Music Man RH 115 Cab

Barry Anderson · Post by **Barry Anderson** » 25 Feb 2021 8:20 am

Aloha, forumites. I've been thinking about pairing my Traynor YBA1 with a 15" speaker cabinet as a higher power (than my deluxe clone) rig for E9. One of these Music Man RH 115 cabs has popped up on the local craigslist, and I was wondering if anyone here has any experience using one as a cab for steel. The speaker is supposedly an EV Force or something like that.

There's not a lot on the other various forums, but one post on TDPRI seems to indicate they were intended for both bass and/or guitar, with some claiming pretty good results with guitar.

Thanks in advance for any info you might have.

Doug Earnest · Post by **Doug Earnest** » 25 Feb 2021 8:35 am

I played quite a bit of guitar through one. Wonderful. Big, full, rich. Should make a heck of a steel cabinet.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 25 Feb 2021 10:16 am

Traynor amps are very well made, durable and hang out in Fender territory. I don't know about the MM cab but the EV Force speaker is very nice and should handle the Traynor amp just fine.

Barry Anderson · Post by **Barry Anderson** » 25 Feb 2021 10:50 am

Thanks, dudes!

Dave Hopping · Post by **Dave Hopping** » 25 Feb 2021 2:12 pm

If the cabs are anything like Music Man amps, jump on it!

Godfrey Arthur · Post by **Godfrey Arthur** » 25 Feb 2021 10:15 pm

The RH 115 is a bass guitar cab with a bass reflex port.

It would depend on how tight you want your sound and if you don't mind port noise.

Might be loose on the bottom end for PS guitar.

The speaker is one thing, the cabinet is another.

Sample of bass reflex ported cab

Doug Earnest · Post by **Doug Earnest** » 26 Feb 2021 5:09 am

It was marketed by Music Man in the literature of the time as a general purpose cabinet. Different than a bass cabinet.

http://www.pacair.com/mmamps3/sites/def ... og%20m.pdf

Read all about it.

Godfrey Arthur · Post by **Godfrey Arthur** » 26 Feb 2021 12:31 pm

Doug Earnest wrote:It was marketed by Music Man in the literature of the time as a general purpose cabinet. Different than a bass cabinet.

http://www.pacair.com/mmamps3/sites/def ... og%20m.pdf

Read all about it.

Yeah the brochure says it and back then what we understood about speakers and the way music was reproduced was a one size fits all approach yet not really as scientific as today.

It was a sales pitch more than anything.

I had a Music Man HD130 with 2x10 open back cab (like a Twin) using it for guitar on stage.

Never saw anyone use a bass reflex for guitar.

In fact I never saw a bassist use an RH cab.

The description in the brochure was making a sales pitch that the RH was not a "W" box folded horn which was like the Acoustic 360 bass bin with a rear firing 18" in a box shaped internally like a "W."

Back then the PA systems were still in limbo as far as design so most musicians came from the "loud as heck" stage volume syndrome.

The Grateful Dead's money-is-no-object approach.

Nothing "succeeds" like excess.

Look how backwards sound production was in the 60's '70's. But to their credit all those cabs you see in the photo were SEALED cabs and 15 ply Finnish birch was in vogue.

Not today where low stage volumes are the norm as the PA does all the work. You don't need to have a lot of bass frequencies when your instrument is served better focusing on the mid ranges of the audio spectrum.

In the brochure the ported cabinet there's a bass guitar parked next to it and the succeeding descriptions point to bass or an organ (Vox Farfisa Fender Contempo combo organs) which would need low end duplication unlike a basic guitar speaker which needs to shelve the low end to not sound "boxy" and occupy the mid range spectrum of frequencies.

But then Speedy West is displayed with this.

It's anyone's call what they choose to play through. But if you use your ears and not just follow a brochure made in the middle 20th century you will find out what you like.

Today the most requested bass cabinet for pro stage work is an Ampeg SVT which is a sealed cabinet of 8x10 made in 1969 around the same time Music Man was in the simmering stage to become a company. Leo had to wait 10 years or so after he sold Fender to CBS to not enter into a manufacturing mode of anything to compete with CBS' Fender.

The SVT cab was completely sealed behind. Although you get some icons trying it out back then on guitar it didn't live long as a guitar cab.

The RH 115 for PSG? Although I would tend to categorize a PSG like an organ producing fuller frequencies than a six string guitar but I can hear the cabinet getting confused as to when to pop certain tones through the front firing 15" or flatulate out the backside of the horn/port taking all the guts with it.

All I can say is try it. You may be the exception to the rule.

Barry Anderson · Post by **Barry Anderson** » 26 Feb 2021 12:55 pm

That's some thorough responding. I appreciate the thoughts, and the catalog reference. I also appreciate that Doug has real experience with one as a guitar cab.

I'm trying to meet up with the guy this weekend. I'll let y'all know my thoughts if it works out.

Doug Earnest · Post by **Doug Earnest** » 27 Feb 2021 6:32 am

I played through one three nights a week for about three months in 1986. The other guitar player loaned it to me as everything else I had was blown up or even less suitable.

