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Why on earth do they put carpeting on cabs?

Should cabs be covered in carpeting?

  • Absolutely! It works great!

    Votes: 61 19.2%

  • Not on your Life! I'd as soon carpet my dining room table!

    Votes: 123 38.7%

  • I really don't care, as long as they sound good.

    Votes: 108 34.0%

  • Only if it's carrot-coloured.

    Votes: 26 8.2%
  • Total voters
    318
#81
Give me Tolex all day long. Rat fur reminds me of cheap terrible sounding 90's GK gear. It just looks bad. Obviously I am not of the 'I don't care what it looks like, it's just a tool' crowd. Looks are just as important to me as how it sounds/plays/feels.
 
#82
Something like this?

murph-and-the-magic-tones.jpg


It's kind of carrot-colored.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kkaarrll and JakobT
#83
There was a discussion in the DNA forum (the Gene Pool) when David was first going into production with his new speaker cabs. There were a few different choices including a spray-on substance not a lot different than the bed liners in pick-ups and also a painted on texture coating. The vast majority of folks on the forum preferred the carpeting. So he went with that for the first 5 years and that's what's on my DNS410 cab. This year he came out with a texture painted coating that he showed at NAMM and apparently that's available on all his cabs now.

I much preferred the rat-fur over the old Tolex that has been used on amps forever because the Tolex is just too easy to tear, especially if you are traveling a lot because you load and unload so much (ask me how I know). So the rat-fur is fine with me for the time being. I can vacuum it, spot clean it, and cut any long fibers back that stick out if I want to. And of course it doesn't tear nearly as easily as Tolex does. So, I"m fine with mine for the time being although I would be interested in seeing those new texture-painted coatings and finding out how durable that coating is.
 
#85
I'm not sure if carpeting would be the proper term, but I feel like a carpet-style covering would be cool. I'm talking about intricate designs weaved onto the sides, and a kick ass grill cloth.
 
#86
fhm555 said:
I used a 410XL for the better part of ten years in all manner of dive bar and other assorted venues and even though it's been retired for a number of years it still looks like it did when i got it.

No fan of rat fur but you cannot deny it's utility or durability.
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Owned that same cab. A real ploughin' hassle to have to clean, so I gave up on it. I always got stationed in the back of the stage anyway, so nobody ever saw. All that aside, a good vacuum with a nice brush roll does the trick.
 
#89
It protects your instrument better than tolex when leaning anything against it. Such as your bass. As in the Mark Bass "Bass Keeper Bass Holder". It doesn't rip up OTHER things while hauling it. You can stack things on top of them without them slipping and gliding away (lightweight head amps anyone?) . Compared to tolex. But regular rubber would be the same but dries up and cracks after a while.

Me, I don't care. It's not a deal braker or maker for me.
 
#93
JakobT said:
I freely admit that I have trouble understanding the reason many cabs are covered in carpet or "rat fur". To me, it just means that the cab will attact dirt, be difficult to clean, and generally look fuzzy and worn very quickly. I like my gear to look good, so carpeting is a deal-breaker as far as I'm concerned.

What do you guys think? Do you like carpeting or not, and if so, why?
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My cats insist that all my amps (2) be carpeted, for their scratching pleasure.
 
#100
JakobT said:
I freely admit that I have trouble understanding the reason many cabs are covered in carpet or "rat fur". To me, it just means that the cab will attact dirt, be difficult to clean, and generally look fuzzy and worn very quickly. I like my gear to look good, so carpeting is a deal-breaker as far as I'm concerned.

What do you guys think? Do you like carpeting or not, and if so, why?
Click to expand...

Looks awesome when its clean and kept lush looking. There seem to be different grades of the stuff, too, across brands. As an aside, I have a 20+ year old Eden 410 that was sold at a discount for having "substandard fuzz." Seriously.
 

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