Stone Age Custom Cabinets...I'm an inch away from ordering..

  • Thread starter Thread starter TubeScreamers
  • Start date Start date
IME, threaded machine screws on back panels, while a good idea in theory, leave a lot to be desired if they screw up. Brad brought me a used Cameron cab to install speakers into a couple months back. There were no less than 5 stripped back panel bolts, and four speaker bolts. Because these cabs use non standard 2.25" long phillister head screws, you aren't going to find them easily unless you're a cab maker. Hell, even I had to dig for some to work. What should have been a straightforward 10 minute install turned into a 1.5 hour repair/restoration, then I got to install the speakers. When I saw the wiring harness inside the cab, it was wired goofy as well. So two hours later, with four 10/32 speaker bolts, 5 10/32 phillister head back panel screws, 9 replacement T-nuts, 8 feet of 14 gauge wire, and a new jack the cab worked fine again.

Needless to say, the 10/32 screws didn't work out too well on the back panel of this one!

I use 1.5" long #8 wood screws to hold the back panels of my cabs on, with flange washers that don't cut the tolex. If one of them strips, at least it's just an easy out, or a drill to cut off the head in about 30-45 seconds.

When you have to drill out a stainless steel 10/32 machine or phillister head screw, though, that takes a bunch more time and effort.

As for the 5/8" vs 3/4" plywood build...5/8" sounds more lively/vintage correct for tone, 3/4 sounds less lively/stiff, probably good for numetal/death metal, etc. Back in the day, though, most everyone was using Marshall styled cabs with 5/8" thick baltic birch...for all styles of music. I've never had an issue with too much sound from the backs of the speakers escaping to confuse the tone up front, so I'm trying to figure out what Capulin Overdrive is hearing...but he has me cornfused, that's for sure! I'd lean towards leaky/cracked plastic handles, a ported cab design, or something but I'm figuring he has a solid cab, so I have no idea what he's hearing.

And as for John @ Stone Age, he and I see eye to eye on almost everything cab design related...except he likes the small handles on his cabs and I prefer the larger ones.
 
glpg80":1h89pfki said:
I was going to say something early on but decided not to because i didnt want to set the tone for the topic in a negative way :scared:

I studied cabinets and researched every brand you can think of, Mojave, THD, Splawn, Stoneage, Scumback, Bogner, Cameron, 5150, Fender, etc.

the cabinet that came out on top was not the one that was built like a brick shithouse, the cabinet that came out on top was the one that both sounded good in the room AND needed to record great under a mic.

Splawn's cabinets did it for me. talking to them in detail about cabinet construction methods, the reason they build the cabinets they do is not because "its built like a brick shithouse" - their first consideration is great projection and great cabinet resonance and then build quality. they do both great by having logical reasons and user accounts as examples for why they do what they do and why they do not follow footsteps in other directions.

second in line was stoneage cabinets as far as pricepoint, design, construction, etc.

the best built cabinets out there today are THD cabinets. research it in detail and you will see they are overbuilt like nothing else said here so far - including scumbacks, stoneage, and splawns. but overbuilt does not necessarily mean best sounding. just as previously mentioned by 5/8" ply versus 3/4" ply.

YMMV. IMHO. .02 etc. :)
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Well, you can't only take the sound of the cab into consideration unfortunately. If you're going to take them out of your bedroom you're going to have to look heavily at build quality and for some people being roadworthy might even be the most important factor. I had a splawn cab and it was a good cab for the money. I wouldn't say it was built that well, no better than any other cab I've ever owned, in fact it didn't even have metal corners :confused:
 
To the OP in Denmark...

Buy the Stone Age cabinet, regardless of costs to pruchase and ship. If you don't, you'll always wonder if it wasn't the better choice. You may even go through several cabs trying to sate your needs and wishes, thereby spending more in the long run - I've been in this position before and wished I'd just got what I was aiming to get to start with :yes:

If your gut, heart and head says Stone Age, BUY IT and be DONE with it. We obviously know it's of terrific quality etc.

The costs for shipping with be a bitch, as is anything US made to Europe. You've already said Orange are done with, you've got Diezel and a couple others local to Europe where shipping won't be as big a factor or currency conversion. However, you WANT the Stone Age, so get it :thumbsup:

Mo
 
I know John personally. I have seen his cabinets in various bulid stages and his workmanship and quality are second to none. John's cabs sound amazing!! Period.
 
Hey Guys

Thanks for all the answers, it's been very informative.

I've made up my mind, and the cab is now ordered, just got the mail from John confirming what we've talked about. So now I just need to get paid so I can wire him some money!!!

I've decided on a 4x12 loaded with four new 16 ohm Celestion Heritage G12M Greenbacks. It's gonna be covered in black tolex on the sides, and brown on top and bottom. It's gonna have a brown cane grille cloth. It's gonna look and sound amazing with my Selmer!!!

Again, thanks for all the great replies. Keep the thread alive, and tell me what you think about my choice.
 
TubeScreamers":20fap6ek said:
Hey Guys

Thanks for all the answers, it's been very informative.

I've made up my mind, and the cab is now ordered, just got the mail from John confirming what we've talked about. So now I just need to get paid so I can wire him some money!!!

I've decided on a 4x12 loaded with four new 16 ohm Celestion Heritage G12M Greenbacks. It's gonna be covered in black tolex on the sides, and brown on top and bottom. It's gonna have a brown cane grille cloth. It's gonna look and sound amazing with my Selmer!!!

Again, thanks for all the great replies. Keep the thread alive, and tell me what you think about my choice.
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CONGRATS!!!! Feels good when you just make the decision, eh?? Nicely done - please post pics when it arrives and coupled with your current amp...

Should be 100% candy!!
Mo/V.
 
I think I would've bought unloaded to save weight and shippingcost. You can always buy speakers locally.

Giga
 
Hi

I'm totally stoked right now, almost can't wait till it's here. And don't worry, I'll definately post pictures when it arrives.

@Giga. We talked about (me and John) doing it unloaded, but the shipping costs are not going to be that much bigger when loaded. Apparantly it's the dimensions more than the weight that decides the cost.

The price in Denmark for a Celestion Heritage G12M Greenback is 281$, and when I buy them from John they are about half price, so I'm saving a little more than 500$ buying them from John. I know there's import taxes and stuff, but the pricetag is still smaller when I get a fully loaded cab from John, rather than unloaded.

Any Europeans here who's got any experiences similar to mine?
 
Capulin Overdrive":1fsxn5b5 said:
unless i'm missing something, he's using 5/8" instead of 3/4" plywood. that would be a deal breaker for me.


Splawn cabs are the best thing going for not being expensive, and are very well built with high quality parts and nice grill cloth.


how much would a Diezel cab cost you?


and what speakers would you use?
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I'm gonna be using Celestion G12M Heritage.

A Diezel cab would be around 1700$, so about the same price, but I'm a classic Rock'n'Roller, and as far as I can tell, the Diezel cabs are more Heavy. But I don't know anything about them, so correct me if I'm wrong.
 
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