Light bulb moment

[Rooster009]

Just was thinking about the pads used for stage/amp/cab decoupling I think they are called gamma pads or something.
I was remembering back to when I used to compete in car stereo contest when I was alot younger. We couldn't afford all of the high dollar sound dampening material like dynomat. we would take tennis balls and screw them to the bottom of the subwoofer boxes to decouple them from the car, that way the subwoofer box was only coupled to the car via straps to keep it held in place. It made a huge improvement.
I think I'll try this on my cab. It should take no more than probably 5 tennis balls and screws and a little black spray paint (don't like yellow) to make things work. Probably what about ten bucks total. and if you whant to couple the cab to the stage for more bottom then just slide some pvc over the tennis balls for feet, painted black of course. A little redneck but it worked 20 years ago, It should work now.

 

[IvanMike]

i want a video of how high your cabinet will bounce when dropped from a height once you attach the tennis balls.

 

[basskopf]

i want to play tennis with your cab.... good luck, but do send some pics!

 

[JustDavid]

I've heard of cabs with balls before, but . . .

 

[SpamBot]

Lol. I know my uncle puts tennis balls with xs cut in them over the sharp pole ends on his dock, I'll bet those could fit over casters. I must try

 

[lindseyp]

... we would take tennis balls and screw them to the bottom of the subwoofer boxes to decouple them from the car, that way the subwoofer box was only coupled to the car via straps to keep it held in place. It made a huge improvement.
I think I'll try this on my cab. ...

do you have a photo of your subwoofer project? I'd like to see that. Dynamat is heavy, your solution would save a lot of weight. How, exactly, did you screw your balls into your box?

 

[::::BASSIST::::]

"How, exactly, did you screw your balls into your box?"

Anybody? No? Nothing?

 

[rokkitt]

class----sik!

"How, exactly, did you screw your balls into your box?"

Anybody? No? Nothing?

Just classic!!!!


Hahhahahha

 

[Rooster009]

Just cut one small slit (big enough for the head of a would screw) in the tennis ball. Then go through this opening and secure the other side of the tennis ball to the cab with the screw. I haven't had time to do mine yet but pics when finished. I work 12 hour shifts so sometimes it takes awhile for me to get stuff done. If someone gets done before me, please feel free to post some pics.

 

[Jehos]

You might want to invest in some casters. They do the same thing, and have the added benefit that your cab is now on wheels and easier to move from the car to the venue.

 

[Johnny Mack]

You might want to invest in some casters. They do the same thing, and have the added benefit that your cab is now on wheels and easier to move from the car to the venue.

i was gonna say the same thing, ive done this to a couple cabs. i would also add that unless your wheels or tennis balls or whatever are bringing your cab up more than a couple FEET, you will still have the same coupling effect. its not the physical attatchment of the box to the floor/wall/stage, it is the proximity of the speaker to the floor/wall/stage.

 

[Rooster009]

i was gonna say the same thing, ive done this to a couple cabs. i would also add that unless your wheels or tennis balls or whatever are bringing your cab up more than a couple FEET, you will still have the same coupling effect. its not the physical attatchment of the box to the floor/wall/stage, it is the proximity of the speaker to the floor/wall/stage.

Not being sarcastic or anything but if this qoute was completely true wouldn't they sell stands with the gamma pad decoupler that raised it a couple of feet off the ground.
Sure I agree that bass does vibrate things like crazy and the further away the speaker is from the vibrating object ( in our case the stage floor ) the less the object will vibrate.
Having A indirect coupling to the wood floor of a stage will not completely stop the vibration but will cut down on it and may help in certain circumstances control some of what I call room boom. I plan on doing the install on thursday and trying it out next month at our next gig. We are taking this month of to do some studio work.
The cab I'm trying this on is my cheap behringer 2x10 cab that I take to some of the local dives. My Mesa stuff won't get this treatment and doesn't get taken to any low end gig that could end in a bar fight. While on the good gear subject, I would not recommend doing this to any high quality gear. Also I would not do this to a full stack such as my Powerhouse 1000 or say an Ampeg 8x10, It would be to heavy for the tennis balls and may become off balance. For a smaller cab such as my behringer 2x10 (which does have wheels by the way) This may work. I will post results next month.

