The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Who makes especially handsome, unique, or fine-sounding speaker cabinets that could handle a high-watt jazz head (Quilter, Henriksen, etc.)? Brands and photos appreciated!

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Raezer's Edge. Raezer's Edge For a more traditional appearance.

    The forum's own Toob. TOOB Modern, really portable, sound great.

  4. #3

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    Raezer's Edge. Rich Raezer (RIP) wrote the book on speaker cabinets for jazz guitar. IMO, there are none finer. I have three:

    Stealth 12ER (made by Rich)
    Stealth 10ER (Made by Rich)
    NY-8ER (Made in Wisconsin by Geoff Felsher, the current owner of the brand)

  5. #4

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    Cunamara and Stringswinger are dead on. Raezer's Edge cabinets can handle lots of power and have a terrific sound, especially for archtop guitar.

  6. #5
    Any others besides Raezer's Edge? Anything with interesting options for coverings, grill cloth, handles, or perhaps a round speaker hole (like old Gibson amps, etc)?

  7. #6

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    As mentioned, Toob, but you'll have to order from Finland. That may or may not be an issue with you. EarCandy are said to be good, but ordering new ones might be a problem. If you can find one used, it may be a good buy. I like my Raezer's Edge well enough that I haven't really looked for anything else.

  8. #7

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    Peter Mather builds excellent cabinets. I've had two, both pine. One a 1x15 tweed combo cab for a tweed deluxe type amp. The other an oversize 1x12 open back cab, styled to look vaguely like Dr. Z amps/cabs. I use it with a DV Mark Micro 50 CMT. High quality, excellent sound. I can recommend Peter's cabs.

  9. #8

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    Too many options (like all gear)! [and yes, Raezer's Edge cabs are great!]

    "High-watt handling" may be more related to speakers than cab, but for cabs: Jack Anderson; V Boutique; Avatar; Drew Goodin; Ashen; etc.

    Happy hunting!

  10. #9

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    You might look at RevSound cabinets. David Luke has been designing and making fantastic cabinets in the New Hampshire woods for 30 years. He specializes in very light but solid cabs built for pro use, and he tailors them for bass or guitar. The range runs from a single 8 to multiple 10s, 12s & even 15s if you need to move that much air.

    I love my RS8, which is a 9x10x11” 10 pound cab with a neodymium speaker custom made for David by Celestion. It’s rated for up to 175 watts, looks gorgeous in vintage tweed, sounds fantastic, and cost $350. It has a great jazz tone and handles my 7s with no difficulty at high volume in big venues. I’ve even used it on blues gigs for the Hammond B3 patch and saxes from my Roland guitar synth. The band and audience were blown away, and more than one musician thought that he or she was hearing the real instruments - and in a stereo pair with my DV Mark Jazz, even the Leslie simulation is convincing. It’s also great with my Kurzweil stage piano. I couldn’t be happier with it. If I ever need another speaker cabinet, David Luke will build it for me.

    I’ve driven it with my Trace Elliot Elf, Crate Powerblock, Vox Night Train, Phil Jones head, and as an external speaker for my DV Mark Jazz. It’s absolutely the best speaker cabinet I’ve ever had - it’s as sweet as my original RE Stealth 10 for guitar and almost as solid with my Fender bass.

  11. #10

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    I have experience with Mesa Boogie Thiele ported speakers. They are basically 12" closed back speakers with a tuned port. They have a very tight and clear bottom end.
    These are the only speaker enclosures I know of that are specifically tuned to the frequency range of a guitar.
    These speakers really help with the 'flubby' bass problem.
    The aesthetic is Mesa Boogie basic black.
    90 watts / 8 ohms.
    I like them a lot with a clean amp and my Collings Eastside LC.
    They are however VERY directional. A pair works better than one.

  12. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by markesquire
    Any others besides Raezer's Edge? Anything with interesting options for coverings, grill cloth, handles, or perhaps a round speaker hole (like old Gibson amps, etc)?
    Geoff Felsher can do all that for you. Talk to him. Have you seen his FB page? He does a lot of custom cabs. His line of Sequel Sköter amps has round Gibson portholes. SK?TER II - Raezer's Edge

    That said, for a jazz cab I would go with the RE12ER or 10ER. I am planning to get another soon, a 2x12 semi-open backcab. I have 3 cabinets that Geoff Felsher built for me.

