Anyone try to "shrink" a rectifier cab?

[firmani99]

The only real difference between a rectifier and stilleto cabs I assume is the cabinet volume. Has anyone ever tried to lower your rectifier cab by building a wood box within it? I wonder if this would work.

 

[nakedzen]

It wouldn't work, the amount of mass you'd be adding would make the cab resonate very differently. If you just want to reduce the amount of low end resonance, you could try to install a baffle in the middle from two pieces of plywood and a piece of mattress foam between them making it basically two 2x12's side by side, and adding some foam on the back. I did this to make my home made 2x12 to sound tighter and it worked sufficiently well. This still wouldn't sound the same as the smaller cab, and the foam possibly will make the cab sound dead.

Much better option would be just sell the cab and buy/trade the smaller cab.

 

[firmani99]

yeah you're probably right. It just seems that every mesa cab i find used is the oversized rec cab.

 

[YellowJacket]

The stiletto / traditional rectocab is awesome!!

 

[firmani99]

Were they not as popular? Every ebay/craigslist search I do turns up tons of oversized ones but no standard size.

 

[tomprs]

Were they not as popular? Every ebay/craigslist search I do turns up tons of oversized ones but no standard size.

This is because of the stupid "bigger = better" way of thinking...and maybe also because when you buy a Traditional cab you're so happy with it that you don't sell it

 

[firmani99]

Were they not as popular? Every ebay/craigslist search I do turns up tons of oversized ones but no standard size.

This is because of the stupid "bigger = better" way of thinking...and maybe also because when you buy a Traditional cab you're so happy with it that you don't sell it

Both excellent points!

 

[Blaklynx]

Why not size up a length of ply that you can install and brace along the bottom of the cab? Brace it so it doesn't bend/flex or vibrate. Install the new piece in a way so you can remove it if you want. You'd reduce the volume by effectively making the internal height shorter.

Since trying to make this piece square all around so it seals properly against the existing cab may be difficult, think about buying a roll of weather seal that are used around windows, doors, etc. Open cell, or closed cell foam, rubber strip, etc. Plenty available at a good hardware store. Bond it to the new piece when installed in the cab. No more gaps.

Take measurements of the cabs you're interested in and make the internal height the same. If you're really fussy, install one along the top portion, too, if you want to balance out the distance to speaker centreline.

Any differences in resonance will probably be minute, however, it should sound tighter/more focused.


Or just buy another cab.

 

[firmani99]

Yeah that's what I was thinking. put something like sheets of ply in there to take up some of the internal volume. I'll prob just keep looking for a smaller cab but I was curious if anyone had ever done this.

 

[tomprs]

Found this one on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mesa-Boogie-4x12-Stiletto-Traditional-Slant-Guitar-Cabinet-/291151172471?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43c9f65377

 

[firmani99]

Wow thank you! I'm going to keep an eye on it.

 

[bandit2013]

I believe I was able to do it, but the cost is enormous. I could have bought a new cab for the total cost of mod. The V30's just do not mate well with the oversized cab. I put the original speakers in a traditional sized cab and they sound amazing. The mod I am referring too had a total cost of $1,116.00 (4xEVM12LBlack Label). The traditional size cab (Egnator) I got on sale for $250 (this was under my budget for a cab build and all that was required was to install the V30 after removing the Celestion Elite 75's which were 16 ohms.). At least I was able to reuse the V30's, I had to at least give them a 2nd chance. I could not be happier unless it was a Mesa 412 traditional sized cab. Besides, I doubt the V30's were broken in since I did not use it much during the 14 years of ownership. I could not stand the tone and character of the V30's in the oversized cab so I had plans to replace them with EV, just never had a need to do such until I got a Mark V head. Size does matter in this case the smaller the better when it boils down to speaker choice and resonant cavity of the enclosure for a V30. As for the EV in the oversized cab, prefect match up for a Mark Series amp (V and IV combo), not bad with my RA100 but that favors V30's. I am still waiting on my Roadster head to arrive. I ordered it early last month (I wanted the Jute face with vent vs the tolex with diamond plate) so I am still waiting.

The difference of the V30 in a traditional cab vs the oversided cab is like night and day. Beaming is not noticeable from the V30 in the smaller traditional sized cabinet. Seems to be a no flub solution and the end result is tight low end. The fan out of the sound is more uniform and it fills the room much better. Not sure how the EV would sound in the smaller cab, they seem to work very well in the larger cavity of the oversized recto slanted 412. Once the Roadster comes in, I will compare how it sounds between the two different cabs. If I like the V30 cab better I will order a Mesa traditional sized cab and be done with it. I may just do the build from Mathers which looks like a good quality enclosure. I could get two built for the cost of one Mesa cab. All I would need would be 4 speakers to complete the 2nd and reuse the V30's. The Egnator cab is okay, just not Mesa Quality in construction. The only plus, it is half the weight of the oversized recto cab.

