Are all same-size cabs the same?

[Alexrkstr]

I'm looking for a cab to complement my Vox Lil Night Train but want to have something that will bring out the chimey vox tone. What do you guys recommend?

[HudsDad]

Are you buying or building? Most reasonably priced cabinets have mediocre speakers and cabs with decent speakers tend to be insanely overpriced. Unless you're willing to spend more than the cost of your amp, I would stay away from most factory built cabs...especially the inexpensive imports that Vox is selling these days to match their little amps. Their amps are much better than their cabinets until you move way up in price. But if you want everything to match, I'd look for a used Vox cab and replace the speaker.

Otherwise, my advice is to visit a pawnshop and find a cheap, used cabinet that meets your size requirements and just install a nice speaker (or speakers). What size cabinet do you want? Assuming you want to stick with the standard 10" or 12" speakers, I suggest Weber AlNiCo Blue Dogs for 12" cabs and Weber AlNiCo Blue Pups for 10" cabs. I also use a variety of Eminence and GW speakers in my big 2x, 4x or 8x Vox cabs. But I tend to recommend Webers for simple 1x cabinets because they are well-built, deliver that great Vox "chime and grind" and are very reasonably priced. Be sure to pay attention to the impedance of your amp and speaker. It's important to make sure they match.

I love Vox and they are, along with HiWatt, my favorite amps. I've got 9 or 10 Vox amps up in my studio and love them all. Put some NOS tubes in that little Night Train and match it up with a decent speaker and you should have a very nice setup that will be much, much louder than you will expect it to be.

And to answer the question in your thread title, no....all same-size cab are certainly NOT the same.

[Alexrkstr]

Originally Posted by HudsDad

Are you buying or building? Most reasonably priced cabinets have mediocre speakers and cabs with decent speakers tend to be insanely overpriced. Unless you're willing to spend more than the cost of your amp, I would stay away from most factory built cabs...especially the inexpensive imports that Vox is selling these days to match their little amps. Their amps are much better than their cabinets until you move way up in price. But if you want everything to match, I'd look for a used Vox cab and replace the speaker.

Otherwise, my advice is to visit a pawnshop and find a cheap, used cabinet that meets your size requirements and just install a nice speaker (or speakers). What size cabinet do you want? Assuming you want to stick with the standard 10" or 12" speakers, I suggest Weber AlNiCo Blue Dogs for 12" cabs and Weber AlNiCo Blue Pups for 10" cabs. I also use a variety of Eminence and GW speakers in my big 2x, 4x or 8x Vox cabs. But I tend to recommend Webers for simple 1x cabinets because they are well-built, deliver that great Vox "chime and grind" and are very reasonably priced. Be sure to pay attention to the impedance of your amp and speaker. It's important to make sure they match.

I love Vox and they are, along with HiWatt, my favorite amps. I've got 9 or 10 Vox amps up in my studio and love them all. Put some NOS tubes in that little Night Train and match it up with a decent speaker and you should have a very nice setup that will be much, much louder than you will expect it to be.

And to answer the question in your thread title, no....all same-size cab are certainly NOT the same.

Thanks for the response! I'm looking at something that is a 1x10 or 1x12, mainly something that I can turn down to bedroom levels and also crank up at a very small setting.

What in particular makes the Weber so good? What should I look for when looking at cabs?

[Paultergeist]

For starters, Webers are made in Kokomo, Indiana, by a fairly small family-run business. I own 4 Weber speakers, I think they are an excellent product.

[HudsDad]

Originally Posted by Paultergeist

For starters, Webers are made in Kokomo, Indiana, by a fairly small family-run business. I own 4 Weber speakers, I think they are an excellent product.

I agree. Weber is one of the top names in guitar speakers and has been for many years. The late Ted Weber was a master of producing new speakers that sounded like the classics from years past.

Those Weber AlNiCo Blue series are as close as you can get to the classic Vox cabs of yesteryear without buying a set of 45 year-old Celestions. The new production Celestions just don't compare well with their predecessors. Lord knows I've wasted a ton of money on them in the past few years trying to prove myself wrong.

[Herb Hunter]

Originally Posted by Alexrkstr

I'm looking for a cab to complement my Vox Lil Night Train but want to have something that will bring out the chimey vox tone. What do you guys recommend?

