Speaker Cabinet Material - Pine vs Plywood

[FunkyE9th]

Hello,

I'm looking to build a speaker cabinet. I've built head cabs before, but not speaker cabs. I figured I could always just buy the speaker cabinets. But now I'm looking to possibly build my own. Something that can take either a 2x10 or 1x12. Having a hard time deciding if I should go with plywood (void free baltic birch) or pine. So I'm curious what do you guys prefer and why?

Thanks!

-FunkyE9th

[billyz]

I like solid pine for any open back cab. Tone and weight. Plywood baffles and ply back though. Also for the finger joints.

Plywood is good too, different sound and a little heavier and I think more expensive.

[FunkyE9th]

I was orginally thinking plywood, but then started thinking about the weight. I have a hard time finding quality pine in my area. A lot of them are warped.

Do you use pine boards that are strips of pine glued together or one-piece type pine?

[M Fowler]

I have built them out of about anything I could find. For open back small combo use pine. For 4x12 use 9 to 11 ply baltic birch or I even use high grade sanded plywood. For my trainwreck stuff I use poplar, maple, and aspen which finishes nice and stains well.

Mark

[billyz]

You do need to run the pine thru a planner to true it up . I buy "1" and end up with 5/8". depth is an issue too. a 12" is like 11 1/2 " depth, which works for most small cabs. You could do the biscuit joint , but I just live with it.
Otherwise go with plywood for bigger / deeper cabs.

one piece only, the Idea is that a joint affects the tone. More joints less tone, just like a fine instrument. I actually varnish my cabs inside and out.

[muchxs]

You do need to run the pine thru a planner to true it up . I buy "1" and end up with 5/8".

I've done it both ways.

It's luxurious to start out with 1" rough sawn and plane down to .750". That's why they're called 1" boards, you're paying for the missing wood. I use verniers and plane to precisely .750".

1"x12"s were 11 1/2" wide years ago. Then the standard went to 11 1/4" and now 11 1/8". Home Depot's 1x12" S4S is 11" wide and the 1x10"s are 9" wide.

It's not necessary to true up the boards as long as they're close to begin with. I don't like running pine through my planer, the pitch gums up the cutterhead. We have a 36" panel sander as well, one dab of sap will ruin the sandpaper.

depth is an issue too. a 12" is like 11 1/2 " depth, which works for most small cabs. You could do the biscuit joint , but I just live with it.

Like I said, the current standard for 1x12" is right around 11 1/8".

Otherwise go with plywood for bigger / deeper cabs.

My supplier stocks pine up to 16" wide. The wide stock commands a premium, furniture makers use it to make blanket chests. I've seen price tags as high as $200 on a four board set to be used for a blanket chest.

I should have bought it when I saw it... one lift of poplar I sorted though contained a board an astonishing 28" wide by 16' long. Very few planers are that wide, though.

one piece only, the Idea is that a joint affects the tone. More joints less tone, just like a fine instrument. I actually varnish my cabs inside and out.

Depends on the joint. Just about every acoustic guitar has a joint right down the middle of the top. Martin bracing is simple compared to the fan bracing in a classical guitar, lots of joints there. Then there's the joint where the top meets the sides.

It's not so much the quantity of joints as it is the quality.

[Kregg]

I asked this very question on the Reranch forum. I ended up using 3/4" clear pine (which I found at Lowes via a tip) and void-less 1/2" birch ply for the panels.
As with most solid boards pine mills a helluva lot better than ply.
Unless you're going for that classic tone twenty years hence, or are skilled at tone tapping ... either ply or pine will do just fine.

[IMG:227:320]http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r54/ ... abinet.jpg[/img]

[billyz]

I asked this very question on the Reranch forum. I ended up using 3/4" clear pine (which I found at Lowes via a tip) and void-less 1/2" birch ply for the panels.
As with most solid boards pine mills a helluva lot better than ply.
Unless you're going for that classic tone twenty years hence, or are skilled at tone tapping ... either ply or pine will do just fine.

[IMG:227:320]http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r54/ ... abinet.jpg[/img]

Nice looking cab. Looks a lot like what we build. They do sound good. I like to use the so called "floating baffle" on the smaller combo's.

There are really too schools of thought on speaker cabs. One wants the cabinet to have no influence on the tone at all. Nice if you can get there. Sand filled cabs seem to get the closest for me. For Hifi that's the way to go.
The other approach ( oriental influence) is to go with the resonance and make it harmonious to the tone . That's the way I like to do it for guitar and harp amps. Think of the cabinet as part of the instrument.

Well, I guess there is a 3rd view, just build a box to house the speaker in.

[FunkyE9th]

Thanks for all the info guys! I do not have planer, but I may be able to have some place plane it for me. Not sure if they will do it if I don't buy the wood from them. They do not sell pine, just hardwood stuff. So I will have to buy the pine somewhere else.

Another question... I will probably go with the floating baffle design, 2 screws on top and 2 on the bottom. I'm thinking of putting a strip of wood on top and the bottom of the cab to screw baffle on to. Do these strips need to be glued down or just screwed down?

Thanks again.

[Kregg]

Glued & screwed. If you plan on tolexing it's a good idea to seal the cabinet with sanding sealer. Wood sucks up a lot of glue.

Do some surfing on this excellent site: http://www.silvatone.bravepages.com/

[jaysg]

I will probably go with the floating baffle design, 2 screws on top and 2 on the bottom. I'm thinking of putting a strip of wood on top and the bottom of the cab to screw baffle on to. Do these strips need to be glued down or just screwed down?

I believe the 'strips' are called cleats. You want to glue them in place. Listen to the pro's, not me...lol. I only use bolts and T-nuts. Apparently, Soldano uses brass inserts in some cases. The only metal you want are the parts that hold the baffle to cleats, rear panel(s) to cleats, speaker(s) to baffle, and the handle. A biscuit jointer or dowels are good for attaching cleats. fwiw, I would go with three bolts at the top & bottom.

re:plywood You can go with 1/2" for 2-10" and 1-12" guitar cabs. That saves some weight. Baltic birch is probably easier to work with than what you find at Home Depot/Lowes. It might be lighter too. The HD birch is only birch on the outside layers.

[FunkyE9th]

Thanks! I had no idea what those things are called. Now I do... cleats.

[Tubetwang]

I asked this very question on the Reranch forum. I ended up using 3/4" clear pine (which I found at Lowes via a tip) and void-less 1/2" birch ply for the panels.
As with most solid boards pine mills a helluva lot better than ply.
Unless you're going for that classic tone twenty years hence, or are skilled at tone tapping ... either ply or pine will do just fine.

[IMG:227:320]http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r54/ ... abinet.jpg[/img]

Nice looking cab. Looks a lot like what we build. They do sound good. I like to use the so called "floating baffle" on the smaller combo's.

There are really too schools of thought on speaker cabs. One wants the cabinet to have no influence on the tone at all. Nice if you can get there. Sand filled cabs seem to get the closest for me. For Hifi that's the way to go.
The other approach ( oriental influence) is to go with the resonance and make it harmonious to the tone . That's the way I like to do it for guitar and harp amps. Think of the cabinet as part of the instrument.

Well, I guess there is a 3rd view, just build a box to house the speaker in.

I've built both Pine and 13 ply Void free Baltic Birch cabs.

They each have their obvious advantage...

I only use 3/4" Baltic Birch plywood for speaker baffle.

I want the speaker to be firmly seated... to pump the note clean ...huh...and to...er...let go of that note...

That gives my guitar playing a firm attack.

So, i don't have Spedding or Jimbo giving me a dirty look up on stage.