    Raezer's Edge

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
    You might look at RevSound cabinets. David Luke has been designing and making fantastic cabinets in the New Hampshire woods for 30 years. He specializes in very light but solid cabs built for pro use, and he tailors them for bass or guitar. The range runs from a single 8 to multiple 10s, 12s & even 15s if you need to move that much air.
    .
    Yes, +1 on Dave and RevSound! Excellent products and service!

  14. #13

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    Good suggestions so far. My choice has been for Toob. It's been a pleasure exchanging with our forum-mate Gitterbug before choosing each of them - he really know speakers!
    No hassle ordering from Finland, both arrived in a matter of days.
    I use the Metro 6.5" BG, designed for bass and guitar with a tc electronic BAM200w head for my ES-175D clean jazz sounds, and also for my violin bass. It will also serve for a Warwick Triumph Liite upright electric bass due to arrive on Tuesday (my latest adventure).
    I recently got a Toob 12S loaded with a Jensen Blackbird 40 to pair it with a Quilter Superblock UK for Vox and Marshall sounds so as to complement what I have from a ToneMaster Deluxe and the BAM200 - great for strat, hotter humbuckers, gretsch and tele.
    Incredibly small foot print - the most portable quality setup you can imagine.

  15. #14

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    I have a Redstone 1X12. Well designed and built but no longer in production. Kind of left me preferring the sound of either a FRFR or an open back cabinet. The tight throw on closed boxes doesn't always suit playing in the living room.

  16. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by marcwhy
    Yes, +1 on Dave and RevSound! Excellent products and service!
    He’s a very good guy - the first time I called to learn more about his work, we talked for over an hour. He’ll make his cabs any way you want them, with a huge choice of coverings, grills, drivers, handles, feet etc. He follows up on every purchase to be sure you’re happy. And if he says he’ll do something, he will do it.

  17. #16

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    One off-piste alternative is the Barefaced Audio guitar cabinets. They are not especially pretty or quirky, and aren't cheap, but they have a few interesting features:
    -the cabinets are extremely light, yet don't rattle or buzz. I mean, really light
    -They seem to combine the best features of closed and open-back, via a patented vent at the back of the cab. As a result the sound is louder than expected for the wattage, and manages to sound open and full, whilst avoiding the "thinning-out" effect of some open back combos. A SF PR though one of these cabs sounds like a much bigger amp.
    -They have a bass cut switch built in, for live use where cutting through the mix is important.
    The downside might be that Barefaced only offer them loaded with Celestion speakers, although there is an unloaded option.

    Might be worth a look..

  18. #17

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    One thng you didn't say is, do you need easy portability, or will it stay in your home/studio? I am thinking of size/weight issues.

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
    He’s a very good guy - the first time I called to learn more about his work, we talked for over an hour. He’ll make his cabs any way you want them, with a huge choice of coverings, grills, drivers, handles, feet etc. He follows up on every purchase to be sure you’re happy. And if he says he’ll do something, he will do it.
    Right, AND he won't try "up-selling" you on a bigger/fancier/pricier model! He wants to meet your musical needs, regardless! [I have one of his bass cabs, too!]

    @Franz'97 -- I have an original Barefaced 1x10 model (they have a different "name" for it, now!), which came with an Eminence speaker. As much as I enjoy it, and believe the "physics" of it works (i.e., it fills up the room differently than my other cabs!), I tend to refrain on recommending it: (1) as you said, it's fairly pricey, and people here tend to shy away from that; and (2) posting Barefaced comments on TGP is like posting political threads here -- chaos and mayhem ensue, and they become heated debates about physics and tradition (mostly by people who have not tried them), so I avoid that. Anyway -- ridiculously light cab, and great sound!

  20. #19
    Wow, thanks for all the responses. I’m hearing all of these references to “physics” which obviously matters. But is there a guide for which designs are optimal from a physics perspective? I tend to prefer open back cabs because I’ve always played Fenders, but I could be persuaded I guess!

