Hey folks, been a while. My trusty 2x12 got drenched in a basement flood recently. I pulled the speakers but had to toss the cabinet. There isn't a lot of used gear around my area (northern VT) so I've been looking around for something affordable to order. No experience with Seismic, but the price looked ok. Is the build quality alright? My new band hasn't started playing shows yet, but at some point I may be lugging this around and I need something that can handle being bumped around a bit. Alternately, I could build something myself. Any opinions or leads on other decent cheap 2x12 enclosures are welcome.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Are the empty Seismic cabinets any good?
- Thread starter Seashore
- Start date
For bass amplification, the cabinet design needs to be really carefully matched to the particular drivers. So it’s not really sensible to say much about enclosure choices without being told what drivers you have.
The old cabinet was all 3/4 plywood, roughly 24" W x 30" H x 15" D. Closed back, front vented a couple inches up from the bottom, speakers mounted one above the other to the front of the plywood. No internal baffles, but a decent amount of white foam padding inside. I had it for about 26 years. It was very dark and thumpy and it paired really well with my bright Hartke 2x10. I was told when I bought it that the speakers were EVs, but when I pulled them, they just had the same logo of the local company (Creative Acoustics) that slapped the cab together. They look like this:
But really... I've read nerdy threads about cab dimensions and construction on here, and I'm not interested in going deep on that with these. I need another working cab soonish. I can rebuild what I had; it sounded fine; it's just an extra project I could do without, so I'm interested in the build quality of these Seismic cabs or anything else someone feels like recommending.
Without the driver's T/S specs or some means of generating the specs, no engineering can really be done anyway.
If you want original performance then duplicate the original design.
Otherwise you can take a chance and drop the drivers in the Seismic cabs. However if the tuning is drastically wrong it will have a negative response on sound quality, low frequency extension, and power handling.
The tuning is determined by the internal volume of the cabs and also the port dimensions. If the internal volume of the Seismic cabs is similar, you may be able to build up or cut down the port(s). However, I reviewed the Seismic webpage and don't see any 212 bass designs. All options appear to be intended for guitar.
IMHO Seismic is built to pretty much the lowest possible price point.
@BassyBill is correct: the enclosure tuning needs to correlate with the drivers being used -- just sticking drivers in a box is not a recipe for success. If you're really not interested in the 'nerdy' part, you could just stick your drivers in a new cab and take whatever the result is -- it will work to some extent, it just won't be optimal. What's the worst that could happen? Well, worst case, you could blow your drivers up. It probably won't happen, but it's possible if the enclosure doesn't provide sufficient loading for the drivers. Sorry... is that being too nerdy?
Seismic makes 'value-engineered' (read: cheap) speaker systems; the enclosures themselves are probably sturdy enough for your purposes. Seems like the ones I've seen have been MDF rather than plywood -- definitely sub-optimal. If you could find one with a similar internal volume to your damaged cab, maybe you could modify the cab to have a ducted port with the same dimensions (cross-sectional area AND length) as yours pretty easily. Otherwise, maybe rebuilding that cab is the path with more predictable results. Is the local builder still around? Maybe they could restore that cab on the cheap for you -- at least that wouldn't involve much effort on your part, or your having to, you know... learn anything.
Just glancing at the Seismic site, it doesn't appear that any of their 212 stock cabs are closed-backed. You do understand that wouldn't work for bass, right? Or is that also too nerdy? (Asking for a friend....
)
Edit: Or just what @Wasnex said - he beat me to it.
Later edit: After poking around on the Seismic site for a while, I see that they do have some closed-back cabs intended for bass. Mi apologia.
Seismic makes 'value-engineered' (read: cheap) speaker systems; the enclosures themselves are probably sturdy enough for your purposes. Seems like the ones I've seen have been MDF rather than plywood -- definitely sub-optimal. If you could find one with a similar internal volume to your damaged cab, maybe you could modify the cab to have a ducted port with the same dimensions (cross-sectional area AND length) as yours pretty easily. Otherwise, maybe rebuilding that cab is the path with more predictable results. Is the local builder still around? Maybe they could restore that cab on the cheap for you -- at least that wouldn't involve much effort on your part, or your having to, you know... learn anything.
Just glancing at the Seismic site, it doesn't appear that any of their 212 stock cabs are closed-backed. You do understand that wouldn't work for bass, right? Or is that also too nerdy? (Asking for a friend....
)Edit: Or just what @Wasnex said - he beat me to it.
Later edit: After poking around on the Seismic site for a while, I see that they do have some closed-back cabs intended for bass. Mi apologia.
Last edited:
To be fair to the OP, Seismic Audio is offering guitar cabinets under the "Bass Cabinet" category, which is misleading.The dimensions are on the small side and it's a closed cabinet with no porting. Example:
Contemporary Empty Dual 12" Guitar Cabinet - Black/Wheat – Seismic Audio (seismicaudiospeakers.com)
@Seashore For about $250 I think you can do better on the used market for a working cab. Otherwise I would reproduce the original as closely as possible.
Contemporary Empty Dual 12" Guitar Cabinet - Black/Wheat – Seismic Audio (seismicaudiospeakers.com)
@Seashore For about $250 I think you can do better on the used market for a working cab. Otherwise I would reproduce the original as closely as possible.
