You guitarists, explain the lore of "cabinets" to me...

[rasputin1963]

Here's a real noob question:

 

I've been a keyboardist/vocalist my whole life, so there are untold vistas of knowledge and lore relating to the electric guitar that I know nothing of.

 

The lore of "cabinets" for instance. I have a number of DAW plugins which seek to replicate the sound of different cabinets through the years... That there are so many, and so many knobs on them, lead me to understand that guitarists know them intimately and prize the unique sound of each one.

 

But what IS a cabinet, and how can I begin understanding the lore of famous cabinets in rock history?

 

P.S. I asked a VERY famous British keyboardist from the 1960's British Invasion what a "British Cabinet" was... (a setting on one of my DAW plugins) and he didn't know!

 

Thanks, ras

[shniggens]

As a fellow keyboardist, I have to say . . . .

 

I hardly ever know what guitarists are talking about.

 

[Billster]

Guitar Player magazine recently did a white paper on this. I'll try to find a link.

 

Anyway, guitar speakers don't have the full range frequency response of reference monitors, so they color the sound. The construction of the cabinet (dimensions, materials, style) affects the sound.

 

The prevalence of these sounds has conditioned listeners to what "good" guitar sounds are. In reality there are a lot of nasty frequencies that show up (particularly with overdriven sounds) when you do direct recording of a guitar. But not all sonic shaping is cabinet emulation.

[coyote-1]

Looks like the makers of your DAW were unwilling to cough up a license fee to Jim M@rsh@ll.

P.S. I asked a VERY famous British keyboardist from the 1960's British Invasion what a "British Cabinet" was... (a setting on one of my DAW plugins) and he didn't know! Thanks, ras

The character of sound can change significantly depending on which speaker cabinet you use. You can demonstrate this with your own home stereo: Borrow a friend's speakers that are different from yours, and listen. (Especially if one of you has Bose speakers and the other does not.) You'll notice differences in which frequencies are emphasized.

 

Back to guitar cabs: The physical configuration and driver choices can make a huge diff in tone. An open back combo cab with a single JBL 10" will sound vastly different than a closed-back Marshall with four 12" Celestion greenbacks. There are many who argue that the cabinet has far more bearing on your sound character than your choice of amp - they may be right.

[bbach]

It all has to come together to find your tone. The guitar, the amp, the speaker cabs, the strings, the picks, the attack, everything. You change anything and your tone changes. It's a constant to be trying for different tonal qualities. I recently went to a 2x12 Genz Benz enclosed ported cab trying for a bigger sound with a better low end. My Mesa Boogie 1x12 cab seemed to get a little muddy. Time will tell if I like it better. Otherwise, I try something else.

So, a short answer to your question: The tonal qualities we seek might emulate some of the classic tones we grew up with. That brings on the "lore" of certain cabs, such as Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Fender.

[rasputin1963]

Now here comes even more ignorance:

 

Am I right in thinking that a "guitar cabinet" can refer to an actual performance speaker, but it also can refer to a special recording studio box or closet or coffin wherein stereo mics or pickups "listen" to a guitar signal?

 

Is that a different kind of "cabinet"? [Told you I was wet behind the ears.]

[TBush]

 

 

 

Well yes, but it's still a cabinet in the sense that it houses a speaker- it's just different like a 4x12 closed back cab is different from a 2x12 open back cab is different from an 8x10 cab etc... recording cabs are used so one can crank an amp up real loud without neighbors complaining- they're pretty cool. The built-in mics are enclosed with the speaker (there's usually just 1 mic in there) and pick up the cool 'colored' sound of the guitar amp.

[D Charles]

Well, guitar speakers typically respond from around 50 Hz to around 5K. The above 5K is what makes direct recorded guitar sound shrill and nasty. An open back cab with an EV or JBL will have a lot more bass than a closed back cab. Speaker choice makes a huge difference.

 

I built my own speaker cab to try and get the best of several worlds. It's the size of a Marshall 4-12" cab but I loaded it with 10"s cause they sound better on clean tones to me. The bottom two speakers are the old blue alnico 10's out of a Fender Bassman reissue. They are infinite baffle (back is closed and sealed). The top two angled up speakers are open back Celestions. Depending on where you mic, there are many different tones from one cab.

[Billster]

 

Well, guitar speakers typically respond from around 50 Hz to around 5K. The above 5K is what makes direct recorded guitar sound shrill and nasty. An open back cab with an EV or JBL will have a lot more bass than a closed back cab.

 

 

Errr...I think the closed back is going to have a less diffuse sound with more apparent bass.

