megaphone horn speakers for guitar

le256 · 24th August 2004, 02:30 AM

I'm building a guitar amp and i'm not looking for bass, only loudness (i like the mid/hi tone better). Would midrange horn speakers (like the ones on megaphones) sound okay for this or would they be to echoing, resonant, etc. Also dispersion ... do they only have a high on-axis SPL or would they beat non-horns on the off-axis too? Anything else i should consider?

BillFitzmaurice · 24th August 2004, 12:56 PM

Nobody uses horns for electric guitar because they are too efficient and therefore too clean. Electric guitar is the one application where speaker coloration is actually a desired trait and distortion is a good thing. If you prefer a strong bottom use a sealed or vented box; for a stronger midrange go with an open back. Leo Fender and Jim Marshall got it allmost right in the 1960's. Do what they did and stick big speakers in a small box, but if you use more than one have them vertically aligned, never side by side. That's the one thing that Fender and Marshall did wrong.

www.billfitzmaurice.com

le256 · 24th August 2004, 07:12 PM

so then even with the clipping or "distortion" produced by the amp, they would still be too clean sounding?

BillFitzmaurice · 24th August 2004, 10:44 PM

This depends on personal taste of course, but most lead players prefer a combination of amp sourced and speaker sourced distortion. There are those who prefer to have all their distortion effect sourced, and have the amp/speaker totally clean. It all has to do with what kind of tone you're looking for, and that only comes from experience.

But as for horns they simply aren't used, partly because they also extend higher in response than cone speakers, and the kind of distortion that sounds totally sweet at up to 5kHz or so sounds like nails on a blackboard at 10kHz.

Horns are used in amps for acoustic or quasi-acoustic guitar, to add the high harmonics that differentiate the traditional sound of an electric from an acoustic.

le256 · 5th September 2004, 03:23 AM

Thank you for explaining this to me. i will not waste my money on horn speakers for this project!

24th August 2004, 02:30 AM	#1
le256 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ottawa	megaphone horn speakers for guitar I'm building a guitar amp and i'm not looking for bass, only loudness (i like the mid/hi tone better). Would midrange horn speakers (like the ones on megaphones) sound okay for this or would they be to echoing, resonant, etc. Also dispersion ... do they only have a high on-axis SPL or would they beat non-horns on the off-axis too? Anything else i should consider?

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24th August 2004, 12:56 PM	#2
BillFitzmaurice Banned Join Date: May 2004 Location: New Hampshire	Nobody uses horns for electric guitar because they are too efficient and therefore too clean. Electric guitar is the one application where speaker coloration is actually a desired trait and distortion is a good thing. If you prefer a strong bottom use a sealed or vented box; for a stronger midrange go with an open back. Leo Fender and Jim Marshall got it allmost right in the 1960's. Do what they did and stick big speakers in a small box, but if you use more than one have them vertically aligned, never side by side. That's the one thing that Fender and Marshall did wrong. www.billfitzmaurice.com

24th August 2004, 07:12 PM	#3
le256 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ottawa	so then even with the clipping or "distortion" produced by the amp, they would still be too clean sounding?

24th August 2004, 10:44 PM	#4
BillFitzmaurice Banned Join Date: May 2004 Location: New Hampshire	This depends on personal taste of course, but most lead players prefer a combination of amp sourced and speaker sourced distortion. There are those who prefer to have all their distortion effect sourced, and have the amp/speaker totally clean. It all has to do with what kind of tone you're looking for, and that only comes from experience. But as for horns they simply aren't used, partly because they also extend higher in response than cone speakers, and the kind of distortion that sounds totally sweet at up to 5kHz or so sounds like nails on a blackboard at 10kHz. Horns are used in amps for acoustic or quasi-acoustic guitar, to add the high harmonics that differentiate the traditional sound of an electric from an acoustic.

5th September 2004, 03:23 AM	#5
le256 diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Ottawa	Thank you for explaining this to me. i will not waste my money on horn speakers for this project!

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