Thinking about a cab build: 2x15 with JBL E130's

[christw]

I'm thinking about my real first cab build. I'd be looking at sticking two E130's in a 2x15. Can someone point me in the right direction as far correct inner volume or recommended porting? I figure there are probably a few good designs already out there already and I might as well not reinvent the wheel.

Paging JohnK...

[bgavin]

E130 is a lead guitar speaker.

[jnewmark]

Originally Posted by bgavin

E130 is a lead guitar speaker.

+1. If you want to go that far back, you need a E140. Personally, I like the K140. You can also find the recommended cab size by going to JBL Pro. Takes a little digging but the info is there.

[dhsierra1]

Originally Posted by jnewmark

+1. If you want to go that far back, you need a E140. Personally, I like the K140. You can also find the recommended cab size by going to JBL Pro. Takes a little digging but the info is there.

+1, I've had good luck using D140Fs in a 2-15 Showman cab (ported, though), and I've heard people here liking the D/E/K 140s in the old Kustom 2-15s as well as Sunn's.

OTOH, here's a recent build that looks very interesting and could work:

Custom DIY 2x15 cab build

[christw]

Thanks guys! I'll see if I can't dig up a cab design. I just wanted E130's for their ridiculously high sensitivity to pair with things like my B-15 head. I had an E140 in a TL cab before and it was awesome.

As far as JohnK's cab goes, I already thought about it but it might need optimized for what I'm trying to do. I'll figure more out after my ridiculous work schedule lightens...

[funkytoe]

I have a custom 1x15 cab with an E-130 in it. I use it with a Sunn 200s head. Gets plenty loud and low with that 80 watt head. Don't discount it just because its also a great guitar speaker. Its also a solid bass speaker down to about 40 HZ. Maybe I would not choose it if I detuned or played a 5'er. But for a standard 4 string bass in 440 concert tuning, it will give you accurate fundamental all the way down to your low E. Would be great with a low watt Ampeg head.

[bgavin]

The E130 in a Flat alignment is a box size of 0.88 cubic feet, tuned at 86 Hz with an F3 of 119 Hz.
With a 2.54mm Xmax, the maximum voltage at 41 Hz is 13.5v or 23 watts.
This produces about 116 SPL at 150 Hz.
SPL drops to a paltry 91 SPL at 41 Hz.

A drop of -10dB sounds "half as loud"
The E130 is down -25dB at 41 Hz.

[ edit ]
If you want to stay above 63 Hz, you can use the full 150 watts.

Link to E130 Flat Chart

[craig.p]

If I had a pair of working 130s I'd sell them to pedal steel players and become instantly rich.

[D.M.N.]

I'd be interested to load a pair of K130s into one of my Sunn cabs and run it side by side with my K140 cab, but be nice for some extra high end of the 130s and the low girth of the 140s.

[mattydaddy1]

Hello, My name is Matthew, I am new to the forum. I am looking to find a JBL E130-8 if anyone has one in great condition, please let me know.

[2behead]

A friend of mine has a old ampeg B-25 cab with JBLs in it. Sounds so good. It's hard to make it sound bad. It was even good with a old crate 200w watt junker. BUT I swear it weighs more than a 8-10. 2 man lift/move

[BassmanPaul]

Originally Posted by mattydaddy1

Hello, My name is Matthew, I am new to the forum. I am looking to find a JBL E130-8 if anyone has one in great condition, please let me know.

Welcome Matt.

You should give the forum rules a read through.

[bassybill]

Originally Posted by mattydaddy1

Hello, My name is Matthew, I am new to the forum. I am looking to find a JBL E130-8 if anyone has one in great condition, please let me know.

Try posting this in the wanted section of the classifieds and you might drop lucky.

[christw]

Well, I happened to win an E-130 off of eBay so I'm going to build a cabinet for it after noodling with the B-15. I'm looking to minimize it's overall footprint and still retain the most bass response I can get from an E130.

FWIW, I'm not looking for or expecting low bass here. I like and embrace the midrange. I was thinking of building a 1.72 ft^3 box tuned about 75 hz giving me -5dB at 80 Hz. I was thinking braced half inch ply with outer dimensions coming to 17.5" x 16" x 13" if I don't recess the baffle. Two of those would fit in my trunk without a fight if I were to double up in the future.

