WDW Cabs....suggestions

[bste328]

I am building a WDW set up. I am acquiring the final (ahhahahaha I wish) pieces of it and then I will finish wiring it all up.

At the moment I only have a Synergy 2x12 cabs with Celestion Neo Creambacks in it (has mono/stereo inputs). I really like the sound with my amps so no need to change it....

Since I a bit of an OCD about looks other than sound as well, I am contemplating the purchase of:

Alternative A: a Synergy 4x12 to stack on top of it (or vice versa) and this will be used for my DRY signal. The Synergy 4x12 will have GBs and V30s in it.
Alternative B: another Synergy 2x12 on top of it for DRY. Will stay stock with its V30s
Alternative C: ????

My questions:
- what are your experiences with WDW set ups with the dry/center with a 4x12 or 2x12 STACKED on top of the we cabinets (instead of having for example 2 1x12s on the side)?
- what other cabinets would you suggest?
- is it worth having the 4x12 instead of the 2x12 (in this context)? 4x12 will be 2X expensive as the 2x12 as there is one used locally....

 

[srommes]

You want to have enough spread with your cabs to hear the full effect of wdw. You really want three cabinets to achieve that, be it with 1x12’s, 2x12’s or 4x12’s. Since you already have the 2x12 for your dry signal, I’d probably just get a couple of 1x12’s for your wet cabs. I run Mesa Thiele 1x12’s as my wet cabs and I run them 100% wet with a Recto 2x12 in the middle. Sounds huge!

 

[JackBootedThug]

Real men go wet/wet/wet…. It’s kinda my thing… I invented it.. I have another combo amp sitting off to the side and I’m trying to figure out how to link it up with my existing setup…. Then it will be wet/wet/wet/wet….

 

[paulyc]

Real men go wet/wet/wet…. It’s kinda my thing… I invented it.. I have another combo amp sitting off to the side and I’m trying to figure out how to link it up with my existing setup…. Then it will be wet/wet/wet/wet….

The only thing yer wettin’ is the bed

 

[JackBootedThug]

The only thing yer wettin’ is the bed

 

[njshred]

In the early 90s I used a single 4x12 live for w/d/w.

The bottom two speakers were wired together as the dry.

The top two as the left and right wet.

I accomplished this by removing the factory two input back plate and wiring it up myself.

The left jack was mono for the bottom, the right I used a TRS jack to feed the top speakers in stereo.

To further complicate things I wired the cabinet end of the wet wire in reverse so the tip was the ground, the ring the left and sleeve the right. This way if I used another custom reversed mono speaker wire, as the mono jack would collapse the ring and ground together, which would feed the top speakers a mono signal. Which could then be used as top two as one stereo group and bottom two as another, OR with two wires, I could use the entire 4x12 in mono at lower ohm rating.

 

[mentoneman]

i’ve done lots of different experiments with my live rigs.
i prefer a 4x12 center dry. 2 more 4x12s for the wet cabs are really cool.

but 2 1x12s for the stereo wet cabs keeps the rig footprint more compact and manageable for weight and overall volume control but still sounds killer. if you can swing the bareface 1x12s they are amazing but traditional 1x12s keep the sound more directional if stage bleed is a concern.

you can use powered frfr speakers for wets and they provide more full range detail in the highs but can feel stiff and non guitar like. some are better than others at that type of response.

 

[bste328]

I am adding a little bit of context here: for live use (whenever I play with friends outside home) I use a Quad Cortex + Fryette 2:50:2 in whatever cabs I have available OR I bring my own. So live is just plain stereo or mono.

This WDW rig is just for home use/pleasure. So I am trying to stay "compact" wise because I have a dedicated music room in the basement but is not super huge and is already filled with gear. The idea of "stacking" a 4x12 (dry) and a 2x12 (stereo wet sides) was because of that. So the goal is to stay as compact as possible "horizontally" (4x12 + 2*1x12 is larger than a single 4x12, but less wide than a 4x12 and 2 horizontal 2x12s) and I don't have issue to address like directonal sound, stage bleed etc as I don't mike anything because for recording I just use reactive loads and IRs directly in DAW. As I said WDW is just for my own pleasure.

BTW thanks already for the great inputs and suggestions!!

For reference this is my studio at the Moment

 

[bste328]

In the early 90s I used a single 4x12 live for w/d/w.

The bottom two speakers were wired together as the dry.

The top two as the left and right wet.

I accomplished this by removing the factory two input back plate and wiring it up myself.

The left jack was mono for the bottom, the right I used a TRS jack to feed the top speakers in stereo.

To further complicate things I wired the cabinet end of the wet wire in reverse so the tip was the ground, the ring the left and sleeve the right. This way if I used another custom reversed mono speaker wire, as the mono jack would collapse the ring and ground together, which would feed the top speakers a mono signal. Which could then be used as top two as one stereo group and bottom two as another, OR with two wires, I could use the entire 4x12 in mono at lower ohm rating.

The first approach you mentioned is similar to what I was planning to do. As far as you remember were you able to hear the stereo effects + the benefit of separating the dry from the wet but being them very close? (in your example they were in the same cab as well, I would have them in 2 separate cabs, one on top of the other).

Thank you!

 

[harddriver]

I am adding a little bit of context here: for live use (whenever I play with friends outside home) I use a Quad Cortex + Fryette 2:50:2 in whatever cabs I have available OR I bring my own. So live is just plain stereo or mono.

This WDW rig is just for home use/pleasure. So I am trying to stay "compact" wise because I have a dedicated music room in the basement but is not super huge and is already filled with gear. The idea of "stacking" a 4x12 (dry) and a 2x12 (stereo wet sides) was because of that. So the goal is to stay as compact as possible "horizontally" (4x12 + 2*1x12 is larger than a single 4x12, but less wide than a 4x12 and 2 horizontal 2x12s) and I don't have issue to address like directonal sound, stage bleed etc as I don't mike anything because for recording I just use reactive loads and IRs directly in DAW. As I said WDW is just for my own pleasure.

BTW thanks already for the great inputs and suggestions!!

For reference this is my studio at the Moment

If you like your 2x12 then using 1x12's would work just fine. I don't know about the Harley Benton 1x12's but EVH makes a decent 1x12 cabinet or any 1x12 or 2x12 cab of your choice. I recommend a Suhr iso line out to tap your line out signal from your amp speaker jack, if you can't find a Suhr then the Bray line out pedals work just as good but I prefer the Suhr. If you are looking for a bigger sound then use a 4x12 for DRY and the two 2x12's or 1x12's for the wet.

Here's a couple of guys W/D/W setup from Youtube to give you some ideas.

 

[njshred]

The first approach you mentioned is similar to what I was planning to do. As far as you remember were you able to hear the stereo effects + the benefit of separating the dry from the wet but being them very close? (in your example they were in the same cab as well, I would have them in 2 separate cabs, one on top of the other).

Thank you!

It wasn’t as good acoustically as the three 4x12s I used previously, but the trade off was my back was happier.

 

[paulyc]

View attachment 415432

Small snack

 

[JackBootedThug]

Small snack