Making a seriously light speaker

[mcc]

Hi,

I have built my own speaker cabs in the past but mainly copying one from a reputable make. I just got myself a Ashdown Little Giant and wondered if I could make a relatively small and light cab for it. Not to use its full power, but to use in those practice situations were a mini combo is not enough.

My question is , what effect does a decrease in wood thickness bring to the cab, lets say down from 3/4" to 1/2" or less?

I obviously expect it to be less durable (not a good candidate for sitting on), but besides that would the lower rigidity compromise sound?? In what way??

thanks

[maxrossell]

[quote name='mcc' post='477496' date='May 2 2009, 03:42 AM']Hi,

I have built my own speaker cabs in the past but mainly copying one from a reputable make. I just got myself a Ashdown Little Giant and wondered if I could make a relatively small and light cab for it. Not to use its full power, but to use in those practice situations were a mini combo is not enough.

My question is , what effect does a decrease in wood thickness bring to the cab, lets say down from 3/4" to 1/2" or less?

I obviously expect it to be less durable (not a good candidate for sitting on), but besides that would the lower rigidity compromise sound?? In what way??

thanks[/quote]

It's gonna depend on what material you use, whether you use chip or ply. But in both situations it's also going to depend on what size the cab is. Because of the reduced thickness of the wood, it'll be more prone to vibration, and that will have an effect on the sound in the sense that you may find the bass end less focussed, for instance, and the sound will also be slightly less directional. But if you use high-quality ply (Orange cabs are marine-grade, for example) this may not matter as much.

[RichardH]

Bracing is your friend.

[Kiwi]

why make it out of wood? how about some honeycomb aluminium sheeting?

[chris_b]

If you want to build a light cab with the right dimensions and components, check out Greenboy on Talkbass. He has put up plans for his fEarful cabs.

[Musky]

You could always build a BFM Omni 10.5. [url="http://www.billfitzmaurice.com"]http://www.billfitzmaurice.com[/url]

If I remember rightly they weigh in at around 28-32lbs, depending on the density of the ply you use. You can trim the weight a bit by using 1/2" ply.

Edited May 2, 2009 by Musky

[mcc]

Thanks for the comments, definitely thinking of plywood ...

I'm drooling over the omni 10 and 15. If they can deliver what they promise I might give them a shot !!!. How frustrating I have to wait until I get back home in September. Now I really hate studying.


[quote name='Musky' post='477599' date='May 2 2009, 10:58 AM']You could always build a BFM Omni 10.5. [url="http://www.billfitzmaurice.com"]http://www.billfitzmaurice.com[/url]

If I remember rightly they weigh in at around 28-32lbs, depending on the density of the ply you use. You can trim the weight a bit by using 1/2" ply.[/quote]

[Musky]

There's a review here - [url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10697"]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=10697[/url]

If you do a search on 'omni' you'll find lots of threads about them - plenty of people here have built them or bought them off someone else.

[Alien]

1/2" ply is plenty strong enough. It'll need bracing to stop vibrations but that's true of any thickness pretty much. Birch ply is very stiff and hard but quite heavy, Spruce is lighter but not as tough. Use Birch if you want a painted finish, but Spruce is fine for carpet or Tolex.


A

[alexclaber]

[quote name='mcc' post='477496' date='May 2 2009, 03:42 AM']My question is , what effect does a decrease in wood thickness bring to the cab, lets say down from 3/4" to 1/2" or less?

I obviously expect it to be less durable (not a good candidate for sitting on), but besides that would the lower rigidity compromise sound?? In what way??[/quote]

As everyone's already said, you can't just reduce the thickness of ply and expect it to perform well - the thinner the ply gets, the more bracing you have to add. So although weight goes down the build complexity/time goes up - but if you're building the cab yourself and you have the time and are precise with your woodwork then there's nothing to lose (other than unwanted weight!) As I've demonstrated a few times you can not only sit on my cabs, you can stand on them and jump up and down!

I'd recommend both greenboy's fEarful plans and Bill F's Omni/DR ones - if you're looking for small/light the Omni 10.5 is a good approach. And if you find you have more money than time then you know where to come!

Alex

Edited May 2, 2009 by alexclaber

[mcc]

Believe me, I would... but I live overseas, so taking anything heavier than plans is out of the question. thanks for the help.


[quote name='alexclaber' post='477827' date='May 2 2009, 05:30 PM']As everyone's already said, you can't just reduce the thickness of ply and expect it to perform well - the thinner the ply gets, the more bracing you have to add. So although weight goes down the build complexity/time goes up - but if you're building the cab yourself and you have the time and are precise with your woodwork then there's nothing to lose (other than unwanted weight!) As I've demonstrated a few times you can not only sit on my cabs, you can stand on them and jump up and down!

I'd recommend both greenboy's fEarful plans and Bill F's Omni/DR ones - if you're looking for small/light the Omni 10.5 is a good approach. And if you mind you have more money than time then you know where to come!

Alex[/quote]