Arauco, Okoume and Baltic Birch

[popgadget]

Like this ? !

Sure looks like my shop

 

[agedhorse]

OK. This goes directly to my initial reference to "sonic characteristics" of the various plywoods. I recognize that the selection of "tonewoods" is a common aspect of guitar and bass guitar construction - not of cabinet building. Yet clearly the differing degrees of plywood hardness, rigidity and weight, etc. all have a bearing upon the frequency response, tone and timbre of the finished product. That's all I meant.

Are we not all on the same page?

MM

I think we are, at least.

 

[CL400Peavey]

OK. This goes directly to my initial reference to "sonic characteristics" of the various plywoods. I recognize that the selection of "tonewoods" is a common aspect of guitar and bass guitar construction - not of cabinet building. Yet clearly the differing degrees of plywood hardness, rigidity and weight, etc. all have a bearing upon the frequency response, tone and timbre of the finished product. That's all I meant.

Are we not all on the same page?

MM

That would depend as much if not more on the specific cabinet and its bracing, than the wood used. Unless the goal is to have the cabinet itself be a resonator contributing to the excitation of air, the goal is usually to have the cab be the exact opposite where it offers structure and nothing else in the creation of sound.

At this point its kind of like asking which room in your house has better tone rattles contributing to your playing.

 

[dawind99]

I use 18 gauge narrow crown staples in assorted lengths. I mainly use Bostitch but the Hitachi products are excellent as well and occasionally a bargain. Stay away from brads, finish nails as they have little holding power and certainly will not pull something in to join and hold. Staple legs diverge as they go in which is what give them the holding power. I do have a high end Bostitch pin nailer that I use for some finer work and the Bostitch pin nails have an adhesive coating on them that activates when it heats up from the friction on entry. They hold surprisingly well. Don't miss with staples; they aren't easily removed

 

[dawind99]

There are a lot of cabs out there made out of MDF which is heavy and not very durable. In terms of plywood, the three you laid out:

• Baltic Birch
  • Lighter than MDF
  • Stronger/more durable than MDF
  • Properly braced there should be no sonic difference from any other material
• Aruco
  • Lighter than Baltic Birch
  • Not quite as strong/durable as BB
  • likes to warp.
  • Properly braced there should be no sonic difference from any other material
• Okoume
  • Lighter than Aruco
  • Strong enough to make cabs out of
  • benefits from a strong coating as it can dent easily
  • Properly braced there should be no sonic difference from any other material

As the cabs in question, the differences in weight become less meaningful. Taking 20% off of a 25 pound cab is only 5 pounds. 20% off of a 100 pound cab is 20 pounds. The the cost/weight benefit gets narrow as the cab gets smaller.



The raw cost of the Okoume is significantly more expensive than Baltic birch or Aruco, and will depend on the location where it is sourced. i.e. buying wood in the mid west may have different cost margins than the PNW. The weight will depend on the particular lots you are looking at as the weight of a single sheet of ply is not 100% consistent.

Once again, we're not talking tone woods here. (Even that has a lot less to do with an electric instruments tone than other portions of its build.) Properly built, there should be no impact in material of construction.

Sums it up.