"Cane" Grill Cloth on Orange Style Custom Cab Build. Will it affect my tone?

[whatisacup]

I'm building a custom cab with Orange like cosmetics. I've always saw the Orange bass amps, the grill cloth is black. I never thought too much about it, but I've always preferred the tan weave colored "cane" grill cloth on the guitar amps.

I want to use this grill cloth:

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I did some googling, to see if anyone did a grill cloth swap, and found this:

Orange Amps Forum • View topic - Wheat Grill Cloth on Bass Cabs

Because of the thicker material, some people claim the tone might be affected and the heaver grill cloth may vibrate more.

Some of the claims state:

"it's so dense it negatively affects the sound. The thinner black cloth is better."

I've noticed when it comes to bass amp discussions on the Orange forum, a lot of information contradicts what's discussed here on TB. Such discussions about underpowering, mixing speaker sizes and Class D come up with different answers on both forums. It seems a lot of the people on the Orange forum are often guitar players that play around with bass and are rarely old timers. So I obviously trust the TB information more. Especially since we have engineers and actual people that design well engineers amps on here.

With all this being said, will using this grill cloth with a bass cabinet affect the tone and be prone to vibration like the Orange guys say?

 

[johnson79]

Mesa offers wicker grille material. I can't imagine it has any effect on tone, if it did I don't think Mesa would offer it.
I wouldn't hesitate to use it, besides, it can always be changed to something else if you don't like it.

My Dream Mesa/Boogie

 

[whatisacup]

Yeah! That's what I'm talking about.

I do find it interesting that orange doesn't offer any of their traditional grill cloths on their bass cabs.

 

[lz4005]

Grill cloth on bass speakers is more likely to flap, vibrate and stretch due to the generally greater excursion of bass speakers moving more air through it.
I've had several bass cabs need to be re-grilled over the years due to this, but never any guitar cabs.
I would suspect there's a technical reason Orange doesn't use wicker grill cloth on their bass stuff.

 

[JRA]

lz4005 said it: not everything a guitar rig uses would work on a bass cab. but i think that's a good thing.

 

[whatisacup]

I agree JRA. Guitar and bass cabs are two different creatures.

I know a lot of guys have had custom cabs built, built their own cabs and there are people here that design amps for a living.

I'm looking for some sleep grill cloth and want to know if this stuff is a no go?

Mesa offers wicker grille material. I can't imagine it has any effect on tone, if it did I don't think Mesa would offer it.
I wouldn't hesitate to use it, besides, it can always be changed to something else if you don't like it.

My Dream Mesa/Boogie

lz4005 said it: not everything a guitar rig uses would work on a bass cab. but i think that's a good thing.

 

[JRA]

want to know if this stuff is a no go?

i'm a pro audio guy (build my own stuff!): i haven't used grill cloth on PA cabinets for decades. but, even back in the day, i stayed away from anything that might 'loosen' or get 'flappy' from use/abuse on the low end cabinets.

as a bass player: i've always built my own stuff, but now i use a GK combo: but still, i don't use cloth! even on my combo, i took off the GK grill (started rattling) and put individual heavy duty speaker grills over the drivers. no rattles, better protection.

just sayin' --- the more it is 'flimsy', the more it will cause you problems, eventually: if it can move = it will (especially on a bass/sub cabinet). can't stretch any grill cloth tight enough to maintain against constant 'gusts of air' from the low notes. over time the weave will 'weaken', deform or pucker, yada yada.

i don't want to be a naysayer: i used to do it myself. but i got tired of the repairs and mods to make it look 'cool'. i think you should try it though, if your cabinet will not be used/abused much in the outside world. if it is going to pretty much sit in one place for most of it's use, it may not matter. if you're going to take it out and gig with it, i think you'll find that you need more protection from the average bumps and grinds of playing.

FWIW: i like your idea (and choice). good luck on your build...and remember to post pics of the project!