  21. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by markesquire
    Wow, thanks for all the responses. I’m hearing all of these references to “physics” which obviously matters. But is there a guide for which designs are optimal from a physics perspective? I tend to prefer open back cabs because I’ve always played Fenders, but I could be persuaded I guess!
    ”It depends……”

    Well designed cabinets with drivers whose performance characteristics are well suited to the design (eg size, free air resonance, coil excursion, magnet parameters etc) sound great - but each design has its own strengths and weaknesses. Sealed, open back, and “tuned” cabs sound different from each other. Sealed cabs tend to have a bit better transient response and tend to roll off their lower limit more smoothly. But they’re also usually less efficient than open cabs and their usable lower frequency limit (with the same driver parameters) is higher than open cabs because the damping effect of the trapped air in the cab starts damping frequencies well above the speaker’s free air resonance.

    Tuned cabs (ports, lines, vents etc) are all tuned to a specific frequency +/- and can go well below a sealed box with the same driver. They put out more bass (all other things being equal) because the port or other vent is augmenting it via the resonant air column it creates. But below that range, they tend to boom. The best tuned cabs (like the Boogie Thiele 12” and the RE Stealth 10) are outstanding. But so are the best sealed designs.

    And then there are open back amps, which is part of the Fender sound. They tend to sound “bigger” both because sound radiates from both front and back and because they’re less directional than sealed cabs. The rear output is 180 degrees out of phase with the front, but ambient reflection and diffraction push the phasing all over the place. This makes the room a big, subtle delay pedal. And the band can all hear you better at lower volumes because of the open back.

    You just have to find the sound you like.

  22. #21
    Does anyone have any good sound examples of the RE Stealth 10?

  23. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by markesquire
    Does anyone have any good sound examples of the RE Stealth 10?
    RE youtube site:



    and their newer open-back cab:


  24. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by markesquire
    Who makes especially handsome, unique, or fine-sounding speaker cabinets that could handle a high-watt jazz head (Quilter, Henriksen, etc.)? Brands and photos appreciated!
    You didn't say "light," "small," or "cheap."
    Old school cabs here:
    HOME | StoneAge Custom Cabinets L.L.C.
    I have a lovely old custom cab from them - open-back with a 15" Altec 418b. Mine is slightly smaller than an Ampeg B-15S cab.
    If space is not an issue, consider a 4x12" cab. Fabulous sound for jazz and you can have lots of fun with different speaker mixing/matching.
    They have access to a wide variety of Tolex and hardware from which to choose.
    Attached Images Attached Images School Me on Speaker Cabinets-rake-stoneage-altec418b_0369-jpg 

  25. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by marcwhy
    @Franz'97 -- I have an original Barefaced 1x10 model (they have a different "name" for it, now!), which came with an Eminence speaker. As much as I enjoy it, and believe the "physics" of it works (i.e., it fills up the room differently than my other cabs!), I tend to refrain on recommending it: (1) as you said, it's fairly pricey, and people here tend to shy away from that; and (2) posting Barefaced comments on TGP is like posting political threads here -- chaos and mayhem ensue, and they become heated debates about physics and tradition (mostly by people who have not tried them), so I avoid that. Anyway -- ridiculously light cab, and great sound!
    Marc, I didn't want to give the impression of recommending it necessarily. But thanks for the heads up, I had no idea it was controversial, I don't look at TGP. Full disclosure; I was given the cab to test with some Celestion "jazz speakers' for a jazz version, but I've ended up using it with an Emi RC speaker as a near-weightless alternative to my very heavy Altec 417 cab ( which I would recommend for developing upper arm strength). As you say it's an expensive but effective choice.

  26. #25

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    Open back cabinets tend to have looser bass, sealed cabinets are tighter. That is because when the cone moves in one direction it acquires momentum in that direction. When the magnet tells it to go in the other direction, it has to first slow down, come to a stop, and then accelerate backwards. This little bit of delay in response is perceived as looseness.

    When the cabinet is sealed, the cone's response to the direction change is faster because the vacuum (or the pressure depending on the cone's movement) inside the cabinet is already acting as a force to reverse the movement. That makes the cone response quicker and gives a tighter, more focused and defined bass.

    For higher frequencies, the cone movement is small enough that the effect of pressure changes inside the cabinet is negligible.