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What inputs should I put on the cabinet?

PawnBass

PawnBass

Guest
Jul 15, 2013
25
4
#1
I may have to build my own speaker cabinet to save money. Bought my first bass guitar two days ago. What plugs go to a cabinet from a bass head? What are the names, so I can buy the right parts? Thanks.
 
#4
No...unless that is what is going to be in your cabinet and you want to biamp it with and external crossover. The reason for the two parallel inputs is to connect another cabinet in parallel if you add one in the future.
If you're going to have an internal crossover, then that is another part you will have to buy, unless you plan on building one on your own.

I'm not trying to discourage you, but, if the above statements have many terms that you do not understand, then you need to do refer to some audio reference books/websites to find out their meaning. May I suggest going to the pro audio dictionary on the www.rane.com site. Excellent information. Good luck!
 
#7
PawnBass said:
I may have to build my own speaker cabinet to save money.
Click to expand...

Stop right there. You will not save any money, and odds are it will sound far worse than anything you could have bought used for less.

Not knowing what an XLR, or speakon, or even a crossover is does not bode well for success in this endeavor.

There is plenty of inexpensive stuff out there that really sounds good for the money. Save your money until you know the terms and science of cabinet building. I've had years of college level acoustics classes and worked as a sound guy, in addition to being a musician. I could probably put together a pretty decent cab, but I'll let the guys who get parts for wholesale and have more experience do it because they have done it before and made the mistakes so I don't have to. It saves me money to let the professionals do it.
 
#10
PawnBass said:
I'm new to the output of bass heads, or PA gear. That's all. The rest is just assumptions. I build speakers and crossovers for the home stereo for a hobby.
Click to expand...

I stand by my assessment. If you don't know what a 1/4 TS phono jack or a Speakon jack are - or when to use them - you aren't going to save any money on this project. You can have a lot of fun and learn a LOT about how these things need to be done to be successful as a bass cabinet, but you will NOT save any money over buying commercial offerings.
 
#13
hi pawnbass. i built a cab or two and they were basura. since i joined this forum i can now see where i went wrong( at nearly every step). i would say getcha self a cheapo cab for now( or even a good second hand, scruffy but working cab and then spend tons of time reading the cab build threads on this site. its not just a box to hold speakers and the guys here REALY know their stuff. it aint easy but if your willing to learn you may one day build yourself a killer cab but dont throw your money at a self build until you realy understand whats going on in a cab. good luck.
 
#16
OP: There is a lot of research that should be done on your part before building a bass cab. You will need to select a proper driver, then design a box to work with that driver. I don't know if your intention was to just build a box and slap any ol' bass speaker into it, but that doesn't usually work out very well.

If you build a proper cab, I doubt you would save any money over buying a used bass cab.
 

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