IDing an old cabinet (JBL D130F content)

[armywalaby]

click here to skip nonsense

got it out of my buddys basement today. had fiberglass insulation in the sides of it (wth?), cleaned it all out. all the wires were bad, threw them away. the cab had fallen over a couple of days ago, and the top speaker broke away from the baffle board splitting it enough to render it useless. I can remove the baffle board from the front; I was thinking since I already have a 2x15 cab can I just cut a new baffle board for 8x10 speakers? Anyone try this or know someone who had any success? I am pretty good with PA, but when it comes to making new cabinets I'm at a loss. any advice is appreciated!

[KramerBassFan]

Well, what kind of cab is it?

[B-string]

If you just mount eight 10" to a soundbord and attach it without building in at least two compartments (prefer four to eight). You may not like it much.

[MONOLITHLOUD]

Originally Posted by armywalaby

got it out of my buddys basement today. had fiberglass insulation in the sides of it (wth?), cleaned it all out. all the wires were bad, threw them away. the cab had fallen over a couple of days ago, and the top speaker broke away from the baffle board splitting it enough to render it useless. I can remove the baffle board from the front; I was thinking since I already have a 2x15 cab can I just cut a new baffle board for 8x10 speakers? Anyone try this or know someone who had any success? I am pretty good with PA, but when it comes to making new cabinets I'm at a loss. any advice is appreciated!

i would strongly suggest splitting the cab into two compartments as well. what kind of cab is it? check the parameters of the box with respect to what you intend to load it with.

[KramerBassFan]

Not to mention, if its like most older 2x15s (just assuming its older) it will be woefully be lacking internal volume for a bass cabinet using 8 x 10's.

A lot of 2x15s from back in the day are rather thin. But it could be a newer one, hard to say.

Either way... you likely may not have enough internal volume to work with.

[MONOLITHLOUD]

Originally Posted by KramerBassFan

Not to mention, if its like most older 2x15s (just assuming its older) it will be woefully be lacking internal volume for a bass cabinet using 8 x 10's.

A lot of 2x15s from back in the day are rather thin. But it could be a newer one, hard to say.

Either way... you likely may not have enough internal volume to work with.

+1

[scotty g]

We'll need a bit more information. And I'm still confused about what you are trying to do. Are you putting the 8x10 speakers into the cab that you already have or vice versa?

In general, the cabs are designed around the speakers, so depending on the size of the cab itself, tuning frequency of the port (if ported), etc, when replacing speakers of different sizes into a cab they weren't designed for, it may or may not give you the result you want.

What is wrong with replacing the wiring and cutting a new baffle for the 8x10 and putting it back into the original cab?

[B-string]

Originally Posted by scotty g

We'll need a bit more information. And I'm still confused about what you are trying to do. Are you putting the 8x10 speakers into the cab that you already have or vice versa?

In general, the cabs are designed around the speakers, so depending on the size of the cab itself, tuning frequency of the port (if ported), etc, when replacing speakers of different sizes into a cab they weren't designed for, it may or may not give you the result you want.

What is wrong with replacing the wiring and cutting a new baffle for the 8x10 and putting it back into the original cab?

It is currently a 215 not a 810.

[grendle]

You can usually find good deals on an 8x10 svt for about $500 which is most likely less than what you can build it for. Just throwing that out there. But we all like to tinker. If you have wood ,a saw, and a ruler have at it! I wouldn't see why you couldn't do it. I would agree with the 2 or more baffles though. Should be cool!

[scotty g]

Originally Posted by B-string

It is currently a 215 not a 810.

ooohhh.. it took me a few more readings to get it. Sorry, I'm a little tired. Disregard most of what I said....

Internal volume will definitely be your issue...

[armywalaby]

I can't find my camera (probably at the rehearsal space) so I took some dimensions.

Height: 45 in
Width: 28.5 in
Depth: 9 in

I did some research on the speakers, and they were new in 1960 (!). The cabinet itself has a large metal U shaped bar mounted on each side that the wheels are attached to on the bottom. I see what you are saying about there not being enough internal volume, however, the back can be removed...if I took off the back at the gig would I allow the speakers to breathe better, or not?

[will33]

Originally Posted by armywalaby

I can't find my camera (probably at the rehearsal space) so I took some dimensions.

Height: 45 in
Width: 28.5 in
Depth: 9 in

I did some research on the speakers, and they were new in 1960 (!). The cabinet itself has a large metal U shaped bar mounted on each side that the wheels are attached to on the bottom. I see what you are saying about there not being enough internal volume, however, the back can be removed...if I took off the back at the gig would I allow the speakers to breathe better, or not?

9" deep?....forget it, it's an old 215 guitar cab from the 60's. Taking the back off would surely blow them with a bass, ok for guitar though. Could do some research to see if it's worth fixing up/cleaning up and selling as a vintage item but I'd forget about turning it into a bass cab.

[makohund]

Originally Posted by armywalaby

if I took off the back at the gig would I allow the speakers to breathe better, or not?

Um... no. Don't do that.

[KramerBassFan]

Throw a pair of old Jensen 15's in at and use it as a Lap Steel cab.

[will33]

Originally Posted by KramerBassFan

Throw a pair of old Jensen 15's in at and use it as a Lap Steel cab.

A capital idea.

[Electricblue]

Originally Posted by armywalaby

*snip*

if I took off the back at the gig would I allow the speakers to breathe better, or not?

Don't take it to heart, but if you think speakers need to "breathe better", this task is way above your technical knowledge/skill.

[BurningSkies]

That fiberglass you removed is damping material, and pretty much an important part of making a cab sound good. Before you're done with whatever you end up doing, you'll want to replace it with similar or a decent substitute for what you took out.

[armywalaby]

Originally Posted by Electricblue

Don't take it to heart, but if you think speakers need to "breathe better", this task is way above your technical knowledge/skill.

I'd appreciate it if you explained it to me instead of telling me about how much I don't know. Thanks.

[dhsierra1]

how about a 4-12 cab? Maybe the S2012s? Vented, tuned somewhere near 50 Hz? They're neo so the weight wouldn't be too bad. Could stagger them to fit. There may be other good 12 choices for this volume but I'll leave that to the more experienced to chime in. Just my 0.02

+1 on lining the cab, would likely need to do some additional bracing as well.

[rad bassman]

Originally Posted by armywalaby

I'd appreciate it if you explained it to me instead of telling me about how much I don't know. Thanks.

speaker cab design is far more than just a box with speakers in it, to get a decent sounding cab requires alot of thought and calculation, far more than i understand, in fact its probably fair to say that very few people truly understand the Science involved. altho here on TB there are several EXPERTS!!

a decent cab is designed for a specific driver, random box stuffing very rarely works that well, (if ever), bass frequencies are particularly demanding of a cab design, this makes the random box stuffing even less successful.

yes you could put 8 10" drivers in your cab but it is VERY unlikely to sound anywhere close to what you would hope, not just sound quality, but level of volume heard too