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IAC Prime Member
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Larz Boah
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4/15/2008 11:50:17 AM
Check out my homemade 2/12 cabinet
Glued, sawed and screwed, this baby is powered by
a 25 watt Kustom tube amp...this lil sucker can KiCk!
Only the finest birch plywood.. heh heh
Can anybody say:...too much redwood stain?...he he....2 Rola Cleaveland 12"
8 ohm organ speakers...ha ha...wired in series...a 16 ohm cabinet. Anyone else
build your stuff in necessity or for fun?
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The CODE
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4/15/2008 12:20:36 PM
I'm about to trash a PA system we built in the 90's - looked very similar to your speaker set up - but we filled the cabs with Rockwool!!!!
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Two Silo Complex
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4/15/2008 12:44:18 PM
First off hte cabinet looks great. Nice work.
If you ever decide to put a back on it you should put a port hole in the front for compression.
Cheers,
TSC
Ken
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Ben Elliot
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4/15/2008 1:15:22 PM
Wow, thats awesome!
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Hugh Hamilton
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4/15/2008 1:17:49 PM
WHAT? No SNAKESKIN???
lol
Nice one, LWJ!!!
H
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the kozy king
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4/15/2008 4:43:45 PM
good job, Larry.
Yeh, I've built a lot of stuff including, compressors, equalizers, mixers, reverb,and effects. But with modern manufacturing technologies, it's cheaper and less hassle to buy new.
Still the pride of doing it yourself is worthwhile.
I also built my own 1670 square foot house in 1984-85 which I sold this month. This time around (renovating a smaller, older home) I'm paying other tradesmen to do almost everything. It's not simply laziness, I just value my free time too much -- it all goes into music now!!
Keep it up, man, you've got talent! I had a couple of old Hammond organ speakers that I put into a modified cabinet but sold them on eBay because they had no real response above 3,000 or 4,000 kHz. They looked very similar (with the alnico magnets and sheet metal baskets). I think they were Jensens. What do your Rola's sound like?
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The Man With No Band
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4/15/2008 5:01:24 PM
Man ..... You could hide a lot of "Stash" in that baby ! ... :)
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SILVERWOODSTUDIO
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4/15/2008 5:18:53 PM
I just love it-----It says a lot about the man who crafted it----!!!
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Larz Boah
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4/16/2008 1:14:12 AM
The CODE: what is 'Rockwool'? That kinda 'fuzzy material?
Two Silo Complex: Thanks...it took some time, as I'm no carpenter. No 'rabbit joints'
on this baby...just uneven edges.. ha ha...thought about the 'porthole' idea, but I
figured since the speakers were from an organ and could tend to be 'muddy', it
would be better to keep the cabinet 'air-free' as much as possible for a 'tighter'
sound...kinda like a Marshall cabinet does....?...just guessing at all of this as
i'm no sound engineer and this was an experiment.
Ben Elliot: Thanks Ben. This took me a couple of weeks when I found any time
and i wish it could've been filmed. What a comedy that would've been> :D
Hugh Hamilton: BwahHaHaHa!!! No kidding Hugo...I actually was thinking of
you and for a few seconds thought about a pic of me stepping on my Boss
distortion (another trick to overcome the mid-range of those organ spkr's)
with the 'ol 'snakeskin boots'!.. ha ha
kozy kingz: You have it right kozy kingz...i may have been able to nab sumthin
offa e-blaze for less dollars and hassle...but just like U said...it was done as
a therapeutic venture and really satisfying results, cept for the occasional 'splinter'
in ze fingah!..ha ha....I got the Rolas dirt cheap...around 35 bucks and thought
what the heck...if they sound like shit, I could trash em and get some Jensens
or Celestions later when $ was there. The challenge to try and logically figure
out how to compensate a viable sound out of organ speakers used for a
guitar also gave me incentive...who in their 'right mind' would do sumthin so
stupid? Me. ha ha ha...but really the whole beginning idea started with my lil
Kustom amp...seeing that it had a jack 2 run an external speaker; i laughed!
But then I thought...hey...could this little 25 watt guy do it? 2 12's? Then came
the fun of 'wiring' the speakers without blowing my amp up..ha ha...did some
research and figured the series configuration would suit the 8 ohm speakers
just fine. The hardest part was soldering the 1/4" receptacle thingy...man...
the positive connection contact was almost microscopic and was a literal
bitch of a time accomplishing. So when I plugged it in I wasn't sure what was
gonna happen...had the fire extinguisher ready..ha ha...and then...that one of
a kind amp power, warm tube energy, subtely emanating from the cabinet...
oh yeah! Success? Got out my PRS and plugged it in and turned it up and
could not believe the result. So, someone else might laugh, but this lil thing
made my day...oh, by the way kozy....can U build me a house?... he he he
The Man With No Band: I'm gonna buy one of those 'Fred the crowbar' tools
and hope for a 'Miracle'.... :D
SILVERWOODSTUDIO: Hey ya Silver Golden Kayak winners! I'll bet you
and your clan have all kind of homemade cabinets made 'the right way'...
and probably awesome carvings on em to boot! :)
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Pulse Eternal
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4/16/2008 1:58:08 AM
Larry, that is VERY cool :)
I'd be sticking to the sealed enclosure design you have now. Rola drivers work really well in sealed enclosures.
I have somewhat of a long history with a pair or Rola speakers. I think it was around 1984 I acquired a pair of Rola 12 inch drivers from my uncle's bass rig and I STILL have them.