Thoughts?

[BogeyBass]

Too small and disgusting high tuned...

shoot for 2 to 2.7 cubic per driver and tune at or slightly above Fs of the driver
which is 40hz. So box tuning should be about 40 to 45hz
try to keep the cab deep as possibly 14 to 15" so depending on how you do the
baffle actual internal should be min 13" deep

its a B15 so why not just build or buy more authentic repro Ampeg cabinets.

and yes a pair will be amazing for the power being used.

also after time money spent dont forget about these 2x15 portaflex cabs


I know where to get a vintage not repro for around 500 bucks
just replace the speakers with your E130's add some stuffing all done.

[christw]

I wish I could find one of those 2x15 towers around here. They match my B-15 for looks too! I can always drop the E130 in the B-15 cab but if it made sense to squeeze it into a small box to use with other amps I was going to go for it. If you can point me the way of a 2x15 tower though...

[BogeyBass]

ouch dude i think it sold, likewise just saying I like traditional nice looking stuff. So maybe a build of that 2x15 with lighter wood and modern round ports
but still wrap it in authentic ampeg tolex and piping would be a great. or 2 separate classic ampeg 115's. just upgrade the slot porting to modern ports again and keep the covering classic.

Funkytoe's cabinet build is amazing, again after spending time and money to build things its gotta look good in the end. It is a wonderful example. The head a speakers are worth extra effort.
plus I have no clue where his builder found Sunn tolex that in itself adds more to it.

so carry on with yours the same way matching rig according to the head being used, with a modern twist

[christw]

I wanted to use it with a wacky u-1061 you can see in the classifieds that I'm planning to pick up and mod a bit at Chrome Dome in Cincy-they've been great so far. I was thinking I'll do a recessed baffle with a rear mounted speaker with a black grill cloth between the speaker and baffle. I was going to coat it in duratex. If it doesn't come in white, I planned to paint it white. It'd fit the pop/indie/punk aesthetic of most of the bands I'd use it with.

I dig the quirky old stuff, including it's limitations. I dropped the one original '67 C12N from the B-12XTC into my Marshall JTM-60's 112 cab the other day and it was bliss. The speaker's tone and early breakup makes my strat sound like it's on an Allman Brothers record. The Marshall/Celestion Heritage G12 in there sounded like garbage in comparison.

Edit: My final intention is to match that rig to a tuxedo white Rickenbacker 4001 like the one I used to have in the far off future. I can't get over the way a Rickenbacker sounds with an overdriving tube amp. It's my only bass GAS.

[BogeyBass]

Oh cool sounds like your set on Aesthetics, I too have always wanted to do white cabinets.

Again maybe think about doing something close to a portaflex cabinet which has the thicker false fronts, and you could do the piping in gold. looks amazing.

whenever I think about white cabinets I think of older matamps or hiwatt cabinets which used gold piping and false edges as well.
Then of course black grillcloth looks good, but maybe also think about a grillcloth which I think marshall calls salt and pepper.
I could be wrong but it goes very well with white and thicker edge cabinets really show of the white color and leave room for piping.
Check out this hiwatt copy cab to see the color.

anyhoo i would not even stick a poopy 10" in anything less than a 1 cubic and tune it higher than 60hz.
So a 15 in less than a cubic tuned way high is just silly. JBl speakers have a high BL and will never have a flat response so it always confuses the heck out of people when they try to make sense of them in modeling programs. Its still a 15 and it needs room to breath especially a reflex cabinet. And staring at power handling curves is not what we do with speakers we hear them..., and tuning to high mighty hell to get power handling is not the way to go.
again just stay with a somewhat larger deeper cab
2 to 2.7cube and 40 to 45hz tune

[christw]

I've got a ~50hz tuned ~4.2 cubic foot cab on hand already. It has two round ports, 6" long and 4" in diameter. It's a bit too small for the Eminence Kappa Pro 15A in there already and probably too big for the E130. I could put some closed cell foam in there to adjust the internal volume but I'll probably need to adjust the porting too, no?

I'd really like to build a new cabinet for the speaker anyway. Those cabinets do look sweet but I'm not sure I could make one look that good.