making a new 15" cab. pics added

bandmaster188

i'm just putting together a new speaker cab to run with my bandmaster reverb. i already run it through a 4x10 with jensen p10r's, but i fancy a bit of a change. i've made the cab up out of some parana pine that i salvaged from  a job. the cab measures 21" x 23" x 11". i've made it so i can put either a 12" or 15" speaker in there. dilema is what do i go for.

 for the 12", i was quite liking the sound of the celestion g12h 70th ann. but its not going to be man enough for the 45watt amp so looking for some higher rated suggestions along the line of the g12h.

as for the 15",  i was looking at the eminence patriot commenwealth until i realised its nearly 200 quid. i'm liking the sound clips of it and it sounds right up my street for southern rock and bluesy kind of stuff but thats a bit steep for a ceramic speaker, isn't it?

i really think i should go with a 15" as i've never tried one before, but there doesn't seem a great deal of choice out there.

what do ya reckon folks?

ICBM

Higher-rated G12H-style speaker… G12H-75 Creamback or Classic Lead 80.

I would go for a 15 though. I'd look for something second hand, they don't hold their value anywhere near as well as the more desirable 12" speakers. In particular, relatively low-powered ones - more than you need, but not really suitable for bass - are pretty cheap usually. You can even find half-decent ones in old PA cabs, if you're lucky - you could probably buy a pair of tatty cabs for well under a hundred quid, probably even less. For your purposes, budget PA cabs - low-rated and with cheap lightweight drivers - are better. You want ones with paper edge surrounds or cloth, not rubber, and ideally with ridged cones - they sound better for guitar than smooth cones usually. A cabinet rating of 100W or more should give you a driver which will take a 45W guitar amp. You also ideally want 4 ohms for a Bandmaster, although 8 would be OK.

Shame you didn't ask a couple of months ago! I had a couple of old TOA 15" PA cabs which I sold for £60… but that's the kind of thing to look out for.

matt1973

The was a guy selling two EVM 15Ls near me on FB recently. £75 each. If it's of interest I could get his details for you. Based in NCL as I recall.

bandmaster188

matt1973 said:

The was a guy selling two EVM 15Ls near me on FB recently. £75 each. If it's of interest I could get his details for you. Based in NCL as I recall.

firstly i i've given you an accidental LOL. i was in no way laughing at your at your kind offer!!

 i'm a little bit dubious though spending out that kind of money on a used  speaker which is for a bit of an experimental project. its a bit hard to tell what sort of life they've had. but cheers anyway.

 

bandmaster188

just out of interest, i was looking at the specs on the eminence commenwealth and the magnet is HUGE!

the total weight is 10.5kg where as the eminence big ben 15" weighs in at half of that. A bit of a back breaker me thinks! It does sound nice though, maybe a bit JBL inspired?

ICBM

Another possibility is a Carlsbro Sherwood Classic acoustic amp - they have a 100W 4-ohm Celestion 15" driver, relatively light and 'guitar' voiced. The whole amp is only worth about £100, and a lot less if you can find a damaged or dead one. I had one of those about a year ago too! But fixed it and sold it as a working amp...

bandmaster188

just a couple of pics of the cab as it progresses and the new 15" beasty.

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/imagejpg1_zps94f06353.jpg

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/imagejpg1_zpsf971d722.jpg

 

bandmaster188

mocked up and tried out at rehearsal last night.

the speaker sounds absolutely huge. it completely nails that big  70's marshall sound and thats played through a fender. well chuffed!

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/imagejpg1_zps19982b01.jpg

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/imagejpg2_zps7dd0c25c.jpg

 

 

bandmaster188

rounding off done, grill cloth and hardware on, just waiting for my mate to spray with a couple of coats of clear!

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/imagejpg1_zpsb88c2c13.jpg

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/imagejpg2_zps26427911.jpg

 

 

bandmaster188

bit of a make over for the amp to match the new cab!

http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee512/bandmaster188/imagejpg1_zps1235fd12.jpg

 

Flanging_Fred

Good Job dude. I'm just finishing up my own cab. It's pretty satisfying when you finally get to the end and realise you haven't totally messed it up!

bandmaster188

Flanging_Fred said:

Good Job dude. I'm just finishing up my own cab. It's pretty satisfying when you finally get to the end and realise you haven't totally messed it up!

Ha ha, very true. I'm quite pleased how its turned out really. I was originally gonna have it sprayed black or tolex it as the wood was quite tatty, but after some serious sanding its come up a treat. So it's just gonna get done with clear coat. Well done with your build too sir!