Guitar and bass speaker cabinet design, Yellow Cab Amplification, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

Design Types
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Guitar cab design:

Unlike Bass cabinets, we chose to build a resonant enclosure design for Studio guitar cabinets. We believe that the construction and choice of woods contribute to the character of the tone and the enclosure itself. Particular speakers can be complemented by design and the sound further enhanced by the type of wood used, choice of ports or sealed enclosure.
We always begin with the tone of a speaker and make the enclosure to bring the best out of it. It is a well known fact that most commercial offerings are often undersized and overpowered and lack variety in design.
Our philosophy in building these cabs may not be everybody's cup of tea but those who are looking for a truly unique sound will not be disappointed.

Some important points:

Ports allow the cabinet to be tuned or to resonate at a specific frequency. We use computer software to determine port sizes and length and then fine tune by ear. As a result there is a more present clean bass that requires minimal EQing therefore allowing the speakers to perform within their most linear range.

Open back cabinets are most popular in guitar combos and some commercial extension cabs. Open backs are convenient and a way to use many speaker types in the same box that will sound OK. This design has very limited band of useful frequencies

Sealed Enclosures produce more consistent sound independent of the room (relatively speaking). Most commercial offerings tend to be too small for the types of speakers they use and tend to choke a certain amount of frequency response. We have found this design useful with a couple of vintage speakers.

Wood: The choice of wood can affect sound and resonance. It is a controversial topic but most agree that for creating sound, as in the case of guitar cabs, resonant construction is fitting and can enhance the sound. HIFI or reproduction of recorded sound demands neutral and non resonant construction, as do bass cabinets.

Volume: Cabinet volume or size is one of the most critical design considerations for matching speakers to a cabinet. It is a complex issue and would require lengthy explanation, but the simplest way of viewing this relationship is by relating it to the low frequencies produced by the speaker. The ideal box will allow all frequencies to develop and to be equally loud, the smaller the box for a speaker the less usable low end you will hear. That's why small open cabs sound shrill and thin and big enclosures sound deep and full. The size needs to be right, not too small, not too big, but calculated and tested for the particular speaker.

Speakers: We select the best sounding speaker regardless of the price for our cabinets, but it's important to say that it must be the right speaker for the job. Cone types, magnet structures, materials and weight are among other things to consider in choosing speakers. For our cabinets we almost exclusively use Weber speakers.

Power: There are many thoughts on that, we try to match power ratings of the speakers to expected amplifier output ratings not less but often not much more. Acoustic power, SPL or speaker's efficiency can be greatly increased or reduced by the cabinet design. In some of our 210 cabinets we use a design idea from the 50's and 60's, making ports equal to speaker diameters for a specific size cabinet, to produce twice the power from half the speakers which compares to a standard 410 model. Some people call this design "Detuned"

Wiring: Speakers are wired in parallel for tight sound, using 14 AWG wire, twisted, soldered and standard switchcraft 1/4 jack mounted to a back plate. Neutrick Speakon connectors are available on bass cabs.

Construction: Apart from using the best materials and high quality fasteners, we further enhance the performance of the cabinets and speakers by first building the cabinets with a sloped front which contributes to fewer parallel surfaces for internal reflections. Only the top and bottom are parallel, side panels have handle boxes built on the inside to further reduce the effect.
Baffles have built in "beam blockers" which diffuse high frequency beaming from the center of the cone and help to phase align the top end with upper mids. In simple terms this makes it sound less harsh but rounder and smoother.

Aesthetics: Last but not least, appearance is part of our design and part of our name. Inspiration for Yellow Cabs came not from taxi cabs, but from the first cabinet ever made. It was made from Western Maple and its finish ended up being golden yellow with a beige/brown grill cloth. After several requests for a Tolex covered cabinet, we came up with a Yellow Tolex to cover our cab to maintain the look. And, Tweed lovers can be satisfied with a truly "vintage", shellac finished tweed.
We believe that the cabinet is half the sound of the guitar and it should be built as carefully and beautifully as a luthier makes an instrument. Studio Series are exactly that.

Bass Cabinet Design:

We take a HI-FI approach to the construction and design of our bass enclosures. Enclosure volumes are calculated using computer software and then tweaked for optimum response.

Unique internal bracing ensures damping of unwanted vibrations, internal treatment of the cabinet walls with a combination of hi tech sound absorption materials takes care of standing waves and problem frequency peaks. All to ensure flat response, sparkling highs, strong mids, and tight well rounded and defined lows, making it a superb sounding bass cabinet for the bassist that seeks the ultimate in tone.

Some important points:

Non Resonant construction
Volume
Speakers: right magnet weight, voice coil size, type of cone.
Power Handling
Internal treatment such as bracing, damping etc.
Aesthetics