DIY cab for 130W tube amp

ninepoundjammer · #1 11-05-2010, 02:02 AM

So, I'm off to check out a Musicman HD130 (130 Watts) amp tomorrow morning and I imagine chances are good it'll be following me home. Been itching to own a tube amp for a while.

My current rig is a Bergantino HT112ER/EX112ER stack driven by an EA Doubler (550 Watts). Love this rig, have no plans to get rid of it, but I'd love to have a cab to use with the MM amp that has some of the same old school mojo, if you will.

I'll admit, a good bit of my desire to build a cab to go with the MM is due to my belief that the amp would look super hot atop a cab with the plywood left exposed with some sort of clear/amber finish. Of course, with only 130 Watts to go around, I also think I could end up with a cab tuned a little better for the MM. I like a pretty fat low end, but I play exclusively 4-bangers and I don't need strong response in the super low end.

So, I know I have lots of reading to do on cab design and building, but I can't help getting a little ahead of myself and musing about what would be a good design here. I looked at some response graphs for some of the sealed emminence designs and the low end appears to drop off pretty severely to me. I expected this, but was surprised at the extent -- is this typical of all sealed cabs? The few times I've played out of Ampeg sealed cabs I've been able to eq a tone I was happy enough with, though I did have to cut mids pretty heavily. This would be my first cab build, so there's something attractive about a simple sealed cab. I roll off quite a bit of tone on my passive J-bass, so I wonder how much I'd miss a mid-driver/tweeter.

Of course, I know fearfuls are all the rage here, but it seems like they're going to be tuned too low to be optimal for this amp. Would I have much luck taking an existing design and tweaking the port tuning a bit?

I've learned to love the dual 1x12 setup of my Bergs. Would love to do something similar here.

So what would be the general features of the ultimate DIY cab for a 130 Watt tube amp?

JimmyM · #2 11-05-2010, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninepoundjammer

So, I know I have lots of reading to do on cab design and building, but I can't help getting a little ahead of myself and musing about what would be a good design here. I looked at some response graphs for some of the sealed emminence designs and the low end appears to drop off pretty severely to me. I expected this, but was surprised at the extent -- is this typical of all sealed cabs? The few times I've played out of Ampeg sealed cabs I've been able to eq a tone I was happy enough with, though I did have to cut mids pretty heavily. This would be my first cab build, so there's something attractive about a simple sealed cab. I roll off quite a bit of tone on my passive J-bass, so I wonder how much I'd miss a mid-driver/tweeter.

i doubt you'd miss a mid driver at all if you roll off the tone knob on a jazz. and yes, it does seem that most sealed cabs drop off the low end at a fairly high point in the frequency spectrum compared to ported cabs. but that doesn't mean it won't sound fat. the rest of your questions someone else will have to field them as i'm not a builder.

ninepoundjammer · #3 11-05-2010, 02:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

i doubt you'd miss a mid driver at all if you roll off the tone knob on a jazz. and yes, it does seem that most sealed cabs drop off the low end at a fairly high point in the frequency spectrum compared to ported cabs. but that doesn't mean it won't sound fat. the rest of your questions someone else will have to field them as i'm not a builder.

I have an old TL-606 (15" ported, no mid/horn) in the basement that I haven't hooked up in probably 5 years. I'll have to try it out and see how I like that experiment.

JimmyM · #4 11-05-2010, 02:47 AM

tl 606 sounds like a great candidate for that head.

ninepoundjammer · #5 11-05-2010, 02:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimmyM

tl 606 sounds like a great candidate for that head.

I thought about that. I think it might need a recone and it's pretty heavy. I was also thinking I'd probably want two 1x15's or 1x12's, and I don't think I can match the construction of my existing tl 606 very easily. I'll certainly consider building up a couple matching tl 606's if I dig that one though (hopefully lighter than the one I have). I'll have to dig up the specs on those, could be just what I'm looking for, not sure why I didn't think of that design as an option.

tl 606: ported but not tuned quite as low??? I've had it for a long time but haven't used it much and don't really know much about it.

JimmyM · #6 11-05-2010, 03:07 AM

been years since i played a tl 606, too, but that's my recollection of it.

Jhtjon · #7 11-05-2010, 05:03 AM

I can tell you that my Traynor YBA-3 sounds great with my TL 606. The only downside is that they really mean it when they tell you it is a 100w cabinet.

