Peavey Gear - cabs

[fryer]

Carrying on from the 'Peavey Gear' tab, I get a lovely sound from my Peavey 410 TVX cab. But it is a bit heavy - 46 kg.

I was thinking of making a new cab, to the same dimensions, but using a lighter type of wood. Would this affect the sound ?

[deepbass5]

[b]No don't do it[/b] is the answer these mass produced cabs are made from fairly cheap light weight stuff anyway; it is the speakers that make up the weight. I would suggest changing the drivers to neo's but that would cost as much as a good second-hand cab with Neos in. Don’t mess around building something buy a quality second hand one so all the design calcs are right. You will end up with a Dogs dinner and have spent a lot of time and money and still not be happy. probably change the sound too

Edited May 22, 2011 by deepbass5

[Phil Starr]

[quote name='deepbass5' post='1240034' date='May 22 2011, 09:38 AM'][b]No don't do it[/b] is the answer these mass produced cabs are made from fairly cheap light weight stuff anyway; it is the speakers that make up the weight. I would suggest changing the drivers to neo's but that would cost as much as a good second-hand cab with Neos in. Don’t mess around building something buy a quality second hand one so all the design calcs are right. You will end up with a Dogs dinner and have spent a lot of time and money and still not be happy. probably change the sound too[/quote]
This is pretty much right, you'll go to a lot of effort to save 5kg maybe, the weight is in the speakers which are what gives you the sound you like. You could try making two 2x10's which would be lighter obviously and would also give you the advantage of a vertical stack with better dispersion but this would also be a lot of effort for little advantage.

4 heavy speakers are never going to be a lightweight option, if you like your sound then you are stuck with this beast and if you want lightweight then you have to completely re-think. Sorry

[LawrenceH]

I don't know...especially if you do go down the twin 2x10s route. Even 5kg can be worthwhile and I've seen a fair few cabs made of really heavy chipboard or even mdf. It wouldn't do any harm to take out a driver and weigh it, work out how much the cab is contributing.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='deepbass5' post='1240034' date='May 22 2011, 04:38 AM'][b]No don't do it[/b] is the answer these mass produced cabs are made from fairly cheap light weight stuff anyway[/quote]Au contraire, price point gear like Peavey tends to be made from thick heavy materials with un-braced construction, as that's the most inexpensive method. I suspect this is made of 18mm MDF or the like, as the Sheffield tens only weigh 1.8kG each. Build of well braced 12mm plywood it's possible to reduce the cabinet weight by at least 15kG.
But I wouldn't. The Sheffield drivers are mediocre quality, and the 4x10 format is perhaps the worst possible for an electric bass cab. If the OP has the skills to duplicate the Peavey cab he has the skills to build a pair of 2x10s, which will work better, and they could be loaded with far better drivers than the Sheffields.

[Mr. Foxen]

Those deep Peavey 4x10s definitely have something, beefy for a cheapy, but more modern, more expensive cabs can do that, but lighter.

[fryer]

[quote name='Bill Fitzmaurice' post='1240417' date='May 22 2011, 03:40 PM']Au contraire, price point gear like Peavey tends to be made from thick heavy materials with un-braced construction, as that's the most inexpensive method. I suspect this is made of 18mm MDF or the like, as the Sheffield tens only weigh 1.8kG each. Build of well braced 12mm plywood it's possible to reduce the cabinet weight by at least 15kG.
But I wouldn't. The Sheffield drivers are mediocre quality, and the 4x10 format is perhaps the worst possible for an electric bass cab. If the OP has the skills to duplicate the Peavey cab he has the skills to build a pair of 2x10s, which will work better, and they could be loaded with far better drivers than the Sheffields.[/quote]

Thanks Bill, and all. But I do like the sound of the Peavey cab, and prefer it to the sound to my Epi UL 410. What makes the sound though - is it the speakers or the box ?

If I made a new cab from ply, to the same internal dimensions, with the Sheffield speakers, would it sound the same as it does now ?

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

[quote name='fryer' post='1242562' date='May 24 2011, 02:11 AM']Thanks Bill, and all. But I do like the sound of the Peavey cab, and prefer it to the sound to my Epi UL 410. What makes the sound though - is it the speakers or the box ?[/quote]Both. But in this case mainly the drivers, which have a high Qts that results in a pronounced midbass response peak. It's not my response cup of tea, but if you like it all well and good.

[quote]If I made a new cab from ply, to the same internal dimensions, with the Sheffield speakers, would it sound the same as it does now ?[/quote]Properly built with cross-bracing and internal damping, probably better.

[Mcgiver69]

I have only one name for you BFM cabs!! I think Mr. Fitzmaurice is familiar with them.

I got my hands on an Omni 10 (2x10) and I can't recommend them more:

- Lightweight to the point of uncredibility.
- They sound pretty much like your amp wants them to sound
- I can get more volume with this 2x10 than the same TVX your using (and I was using for that matter)

Right now I'm in bass heaven and can't believe it (This is the equivalence to dying and receiving 72 virgins that look like Jessica Alba, Christina Hendricks and Megan Fox)

Yes they are that awesome!!

[/over excitement]

[fryer]

So they're not too bad then ?