bottledtone
has anyone here experimented with detuned cabs?
just a quick topic ?
aja
you have strings on your speaker cabs too? ??? ?
bottledtone
Haha, no....
Its when you take out, say a 12inch speaker from a 2 x 12 closed back cab and it acts as a "open front" cab. Kevin o' connor speaks about it in one of his books.
The bass is supposed to be very good, and has a fuller sound. Not like a open back sound at all, but a big sound.
The sound wave is forced forward in a reverse polarity to the front of speaker, and doesn't cancel out sounds like an open back cab.
Gearhead
So many variables involved, it seems like a complete gamble to me. Could be nice, could be awful, chance of it being great is minimal but at least it is easy to test and reverse...
MikeM
I need Kevins books ☹
ryanguit
My 4x12's are always 2x12's with the top 2 speakers removed. I can hear myself better cos it isnt as directional at rehearsal, its lighter to carry, and at gigs the same speaker is mic'd up. I cant really see a downfall. Been playing like this for 4 years. Initially cos i bought a cab that was much heavier than the average 4x12...
aja
then why not have a 2x12 cab with a large tuned port? the car sound guys have software that can design the enclosure, because as gearhead says, there are too many variables to having a humongous gaping hole in the box...
bottledtone
Aja:
The car guys are trying to reproduce sounds,
while the guitar is creating, so it is more to
do with tone shaping, than just having a port.
But if the cab is too small it would sound awful... Agreed.
Kevin stats a minimum of 12 inch depth, but 16 best.
It like having an open back against a wall I guess.
Malkav
I've been looking into cabs alot lately because of my 8-string, normal guitar cabs take a ridiculous amount of strain trying to deliver that low note. The one that seems the most promising to me at the moment is the Genz Benz G-Flex 212, it's got speakers that are based off of the celestion V30s (though don't really sound the same) and they have reinforced cones and stuff. The coolest thing however is that it's a stereo cab and it's ported so it can handle more low frequencies, It's really quite geared towards heavy guitar tones I suppose but I'd recommend taking a look at them if you're ever in the market for a new cab ?
From what I've read and the people I've spoken to it seems to be a general consensus that they're built like tanks ?
Gearhead
Ported cabinets are an attempt to lower the -3dB point (by lowering the resonant frequency) relative to a closed cab. You do this at the expense of losing a lot of impulse response in the lower frequencies. Since at least half the popular guitar speaker (driver) designs is aimed at open backed cabs and since the 6 string frequencies are higher than the lower drop-off of those drivers, you don't get a lot of ported cab designs.
If you want to experiment with removing speakers, I'd be the last to try to talk you out of it. I know a good address to donate the drivers to. Just bear in mind that you are going to also change the impedance of the cab (been discussed before) and that some drivers are actually designed for closed back cabs and do not like the extra coil swing they now get.
PS I would prefer to be donated the drivers that came out before the experiment.
Gearhead
@Makepeace: TS parameter simulators have been around since the sixties are reasonably accurate. If you have all the data, they will get you rather close to the result you want. The big downside to all this is that you need a big dose of experience to know upfront what your cab response parameters are. If the simulator does not take cab leakage (flex) and damping (damping material inside) into account, it is oversimplifying the calc. If it does use those parameters, what are you going to put there?
My current set of hifi speakers have a closed compartment for the lower mids, to get best impulse response down to 150Hz. Below that the bandpass enclosed bass system kicks in, which takes it down to 40Hz. I took the simulation data for the bandpass, built a test enclosure for the sub only, measured it and then calculated back to find the cab properties. After quite a bit of work I decided to enlarge the port. Only with 20% more port length than originally simulated did I get my desired -3dB point. Moral of the story: simulation is just one of the design steps. You cannot go without frequency and phase response measurement (opinion).
ryanguit
I thought we were talking DETUNED cabs. Most of these posts are about measuring, and then tuning? My cab sounds similar to standing both sides of an openback at the same time. Anyone who likes the sound of a openback cab usually hates it pointing straight at them. So... They crank it and everyone behind and in front of them gets the icepick tone & its WAY too loud. I do have a normal 2x12 with the other 2 drivers for smaller boot space. Difficult to explain but Detuned cab does not increase bottoms. That Genz is ported (TUNED)! Detuned cabs may seem less bottomey as some low frequencies cancel. And due to the random reflections inside the cab there is less of a "dont point that at me its hurting my ears" spot. AND i can play it relatively softer to everyone else with the same apparent volume to me(the guy standing closest to it). Pretend those gaping ports are an open back. Anyone who wants to bring there openback combo/stack to compare is welcome. Just pm me
bottledtone
Ryanguit: Thanks for clearing up the topic.
Been wanting to experiment, and see if it would work for me. What type of music do you play?
Would you say it is suited to any style?