Here's someone who used one:
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-joe-vegas-250-212-super-cab.1358075/#post-21635101
If you're not too picky I'm sure it'll be fine and make some kind of a sound.
https://www.talkbass.com/threads/the-joe-vegas-250-212-super-cab.1358075/#post-21635101
If you're not too picky I'm sure it'll be fine and make some kind of a sound.
Unfortunately the lowest possible price point is what I'm looking for right now. The 2x12 cabinet on their site is significantly smaller than the old cab... really just interested in it because it's cheap. Any other companies I should be looking at for empty cabs? If building is the best option then that's what I'll do. It's slim pickings where I live.
I appreciate it. There's not much around here, so unless I get very lucky at a pawn shop, I'm looking at shipping costs too. In that case I'm best off just waiting until I can afford something good, but I wanted to get the rig back up to some semblance of full power ASAP.
I'm not too picky, and some kind of a sound is all they ever made anyway.
- Feb 12, 2006
- 61,051
- 5
- 221,021
- Disclosures
- Development Engineer-Mesa Boogie, Development Engineer-Genzler (pedals), Product Support-Genz Benz
If you just want cheap and don’t care about performance, then you have found your solution.
Otherwise, I suddenly looking f for a good used cabinet that’s known to be acceptable.
Otherwise, I suddenly looking f for a good used cabinet that’s known to be acceptable.
440live sells empty cabinets on ebay under the handle "capajnr" but doesn't have a 212 for bass now, and their guitar 212s are even smaller than Seismic Audio.
If you don’t size the box and the port properly there’s a very good chance it will sound like sh!t.The old cabinet was all 3/4 plywood, roughly 24" W x 30" H x 15" D. Closed back, front vented a couple inches up from the bottom, speakers mounted one above the other to the front of the plywood. No internal baffles, but a decent amount of white foam padding inside. I had it for about 26 years. It was very dark and thumpy and it paired really well with my bright Hartke 2x10. I was told when I bought it that the speakers were EVs, but when I pulled them, they just had the same logo of the local company (Creative Acoustics) that slapped the cab together. They look like this:
But really... I've read nerdy threads about cab dimensions and construction on here, and I'm not interested in going deep on that with these. I need another working cab soonish. I can rebuild what I had; it sounded fine; it's just an extra project I could do without, so I'm interested in the build quality of these Seismic cabs or anything else someone feels like recommending.
Whether you want to delve into the nerdy details or not doesn’t impact this reality.
If you really don’t care, then why ask about the Seismic cabs in the first place? Just buy one and see how it works.
The Williston VT Guitar Center has a used SWR Goliath 4x10 for $250.
They also have a 2x10 Carvin cab for $340.
Not sure how long of a drive that is for you, but if I was looking for an inexpensive bass cabinet, and wasn’t too picky, I would take my amp and make the drive over there for a test drive of a couple of cabs.
They also have a 2x10 Carvin cab for $340.
Not sure how long of a drive that is for you, but if I was looking for an inexpensive bass cabinet, and wasn’t too picky, I would take my amp and make the drive over there for a test drive of a couple of cabs.
Problem with the Goliath is that as soon as you fall in love with how great it sounds, you break your back trying to move it.
Oy vey.
Why ask? Because I was hoping someone had direct experience with the cab and could either say "hey, it's not too bad for the money" or "it sucks, don't waste your time". I am aware that different speakers will respond differently. Just looking for that experience.
Why those cabs? Because I saw them online, and with free shipping, the price might be right. I'm also curious about if there's another ready-made cab by a different company that might be better. I recently moved to northern VT and I don't know much about the area, so I might be stuck with mail-order. Good used cabinets with shipping are over my current budget.
Why do I say I'm not interested in, as you put it, "nerdy details"? Well. I haven't posted here in a while, but I still come around to read. I've read through a bunch of those threads over the years. So, abstractly, I do care about the nerdy details. But I'm good with measurements to build a replacement cab if that's the route I go, and right now I'm just trying to see if there are ready made options that could save me renting shop access and spending the extra time. Time and money are both in short supply for me. I just lost a few grand worth of gear and furnishings. I want something I can set up, and I want it two weeks ago. So I'm not super picky and I'm not looking to perfectly optimize an enclosure for these ancient speakers. I will be happy with a box that works, that will stay together until I can afford something else, and I will be happier without the hassle of building it. Does that all make sense?
On one hand I want to apologize to you and anyone else who I inadvertently rubbed the wrong way by using the word "nerdy". It's not meant to be derogatory. I guess I can't blame y'all for taking it that way. I didn't mean to raise the temperature.
On the other hand I think you and Redbrangus in particular came in a bit hot. It's unhelpful and kind of insulting. Really not in the mood for it after everything that's happened recently, which isn't your problem, but man... ouch. Not too cool. I guess if nothing else, your posts are a good reminder of how unwelcome my own sarcasm and snark has doubtless been to other people in the past. Hakuna mattata.
Thanks for this. It's about an hour and a half from me, which is totally doable if I can find the right moment.
edwinhurwitz
Supporting Member
I stay as far from Seismic as I can. I don't know if their cabs are as bad as their snakes, but I bought a 32 channel splitter snake from them and ended up having to resolder all 64 XLRs because of the crappy job they did. The wire used was pretty horrible, too. So, with bad materials and bad workmanship, it adds up to an unreliable piece of gear. They refused to take responsibility.