I was mostly playing a Telecaster Thinline with the two humbuckers. And using a Peavey Musician head. It didn't have tubes in it. Stuff no real guitar player would be seen on a bandstand with, and I was glad to have any of it.

It was one of those times in life where a young guy had lost most of what he had acquired including a wife and kid and was trying to start over again. A group of five of us on the southern Missouri / Kansas border, including a cute and talented girl singer who played good rhythm guitar and some keyboard had formed a pretty decent band playing popular covers of the day. The Highway 101 era. We all had day jobs, played a little better than most G chord Charlies, had a nice appearance, a pretty good PA and some home made lights. The girl singers hubby ran sound, such as it was. The average American local honky tonk band.

Our main gig during that time was as house band at the good night club in the area. It held about 400 people, had a couple of pool tables and a nice big hardwood dance floor with some lights built in to the edge of the floor and a railing around most of it. They had something of a house DJ that played tunes on our breaks. The crowd was made up of a wide range of ages of retail clerks, factory workers and farmers who would look forward to band nights at the local honky tonk. They would get cleaned up, put on their ironed jeans, plaid shirts, (or cute cowgirl outfits as the case may be) and both sexes mostly wore cowboy boots. If they had a good week they would even be able to treat themselves to a dinner at one of the three restaurants in the immediate area that specialized in fried chicken dinners. Darn good fried chicken dinners. Then they came to have some beers and go dancing.

So take it all in context as to what kind of a good sound it was. It would not do for record producers or sophisticated professional musicians, not for playing for listeners with critical ears. It probably sounded like ass. To paraphrase Haggard, I wouldn't want to do it again, and I wouldn't trade if for anything.

Godfrey Arthur · Post by **Godfrey Arthur** » 27 Feb 2021 1:14 pm

Doug Earnest wrote:I played through one three nights a week for about three months in 1986. The other guitar player loaned it to me as everything else I had was blown up or even less suitable.

I was mostly playing a Telecaster Thinline with the two humbuckers. And using a Peavey Musician head. It didn't have tubes in it. Stuff no real guitar player would be seen on a bandstand with, and I was glad to have any of it.

It was one of those times in life where a young guy had lost most of what he had acquired including a wife and kid and was trying to start over again. A group of five of us on the southern Missouri / Kansas border, including a cute and talented girl singer who played good rhythm guitar and some keyboard had formed a pretty decent band playing popular covers of the day. The Highway 101 era. We all had day jobs, played a little better than most G chord Charlies, had a nice appearance, a pretty good PA and some home made lights. The girl singers hubby ran sound, such as it was. The average American local honky tonk band.

Our main gig during that time was as house band at the good night club in the area. It held about 400 people, had a couple of pool tables and a nice big hardwood dance floor with some lights built in to the edge of the floor and a railing around most of it. They had something of a house DJ that played tunes on our breaks. The crowd was made up of a wide range of ages of retail clerks, factory workers and farmers who would look forward to band nights at the local honky tonk. They would get cleaned up, put on their ironed jeans, plaid shirts, (or cute cowgirl outfits as the case may be) and both sexes mostly wore cowboy boots. If they had a good week they would even be able to treat themselves to a dinner at one of the three restaurants in the immediate area that specialized in fried chicken dinners. Darn good fried chicken dinners. Then they came to have some beers and go dancing.

So take it all in context as to what kind of a good sound it was. It would not do for record producers or sophisticated professional musicians, not for playing for listeners with critical ears. It probably sounded like ass. To paraphrase Haggard, I wouldn't want to do it again, and I wouldn't trade if for anything.

Cool story Doug.

We've pretty much all been there, paying our dues.

These days with the onslaught of digital, our ears have been swayed to accept that pops on vinyl and hiss on tape, hiss anywhere is "huh?"

Today some don't hear themselves off the stage, they hear the music, themselves and the band through IEM's.

The days when the stage shook from the thunder.

I wouldn't trade away either. Band Stand!

https://youtu.be/4DqZRZLwzq0

Barry Anderson · Post by **Barry Anderson** » 2 Mar 2021 2:38 pm

Great story indeed, aside from the losing a wife and kid part. I can't even imagine how hard that would be.

Anyway, just to report back, the speaker sounded incredibly raspy on the high end when pushed just the slightest bit. I assumed it was blown so I passed. The question as to whether or not it would work in my steel rig will have to remain a mystery for now.

Thanks again for all of the info, though.

Godfrey Arthur · Post by **Godfrey Arthur** » 2 Mar 2021 2:49 pm

Barry Anderson wrote:Great story indeed, aside from the losing a wife and kid part. I can't even imagine how hard that would be.

Anyway, just to report back, the speaker sounded incredibly raspy on the high end when pushed just the slightest bit. I assumed it was blown so I passed. The question as to whether or not it would work in my steel rig will have to remain a mystery for now.

Thanks again for all of the info, though.

If I had one to fiddle with I would consider putting a coax 15 in there just for grins and maybe put layered screen over the port to slow down the port somewhat or blocking off the port altogether including adding some absorbent material behind the speaker.

https://usspeaker.com/rcf%20-cx15g251-1.htm

Here's one made by JBL (Selenium) coax with a crossover.