Wood for Speaker Cabinet

Tom Gorr · Post by **Tom Gorr** » 5 Nov 2005 6:14 pm

Black tolex and brush aluminum verticals just doesn't do it for me anymore. Gag.

I'm going to build my own speaker cabinets to look good in my living room (eg. my music room...)

Is there much science behind wood selection for the cabinets, or should I just buy a wood that looks great ?
[This message was edited by Tom Gorr on 05 November 2005 at 06:20 PM.]

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 5 Nov 2005 6:56 pm

I like different looking amp cabs too. Here's a picture of one I built using clear white pine. It finished out really nice. I got the cane grille idea from Mesa Boogie of course. I will start a similar one soon for my old Session 400. I realize the pine is pretty soft but I never take them out of the studio. The picture shows a Pacer in the cabinet, but it now has a Special 150 in it. Peavey made several amps with the same chassis size that will fit in this cabinet.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 5 Nov 2005 7:28 pm

Oh yeah....that came out nice! The best thing about pine is it's lightweight. Great job on the dovetail joints also. I've always wanted
to know how to do that!

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 5 Nov 2005 9:14 pm

I absolutely LOVE Pine for speaker cabinets; for Tone(don't care how it looks...ha).
Ricky

Rich Young · Post by **Rich Young** » 7 Nov 2005 11:57 am

Pine.
You are supposed to use void free southern yellow pine, but I just go to home depot and buy the better, clear pine - no knot holes.
I've built a bunch of cabinets. I did a kit tweed deluxe recently, made the cab to the same specs as the originals, out of home depot pine. Worked great.
By the way, I don't have a dovetail tool. I've always just used wood glue and 3 long screws on each corner, butt joined. Not as pretty, but it works. I have cabs I dragged around for years made that way, and they never had a problem. Dovetail is better looking and stronger, but - hey it works.

Jack Stoner · Post by **Jack Stoner** » 7 Nov 2005 1:14 pm

Several years ago (probably many

) I read an article on speaker building (for home stereo systems) and it said that cabinet makers grade particle board (not the cheap stuff you get at Home Depot) was the desired material for speaker cabinets. I suppose it's because of the density of the material.

However, I've built several speakers with Pine and even some with Plywood. The Plywood with inside braces seems to be just as good. I got the bracing from a JBL speaker manual, on line. The bracing adds rigidity to the plywood.

Andy Zynda · Post by **Andy Zynda** » 7 Nov 2005 1:37 pm

The reason for particle board, in stereo cabs (HiFi audio reproduction) is that the weight and high density doesn't color the sound. (much)
In full range sound reproduction, this is very important.
In Guitar amps, pine resonates at frequencies that enhance the audio spectrum that electric guitars live in.
Pine sounds right.
Looks good too.
-andy-

Justin Griffith · Post by **Justin Griffith** » 7 Nov 2005 2:32 pm

Jerry Harkins made a beautiful cabnet for his Evans. Maybe if he reads this he will post a pic.

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Justin Griffith
D-10 Blanton 8X4, Gooodrich L-10K, Matchbox, Small cab. Session 500, Evans FET 500LV And new Walker seat

Tim Bridges · Post by **Tim Bridges** » 7 Nov 2005 6:40 pm

Check these out! www.tonemarkspeakers.com

Roger Crawford · Post by **Roger Crawford** » 8 Nov 2005 7:26 am

Does the cover material affect the tone? Tolex vs carpet material vs none at all?

Bill Myers · Post by **Bill Myers** » 8 Nov 2005 4:41 pm

If you've ever re-tolexed an old fender amp....one of the secrets of the way those old twins and deluxes sound....you guessed it white pine! There is something about the sound of a pine cabinet. The tolex doesn't seem to make much difference in tone...but make mine pine!

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2003 Carter D10, 9x5 Black and 1998 Carter D10 9x5, Evans Amp

[This message was edited by Bill Myers on 08 November 2005 at 04:41 PM.]

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 8 Nov 2005 5:14 pm

Clear Pine work's very well .....Using Dovetail joint's makes for a nice tight cabinet .....Install the baffle so it's attached at only 2 side's, leaving the other 2 sides to move freely ...Leave only a small space (1/16 of an inch ) on each of the sides that are not attached ....It gives the baffle more room to move, and gives a nice resonance to the cabinet ....The dryer the Pine is , the better ......Also use 3/8 ply for the baffle....Thicker baffles may be more rigid, and stronger, but ridgid is not what your looking for ....Pine is very soft , and will dent easy, but for home use , you should have no problem....Like mentioned earlier , Fender used Pine in a LOT of their cab's ....That's part of what gives the older Fenders a " woody " tone to them .....You can't argue with success..
Jim

Tom Gorr · Post by **Tom Gorr** » 8 Nov 2005 6:39 pm

Thanks Guys! Very interesting about the properties of pine.

My living room is 100% cedar log...Would clear cedar have similar richness as pine ? After all - my living room sounds great - Carnegie Hall begs by comparison....[This message was edited by Tom Gorr on 08 November 2005 at 06:41 PM.]

James Quackenbush · Post by **James Quackenbush** » 11 Nov 2005 9:19 am

Tom,
Cedar ? ....Good question .....It's expensive to use, so it hasn't been used that I know of ...I would imagine that it has very similar characteristic's to Pine ....Make sure you have clear wood...Knot's can rattle when loosened up !!.....Jim

David Spangler · Post by **David Spangler** » 11 Nov 2005 9:54 am

Lots of good suggestions here.

Cedar looks nice but is very soft and resonant.

An alternative to clear pine is poplar. It's a little prettier, harder and priced in line with pine.

An industry standard is birch plywood. You can apply edge banding to hide the plys and end up with a nice cab.

Red oak is beautiful but expensive and heavy.

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David Spangler

Jim Sliff · Post by **Jim Sliff** » 11 Nov 2005 10:25 am

Birch Ply and pine are fairly standard - I think cedar is far too soft and would be worried about joints and screw seating. Poplar is OK I suppose, but pine has a nice resonance.

Note that there is a LOT to cabinet desigtn - you don't just build a box any size and bolt speakers to it. Closed back, open back, partial, baffles, seperated chambers - you'll find reams of info about acoustic properties for specific types of speakers and corresponding cabinet size.

Simply, you can take a great speaker, put it in a nice-looking wood cabinet and it can sound like junk unless the cabinet is acoustically correct.