 

[firmani99]

I believe I was able to do it, but the cost is enormous. I could have bought a new cab for the total cost of mod. The V30's just do not mate well with the oversized cab. I put the original speakers in a traditional sized cab and they sound amazing. The mod I am referring too had a total cost of $1,116.00 (4xEVM12LBlack Label). The traditional size cab (Egnator) I got on sale for $250 (this was under my budget for a cab build and all that was required was to install the V30 after removing the Celestion Elite 75's which were 16 ohms.). At least I was able to reuse the V30's, I had to at least give them a 2nd chance. I could not be happier unless it was a Mesa 412 traditional sized cab. Besides, I doubt the V30's were broken in since I did not use it much during the 14 years of ownership. I could not stand the tone and character of the V30's in the oversized cab so I had plans to replace them with EV, just never had a need to do such until I got a Mark V head. Size does matter in this case the smaller the better when it boils down to speaker choice and resonant cavity of the enclosure for a V30. As for the EV in the oversized cab, prefect match up for a Mark Series amp (V and IV combo), not bad with my RA100 but that favors V30's. I am still waiting on my Roadster head to arrive. I ordered it early last month (I wanted the Jute face with vent vs the tolex with diamond plate) so I am still waiting.

The difference of the V30 in a traditional cab vs the oversided cab is like night and day. Beaming is not noticeable from the V30 in the smaller traditional sized cabinet. Seems to be a no flub solution and the end result is tight low end. The fan out of the sound is more uniform and it fills the room much better. Not sure how the EV would sound in the smaller cab, they seem to work very well in the larger cavity of the oversized recto slanted 412. Once the Roadster comes in, I will compare how it sounds between the two different cabs. If I like the V30 cab better I will order a Mesa traditional sized cab and be done with it. I may just do the build from Mathers which looks like a good quality enclosure. I could get two built for the cost of one Mesa cab. All I would need would be 4 speakers to complete the 2nd and reuse the V30's. The Egnator cab is okay, just not Mesa Quality in construction. The only plus, it is half the weight of the oversized recto cab.

I think this is probably a good way to go. I had installed 2 g12k100's that I picked up for next to nothing, in the oversized cab in an x pattern and that helped but then I picked up 2 delta pro 12a's and stuck them in there with 2 of the v30's and that is even better but I can still here the v30's flub out a little bit. The delta pro's helped tremendously. So...long story short if I leave that cab alone I now have 2 of the v30's and the 2 g12k100's that I could put in my smaller peavey cab. I know the peavey cab is not built as well but I don't think it is terrible. Plus it has a metal grille so it almost could pass as an old mesa. I think I am going to give it a try.

 

[Guitar Pauly]

I went with a Stilleto cab with my Dual Rectifier, and the sound is night and day compared to a Recto cab.
I really like the tighter low end, and the defined mids. I mainly play metal and was on the fence about getting a rectifier, until I played one through the stilleto/ traditional cabs.

 

[bandit2013]

I never really considered what the total internal volume of the cabinets are. Another thought on this, instead of adding plywood or soft padding, you may be able to get by with rigid foam insulation (type with the foil) as it comes in various thicknesses. So if you desire to reduce the internal volume, at least the rigid foam would not add considerable weight. Not exactly sure what that would do to the sound quality. Just a thought. I do have an oversized 1x12 which really deepens the tone, may try that with that cabinet and see if It has any ill effects.

 

[firmani99]

I never really considered what the total internal volume of the cabinets are. Another thought on this, instead of adding plywood or soft padding, you may be able to get by with rigid foam insulation (type with the foil) as it comes in various thicknesses. So if you desire to reduce the internal volume, at least the rigid foam would not add considerable weight. Not exactly sure what that would do to the sound quality. Just a thought. I do have an oversized 1x12 which really deepens the tone, may try that with that cabinet and see if It has any ill effects.

Not a bad idea

 

[bandit2013]

"Not a bad idea" : It will be if the end effect makes the cabinet sound worse. I am uncertain what the vibrational characteristics are like. If I recall, it has the tone of Balsa wood since it has similar densities.

 

[firmani99]

True

 

[domct203]

Be careful with what you are putting inside the cab. Soft padding/foam is not very dense, and would most likely slow-down and/or absorb sound waves fooling the speakers into thinking they are in a bigger cabinet.

Dom

 

[thunda1216]

Be careful with what you are putting inside the cab. Soft padding/foam is not very dense, and would most likely slow-down and/or absorb sound waves fooling the speakers into thinking they are in a bigger cabinet.

Dom

This. It's why many cabs are loaded with fiber fill type stuff - to make the cab sound bigger.