Thread: Jarrah Speaker cab and Headshell

Whoa, that looks great!

Just a quick question, do cabinet timbers effect sound much?

That is a stunning piece of work .
More than just amp cabs, it's more of a focal point , wherever it's put.
Beeautifulll !!!!!

Is it heavy as buggery?

If only the Marshall I've got kicking around here looked that good, maybe I'd want to turn it on occasionally. (I got a newer amp, a newer love)

mccustomcabinets.com is your website?

cheers, Stu

very nice - how much does it weigh?
is it for the road?? if so you better have a top road case[s]

that looks excellent.
do you have speakers loaded into it yet?

the timbers of the cabinet effect the sound. many people like the resonant sound of a pine cabinet. i can imagine a jarrah cabinet being nice and punchy.

Originally Posted by black_labb

the timbers of the cabinet effect the sound. many people like the resonant sound of a pine cabinet. i can imagine a jarrah cabinet being nice and punchy.

Ahh, slowly gathering info for a future amp and cabinet build, thanks

pine is a good resonant timber to use for cabs but it is absolute crap to work with, a real PIA to finish and very soft. it does sound quite good though.

Would cedar be any good for a cabinet? I just picked up some really nice bits of very old cedar taken out of a church (just nabbed it from the hard rubbish bin). I am not sure exactly what they where originally. At first I thought it had come from an old window of some kind, but I can't see how now. They are about 14x32x1in and I'm hoping they come up as nice as I think they will once I strip them. Actually, now I think about it, I don't even know if its cedar yet. Could be old pine FAIK. Either way, nice old wood good for something.

By the way, very nice work there on the cab. It looks fantastic. Is the box for the amp head an issue for overheating at all though? Tubes can get mighty warm sometimes.

Originally Posted by Hammered

Would cedar be any good for a cabinet? I just picked up some really nice bits of very old cedar taken out of a church (just nabbed it from the hard rubbish bin). I am not sure exactly what they where originally. At first I thought it had come from an old window of some kind, but I can't see how now. They are about 14x32x1in and I'm hoping they come up as nice as I think they will once I strip them. Actually, now I think about it, I don't even know if its cedar yet. Could be old pine FAIK. Either way, nice old wood good for something.

By the way, very nice work there on the cab. It looks fantastic. Is the box for the amp head an issue for overheating at all though? Tubes can get mighty warm sometimes.

cedar would probably be a decent wood to use, not sure how well it resonates, but anything is better than the particleboard that is used on nearly all mass produced amps these days, and they dont sound too bad.

im pretty sure the cab would have a big opening at the back for circulation of air. its a pretty tall looking cab so i can imagine it has a fair bit of room for convection to cool the tubes.

Thanks for the kind words there fella`s

I really like the effect Jarrah has on the tonal qualities of these cabs, it sounds very 3D and wide sounding, it`s an open back cabinet but i`ve also done a few with a 45mm opening on the back.
Pine sounds very lively too IMO, it`s a lot lighter than Jarrah but i`m trying to pick pieces of Jarrah that are a bit lighter and still look good.

I havent put a back plate on the headshell just a bar across the back to allow plenty of ventilation, i tried to make sure it had plenty of height and clearence with the EL84`s.

I`ve loaded this cab with Celestion Heritage H30`s and it sounds really nice loaded with these speakers, plenty of low end on tap.

cheers
Brad

Originally Posted by black_labb

cedar would probably be a decent wood to use, not sure how well it resonates, but anything is better than the particleboard that is used on nearly all mass produced amps these days, and they dont sound too bad.

An update on the 'cedar' boards I picked up... I'm pretty sure they are actually kauri pine now that I have run them through dads new thicknesser.

What do you guys think? Is it kauri?


Heres a link to a bigger photo: http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/d...pine-large.jpg

The board in the photo is actually one piece, but was split in two down the middle. I have three more the same size, that are all one piece. I think there will be enough hear to make a decent 4x12 cab if I wanted, but I still don't know what I'm going to do with it.

Can't really say, the only Kauri/Agathis i have seen was very white (otto's timber, body blanks)

cedar is easy to pick
very very soft almost like balsa
very very light
has a distinctive smell when cut

i would not use cedar to build a cab for guitar as it would take a lot of damage over time as it is so soft

Originally Posted by old_picker

cedar is easy to pick
very very soft almost like balsa
very very light
has a distinctive smell when cut

i would not use cedar to build a cab for guitar as it would take a lot of damage over time as it is so soft

Thanks Ray. I know too well what cedar is like. This timber is also quite soft, but I wasn't sure prior to stripping the paint from it. You are probably right about it being too soft for a cab. Although if you wanted something for the home/home studio only, it would at least look very nice, and I think it would be reasonable sounding too. Probably not the best choice of timber for the next world tour though.

RGM, I've not seen any kauri that has been what I would describe as white. I helped my old man install a kauri kitchen (benchtops) a few years ago, and it was very similar in colour to what the picture shows. I still have a couple of chopping boards I made from offcuts and sink cutouts in that kitchen. They beat anything I've ever seen in a shop, and are very kind to the knife blades too.