Reducing 4x12 cabinet volume!

[slyym]

Can this be done? I bought a used oversize Mesa cab without realizing how different it would sound. Has anyone ever added wood or foam to a cabinet?

 

[mudf00t]

I haven't tried that with my Mesa cabs but I did it with an old Laney cabinet that had for years. I replaced the speakers in it and the thing was boomy as hell at first... so I put a single piece of studio foam dead center of the back panel and it helped alot. I am sure that some people here would balk at doing something like that but that cab worked like a champ for a decade after. Really tightened it up.

 

[slyym]

So you really didn't take up much volume with it. You probably just changed the way it resonated maybe.

 

[RJF]

I'm actually unclear on what the question is. Do you want to reduce the over all volume the cab produces or do you want to alter it's sound with wood or foam? If it's volume, I would buy a 1x12 or 2x12.

 

[Oblivion DC]

Yeah I'm confused too. Are you trying to alter its internal dimensions? And if so, to what end exactly?

 

[sleewell2]

I don't think the cab is the issue. dial your amp in with less volume or use a volume pedal in the loop or get an attenuator. adding more wood to the cab is only going to make it heavier to lug around, I really don't think it would lower the volume any.

 

[lespaul6]

the only way to do it is to use less efficient speakers

 

[slyym]

No I don't mean loudness volume I mean Space volume. I want to reduce the space inside the oversized box to make it more of a traditional sized box and basically want to know if that's possible.

 

[glassjaw7]

Well, I suppose you could add high quality wood inside the cab but it's going to be a heavy s.o.b... Foam would probably make it sound very strange. The frequencies bouncing off of the back panel create part of the tone of a cabinet. Foam would probably soften the attack quite a bit, although some people intentionally use particle board backs or line it with foam to dampen so maybe it would work.

Alternatively, you could cut the back panel to fit inside and push it in a couple of inches ( ) for less depth.

 

[messenger]

Have u tried offering it for a trade for the traditional size Mesa cab locally?

 

[sahlomonic]

No I don't mean loudness volume I mean Space volume. I want to reduce the space inside the oversized box to make it more of a traditional sized box and basically want to know if that's possible.

Just . . . . don't go that route. Trade it or sell it and get what you really want rather than hack up something you probably won't like, and lose money when you try to sell it down the road.

 

[slyym]

Have u tried offering it for a trade for the traditional size Mesa cab locally?

Its an old cab that I got pretty cheap and the tolex is in bad condition so I doubt anyone would want it. I'm gonna re tolex it and go from there. Maybe it will grow on me.

 

[BrentSSL]

I bet he's talking about the boom lol

What head are you running dude is it's too loud turn it down. If it's like a sawed off shotgun of sound get a smaller cab. But keep the oversized for gigs incase you have a bad soundman.

 

[slyym]

I bet he's talking about the boom lol

What head are you running dude is it's too loud turn it down. If it's like a sawed off shotgun of sound get a smaller cab. But keep the oversized for gigs incase you have a bad soundman.

Right now just running a marshall JVM. Yea Im just gonna jam on it for a few weeks and get a good feel for it.

 

[Tone Monster]

I feel ya. Those cabs suck. Buy an empty traditional size avatar and put the Mesa speakers in. #WINNING

 

[sg guy]

-adding acoustic foam will make it less harsh-(you can experiment with home insulation/the "pink stuff")-

-I had a BOGNER UBER cab that was stuffed full of poly, right to the speaker magnet's-

-use just 2 speaker's-

-there's a good chance you just don't like the speakers-

 

[moltenmetalburn]

trade or sell it, foam wont do what you want.

 

[cardinal]

^ yeah not worth the headache trying to mod it. Just sell it and buy a different cab.

 

[sytharnia1560]

so it isn't the size that is a pain but the tone? ... try d tuning it by taking out 2 speakers and leaving the space where they were open. Every time I have done it, it sounds awesome

 

[slyym]

so it isn't the size that is a pain but the tone? ... try d tuning it by taking out 2 speakers and leaving the space where they were open. Every time I have done it, it sounds awesome

Its the tone because of the size. I'm gonna get a couple 2x4's and double sided tape them to the sides on the inside to take up some volume and report back to you guys. I don't plan on doing anything that cant be easily reversed. My theory is if the traditional cab sounds the way it does because of the cubic feet of air inside I should be able to reduce the cubic feet of air in this cab the get the same result. Makes sense to me. This cab is only bigger by 3 inch's on the top.