[coyote-1]

That is correct.

 

Errr...I think the closed back is going to have a less diffuse sound with more apparent bass.

 

[Lee Knight]

That Guitar Player article was a good one. Some generalizations:

 

Open = diffused

Closed = pointed

Open = looser bass

Closed - tighter, deeper bass

 

Dimebag = closed

Keith = open

 

Everything I've said here can be slammed so please don't crucify me for my generalizations.

 

My good friend just bought 2, 1x12 Avatar vintage cabs. One open, one closed. We are going to load them up with identical speakers initially for testing and to answers some of these questions. So your question kind of hits home...

[gatorwing]

If you are in Rhode Island, a cabinet is a milk shake with ice cream in it.

[monstermaker]

It's all this plus the right guitar with the right amp as Keith the zombie once pointed out.

[rasputin1963]

If you are in Rhode Island, a cabinet is a milk shake with ice cream in it.

 

Hey, I lived in Beantown, I get the joke!

[scottop1972]

you forgot another cab option.... the detuned cab. basically a 2x12 cab with only 1 speaker in it. i have to admit, it sounds really good.

[Trick Fall]

I also think the impedance of the speakers in the cab play a role. I have an old Ampeg 4X12 at home that is an 8ohm cab and my Marshall sounds way different and breaks up much earlier through that cab than it does when I play it through a 16ohm Marshall cab.

[alphajerk]

you should be matching your amp/cab impedance [hopefully]... but an ampeg cabinet sounds different than a marshall than a mesa than an orange than a [gasp] behringer [can you believe they build guitar cabinets now?!?]...

 

basically its just fussing with your tone really. from cabinet design, to size, to speakers [size, type, ohm, wattage, magnet size, etc].

[MikeRivers]

I have a number of DAW plugins which seek to replicate the sound of different cabinets through the years... That there are so many, and so many knobs on them, lead me to understand that guitarists know them intimately and prize the unique sound of each one. But what IS a cabinet, and how can I begin understanding the lore of famous cabinets in rock history?

Technically, a "cabinet" is the box that holds the loudspeaker. To a guitarist, though, it usually means the combination of a specific make and model loudspeaker and a specific box. It's a significant contributor to the sound of an electric guitar amplifier.

 

Certain combinations have become legendary (for the reasons that guitars become legendary) for certain tone characteristics and those are the ones that you'll find in modelers. The cool thing about modeling, is that, to the extent that it actually works (which is always somewhat suspicious) you can create combinations of amplifer, speaker, and box that you've never heard before (putting a Peavey Black Widow speaker in a Marshall Plexi cabinet and drive it with a Fender Bassman power amplifier, for instance) and discover a sound that's just perfect for your song - or not.

 

Legends are made fast and die fast. Best to just plug your Telecaster into a Fender Twin and put an SM57 in front of "the cabinet." If your'e a great player, you'll get whatever tone you need out of it. Keyboardists, who don't want to hear anything but a volume increase from their amplifiers, usually don't understand.

[coyote-1]

I'm not a great guitarist, but I'd like to think I don't suck..

 

While I sound like ME regardless of guitar and/or amp, there is a world of difference between the tone provided by my Princeton ReverbII combo and that provided by my Marshall Major stack.

Legends are made fast and die fast. Best to just plug your Telecaster into a Fender Twin and put an SM57 in front of "the cabinet." If your'e a great player, you'll get whatever tone you need out of it. Keyboardists, who don't want to hear anything but a volume increase from their amplifiers, usually don't understand.

[lukeswall]

 

Dimebag = closed Keith = open

 

 

what about angus?

[Lee Knight]

 

what about angus?

 

 

 

I should have used Angus instead of Dimbag. Bad example.

 

So...

 

Open = Keith

Closed = Angus / Malcolm

[lukeswall]

 

I should have used Angus instead of Dimbag. Bad example. So... Open = Keith Closed = Angus / Malcolm

 

 

mmm

since those 3 guys play "basically" the same kinds of riffs and AC/DC kicks the stones ass in all aspects, especially tone, I think I need to close my back!

thanks, d00der

[franknputer]

what about angus?

Upside-down.

[Trick Fall]

 

.

 

 

Yeah the impedance on my head is switchable. I think that using the eight ohm vs. the 16ohm causes the power amp section to respond differently.

[Dean Roddey]

You can get lost for days at a time with something like Amplitube or a PODxt, playing with various head, cabinet, mic, mic distance, tone, gain, on/off axis, and f/x combinations. There is an almost infinite number of combinations.