Cabinets sharing the same size can be made of solid wood or plywood or plywood with a solid wood baffle; they can be open-backed, sealed, reflex or ported designs. So they can be quite dissimilar.

Mojo Musical Supply makes cabinets in many styles with various grill and Tolex color and texture choices including some to match Vox, Marshal and Fender cabinets. They can be ordered with or without speakers.

http://www.mojotone.com/cabinets

http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Gr...ill-Cloth-46-W

http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Gr...ill-Cloth-43-W

http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/To...ack-Tolex-54-W

[Alexrkstr]

Originally Posted by Herb Hunter

Cabinets sharing the same size can be made of solid wood or plywood or plywood with a solid wood baffle; they can be open-backed, sealed, reflex or ported designs. So they can be quite dissimilar.

Thanks HH, that's close to what I'm looking for. My fear is that I have never built a cab before. What can I mess up?

I'm just looking for a cab that brings that chimey tone out and at the same time is very dynamic - I can play it at low volumes and high and quality is not compromised.

[muscmp]

as far as speakers, i'd recommend the weber silver 10" or 12". i purposely picked the 10" as the gibson amp i put it in uses el84 tubes, same as a vox amps. i wanted a vox-type sound and the silver speakers are modeled after celestions but are weber creations. the blue series is modeled strictly after the celestions used in the vox amps.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Alexrkstr

I'm looking for a cab to complement my Vox Lil Night Train but want to have something that will bring out the chimey vox tone. What do you guys recommend?

Hi Alex…
I find as much variety in same size cabinets as I do in same-size-guitars.

[Alexrkstr]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi Alex…
I find as much variety in same size cabinets as I do in same-size-guitars.

How so? I just played two Egnaters and an Orange 1x12 at GC and didn't find much difference... Maybe because it was really loud in there? Are the differences huge?

[HudsDad]

Originally Posted by Alexrkstr

Maybe because it was really loud in there? Are the differences huge?

You really need to play some clean tones in a quiet room to evaluate a cabinet. The differences can be quite dramatic between cabs. I often put my amps on A/B/C/D switches and go back and forth between cabs to evaluate speakers and cab designs.

Also, you'll find that the tone you hear in a guitar store is often quite different than the tone you'll hear in your bedroom.

[Herb Hunter]

Originally Posted by Alexrkstr

Thanks HH, that's close to what I'm looking for. My fear is that I have never built a cab before. What can I mess up?

I'm just looking for a cab that brings that chimey tone out and at the same time is very dynamic - I can play it at low volumes and high and quality is not compromised.

If you are asking within the context of carpentry I'm afraid I can't be much help.

If your question is about which design choice would be the right one, unless you are trying to duplicate the same cabinet you already have which appears to be a sealed (infinite baffle) cabinet, there is no wrong choice. It's a matter of what appeals to you. Personally I would want a cabinet for at least a 12" speaker. An open back cabinet is the most common design. Most Fenders and the famous Vox AC-30 had an open back cabinet. Sealed cabinets are often associated with Marshal. You can always seal the back of the cabinet later if you want to experiment with the difference in sound.

If I wanted something to augment the Vox cabinet with its 10" Celestion speaker, that is run both cabinets at the same time, I'd probably choose a cabinet for a 15" speaker, in which case the speaker's impedance would have to be 16 ohms so that when connected to the Vox cabinet in parallel the net would result would be 8 ohms since the amp is designed for a total speaker impedance of either 8 or 16 ohms.

If you have additional questions, fee free to ask.

The company, Weber, has already been mentioned. Apart from being a good source for speakers, they are very helpful with technical questions:

http://www.tedweber.com/status/index.htm

This cabinet offers the option of either open or closed back:

http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/ca...ension-Cabinet

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Alexrkstr

How so? I just played two Egnaters and an Orange 1x12 at GC and didn't find much difference... Maybe because it was really loud in there? Are the differences huge?

Hi Alex…
Probably as much related to the types of speakers, and the amp driving them. But I do hear a difference in amps with OEM speakers versus Celestion or JBL (in my Blues Jr versus others with the Jensens) etc.

And for a person who plays uber clean or uber dirty (overdriven) there will be shifts/differences in the tonal shading of the clean or distorted tones different speakers/cabinets produce.

I don't think the housing does as much as the actual speakers themselves.