Cab build query

[KingBollock]

I didn’t know where to ask this, so I am sorry if it’s in the wrong place.

 

I have had this idea for building cabs to look like old style, rickety animal crates/cages for ages. The sort of thing that old hunters might have brought exotic species from Africa to sell to zoos. The idea would be to build a solid cab and then cover it with a thin shell/skin, to make it look like it is made of warped planks and nails that is hardly holding together.

 

I like the idea of having vertical bars instead of a grille. My question is: Could I get away with having hollow pipes instead of solid bars, or would this effect the sound? If it would be a problem, could I get away with filling the pipes with expanding foam or wooden dowels? I think solid bars would be expensive and heavy.

Edited September 14, 2022 by KingBollock

[Woodinblack]

I suspect you might get more help if you change the title to Cab build query!

[msb]

Get at it , and take photos. 
I’m curious as hell to see how these might turn out.

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, KingBollock said:

I didn’t know where to ask this, so I am sorry if it’s in the wrong place.

 

I have had this idea for building cabs to look like old style, rickety animal crates/cages for ages. The sort of thing that old hunters might have brought exotic species from Africa to sell to zoos. The idea would be to build a solid cab and then cover it with a thin shell/skin, to make it look like it is made of warped planks and nails that is hardly holding together.

 

I like the idea of having vertical bars instead of a grille. My question is: Could I get away with having hollow pipes instead of solid bars, or would this effect the sound? If it would be a problem, could I get away with filling the pipes with expanding foam or wooden dowels? I think solid bars would be expensive and heavy.

 

Any chance of a mock-up sketch, to show the main elements..? I'm trying to imagine the proportions of the cab. Just a rough, with some idea of dimensions. Please..? Pretty please..? 

[BigRedX]

AFAIK the less you have in the way of speaker the better for the sound. I would be looking for something like heavy-duty chicken wire to be in keeping with the aesthetic.

 

However you would be better off getting this moved to the Amps & Cabs section and tagging Bill Fitzmaurice in your post (and as others have said changing the thread title so it says "Cab").

 

The best way to get the thread moved is to report your original post and then explain what you want to do to the in report.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

This idea reminds me a little of the orginal design used for crate amps.

 

https://www.premierguitar.com/trash-or-treasure-crate-cr-1

[KingBollock]

Oops! It was meant to be Cab, not Can.

 

 

These are a couple of cages I made (I scratch built everything on the pallet, including the pallet, as well as the cages. It’s all very rough because I had never tried anything like it before) to go on a trailer for an RC car I had painted up like the gas jeep from Jurassic Park. I was thinking something like those. I even imagined a whole PA system built like it, I thought it’d make a great stage set. 

I never actually thought I’d build it, but I now have a little workshop and a lot of wood left over from the house build.

 

If you look closely, you can see a Dilophosaur. I didn’t made the Dilophosaur, I got that from a Geocache.

[Dad3353]

@KingBollock : That looks fine, and I can't see much of an issue using tubes for the bars, as long as they don't rattle about in their holes. If you choose internal dimensions to be very close to existing cabs using similar speakers, you can't go that far wrong. It's certainly an interesting 'look'; I'm not sure how it would fare in the 'functions band' market, but there's no reason to doubt it would sound perfectly acceptable. How about a 'build topic' if/when you get stuck into the project..? 

[itu]

If the cab is airtight, that will be functional. If not, the element, and the bass response will suffer.

[KingBollock]

I have got an old 1x15 cab that I was thinking of messing about with. All I would do is basically build a skin around the cab as it is, mostly. If I do it how I am imagining it, I would use light weight wood, but do it in such a way that you wouldn't be able to tell that it isn't made of 2x3s, or whatever. The only real change to the cab would be removing the grille, which is tatty plastic. I got this thing over thirty years ago, and it had just been on a rather extended tour of Europe when I got it and it hadn't been treated nicely. I sold it at one point (for the same price I paid for it), and about ten years later the chap I sold it to gave it back to me, for free, because it was taking up space. The poor thing is ugly and unloved. The idea is to make it look cool (in my mind), but I do still use it, so I don't want to make it sound crap. My only worry is the bars. I am worried that hollow tubes might resonate.

 

Even if it all worked out, the only time it would leave the house would be after I am dead and they're clearing my lair out.

