cabinet design software

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#2
Typically guitar cabinets are not designed to any "Hi-Fi" standard. So software might be totally unnecessary. Bass cabinets are a bit more complicated and require some optimization. My suggestion to you would be to find a 4 driver cabinet that you like and copy the design. As far as software I like Unibox which is free. Since you are using Eminence drivers you could even try there own software.

Best of Luck.
 
#5
Yep, WinISD Pro (for some reason, both the base and Pro versions are free -- get the Pro). It's a great tool.

The treble is not bright at all, not with a 15"!! 😎 The bass is nice and tight. Lots of deep bass without being boomy. But there aren't a lot of highs. I plan to build a 2x10 or something similar, to go on top of the 1x15. Eventually.

If you build a 4x10 or 4x12, you could get a lot more highs and a really sweet tone, but you may have trouble getting response down to 41Hz. It's a trade-off. Deep, tight, small - pick any two.

Here are a couple of articles that I found really helpful:
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Bistro/3491/speaker.html
http://www.activebass.com/default.asp?iTarget=http://www.activebass.com/articles/item.asp?i=63

Good luck,
 
#8
Re: Link update

Paiku said:
Hi Pierre,

Trinity Amps has updated their forum URLs. Here is the current link:
http://www.trinityamps.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=1029

Hope it helps,
Click to expand...
I read your article and found it interesting, however there is one statement that is incorrect regarding bass cabs;
"1. Buy an instrument speaker driver for an instrument cabinet. Avoid the temptation to use a hi-fi or PA driver, no matter how awesome its specs seem to be. The results would be a cold-sounding cab that would be vulnerable to damage."

Avoid hifi drivers, yes.
Pro drivers however are generally rated at higher thermal power than instrument drivers and often longer excursion. Two of the best current drivers for bass are the Eminence 3015 and 3015LF. A well implemented pro driver is less likely to sustain damage in normal use if properly integrated with the cab.
I use pro drivers exclusively for the lower registers.

Tone is personal, so I have no issue with the 'cold' comment, except that I don't agree myself. There are also a large number of bassists who don't agree with the idea that single driver, or multiples of the same driver are the way to go. I play a wide variety of music and I don't want the cab to impart it's own indelible signature on everything eg many Ampegs esp 8x10's.

My cabs are moving towards quality multiway PA style rigs with tonal changes coming from the amp and FX, and of course my hands. I also use 5's as well as 4's.
 
#9
Hi Brett, thanks for expanding on that point, I'm sure you're right. The "advice" that I posted in my thread on Trinity Amps' forum was little more than a summary of what I'd learned through research, before I started building my cab. I did find a lot of hobbyists who were building with pro PA drivers. For regular electric guitar, the tonal difference is probably greater than for bass.

Also, there are two schools of thought on how to produce the desired tone. One is to make your amp and speakers as clean and transparent as possible, and then find or develop the right effect or combination of effects to get the desired sound. The other (favoured by the vintage gear nuts I hang out with) is to choose the guitar and amp themselves to produce the tone you want. I admit that the latter path leads to a basement full of guitars and amps!

One more comment; my finished cab is HUGE. It's about 80lbs and the size of a large CRT television. I haven't moved it out of my basement since completing it. If I'd been open to using a pro PA driver, I might have been able to get the same low-bass extension with a smaller cabinet. Oh well, live and learn!

Thanks again,
 
#10
Paiku said:
Also, there are two schools of thought on how to produce the desired tone. One is to make your amp and speakers as clean and transparent as possible, and then find or develop the right effect or combination of effects to get the desired sound. The other (favoured by the vintage gear nuts I hang out with) is to choose the guitar and amp themselves to produce the tone you want. I admit that the latter path leads to a basement full of guitars and amps!
Click to expand...
I know this to be true with guitarists, and some bass players too. I'm intending to form a fun covers type band soon as there's work for it and I love the music. Though I don't slap much, I still need a cab that'll do a bit of funk, hence my desire for wideband and flat response that I can EQ to taste for different genres.

I was tired when I posted earlier and called your article interesting. I feel it's an excellent how-to primer and a noob could gain a lot from it.

Paiku said:
One more comment; my finished cab is HUGE. It's about 80lbs and the size of a large CRT television. I haven't moved it out of my basement since completing it. If I'd been open to using a pro PA driver, I might have been able to get the same low-bass extension with a smaller cabinet. Oh well, live and learn!

Thanks again,
Click to expand...
Hoffman rules still (as you noted in the thread). However, a 3015LF with the porting adjusted would be perfect in that volume and give massive SPL as it's got 9.6mm Xmax and doesn't run out of power handling before it hits it. My new large PA mains will use that driver in the same volume, with a 10" and a 1"+flare above it, triamped. Form factor will be different at 42x40x90 (approx) for the LF enclosure. I wouldn't be surprised if I use one of these for BG when they're not doing FOH elsewhere as they're lighter than my current designs.

Cheers
 
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