i should clarify, im playing guitar to an old fender bassman, and i dont have any strong preferences about open- or close-backed designs

i have a 1x12 extension cabinet that i like, loaded with a weber fane clone speaker. however, i would prefer a smaller, more compact cab. in fact i'd like something as small as possible while still sounding good, which i realize is pretty subjective and that larger cabinets can get fuller sounds. but im more concerned with portability. are there any places to look for plans? do i need to be concerned with tuning the wood or porting or anything like that? or is it just building a box with better joints and tolex?i really like the DIY dietz cab threads, its kind of heartening to see people taking construction into their own hands.thanks in advance

I built an 806 to use w/ a lower volume bass rig...no complaints, and it is remarkably compact. i did build a 14x14x6 open back. it sounded like an open back, which was fine for a jangly guitar thing and that is about as small as you can make a 1x12.

what are you playing through it? guitar or bass? open-back cabs are very forgiving with their dimensions but inherently have phase/cancellation issues with bass frequencies.i find the ev cabs to be compact and excellent for a wide range of applications. they do look quite complicated to build though.

arablue wrote:i should clarify, im playing guitar to an old fender bassman, and i dont have any strong preferences about open- or close-backed designsYou should have a preference if you care about what it sounds like.EVM TL-806 is a good design... a bit of overkill for a speaker like the Fane.Can you give the dimensions of your current cab and the model of the Fane. I can work something up for you.

hey milford, i know i should have preferences, but i dont feel like i know enough to justify my opinion (got my rusty box in january, sounds great). thankfully rodabod has clarified that to some extent. the fane knockoff is the ceramic weber thames https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/ under high powered speakers. it sounds real good with the bassman. the cab is 11 deep x 26 wide x 20 tall, i think.the tl806 does look like a good box, without being too big or heavy. but for further edification, what roles do porting and different dimensions play in making a cabinet? and what about having a cabinet tuned for a certain speaker? is that to assure that the resonant frequency of the speaker matches that of wood?edit: glad i've been updated from newbie to troll

The smaller you go with a sealed cab, the less bass response you will get, along with shifting the resonance frequency up. You can compensate by porting, but it isn't simple.

another 806 user here. great cabinet.. a little fussy on it's choice of speakers though. with a bassman.. i doubt you'd have any issues pushing it though. i've tried a bunch of emi's and celestions in it (as well as the intended EVM), and an eminence delta pro12a lives in mine, and definitely will for a long time..http://archives.telex.com/archives/EV/Builders%20Plans/TL806%20Builders%20Plans.pdf

TheMilford wrote:arablue wrote:hey milford, i know i should have preferences, but i dont feel like i know enough to justify my opinion (got my rusty box in january, sounds great). thankfully rodabod has clarified that to some extent. the fane knockoff is the ceramic weber thames https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/ under high powered speakers. it sounds real good with the bassman. the cab is 11 deep x 26 wide x 20 tall, i think.the tl806 does look like a good box, without being too big or heavy. but for further edification, what roles do porting and different dimensions play in making a cabinet? and what about having a cabinet tuned for a certain speaker? is that to assure that the resonant frequency of the speaker matches that of wood?edit: glad i've been updated from newbie to trollThe TL-806 would be overkill for that driver. it's heavy cab for it's size and that driver doesn't go lower than 80hz... so I would recommend something tuned to about 80hz in a larger box... what you have is probably ideal.But here's something I just calculated for you (try this):22 x 15 x 10 (internal dimensions)5 port hole cut in rear of cab. The thickness of the plywood will be the length of the port.Use 5/8 Baltic birch plywood or similar... use thin poplar 3/4 stock for cleats for front and rear baffles... try to use no cleating for the corners... instead use rabbets cut into the plywood for strength and gluing surface.Poly-fill to taste.Glad you are liking the Rusty!Is there a certain equation or program you used to calculate those dimensions? I'm not really a bassist so I have no need to build a bass cab as of yet, but as far as guitar goes, building a guitar cabinet is not as specific about calculating the dimensions of a bass cabinet since there is not as much bass present, is that correct? This is a cool thread!

The tuning of the cabinet is to reinforce below the resonant frequency (fs) of the driver.FWIW: I feel only the Weber Michigan (EV copy) 1230-55 and the California (bass cone) would benefit from the TL-806's 60hz tuning.