Guitar Gear Forum

Hey everyone my name is Evan!

I came to this forum because I am seeking advice and have questions about building a custom speaker cabinet, buying the parts and constructing it myself. First time doing this. I want to build something that I can plug my electric amp head into as well as an acoustic guitar DI. I want to be able to have enough frequency range for the lows and highs of the acoustic as well as a good mid range punch for my electric.

I have never really researched into speakers or cabinets before, I have just owned combo amps, amp heads, different PAs and bass amps in the past. So forgive me for not knowing any terminology or really what I’m talking about when it comes to speakers.
I was thinking of something custom, possibly three speakers, a speaker for highs, A nice 15 inch (celestion-ish?) for mids and then something for the low end. I have no idea how I would wire it but the idea would be to be able to plug my amp head and then also be able to run a DI into it as well. Possibly even a third input for a microphone. I’m not sure if that could work or not.
I play solo gigs here and there, I would like to have an all in one set up so I can switch between my acoustic and electric simply, sometimes I bring my keyboard as well. I’m not sure about getting a PA speaker. I want to have a 15 inch guitar speaker because I’m afraid a PA won’t give me that guitar tone I’m looking for.

Any and all advice is excepted! I’m really excited to start talking with this community and to share my experiences plus whatever knowledge I can pass along as well. I wrote a summary of my musical background below.


I’m from the north shore area in Massachusettes and just hit 11 years of playing guitar in September! I’m 25, I sing and play guitar(electric/acoustic/bass/ukulele), piano, drums(hand percussion and just getting used to playing a kit) . I come from a family of singers and was in chorus all throughout high school, started guitar when I was 14 with an obsession for classic rock, then as I progressed with guitar I got into more metal/rock, then prog and jazz/jazz fusion/Reggae/funk and jamming in odd times.
My hero’s we’re and are(in no particular order) Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Jeff Beck, Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, Rush, Stevie Vai, Paul Gilbert, Pat Metheny, Incubus, Beach Boys, Beatles, Blind Melon, Dream Theater and many more. Also my father instilled in love for 50s and 60s music in me when I was in younger. More recently I have really been into bands like Chon, Animals As Leaders, The Aristocrats(anything Guthrie Govan), The Dear Hunter and also...a lot of samba.
Iam blessed with a good ear and was sang to all the time as a kid. I can sight read sheet music singing decently and know my basics on piano. But I learned everything I know on guitar from tabs and by ear. I play funky/blues/rock/jazzy sounding stuff. I love covering a lot of the classics and a lot of songs from today as well.

Please feel free to ask me any questions about music or any of the things that I said above! I am an open and honest person and just want to help others learn and continue to grow in music and life in general! Thanks!

-Evan

ok - a few things to clarify.

If you want to run your electric guitar amp head into the cab for guitar - it would have to be a 'passive' cab (no amplifier) - and the correct 15" speaker would give you good results.
- question though - what kind of guitar amplifier do you have?

Your acoustic guitar DI won't power a cab on it's own - so in that case you would need to first plug into a powered amplifier - then the speaker. This could also just be a powered speaker.
- what DI unit do you have for your acoustic?

Switching between the two - or having one cab that does both is not normally done - not impossible - but not the norm.

Welcome to the fold brother! This is the best guitar/amp forum on the internetwebz!!!

clipless bumper wrote:ok - a few things to clarify.

If you want to run your electric guitar amp head into the cab for guitar - it would have to be a 'passive' cab (no amplifier) - and the correct 15" speaker would give you good results.
- question though - what kind of guitar amplifier do you have?

Your acoustic guitar DI won't power a cab on it's own - so in that case you would need to first plug into a powered amplifier - then the speaker. This could also just be a powered speaker.
- what DI unit do you have for your acoustic?

Switching between the two - or having one cab that does both is not normally done - not impossible - but not the norm.

Hey thanks for the reply. I should add that this is a goal of mine and im slowly acquiring what I need to complete this setup.
I own a Quilter Labs 101 Mini Head https://www.quilterlabs.com/index.php/productpage/101-mini-head
I don't own a DI right now. I own a ZT Lunchbox Acoustic/Vocal Amp that I could use with an 8ohm (minimum) speaker. So that actually solves my power amp problem for the acoustic. And I can plug my mic into this as well. https://www.ztamplifiers.com/uploads/8/2/0/3/82030324/lba1l_english_user_manual_v1.5.pdf

The last thing I would want to do is have an XLR out to be able to plug into a PA/sound board for the house mix. Again not sure how I'de do that exactly and if it would have to run out of my power amps. that's not totally necessary because I can always just mic it. Thanks again.

If you're interested in a multi-speaker cabinet, one of the GAB members, Mortatone, builds custom cabinets.
He build this one for my 12" and 15" Electro-Voice SRO's.
The jack panel is on the right side so, I can push the cabinet flat against the wall.
You can plug into either speaker one-at-a-time, both in mono or, both in stereo.

Here's the link for the jack panel https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/j ... monostereo

ajaxlepinski wrote:If you're interested in a multi-speaker cabinet, one of the GAB members, Mortatone, builds custom cabinets.
He build this one for my 12" and 15" Electro-Voice SRO's.
The jack panel is on the right side so, I can push the cabinet flat against the wall.
You can plug into either speaker one-at-a-time, both in mono or, both in stereo.

Here's the link for the jack panel https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/j ... monostereo

What are the ohms on your Electro Voice SRO's?

What's the inspiration for building the cab yourself? You have a huge list of "wants" for this cab, and it's going to be really difficult to build something that does it all, and well. Honestly, I'd be looking into one of the modeler units (Line6 Helix gets huge props around here) and a good powered PA-type speaker so that you get the frequency ranges covered and plenty of inputs (including, I believe, a microphone input) on the modeler.

Just a thought. If you're looking to save money somehow, you're headed for a rabbit hole - speaker cabs that are tuned to do what you want aren't easy to design, and can easily require a great deal of trial and error.

If you're looking to DIY the thing, because you can, then I applaud your ambition, and can't wait to see what you come up with! Lots of woodworkers here (myself included, to some extent) that can help you.