Believe it or not, they are actually my main monitor speakers in my studio rig. I had no idea just how good these were when I first got them but honestly, I have listened to LOTS of high end studio monitors over the years and have not found anything I prefer to my Rola's!!....and that includes the likes of B&W, ATC, Blue Sky, JBL, Krix, Genelec, DynAudio, Tannoy, KRK, Event.....etc!
Sure, some of these sound amazing but they also have amazing price tags to match. I simply cannot fathom spending another 10 - 15,000 dollars on speakers that are not going to give me much more than what I have now. Seriously, the Rola's ARE that good, especially bi-amped with my Crown ES212 subs.
All the music on my IAC page was recorded, mixed and mastered through my Rola's.
Here's a photo of them (like you, I designed and built the enclosures too)..
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the kozy king
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4/16/2008 5:06:05 AM
Cool monitors, SP.
Are those tunable ports off to the side (plates held on with screws) or access to electronics or what?
And how did you decide on the crossovers and hi-freq drivers?
Larry's cab looks like it could also accommodate some smaller speakers to brighten up the sound if he wants to fool around with it some more. Any advice?
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Larz Boah
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4/16/2008 12:02:37 PM
SuperPuss: heya, studious lil doll U....thanks for the Rola testimony and great work
on the cabinets. Glad somebody knows what ahm talkin bout. U da girl wit da
know how...i wanna come over...ha ha...oh, i forgot....i can 'swim'...but not that
far!..he he..Luv your 'logo' letters2! Yeah...can't believe i got em so cheap 2 and
i know what ya mean about the monitor price tags. I've seen puny little studio
monitors with 1,000 plus price tags!...sheeeesh! It really is fun and rewarding,
experimenting with sound.
kozy kingz: yeah, does have some room for another speaker if needed, but with
a lower watt power ratio, probably not. My PRS guitar has hotter humbuckers
and combined with the Boss distortion pedal, i can compensate for any loss of
'highs'..which really doesn't seem to be an issue at all. If i plugged in, say, my
Jay Turser guitars which have stock paf's...it may be...i'll have 2 see. I think
those 'ports on SP's monitors are probably ports she made and then decided
not too and placed some good 'ol 'foam' in them 2 cut down on the 'air-flow'
a bit...a really good idea...closed but not closed. :)
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Hugh Hamilton
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4/16/2008 12:07:59 PM
I'm trying not to admit that my phone has been relegated to the floor (just like Titania's)...lol...
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Pulse Eternal
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4/16/2008 5:09:13 PM
KK, the plates on the side are covers for alternate mounting points for the horns. I made them so they could be set up horizontally or vertically depending on the room (I have moved my studio a number of times now).
The crossover points were decided (and changed a number of times) with a combination of a high end spectrum analyser / calibration mic and exhaustive listening tests. I have changed and tweaked things dozens of times over the last 24 years to arrive at the current configuration. The horns are customised from Motorola designs (the horns themselves are Motorola flares) with my own driver design.
The crossovers are a combination of active (between the subs and mid / high boxes) and passive (between the Rola's and the horns). The subwoofer's are running in stereo and the amp driving them is my own design and construction. It is the one second from the bottom in my amp rack (just below my Art 406 headphone amp).
The Rola boxes were originally built a few years before I acquired the subs and were originally ported designs. Once I got the subs, I converted the Rola boxes to sealed enclosures with the assistance of some carefully selected and measured foam squares!!
Much to my surprise, the mid range response tightened up considerably once I sealed the enclosures. Also, the subs and the mid / high cabinets just happen to be exactly the same width and that was not planned!!
I experimented with wooden caps over the tuned ports to fully seal the Rola's but again, much to my surprise, the foam squares worked better both in listening tests and spectrum analysis tests so they remain there to this day.
Larry, I'd swim part of the way to meet you but felines and water don't really mix!!!
You could experiment with some horns in your rig but for guitar, if your Rola's are anything like mine, you won't need them. Rola's tend to have a usable response well up into the mid / high region of an electric guitar.
Something else about these Rola drivers is their efficiency. They produce significant sound pressure levels from very modest power inputs. I'm not surprised that your modest 25 watt valve amp will produce considerable level through the Rola's. In fact, it is probably a very good match for those speakers.
Hugo, yeah, my phone gradually found it's way to the floor as my GAS caused my equipment to multiply and take over all available space!
Besides, the phone is usually off the hook when I'm recording anyway (as you can see in the pic). :-)
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Larz Boah
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4/16/2008 10:41:36 PM
SuperPuss: yeah...there's nothin better than good 'ol 'foam' ! As a matter of fact,
I had 2 use some 'high-density' foam on my cabinet, though you can't see it. The
low-priced speaker covers that i purchased from Best Buy came with the plastic
clips you see...NOT cut to precision and NOT tight enough to securely butt up
to the cabinet...so i had to 'shave' off the bottom of the plastic clips and place
black layers of high density foam beneath the contact point of each clip, until
screwed tightly...now those cheap metal covers won't move and are secure. It's
kinda strange, but even the foam was something i had a part in making, as it is
one of the last relics i have from an old job i worked at...they would trash foam if
it wasn't exactly up 2 specs and would allow emploee's to keep any if they
wanted and this particular roll of foam actually cost's thousands of dollars if
you would or could purchase it...it's really 'high-density, almost like leather...
really tough! I've used it many times whenever i've had 2 'rig' something...
and it seems i always have 2 'rig' something! .. only thing i'll miss about that
lousy job was the great selection of free foam that was available 2 me. A guy
who also worked there had a brother in law who used some of our foam to
line the walls of his little studio area in his apartment and when he closed the
door...you could barely hear his Marshall inside blasting away! No problem
with the neighbors calling the cops.. heh
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