Tested: Where Does The Tone Come From In A Speaker Cab?

I do the work and get the answers.

0:00 - Intro
1:34 - The Scrap Cab
2:49 - The Sweep
3:35 - 1x12 Combo
3:55 - 1x12 Test Cab
5:20 - When does it become open back?
6:56 - Baffles
8:30 - 2x12 Test Cab
9:09 - Grille Cloth and T-Shirts
10:12 - The Mysterious Vox Planks
10:37 - Marshall 4x12
11:13 - JT’s Cabs
12:09 - The 6-Hole Cab
12:50 - Cab Size
16:10 - The 12 Factors
17:00 - But Why?
18:18 - The dumbest guitar cab material?
19:16 - Outro

I'm @jimlill on instagram.

___

Making this video was really hard and really fun.

I am fascinated with guitar cabs. I spent years ignoring them, thinking tone was all about the guitar, amp, and pedals, until I got so frustrated with my tone I started trying different cabs and learned that they have the power to completely change your sound.

But I didn’t know why. And after reading about it, I felt like nobody knew why. I’ve become quite skeptical of any guitar tone opinions that were formed before humans could record and edit together A/B tests easily in their own house, which wasn’t all that long ago.

So, I did it myself.

I did my best to answer every question I’ve ever had about guitar cabs, with listening examples and frequency plots for specific head-to-head comparisons all caught on video so you can decide what you think matters most.

-Jim, 5/23/22

[fb]

This guy is the guitar snob killer. What a legend.

[IAMSEYMOURMUSIC]

What I love about this dude is he's a proper scientist but doesnt seem to realise it. He starts out by admitting his limitations and the limitations of his testing. Then he identifies, isolates, and carefully controls his variables one at a time. He enters the testing phase with a total open mind and considers everything regardless as to what his intuition might tell him. He carefully records his methods so others can try to replicate his results. He delivers his conclusions impassively by looking at the real outcome with no regard for any prior bias. Then he opens up his tests to a wider audience to invite their comments and review. Dude knows the scientific method inside out

[MadScientistGuitarLab]

Eventually you will have to play the tackle box through the foam cab using the no-body/no-neck Tele. I love the experiments you do!

[Rossi]

No one will ever create such a thorough and clear demo of this stuff ever again, this is actually a masterpiece

[Shezmen]

You are a hero of the guitar community. No hyperbole.

[Foxholt]

In 20 minutes you've undone decades of marketing by guitar cab manufacturers to justify crazy prices for a wooden box. Hats off to you!

[TanyaRocksMe]

The styrofoam cab has no business sounding that close to the Orange cab. This is hilarious. Cab makers have to be ripping their hair out at this.

Excellent work. You conducted experiments exactly as one should, and were not afraid to say "this didn't affect the outcome as I hypothesized, so I moved on". Truly the mark of a mature experimenter. Well done.

[Darmachakra]

This man is a genius. He does not fall for advertisement and "this is known", he experiments and learns himself. These videos will make so many "audiophiles" and audio companies really angry, since they clearly demystify all their mambo-jambo. The consumer on the other hand learns what really is important and where money is wasted or not. Very well done :)

[samanderson]

This guy seriously built like a dozen different cabs in his backyard just for this video. That's dedication. Bravo

[Ensorcle]

This man is a national treasure and must be protected at all costs.

[Snave]

As an engineer, I love this no-hype systematic approach. Do yourself and everyone else a favor and make cabinet impulses of all nine of your cabinets and monetize this content even further. I'd buy it.

[jessebreakspear]

I typed "how a guitar cabinet affects tone into the search" and thought I was in for a wild goose chase but this was the first video that came up and it was perfect.

[GEfromNJ]

Jim deserves his own little wing of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame for his tireless work in busting myths and answering the important questions.

[Windkind]

Electrical Engineer here: The impedance *can* effect the sound as it *might* change the way your amp interacts with the speakers, but that depends on the amp. So it might be that in your case the amp could handle all impedances well, while other amps might handle them differently. Impedance mismatches can certainly also effect the frequency graph (e.g. try running a High-Z Piezo into an low-Z preamp vs running the same thing into a High-Z-Preamp). But with amps it really depends how the output section is built, e.g. a change in impedance might form a different "passive filter" with any internal capacitance of the amp, etc.

However I don't think impedance is a big factor in the sound of an cab typically. It might affect the effectiveness (how much levels you get out of the whole thing), but not so much the sound as long as your amp-cab combination is within spec : )

Some additional thoughts: You looked exclusively into the frequency domain which was a really interesting (and worthwile) exercise. But be aware that the time domain also exists (REW can do waterfall plots). Some of the changes you made might not have shown big changes in the frequency graph, but might have affected how the cab handels short impulses, percusive sounds and such things in the time domain, which in turn might affect things like the perceived "tightness" of a sound. I believe the biggest changing factor there would still be the speaker itself, unless you are building some boomy bass-reflex thing replacing the hole in the back with a pipe or something. But if you have the speakers around still, looking at how they "ring out" when fed with short pulses might be an interesting thing to look at as well.

Your work is really gold, thanks.

[MrZanakra]

The acoustical principle that's causing the effect with making a hole or opening the back is called "helmholtz resonance". There is a caclulation to find the relationship between the boosting or cutting frequency and the size of the opening.

[cjdrozb]

At one point (17:13 to be exact) you say "I'm just a musician, I don't know anything about physics...". I beg to differ. Here's a quote from wikipedia:

"Experimental physics is a branch of physics that is concerned with data acquisition, data-acquisition methods, and the detailed conceptualization (beyond simple thought experiments) and realization of laboratory experiments. It is often contrasted with theoretical physics, which is more concerned with predicting and explaining the physical behaviour of nature than the acquisition of empirical data."

By that definition, I would say that you are an experimental physicist, and a good one at that.

Love your videos, carry on.

[ManualVorlaufer]

Incredible. I spent a whole day building a 1x12 because the thought of spending $650 for a plywood box was ridiculous. Stoked with the results

[IOeigo]

Jim's not only a great guitar tone mythbuster, but he's got awesome video storytelling chops. Super engaging end-to-end.

[refactoring]

I am totally exhausted and drained just watching the amount of work YOU did for this video.

[soyounoat]

35 years of playing and working with these things, and 3 of your videos made me feel like I am beginning again. Subscribed!