 

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by KingBollock

[Dad3353]

28 minutes ago, KingBollock said:

...I am worried that hollow tubes might resonate...

 

I seriously doubt that that would be a problem. Go for it... 

[KingBollock]

1 hour ago, Dad3353 said:

 

I seriously doubt that that would be a problem. Go for it... 

I need to replace some stuff that got water damaged in my old workshop, there’s a couple of tools I could do with, and then I’ve got to build an Owl box for my mother-in-law (she’s asked for one, I’m not building it for her to live in…). Then I’ve got to build a new model building and painting desk, and a new computer desk. But after that, I should be good to go! I really do want to do it, I think it would be fun.

[Maude]

If weight isn't an issue then go for solid bars if you're worried about them being hollow, I can't imagine hollow would cause a problem though. 

Solid bars are quite possibly cheaper than pipe due to being less involved to make. 

[KingBollock]

2 hours ago, Maude said:

If weight isn't an issue then go for solid bars if you're worried about them being hollow, I can't imagine hollow would cause a problem though. 

Solid bars are quite possibly cheaper than pipe due to being less involved to make. 

The thing is that I already have copper tubing (which would get painted with black Hammerite and possibly weathered to look a bit rusty). I know that in the past when I have bought solid metal rods, it’s tended to be quite expensive, though I have only bought in small amounts for modelling materials.

 

Despite it never leaving the house, due to the poor condition of my back weight will be an issue. I already have most of my gear on casters for the small amount of moving it around that happens occasionally. Also, this cab, being relatively small, will have to go on top of a stack.

[Maude]

Tube it is then if you've already got some. 

 

I do like the idea of an old crate/cage being a cab. Definitely do a little build thread if/when you build it. 🙂👍

[MichaelDean]

If you're really worried or it proves to be an issue once built, you could do something like fill the tubing with expanding foam or epoxy? Just something to stop any resonance. Though I imagine epoxy would add a fair amount to the weight!

[Balcro]

From the look of the larger crate I would guess that you would have about a 45 litre internal volume. That should suit a 10" or maybe a 12" loudspeaker drive unit. The pipes/bars won't be a problem as long as you set them in oversize holes with some mastic. After all they're only cosmetic. Make the topmost recesses/holes longer than necessary (like a track arrangement for a sliding door).

From the bass point of view I'd build a speaker enclosure to fit inside the crate. 12mm ply should do, with the front baffle painted matt black and a few softwood cross-braces. You have to build a proper speaker box otherwise it will have very poor power handling and sound odd! Try to set the drive unit within 15 - 20mm of the bars.

Once you've done the speaker box, attach the strips of wood to the outside to complete the disguise. Good luck.

 

[Nail Soup]

Not in the least bit helpful to your project, but it remined me of this so here goes anyway!

My son was going for an engineering apprenticeship, and needed to complete a small project.
He asked me for ideas and I said I wanted t ore-house my tiny marshall amp into a cigar box to go with my cigar box guitar. Needed new pots too.
Here's a pic.

 

Learning/experience points included:

• Sourcing a box on-line
• sourcing pots
• Learning difference between linear and log pots (tone and vol)
• Creativity... handle is a drawer handle, speaker grill is a potato masher head, used an 'o' ring to strap it shut
• Physical build
• Soldering

We ordered some chicken-head knobs which never arrived 😞 .

He wrote it up into a great journal with pics and text. He recorded a short video on his phone of it being used with the CBG and played it t the interviewer.

 

And yes, he did get the apprenticeship...... but defected from engineering to project planning by the end of the apprenticeship!

Edited September 16, 2022 by Nail Soup
Added text

[Phil Starr]

I must resist…….

 

Resistance is futile.

 

Oh well!
 

The cab is doing the heavy lifting all you need to do is make sure your cage doesn’t make a noise of its own. Anything you put on the back/sides just needs not to rattle. Glue your wooden slats in place well and they aren’t.going to make a noise or move independently of the panels, they may even stiffen up the cab which would  be a good thing.

 

The bars just need to be properly secured, I doubt whether the metal bars would be moved more than a metal grille so unless they rattle they won’t make a noise. The only problem might be resonance. They could act like the bars of a glockenspiel. You could kill that with exactly the same method you use to damp bass strings. Mute the vibration by resting something soft against them part way along their length.

 

Frankly just build it and see what happens, I doubt you’ll have any major problems.