What would do to a Marshall 1936 cab to improve tone

[Marshallman]

Hey guys! Never modified cabinets in the past but I am willing to play around with my Marshall 1936 to improve the overall tone. I've heard of caulking the inside of the cab. What else do you guys recommend? I'm opened to anything.

 

[AndyK]

When I had a 1936, I used one stock g12T-75, and added a V30 to the other side. Made the cab much more balanced, IMHO.

 

[blackba]

Do you have any idea what year your 1936 cab is? 80's or so 1936 cabs are supposed to be plywood, with MDF backs. Sometime in the 90's they changed to all MDF cabs. If you have an all MDF cab, I would just sell the cab and move on.

I built a copy of the Marshall 1936 cab many years ago and I also have a Marshall Silver Jubilee 2556AV. The Marshall 2556AV is plywood, with an MDF back. I recently replaced the back with a 5/8" birch plywood back and noticed an improvement in sound, it sounds more punchy and tighter now. I wanted to change the jack and didn't want to modify the original back, so I made a new one.

Caulking the cab is a good idea, so is adding bracing. But I think changing the back, putting in thicker gauge wire, and changing the speakers will give you better results.

In my 1936 copy, I have had CL80's, WGS ET-65's, and currently have Celestion anni G12H30's. With the G12H30's, the cab was too boomy, so I made the cab opened back. I highly recommend the CL80's with this cab.

With my 2556AV, I currently have WGS ET-65's, great speakers in that cab.

 

[tonefinger]

Do some research on building speaker cabinets before you do anything. This is what I did. Go to you local auto system installer and buy two vented ports about 5" diameter. install in the back of the cabinet for more bass response. I did it to mine and its good.

 

[racerevlon]

Sell and buy a Splawn or a Mills... just sayin'... never heard a good-sounding 1936...

 

[guitarmike]

Sell and buy a Splawn or a Mills... just sayin'... never heard a good-sounding 1936...

+1

 

[SFW]

I'd set it on fire. The newer 1936 cabs are all MDF, which is not an ideal material for guitar enclosures.

 

[JvZ]

Marshall 1936's DO sound great.
Since 2012 they made them ALL ply again, wich is a huge improvement over the MDF one's.
The cabinet, back and baffle are ALL made of ply now.

I did just a few improvements on my cab:
- I've put V30's in
- I've got one layer of pritex foam at the bottom, to give it a slightly little better bass
- I've put a little double sided foam tape on top of the wooden pole in the middle, so it's attached to the back now (it will go when opened)
- I've screwed adjustable feet under it, in the standard fitting. (I don't like wheels).

This cabinet sounds awesome, and i love it.

 

[boost]

I have one that someone modified with bacing and insulation similar to the Bogner OS 2 X 12. They also added a couple of ports to the rear. I had some not very ideal cheaper 80 watt Celestions in this and my Bogner 2 X 12 and A/B them side by side. The Bogner was a little darker and more vintage sounding, but the two were not that far apart. Again the speakers were not identical or ideal for the cabs, but it gave me an idea of how each cab reacted. I have no idea how a stock 1936 would compare to the Bogner, but I'm guessing it might not fair as well.

In the end I decided to keep the Bogner and have the 1936 on CL Chicago for sale as I have no intention of trying to ship this thing. The reason I went with the Bogner is I think it will get me closer to the tone of my 4 X 12 due to the size and the closed back cab. I probably won't get there, but this cab isn't really that much smaller than a 4 X 12 so...maybe I'll get close.

 

[JvZ]

Making ports is not the best thing you can do to a closed cab.
A closed cab sounds a lot better. Best if you even make it complete airtight.

The only speaker that needs porting, is a particular bass box, wich a guitar cab is'nt
If you do, close the other sections from the bass compartiment (we're talking HiFi here, not guitar cabinet)

Some acoustic foam (like in mine) helps also. It get's more volume (allthough the 1936 isn't small at all).
You can try by throwing in a wool sweater, and hear the difference.

 

[Red_Label]

Sell and buy a Splawn or a Mills... just sayin'... never heard a good-sounding 1936...

Agreed. They're not deep enough.

But you forgot the Bogner OS 2X12. I've owned two of those and they were great cabs.

 

[Racerxrated]

I insulated a few 1960 cabs over the years and to me it helps. Just some extra carpet padding I've had around the house, cut it up and stapled it to the top, bottom, back and sides. Seems to tighten the sound up.

 

[155]

the mdf 1936 cabs sound like total shit ,if thats what it is move on speakers will not help...

 

[splatter]

Do you have any idea what year your 1936 cab is? 80's or so 1936 cabs are supposed to be plywood, with MDF backs. Sometime in the 90's they changed to all MDF cabs. If you have an all MDF cab, I would just sell the cab and move on.

I built a copy of the Marshall 1936 cab many years ago and I also have a Marshall Silver Jubilee 2556AV. The Marshall 2556AV is plywood, with an MDF back. I recently replaced the back with a 5/8" birch plywood back and noticed an improvement in sound, it sounds more punchy and tighter now. I wanted to change the jack and didn't want to modify the original back, so I made a new one.

Caulking the cab is a good idea, so is adding bracing. But I think changing the back, putting in thicker gauge wire, and changing the speakers will give you better results.

In my 1936 copy, I have had CL80's, WGS ET-65's, and currently have Celestion anni G12H30's. With the G12H30's, the cab was too boomy, so I made the cab opened back. I highly recommend the CL80's with this cab.

With my 2556AV, I currently have WGS ET-65's, great speakers in that cab.

I have an MDF 1936 with scumbacks and it sounds killer

 

[splatter]

Change the speakers , the gt-75s are just to bright

 

[Badronald]

I had one years ago. It was horrible.
Maybe the newer ones are better, as mentioned.

 

[jamme61]

i went to v30 speakers and made it partial open back. Mine is an old JCM 800 cab so ply except for the back panel. The partial open back (about 4" open in the middle) of two ply panels, I added. For me it sounds 100% better with the open back- its louder less directional and my drummer can hear me a lot better. I play classic rock and blues- if your playing heavy metal not sure if this will work for you.

 

[JvZ]

the mdf 1936 cabs sound like total shit ,if thats what it is move on speakers will not help...

New 1936's are made of all ply.
Mine is, and sounds awesome.

Change the speakers , the gt-75s are just to bright

True...! I changed mine to V30's (Or could have bought a vintage cab..)

My 1936 really is deep enough, and the layer of acoustic foam in the bottom improves the sound
By making these cab's of ply again, they did the best thing they could do with these cab's

If you want to compare it to Bogner. These cab's mostly run V30's in them.
To compare with Marshall 1936, take a vintage one, not the lead version with G12T75's

 

[Valtyr]

I had one that was about 10 years old and in near mint condition. It sounded ok but I didn't want to mess with it. I eventually traded it in and got a Peavey 5150 4x12 and am happier.

 

[JvZ]

Just some extra carpet padding I've had around the house, cut it up and stapled it to the top, bottom, back and sides. Seems to tighten the sound up.

What this does is just like the layer acoustic foam i have on the bottom.
(I like changes i can get undone, if they don't work out).

Foam gives the cab more volume. You can try by throwing in a wool sweater. It has the same effect.
Although, i think carpet is often too dense to get the right effect.

Especially on the cheap chipboard back's, you can stick a noise plate to it. I mean the same noise plate you find in your car doors, to prevent it sounding like metal.
A sheet (50x50cm) will cost around €10 ($13). They're self adhesive, and you can get it at the local carshop.