Friedman Cab Help

[braintheory]

So I have a Friedman 212/215 Cab and lately it tends to sound very flubby if pushed hard (like with my VH4 or iic+ at loud volumes) and also at least one of the 15’s on the bottom will sound like it’s rattling and almost staticky sounding. This only happens though when I play it very loud with those amps, but my Bogner Ubercab and Diezel 412FL don’t have these issues. My Ubercab actually used to, but my tech fixed it (not sure what he did). Anyone on here have any ideas of what the issues could be and how to fix it? I also remember the cab sounding a bit louder and punchier when I first go it

I’ve opened it up and the all the screws seem to be very tight everywhere and the soldering all looks good from what I can tell. I have a done a bunch of speaker swaps in the top row of the 12’s, so I’m wondering if that messed something up, but it seems like it’s the 15’s being the issue or at least that region of the cab. Any help would be much appreciated

 

[311boogieman]

One idea, if it is a stereo cab (parallel/series) you could wire top and bottom separate and narrow the trouble-shooting down that way. Ohms would change. Assuming ohms are correct now as is? Also possible that the VH4 is cranking out a spiked frequency at volume that those particular the 15's just don't like/or can handle.

 

[fek]

Checking the screw tightness was going to be my suggestion but it sounds like you have already done that.

The Friedman SS 4X12 that I have is considerably darker than my all greenback loaded 1960B so maybe I can learn something from the tech experts that chime in.

 

[tonesfoyobones]

Check and make sure the baffling ring is tight on the inside. Usually alot of screws. I had a Herbert that vibrated it so much that it wallowed out the screw holes and the baffle was vibrating. I first thought it was a single speaker so I bought a new one. When I opened up the cab I noticed all the saw dust lying in the bottom of the cab. I re screwed it and it was fine. That was when I learned that the Diezel Herbert will destroy a rear loaded cab! Opted for a front loaded and never looked back.

May not be your issue but I thought mine was 100% speaker related.

 

[DeathbyButterslax]

when I had the Slax cab I never had that issue, weird? hopefully its just something loose

 

[braintheory]

One idea, if it is a stereo cab (parallel/series) you could wire top and bottom separate and narrow the trouble-shooting down that way. Ohms would change. Assuming ohms are correct now as is? Also possible that the VH4 is cranking out a spiked frequency at volume that those particular the 15's just don't like/or can handle.

Ohms are all correct (16 ohm) and not a stereo cab. The iic+ seems to also cause the same problems, but not as much as the VH4

 

[japetus]

Possibly try resoldering your connections? Could be as simple as a bad connection...

 

[braintheory]

Check and make sure the baffling ring is tight on the inside. Usually alot of screws. I had a Herbert that vibrated it so much that it wallowed out the screw holes and the baffle was vibrating. I first thought it was a single speaker so I bought a new one. When I opened up the cab I noticed all the saw dust lying in the bottom of the cab. I re screwed it and it was fine. That was when I learned that the Diezel Herbert will destroy a rear loaded cab! Opted for a front loaded and never looked back.

May not be your issue but I thought mine was 100% speaker related.

Sorry for the dumb question, but what’s a baffling ring and where would it be? I don’t recall seeing any rings inside the cabinet except the ones in between the screws for the speakers

 

[braintheory]

Possibly try resoldering your connections? Could be as simple as a bad connection...

The connections seem very solid and the ones for the 15’s I never messed with, which seems to be where the problem is

 

[psychodave]

Speaker screws aren’t supposed to be very tight. Just snug then 1/4 turn. Is the speaker frame bent and causing a noise?

Grill cloth vibrating against wood?

 

[braintheory]

Speaker screws aren’t supposed to be very tight. Just snug then 1/4 turn. Is the speaker frame bent and causing a noise?

Grill cloth vibrating against wood?

The top 12” speakers definitely are not bent, but I’ll check about the 15’s on bottom. It’s possible

Not sure about the grill cloth against the wood either. How can I check for that? The type of rattling I’m hearing seems like that could be a possibility

 

[Deleted member 13074]

As you’ve changed the top speakers a few times, it’s possible the back panel is not seated firmly due repeated securing of the screws.
Have someone press on the back panel when playing what causes the issue.

 

[tonesfoyobones]

Check and make sure the baffling ring is tight on the inside. Usually alot of screws. I had a Herbert that vibrated it so much that it wallowed out the screw holes and the baffle was vibrating. I first thought it was a single speaker so I bought a new one. When I opened up the cab I noticed all the saw dust lying in the bottom of the cab. I re screwed it and it was fine. That was when I learned that the Diezel Herbert will destroy a rear loaded cab! Opted for a front loaded and never looked back.

May not be your issue but I thought mine was 100% speaker related.

Sorry for the dumb question, but what’s a baffling ring and where would it be? I don’t recall seeing any rings inside the cabinet except the ones in between the screws for the speakers

It's the panel that the speakers are attached to. 16 screw on the Marshall cab

 

[RockyStar]

Shoot Dave Friedman an email. He will help.

 

[braintheory]

Shoot Dave Friedman an email. He will help.

Will do. I asked this same question in the Friedman section of the forum, but got no responses

Anyone else have any other tips in the meantime?

 

[bubucci]

Did You try push cones (carefully) by hand ? It could be damaged speaker.

 

[CornNutz]

So did you replaced the top row of speakers? If so with what?

Or did you try different speakers, and put the originals back in? If so, do you have the phase (polarity) correct?

 

[braintheory]

So did you replaced the top row of speakers? If so with what?

Or did you try different speakers, and put the originals back in? If so, do you have the phase (polarity) correct?

I replaced them a bunch a of times in the top to experiment, but never messed with the 15’s on the bottom. It came stock with H30’s, then I tried Jensen C12N’s, then Alnico Gold’s and now Fane F90’s

The phase (polarity) should be correct. I just matched the wiring to how it was with the stock H30’s

 

[Racerxrated]

Like others have said, I’d make sure every screw is tight...don’t over tighten them but just try to turn them clockwise to see if they came loose. Every single one. I had an early T75 cab, vented magnets that made the same noise that you describe and almost every baffle screw needed tightening.

 

[braintheory]

Like others have said, I’d make sure every screw is tight...don’t over tighten them but just try to turn them clockwise to see if they came loose. Every single one. I had an early T75 cab, vented magnets that made the same noise that you describe and almost every baffle screw needed tightening.

I’ll open it up again when I get a chance. It seemed like every screw in there was about as tight as I could make it. If anything I was thinking about making them a little less since Psychodave says they shouldn’t be very tight