Dave Tipping Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Following some very helpful advice from Bill FM and others on a previous post of mine I finally got around to adding a little bracing and dampening to my laney cab. Popped to dunelm mill and picked up a big slab of 270g (I think) wadding for about £4 .. then popped to wickes and bought 2x 2.4m lenghts of 25mm dowel, some spray on carpet adhesive and some wood glue .. all in around £26. As you can see the stock cab is completely un-braced and has no dampening. Started off cutting up the dowels and glueing them in place .. this really was easy and took far less time than I had expected. Next I roughly cut out pieces of the wadding the right size .. cut a few slits in them to allow them to be fitted around the dowels .. I then sprayed the wood with the adhesive and stuck the pieces in. These image just shows the last job I did to the cab which was to remove the stupidly heavy metal grille and replace it with a light weight timber frame and some fender(ish) grille cloth And here is a previous photo of my little rig altogether.. I think this may have been the best £30 I have ever spent on improving my sound! It has seriously improved the clarity of the cab considerably. The additional weight is hardly anything (far less than the heavy laney grille I replaced but the cab actually feels a lot more solid. It could be partly psychological (as I know it is more solid) but there is no doubt the cab sounds a lot better than before. Considering the cab wasn't bad to start with .. I'm a pretty happy bunny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertbass Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 There is an awful lot of talk and very little action on this thread, http://basschat.co.uk/topic/171416-adding-dampening-to-a-cab/ about what you've just done. I'm glad that you tried it and didn't just talk about it. I'm pleased that it's worked out and that you're happier with you're sound. I dampened my cab as well and also think it sounds a lot better, a tighter more solid sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xgsjx Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Top job. Liking the grill too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 [quote name='bertbass' timestamp='1340493160' post='1705359'] There is an awful lot of talk and very little action on this thread, [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/171416-adding-dampening-to-a-cab/"]http://basschat.co.u...ening-to-a-cab/[/url] about what you've just done. I'm glad that you tried it and didn't just talk about it. I'm pleased that it's worked out and that you're happier with you're sound. I dampened my cab as well and also think it sounds a lot better, a tighter more solid sound. [/quote] The two main contributors in that thread are a speaker maker and a former speaker maker. Pretty sure they've racked up a fair bit of doing in their time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AttitudeCastle Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Bloomin' love the Nexus cabs, would love to hear the difference! Glad you're happy with the result man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfist Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Great thread, and a fantastic job Dave !! Well done mate. You've got me really thinking about adding some damping to my GK Neo 212 II, which I believe has no damping (although I haven't actually checked mine yet). The bottom end definately has a "boom" to it. Which I only notice when comparing to my Genz cab, but I would like to tighten the sound up a bit. May I ask what exactly the wadding you bought is ? What is it actually made for ? Is it the sort of thing that is generally available in B & Q ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomBass Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Nice job you've done there, Sir. And love that grill... Cheers Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Tipping Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 Cheers for the compliments lads, had a good play with it today and it's pretty incredible the improvement. It was a great cab for the punk / rock covers band I was in .. now I'm playing more funk / jazz and I was concerned it would be too flabby .. not anymore. couldn't be happier with my sound .. just need to work on my playing now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 [quote name='Dave Tipping' timestamp='1340570369' post='1706461'] Cheers for the compliments lads, had a good play with it today and it's pretty incredible the improvement. [/quote]Good show, and it goes to this quote from your original thread: [quote]if your Laney hasn't got bracing then it probably doesn't need it and the same is probably true for the dampening material.