Juntunen Guitars Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 First off if this is in the wrong area I apologize, I wasn't sure where to put it. Anyways, so I built a 4x12 cab a while back out of a mahogany plywood sheet I had lying around and I don't really care for the sound of it. Prostheta suggested I should use baltic birch and I have heard of using that for wood before from companies like Mesa Boogie and Marshall but I can't afford it. My question is whether paper or yellow birch would be just as good or close to baltic birch. I have a ton of it sawn up but it's not being used and I don't want to waste it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Ross Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 Baltic/Russian Birch ply isn't suggested because of the wood used, but because it's voidless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted May 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 Baltic/Russian Birch ply isn't suggested because of the wood used, but because it's voidless. What do you mean by voidless? Do you mean that the wood is smooth or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Ross Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 No, most plywood's plys have spaces, or "voids" in them. You can usually see where the manufacturer plugged the outer plys, they're football-shaped. They won't go through the trouble of plugging/filling/fixing any of the internal plys since they won't be seen. Baltic birch ply's are all solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted May 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 No, most plywood's plys have spaces, or "voids" in them. You can usually see where the manufacturer plugged the outer plys, they're football-shaped. They won't go through the trouble of plugging/filling/fixing any of the internal plys since they won't be seen. Baltic birch ply's are all solid. Ok so does the wood even affect the sound of the cab? I have read about people saying cabs from different years sound different and I wasn't sure if it was just how they were made or what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Ross Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 I can't really say, I don't have a lot of experience with cabs... I know a broken-in speaker will sound much different than a new one, and as with guitars, I'm sure it has more to do with the build quality Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 I know a broken-in speaker will sound much different than a new one Agreed.I hate new speakers..after a few months of break in they get much better.I vote you wait and play the hell out of it for a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted May 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 Sounds good, thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82cabby Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 I can't speak for guitar amp speaker cabinets, but I have built many stereo speaker and sub-woofer cabinets. The material of choice for those is MDF since it is really dense and acoustically pretty neutral. It's heavy as hell though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitar2005 Posted May 23, 2011 Report Share Posted May 23, 2011 MDF is one of the worst choices for a cab that you're going to use live and haul around. They tend to crumble after a while and they don't like humidity/water. A good void free plywood cab is the best IMO. Birch Ply is most commonly used but there's what they call Apple Ply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted May 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2011 MDF is one of the worst choices for a cab that you're going to use live and haul around. They tend to crumble after a while and they don't like humidity/water. A good void free plywood cab is the best IMO. Birch Ply is most commonly used but there's what they call Apple Ply. What if I just used Birch lumber though and glued it into panels that I could make a cab out of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82cabby Posted June 1, 2011 Report Share Posted June 1, 2011 MDF is one of the worst choices for a cab that you're going to use live and haul around. They tend to crumble after a while and they don't like humidity/water. A good void free plywood cab is the best IMO. Birch Ply is most commonly used but there's what they call Apple Ply. Good point. I forgot about the humidity/water thing. The stereo speaker cabs I've made are A)veneered and sealed B)sitting inside on a shelf. MDF soaks up water like a sponge and is never the same again. Exposure to the elements would be bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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