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I have been experimenting for a bit with some of my speaker cabs and my Trinity 15 combo...

Originally I had my 15 in a home built combo cab with a V30 and open back. Recently swapped out the speaker for a TT 12" ceramic... but it (and the V30 it replaced) sounded at times a little harsh and "high endy" even with the tone down. But when I turn the tone down I loose the sparkle.

I built a 1x12 cab for the now homeless V30 speaker, and made it a closed back (like a little Orange 1x12). Wow! Very tight, bassy but clean and still has that sparkle.

So, I converted the open back combo to a closed back - just made a baffle to close off the top (separating the amp and speaker) and also closed the back port. Same thing! Sounds great!

So, are most of you guys running open or closed cabs?

AJC

I'm an open back guy except for the 412 Marshall stack. Love the airiness and surround sound it provides. But, I'll have to close off the 212 and hear the difference.

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Stephen
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my 2x12 with the tone tubby anico/ceramic is also closed and it really has a lot of shine. Never ran it with the open back to compare...

But last night I played a three hour rehersal with my amp pointed right at my head and I found the closed back of my 15 combo which I usually find a little too "bright" sounded just right.

More experimenting will be needed - luckily the baffles are just screwed in and are easily removable if I decide to. But I think the closed back sounds better to me...

AJC

I'll add another dimension to this discussion - unless it is just my own wierd brain and ears at work!

I find that the exact same setup of amp, speaker, guitar, with all controls set exactly the same sounds different to me on differing days. I have noticed this for a long time, and with every guitar, amp, and speaker combination I own. What sounds absolutely superb during one session, such that I conclude I have finally nailed the perfect sound settings, will sound less than ideal the next time I plug in. Not bad the second time, just not stunning and sterling, as I had thought the day before. Very strange indeed!

I can only conclude that sound is such a subjective entity, involving a lot of human psychological/aesthetic factors, that our moods can't be factored out of the equation. Good thing there are ample controls, speaker setups, etc. to adjust each time we play. Or, as I said at the beginning, perhaps I have defective internal wiring myself...

Anyone else experience this? Is it time for me to check into counseling?

All this said, I do prefer open back cabs for guitar. I have played a lot with closed back, most made to "scientific" specs from the sound engineers at places like JBL. Closed back definitely increases the bass response and overall efficiency (resulting in more volume), but like Stephen I do prefer the ambience and more noticeable presence of the sound with open back - the notes as I play them seem a bit livelier.

But then again, some days the open back setup doesn't sound quite so wonderful as the day before.

Jim

Jim, I've experienced it often, particularly in recording. I think it has to do with the humidity in the air on any given day. On very humid days things sound tinnier and more metallic, harsher. On drier days everything sounds better. That's why the best studios are temperature/humidity controlled.

Seth

FWIW, when I did all those clips for the speaker test, the two cabs that won for me with V30s (Orange 2x12 and Mesa Recto 4x12) were both closed. I think because the TC-15 has such a prominent top end, the bigger bottom a closed cab produces is a good thing... having said that the runner up for me was the Trinity 2x12 with TTA's and it was open. I liked it for the detail...

Jim - I absolutely experience this! One day a particular combination will be my favourite tone ever, and the next day I'll want to sell said gear!! There are lots of factors that come into play not the least of which are the guitars! Like people they have good days and bad days... I can tell you one thing though - when I'm tracking guitars for a record, once I turn all the amps on, I don't turn them off again until we're all done... which could be a week!! Man, by the time those tubes have been cooking for a few days, EVERYTHING sounds AMAZING!! I often want to go back and retrack the first day's stuff because it sounds so much better later on!! I'm probably killing tube life, but hey, whatever it takes for tone!

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Brent Bodrug
Producer-Engineer/Songwriter

www.slyfichapel.com

I've forgotten my amp on a few times, for a few days (in standby though)

AJC

yeah it's amazing how long an amp can run...

I also 100% agree my mood has a tremendous effect on how much i like a certain sound. I also find that as my playing develops i learn to use sounds i originally didn't like as much to great effect. I started out as a clean player that sucked, found that dirty can make everything sound good, and have been gradually cleaning up my sound lately, finding great sounds by controlling my playing. Who knows maybe tomorrow I'll feel like i need a shredder pedal and start blowing out the gain again lol.

Currently my favorite sound comes from having the MV past 3PM and the vol around 9PM according to volume on my sIII. This gives me overdriven output tubes from a relatively clean preamp signal that leaves your volume and distortion up to how you set your guitar volume and how you use your left hand. (I'm a southpaw so for everyone else it depends on how you use your right hand.)

As or open closed, I can't say much as I've been open my whole life. Maybe ill get a piece of plywood to close up my trinity 2x12 for an experiment but with such a big cab i assume that it would be really bassy.

Is it desirable to get an air-tight seal when adding the baffles, ie. by using some kind of sealing element (sealant or gasketing)? I thought I read recently (probably here) that even "closed" cabinets often have ports.

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Some closed cabs do have ports, but a ported cab is a completely different animal from a open back cab.

If done properly, the port is used for "tuning" the low frequency response of the cab & speaker(s). Different speakers will require different "tuning" in different cabs, If not done properly, well it's like the crossover pipe in a dual exhaust - it does more harm than good.

An open back cab lets the speakers fire both forwards & backwards, doing a better job of "filling the room" across a much broader frequency range, and it also makes the cab less "directional". Overall the tone is generally more "loose" & "airy".

Closed-back cabs will usually tighten bottom end, and will also make the sound more focused & directional. Because the overall effect is a "warmer" tone (i.e. more focused bottom end), the effect is a more relaxed sounding top end, but you don't lose much detail as long as you're standing in the "firing line" of the speakers.

And now you know why I asked Stephen to add a removable rear panel to my Triwatt cab so I can switch from open to closed back as desired!