PaulNYC · #8 11-05-2010, 05:46 AM

Get a bfm jack 10 or 12.

will33 · #9 11-05-2010, 06:45 AM

How loud do you need it to get? Basically 2 ways to get loud with low wattage, BFM style horn loading or just plain using lot's of speakers (610, 810, 412, etc.). A pair if 15's with decent SPL would do the trick if you're not trying to shake the foundation with it. I'd also say play it through whatever cabs you currently have and use that as a baseline to figure from, if you run across one you think sounds good, get another just like it.

staindbass · #10 11-05-2010, 07:13 AM

the 'ultimate' speaker depends on your budget... what are you looking to spend? johnny a. staind.

ninepoundjammer · #11 11-05-2010, 09:14 AM

I'll definitely be trying this through the range of cabs at my disposal -- TL 606, Berg 12's, and a couple Berg 10" cabs. The Berg 12's will undoubtedly be what I run this through in the near term. Getting some experience with different cabs is certainly in order.

My current band plays with pretty reasonable volume. I really could get away with the single Berg 8ohm HT112ER and the Doubler if I had to. I also will still have a couple other more powerful rigs around, so if this thing only gets used for recording and gigs with top notch sound support, so be it.

I'm really liking the TL 606 idea if it sounds ok. I can build a couple lighter weight TL 606 cabs up pretty easily and I'd just need a bit of cabinet hardware and one additional driver, so it sounds very easy on the budget.

Budget? I'd like to spend as little as possible, but I've never been one to shy away from outlaying some cash to get what I want.

koobie · #12 11-05-2010, 09:59 AM

You'll want to use the most efficient cab(s) possible with an HD130. I've got an HD150 driving two 3015-loaded TL606 cabs and while a neat rig, it could use more clean headroom. I'll leave it up to the experts to make specific cab suggestions, but if it doesn't need to be particularly compact, I'd imagine a larger horn-loaded design would be beneficial.

wcriley · #13 11-05-2010, 11:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ninepoundjammer

So, I'm off to check out a Musicman HD130 (130 Watts) amp tomorrow morning and I imagine chances are good it'll be following me home. Been itching to own a tube amp for a while.

Somewhat OT, but the Musicman HD amps are not true tube amps. The output/power stage has tubes, but the preamp is pure solid state. Bass-ackwards from today's hybrids.

I played skinny-string guitar though an HD130 212 combo for years and loved it. BUT...I prefer the compression/distortion of power tubes rather than preamp tube distortion.

Just something to keep in mind while you're testing the amp out, as your taste may not be the same as mine.

DukeLeJeune · #14 11-05-2010, 12:22 PM

Old school... low power... fat bottom end... I'm thinking a pair of Basslite CH2515's. Efficiency is good, and with 3 to 4 cubic feet internal volume tuned to the mid-40's your bottom end will be nice and fat. Or trade off some bottom end for portability and go with about 2 to 2.5 cubic feet sealed.

The Deltalite II 2515 has slightly higher efficiency, and would work in a vented box, but the bottom end wouldn't be as fat.

Mo'Phat · #15 11-05-2010, 02:05 PM

Lots of suggestions for 2x15's, but with just 130 watts, it might be tough to find two fifteens efficient enough to maintain clarity at higher volumes.

As a fan of the TL series cabinets, the TL-806 is a 12" speaker box. Two of these would be a pretty sweet rig with the HD130.

Go for Neo drivers and maybe not use 3/4" plywood.

http://archives.telex.com/archives/E...rs%20Plans.pdf

JTE · #16 11-05-2010, 02:17 PM

I had am HD-130 (earlier version with the 12AX7 driver tube, got it in late 1977), and used it with a lot of different cabinets. My favorite is still the way it worked with the MM 212RH, and with my early Guild/Hartke 4x10. I did have a TL-606 cabinet made from plans EV used to give away, and while it was good, it had some funny midrange stuff I never could cure with the amp's EQ. However, I did have a chance to play it through a pair of the 12" Theile cabs (must be the TL-806's Mo'Phat refers to) with JBL drivers in them.

All the cabinets were made by the same local cabinet maker (really, he did kitchen cabinets for a living) when a friend of mine wanted something smaller than his Dual Showman box. A group of us got together and had several 1x15 and 1x12 boxes made. While they were all heavy (he used 3/4" particle board, and faced the exterior with sheets of Formica) they were way more portable than the other stuff available in the early 80s. If I still had my HD-130 now, I'd go for a pair of good efficient 1x12 cabinets I think.

Wish I still had that amp to try with modern cabinets...

John

ninepoundjammer · #17 11-05-2010, 06:28 PM

Well, I got the amp. It's going to need some tender loving care but everything is functional -- pretty much what I was expecting.

Actually sounds quite good and is much louder than I expected through the Bergantino 12's. Not in as much a hurry to replace them as I thought I might be. Running dual 12's at 4ohms (total) is plenty loud for just about any situation I'm ever in. I think it'll cover +90% of my gigs with ease.

Gotta run off to a gig. More to come.