Are Lightweight Plastic Cabinets Coming Soon ??

[Stumbo]

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Doesn't JBL use some kind of non-wood cab material?

Oh, agedhorse beat me to it. He knows stuff.

 

[Bassbeater]

It was never an option not to.
...windex anyone?

 

[old spice]

Acoustic Image makes their cabinets out of plastic now.

 

[Deak]

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What an awesome project!

 

[stigbeve]

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i just had to ...

Of course the drummer would have clear shells too.

 

[Zooberwerx]

Acme offers a 2 X 12 in either plywood or composite which is 11 lbs lighter. Also adds $300 to the price tag.

Riis

 

[dbase]

I'm thinking if bass cabs get too light they would be vibrating around on the stage.

 

[Bassbeater]

I'm going to try filling my sealed 4-10 with helium.

 

[Ross W. Lovell]

Hope not. There's too much plastic and other non-organic stuff already that ends up as non-recyclabe waste. At least wood is renewable.

Yeah, but by renewable, much energy is consumed in reprocessing the old back into what it was originally. Glues, heat curing, machines to press and the cut to size along with final finishing.

Heil made PA cabinets, I still have. Great cab for bass, but f-glass isn't light by any means, but is more durable and longer lived in most cases.

 

[DaveDeVille]

Of course the drummer would have clear shells too.

oh , ok then ...

 

[stigbeve]

oh , ok then ...
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[tgriley62]

You just had to go there didn’t you?

It was either that or the other classic "Fire the drummer"

 

[74hc]

Hope not. There's too much plastic and other non-organic stuff already that ends up as non-recyclabe waste. At least wood is renewable.

Much of what we come in contact with on a daily basis is organic or bio-plastic. The plastic industry has improved much since McDonald's polystyrene food containers back in the 70s and 80s.

I wonder if we can dig up some gig reports back in those days where we'd see photo's from TBers going to a gig with a polystrene burger container from McDonalds? I know if I would have done such a thing back in the early 80's, there would be such photos. It seemed that McDonalds tended to be standard fuel going to gigs.

I think our standard food for the band back then was:

1- Mexican food since most of us worked at a mexican restaurant.
2- McDonald's prior to the gig.
3- Pizza hut for the hang out after the gig because they had a table top video game.
4- Beer from the trunk of a car, usually my Volvo 1800, since we were not quite 21 then.

 

[radbass]

I have a 12” composite cab with a custom 3012 Mike Arnopol made years ago. It weighs about 17lbs. and kicks butt. Unfortunately it was making him sick to make them. He made some for Duke.

 

[Nephilymbass]

We’ve used plastic JBL eons and QSCs at practice for monitoring vocals. They are ok. Can totally see it go that way for Guitar cabs. Don’t know about bass though. I think the technology is still a ways off. Most little subs I’ve seen that go with those plastic tops are mostly made out of wood still. But you never know.

 

[telecopy]

Lightweight Speaker cabinets are becoming more popular these days.
I wonder if we will see plastic cabinets in the near future or other lightweight materials aside from wood without compromising sound..
Plastic over styrofoam would really eliminate some weight..
Fiberglass is another option..
Carbon fiber another..
I was watching a YouTube Barefaced video and Alex made a comment about the lightweight hi strength materials used in hi performance race cars and it got me thinking..

Flite Sound makes (made?) lightweight composite cabs..

 

[wildman2]

Graphene composite maybe not soon but maybe.

 

[Chef]

What's the best wood for metal?

And, that’s a wrap.
Thank you and goodnight.

 

[bassablyours]

Graphene composite maybe not soon but maybe.

The carbon layer, called graphene, is almost transparent. But it is really strong. And with almost unlimited potential applications, ranging from lightweight planes and energy storage devices to nano-electronics and medical equipment, it has got the science community genuinely excited.

Graphene composite maybe not soon but maybe.

 

[TBLuthier]

Hope not. There's too much plastic and other non-organic stuff already that ends up as non-recyclabe waste. At least wood is renewable.

I’m all for saving as much as we can but to call wood renewable and plastics non-renewable is a bit of a stretch. Plastics, if we use the word as a strict adjective...are infinitely renewable. Many are made from corn. Corn grows faster than nearly any other crop save perhaps bamboo. I would rather advocate for saving the wood for basses however, having played some form of composit bass for the last 20 years or so,I may just be invalidating my own point.