but I'm thinking a non-ported cabinet might be better on the low end, where the Sunn is a bit wooly and indistinct.
 #135478  by zambiland
 
moonliner wrote:Have you ever tried the Hard Trucker cabs? I know they are pricey…. kinda curious how they sound.
There is Wall Of Sound lineage, isn't there?
I have. I played one of the early prototype double 15s. It sounded pretty good, but it's not a sealed cabinet and doesn't use the classic JBL drivers. I found the high end somewhat attenuated and that I had to push it to a louder level than the rest of the band liked in order to get heard. I would probably choose it over an SVT but at the end of the day, I prefer my fEARful cabinets or Sunn 200S.
 #135505  by Rusty the Scoob
 
Maybe check in with the Bag End guys, if they'll talk to you. There's no wikipedia entry on them but I always got the impression that they came out of the peripheral GD scene, and the earliest BE cabs I've seen for sale looked to me like they were WOS specs.
 #135514  by zambiland
 
Rusty the Scoob wrote:Maybe check in with the Bag End guys, if they'll talk to you. There's no wikipedia entry on them but I always got the impression that they came out of the peripheral GD scene, and the earliest BE cabs I've seen for sale looked to me like they were WOS specs.
Yeah, I have a monstrous double 12 cab of that vintage, complete with big aluminum clamps. I don't use it that much because it's waaaaaay too big and it actually doesn't sound all that great. One person can't carry it. But I don't really have the budget to get them to custom build me something. I was thinking more along the home built line.
 #135534  by moonliner
 
I was a BagEnd endorser for a while when I had a nice gig. I started out with a 4x10, but dropped it for 2 single 15's. I still have them. For small gigs I use one, bigger gigs then I stack 'em up. It's a pretty good, modular setup… I use an Ashdown ABM 500 and it kicks some butt.
Recently I'm dreaming of a single 2x15 cabinet …. not sure why. Real-estate I guess….. a big wall of low end on my back, covered in Pollock goodness to go with my upcoming Starfire….
 #135537  by zambiland
 
moonliner wrote:I was a BagEnd endorser for a while when I had a nice gig. I started out with a 4x10, but dropped it for 2 single 15's. I still have them. For small gigs I use one, bigger gigs then I stack 'em up. It's a pretty good, modular setup… I use an Ashdown ABM 500 and it kicks some butt.
Recently I'm dreaming of a single 2x15 cabinet …. not sure why. Real-estate I guess….. a big wall of low end on my back, covered in Pollock goodness to go with my upcoming Starfire….
It's pretty sweet! I'm still not totally dialed in. I think my D140s need re-magnetizing and I'm also tempted to move to solid state power with an F2B. I do love the way the rig overloads gracefully as it is, but it's just a little shy of the oomph I'm looking for. Since 85 watts per driver gets close, I don't think I'd need a lot of power, maybe 250 wpc or so. So, the tempting thing is to get a class D lightweight amp, like the Peaveys or something (any suggestions? Must be cheap). But then, I'm afraid that I'd lose some tone. I'm pretty convinced that there's a synergy between 6L6s, an output transformer and a JBL D140. But, otoh, Phil's fall of 1972 tone when he switched over to the F2Bs and McIntoshes was pretty awesome as well. Hm, maybe time for an experiment at tomorrow night's gig. My only issue is that my only power amp lying around does 700 wpc into 8 ohms at full bandwidth, so I'd have to be very careful to not over load the speakers. Decisions, decisions. I'm also dreaming of firing up both 200S cabs, but I don't have a stage large enough lined up for a couple of weeks, maybe the Boulder Theater on February 7th. Of course, if I'm going to carry a bunch of weight to the gig, then the McIntosh 2105 gets tempting…..

Enough post gig rambling. Must sleep.
 #135551  by moonliner
 
I'd love to go the McIntosh, F2B route but there's no way I can shell out for the power amp.... plus I think carrying it around would get old pretty quick.
A few years ago I had a Stewart power amp that was 1000 watts, and the Alembic F1X (i think that's what it's called). Awesome power, but I didn't really have a great speaker system for it.
And the qwest goes ever onward....
 #135562  by ugly rumor
 
Old Fender cabinets were closed back, with 2 JBLs. If you want, I can make you some to your specifications, and they will be better than anything you can buy. I do excellent cabinetry. That being said, I really believe in ported or vented bass cabinets. The sealed cabinets are inefficient (although I've played live outside with a 35 watt Ampeg back in the day, miked, of course, through the PA). I'm not expensive, either; just recovery of costs is sufficient. Give me dimensions, I'll make it and ship it to you. If you don't like it, send it back, no charge.
 #135563  by zambiland
 
ugly rumor wrote:Old Fender cabinets were closed back, with 2 JBLs. If you want, I can make you some to your specifications, and they will be better than anything you can buy. I do excellent cabinetry. That being said, I really believe in ported or vented bass cabinets. The sealed cabinets are inefficient (although I've played live outside with a 35 watt Ampeg back in the day, miked, of course, through the PA). I'm not expensive, either; just recovery of costs is sufficient. Give me dimensions, I'll make it and ship it to you. If you don't like it, send it back, no charge.
Yeah, I played through those old Fender cabs and they were not all that exciting. I like my 200S a lot better. What I'm more interested in is the Alembic style sealed cabs. But it's all hypothetical right now because I have more cabinets than I need!
 #135566  by moonliner
 
Ugly Rumor, Do you happen to have info online of some cabinets you've made?

Edwin, I'm intrigued about these Alembic cabinets you speak of... I did a quick search online but came up empty... do you have any info you can share? :-)
 #135572  by ugly rumor
 
Moonliner, I do not. It is not what I do, so much as what I can do, and have done. Just call me wild man with a router!!
 #135583  by zambiland
 
moonliner wrote:Ugly Rumor, Do you happen to have info online of some cabinets you've made?

Edwin, I'm intrigued about these Alembic cabinets you speak of... I did a quick search online but came up empty... do you have any info you can share? :-)
Sonicus over at the Alembic forum has a few and here's what Rick Turner has to say about their design:

forum/viewtopic.php?f=425&t=13590

I'm very tempted to try to build, or get some built, but I'm a little leery of the size and weight issues.
 #135610  by Rusty the Scoob
 
Count me in as curious, I'd be very interested in a sealed-back cab designed around something like a Weber Neomag 15" with the ribbed cone and aluminum dome, even if it never turned out as practical for stage use as my current cabs. I just don't really have the motivation to do the carpentry or especially the design myself.
 #135611  by zambiland
 
Rusty the Scoob wrote:Count me in as curious, I'd be very interested in a sealed-back cab designed around something like a Weber Neomag 15" with the ribbed cone and aluminum dome, even if it never turned out as practical for stage use as my current cabs. I just don't really have the motivation to do the carpentry or especially the design myself.

It would be interesting to try it out with construction techniques such as those used in the fEARful designs, where they used carefully braced 1/2" plywood, resulting in a very lightweight cabinet.