[/quote] Ths fact of the matter is that speaker manufacturers are in the business of making profits, not making the best product possible and then selling it for peanuts. That often means cutting corners, and those corners most often cut are those that the buyer isn't aware of unless he opens the box up to see what he paid for, and in some cases didn't get. The good news is that putting in what the manufacturer left out isn't a bit difficult, and can as in this case have dramatic results for very little effort and cash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Tipping Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 Bill, Thank you so much for the image you posted in my previous post regarding using 25mm dowel for the bracing .. I'd never have thought of that and probably used something far heavier and less effective. You were absolutely spot on. [quote name='hamfist' timestamp='1340523804' post='1705480'] May I ask what exactly the wadding you bought is ? What is it actually made for ? Is it the sort of thing that is generally available in B & Q ? [/quote] I bought it from Dunelm mill .. which amongst other things is an fabric shop. The material is called "wadding" in the UK .. and what I bought was 270g wadding .. it's roughly 40-50 mm thick (depending on how bunched up it is!). You can get it on ebay? .. not sure if you would get it in b+q? I avoid that place like the plague! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Tipping Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 [url="http://www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/270g-wadding-material-51553"]http://www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/270g-wadding-material-51553[/url] ... here is the exact stuff I bought. I was going to get 2 meters but there was a really badly cut end and the guy in the store was really sound and gave me more or less 2 meters for the price of 1 .. turns out 1 meter would have probably been enough! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Tipping Posted June 24, 2012 Author Share Posted June 24, 2012 One final thing I would add is .. next time I buy a cab (as well as trying it out) I'm going to give the sides of it a good knock! It's pretty obviously really .. but before if you knocked on the cab it sounded pretty hollow (if that makes sence?) .. and produced quite a low sounding knock. Now it sounds solid with a high pitched knock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 [quote name='Dave Tipping' timestamp='1340575348' post='1706584'] before if you knocked on the cab it sounded pretty hollow..Now it sounds solid with a high pitched knock. [/quote]The tecnical name for that is 'the knuckle test'. Using it on any cab you're considering is a good idea, as is using it on any you already own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LawrenceH Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 (edited) Glad to see this worked! As I said on the other thread, not how I'd have done it based on my own tests (in particular the 'knuckle test' Bill mentioned, where like-for-like I found spline braces more effective in smallish cabs), but with that amount in there it has to be a LOT more rigid than before. Looks great by the way! Can I ask what you've used for piping? Edited June 25, 2012 by LawrenceH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Foxen Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJy3TscsL-U Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Tipping Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 [quote name='LawrenceH' timestamp='1340626858' post='1707170'] Looks great by the way! Can I ask what you've used for piping? [/quote] It was basically this stuff [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WHITE-VINYL-PVC-PIPING-WELT-WELTING-1-8-3mm-/360391341980?_trksid=m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D172284875129366402&_qi=RTM1084479#ht_500wt_717"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WHITE-VINYL-PVC-PIPING-WELT-WELTING-1-8-3mm-/360391341980?_trksid=m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D4%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D172284875129366402&_qi=RTM1084479#ht_500wt_717[/url] I got it from a boating place in the uk .. can't find them on ebay now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fubar Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 One of the best materials for damping the inside of a cab is Kapok. It's a natural material and has the ability to asorb air. This has the effect of making the cab 'think' it's bigger than it really is. You can find it for sale on line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 [quote name='Fubar' timestamp='1340993260' post='1712661'] This has the effect of making the cab 'think' it's bigger than it really is. [/quote]Myth, though a very widespread one. Sufficient stuffing will lower the Q of a cab, which can tame boom, which is [i]similar [/i]to the effect of a larger cab. But it's not the same, as a larger cab also gives lower response with higher sensitivity. And you only stuff a sealed cab, never a vented cab. Stuffing a vented cab will upset the box tuning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamfist Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 [quote name='Dave Tipping' timestamp='1340574934' post='1706566'] [url="http://www.dunelm-mill.com/shop/270g-wadding-material-51553"]http://www.dunelm-mi...-material-51553[/url] ... here is the exact stuff I bought. I was going to get 2 meters but there was a really badly cut end and the guy in the store was really sound and gave me more or less 2 meters for the price of 1 .. turns out 1 meter would have probably been enough! [/quote] THanks Dave. Perfect ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Sausage Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 That all looks incredible, but i know if i tried that it would be an absolute disaster! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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