In our pursuit of music equipment, we easily overlook the humble guitar cabinet. We look at the speakers’ merits and specs and let the house that houses them take the back seat. This ignorance doesn’t seem right when you think about it. I don’t believe that there is a guitarist out there who can amaze a crowd by having speakers hanging from just anything. We have to admit a guitar cabinet plays a significant role, just like every other device among the different types of equipment. It is, for this reason, it is worth your time to explore its various forms. We will cover key areas that will help you better understand the equipment and, of course, help you make a more informed decision during purchase. Let us begin from the very start.
Table of Contents
Composition of guitar equipment
We all know that the combination of the speaker and cabinet forms a guitar amp. There are three basic types of guitar amps setups: backline, the stack, combo, and rack system. A stack is a wall of them while the combo is three, and finally, the rack is a compact size and simple, which is the size of a small refrigerator. There are three necessary essential components of these setups: preamp, power amp, and speaker cabinets. The preamp is responsible for taking a weak signal from an electric guitar and increasing it to any level. Some of the classes are bass, middle, and treble. The power amp takes the movement from the preamp and even boosts it more. The speaker and cabinets are for air circulation and produce sound. In terms of the setups, we can now comfortably distinguish their compositions. There are a few ways to arrange your setup, for example half stacks are composed of an amplifier head cabinet or a number of them. The preamp and power amp blocks will be located in the head and the cabinet where speakers are held. If you have been following closely, you have a clear image of a combo; it has all three elements: the preamp, power amp, and speakers. In a rack, the three are all placed separately.
Structure, material, and designs of guitar cabinets
I am a huge guitar fan, and I own many professional guitar setups we have discussed. The most exciting thing when attending a guitar concert has always been the cabinets. I have never figured out why I was so intrigued. I started a lot at the structures and designs, and my urge made me dig deep into the composition of these guitar cabinets in every event. If you asked the most straightforward question of what material these cabinets are made out of, even if you ask guitarists what their cabinets are made of, a massive number of them would tell you wood. It is not as simple as this; the composition is broad and incomplete because, for starters, there are many types of wood. The material affects how the cabinet performs. A builder is well aware every wood has its pros and cons. Cabinets having an open or closed back assists the constructors in determining what to use during construction. In the set up we looked at the combo enclosures are made from solid pine wood; however, this is a vintage design. In recent times the use of replica pine components has grown in popularity. Cabinets with an open back are made of solid pine that allows the speaker to have more exposure, making it less directional and diffused. Making this discovery was shocking, for I had never thought the design had this much influence on sound quality. Solid pine is the lightest type of cabinet wood out there. Closed-back cabinets serve to produce focused and directional sound, and solid pine is not used to construct these cabinets due to a flexibility trait. They are preferably made from plywood. The industry has set a standard of 18mm Baltic birch wood, which is different from ordinary plywood. This type of wood does not have a void meaning there is no trapped air preventing the rattling sound produced when you play the guitar. Due to the uniform thickness, the plywood is easily layered, making the cabinet rigid and indestructible. Closed cabinets generally weigh heavier and that is why many have wheels for easy transportation. There is a special kind of cabinet known as the bass cabinet. They require a higher form of rigidity, and that is why they are made out of chipboard or medium-density fibreboard. Chipboard is sometimes addressed as particleboard because it is done by gluing wood chips together and bound with a resin formed into boards. The name suggests that medium-density fibreboard is made of more delicate wood material mixed with wax and resins at high temperatures—likewise, the stronger the fabric, the heavier the guitar cabinets.
Have you ever considered what happens when you desire to take your guitar cabinets? Or even better question: what should you think when placing your cabinets anywhere? If it is on a stage, it first depends on whether the guitar cabinet is going to be mic’d up or not. In an instance where miking will be involved, the cabinet is fixed permanently. Bands reduce the stage volume by keeping the cabinets facing backward. There is a strange belief that surrounds the exterior look of a guitar cabinet. Many believe and say that the material, color, and feel affect the sound quality produced. The fabric has some potential of influencing the type of sound being made, but the grill cloth is a cosmetic choice by companies, and in terms of the effect, they may be very little or none. Mentality and selection might be the issue surrounding this concept because you may prefer a white guitar cabinet compared to a red one. The distaste of the color makes the sound from the white guitar sound better than the red. To summarize, if it sounds great, it is correct, and understanding the basics of guitar cabinets will help you develop the instinct of what sound is best for your guitars. A great guitarist can tell you that for these cabinets to perform best is the effort you put into the music you want to produce.
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