 

[gregoire1]

I think we are confusing floor coupling with boundary effect. Two different things.

 

[Jehos]

Not being sarcastic or anything but if this qoute was completely true wouldn't they sell stands with the gamma pad decoupler that raised it a couple of feet off the ground.
Sure I agree that bass does vibrate things like crazy and the further away the speaker is from the vibrating object ( in our case the stage floor ) the less the object will vibrate.
Having A indirect coupling to the wood floor of a stage will not completely stop the vibration but will cut down on it and may help in certain circumstances control some of what I call room boom. I plan on doing the install on thursday and trying it out next month at our next gig. We are taking this month of to do some studio work.
The cab I'm trying this on is my cheap behringer 2x10 cab that I take to some of the local dives. My Mesa stuff won't get this treatment and doesn't get taken to any low end gig that could end in a bar fight. While on the good gear subject, I would not recommend doing this to any high quality gear. Also I would not do this to a full stack such as my Powerhouse 1000 or say an Ampeg 8x10, It would be to heavy for the tennis balls and may become off balance. For a smaller cab such as my behringer 2x10 (which does have wheels by the way) This may work. I will post results next month.

A couple things:

1. If your 2x10 has casters already, magic tennis balls aren't going to help any.

2. You control room boom through EQ, not magic tennis balls.

But hey, if you want to screw magic tennis balls onto your amp that doesn't need them, more power to you.

 

[JustDavid]

You might want to invest in some casters. They do the same thing, and have the added benefit that your cab is now on wheels and easier to move from the car to the venue.

They don't do the same thing.

 

[Craig_S]

You might want to invest in some casters. They do the same thing, and have the added benefit that your cab is now on wheels and easier to move from the car to the venue.

The casters don't work well for isolating the cab from the stage. I use the Auralex Gramma. It really makes a big difference. Cleans the stage sound right up. It helps stop cabinet resonance from transferring to the stage, eliminating weird boomy sounds generated by hollow stages. The Auralex Gramma only costs about $45.00 and will support up to 300 lbs. I carry it everywhere. I would recommend getting the cabs off the floor by whatever means. The Gramma is a good product.

 

[Rooster009]

A couple things:

1. If your 2x10 has casters already, magic tennis balls aren't going to help any.

2. You control room boom through EQ, not magic tennis balls.

But hey, if you want to screw magic tennis balls onto your amp that doesn't need them, more power to you.

My cab has wheels at on end and a handle at the other not like most that have casters. The complete bottom of the cab actually contacts the stage floor when setting in the normal position. Room boom should first be adjusted by correct speaker placement then EQ if it still occurs. The magic tennis balls should do the same thing as the Gramma pads for a total of about $40.00 less so why wouldn't I try it? Style? I don't care about it in this situation considering my gear is usually not noticed at the back of a small stage with 5 other musicians and there gear situated in front of me and mine.
I only use this rig at small venues and usually the stages are substandard and vibrate like crazy causing unwanted noise.

 

[Rooster009]

I started to do the project today and was going to just use spray paint on the tennis balls but then decided I should use rit dye like used on clothing to turn the balls black so they blend in with the box. I don't want anyone to confuse this cab with the high dollar MarkBass stuff by leaving them yellow. LOL! I will pick some dye up and finish it tomorrow.

 

[Craig_S]

The magic tennis balls should do the same thing as the Gramma pads for a total of about $40.00 less...

Good luck with that.

Here's what's going to happen: The tennis balls, having holes in them, are going to collapse under the weight of your rig and end up being no better than rubber feet.

What if you were to make a plywood platform, with larger diameter cupped feet screwed on at the corners, then glue the tennis balls to the cupped feet? That way the air inside the balls doesn't escape.

 

[Rooster009]

Thanks for the idea Craig_s.