vertical cabs good or bad?

[umph]

was thinking about nabbing this cab - [url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250538046997&_trksid=p2759.l1259"]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...sid=p2759.l1259[/url] and loading it up with eminence swamp thangs - will be used for distortion side of things etc.

would this be a good or bad idea or would i be better off getting my mate to build a more traditional 4X12 for this purpose.

[alexclaber]

Good.

Here's a nice example (courtesy of bgavin) of what happens to the dispersion of a 10" speaker when you put them in a 2x2 arrangement:



Note that with a single 10", or a vertical stacked pair, or even four in a vertical line, the horizontal off-axis response would start dipping an octave higher, which is a much less sonically detrimental region to have a reduction in output.

Alex

[alexclaber]

Saying that, if you're just needing this cab for distorted stuff and you're using something else to bring the lows then one or two 12"s should be more than enough!

Alex

[umph]

ahh thanks, what do you think of the speaker choice? heres the datasheet [url="http://www.eminence-speaker.com/pdf/swampthang.pdf"]http://www.eminence-speaker.com/pdf/swampthang.pdf[/url] i'm assuming they'll be able to handle a 200watt and be biblically loud, or would you recomend some other speakers for this purpose?

[alexclaber]

When you're dealing with guitar drivers the measurements you'd need to take are so extensive and the brainpower needed to interpret them so demanding that realistically the only way to choose them is to try them. Eminence's vague tone words are probably the most useful information there because the on-axis plot is done at 1W and the behaviour at that level is radically different to what happens at higher SPL, plus you don't even know how much of that 1W curve is made up of distortion overtones. Two of them will handle 200W without burning up and will be biblically loud.

Personally I lean more towards getting the dirt from the amp, not the speaker, because it's much more predictable at different SPLs but speaker break-up is a unique sound which is impossible to emulate in terms of both tone and feel so if that's your bag then the only route is to cross your fingers and hope that the speaker you're choosing breaks up the way you want!

Alex

[umph]

getting dirt from the amp was my intention, speaker distortion isn't the greatest things with bass. What speakers would you recomend for the enclosure?

[Mr. Foxen]

There is a chap locally who said he'd score me/mate of mine Marshall branded Vintage 30s as in the Mode 4 cabs for £55 each or so. Great for detuned guitar so I'd guess they'd cover you, especially if you high passed or something. They don't break up much by ear it would seem.