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Post by LeftyLang on Dec 19, 2006 14:37:31 GMT -7
Who came up with this design? Is it the Doc's & how does it work?
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Dec 19, 2006 15:08:52 GMT -7
Well having a bass duct on a speaker cab has been around for a very long time. There are design considerations, and I'm sure the Doc's cab is perfectly tuned for what we hear, but the idea is an old one. Even the ancient old Altec Voice of the Theater cabs had bass ducts (as well has being horn loaded). There is quite a bit about speaker cab design out on the web. One place that you can find a lot of valuable information is the JBL Pro site at www.jblpro.com. Click on the link to the technical library and look for an article there called the JBL Professional Enclosure Guide. What this article demonstrates is that the speaker manufacturer understands their speakers and can make recommendations about what size port and how deep the duct needs to go for best performance. Every speaker manufacturer has this kind of data (but hardly any publish it to the general public). Thus, if you want to design a cab that does a specific thing, and you have this kind of data for the speakers you plan to use, you can design an appropriate cab. Note I didn't say it was easy. There are a bazillion tradeoffs, so getting a cab that sounds as good as the Z-Best requires some talent and persistence. YMMV.
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Post by guitarboy02451 on Dec 23, 2006 9:04:04 GMT -7
It's pretty slick. The cab is so tight.
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Post by dongiesen on Dec 24, 2006 18:20:44 GMT -7
That being said and looking at specific criteria for different speakers, I have to wonder if it is wise to change out speakers in a Z BEST cabinet as it looks like values can change?
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Dec 24, 2006 21:54:26 GMT -7
That being said and looking at specific criteria for different speakers, I have to wonder if it is wise to change out speakers in a Z BEST cabinet as it looks like values can change? That's a good question actually. I imagine that it works best for most speakers in the guitar frequency range.
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Post by jwr on Dec 24, 2006 23:01:29 GMT -7
A friend of mine and I have been doing a lot of speaker swapping in our Z-Best cabs and have yet to find a speaker that we hated. It's a great cab, I think I'm gonna end up with 2 of 'em someday. Jason
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Post by BW on Dec 25, 2006 0:14:20 GMT -7
The first Zbest I ever tried had no grillcloth (wire mesh instead) and 25 watt greenies. Love at first sight/sound. Z told me he put the grill cloth on because guys were worried that it was Thiele ported like a bass or PA cab, and wouldn't sound good for guitar. We all know that the exact opposite is true, the Zbest is tuned (30 HZ) for the most optimum coupling with any of the heads. I tried Myles' Zbest with my Ghia in a big club in LA, Man what a big sound, with 18 watts! I have a couple of old 4X12's in the garage that haven't been used since I got the Zbest. Now if I could just get one to Europe...
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Post by billyguitar on Dec 25, 2006 8:40:48 GMT -7
The Thiele alignment cabs became the reage in the late 70s because it works so well for bass. Not as many have been used for guitar. Z's might have been the first 2x12 use of this that I have seen.
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Post by tjstrat on Dec 26, 2006 18:23:39 GMT -7
Of course, Mesa sold Thiele ported 1x12s as far back as '88 or so.
The Z Best 2x12 is such a monster cab, and I don't care what anyone says about the weight... after schlepping Marshall 4x12s through he '80s and 90s I'll take the Z Best any day.
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Post by Don on Dec 27, 2006 9:17:21 GMT -7
Hey guys,
With all of this being said, I've also heard from many folks that Z's open back 1-12 cabs, either the older square cab or the newer rectangular cabs are just phenomenal sounding cabinets. How many different variations on a theme can there possibly be when it comes to building a box to house a speaker? It's quite obvious to me, that Doc found the right dimensions, material, and design to make it so.
I have to agree with dongiesen that I believe that the ZBest cab was designed with the combination of the 2 different Celestions in mind. With the 30Hz tuning, those speakers and the cabinet compliment each other so well. But you know, everyone has a sound in their head that they're striving for, and different speakers will get them to that place. The bottom line is that the ZBest seems to be a fantastic platform for your speaker choice.
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Post by BW on Dec 27, 2006 14:08:54 GMT -7
I LOVE my single 12 old style, but its in storage til/if I get back overseas this summer. I'd like to give that little open back 2X10 a spin sometime too. Looks kinda 'Tremoluxy'.
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Post by Lefty on Dec 27, 2006 14:21:48 GMT -7
I LOVE my single 12 old style, but its in storage til/if I get back overseas this summer. I'd like to give that little open back 2X10 a spin sometime too. Looks kinda 'Tremoluxy'. Let me know when your in my neck of the woods BW you can give mine a spin.
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Post by Don on Dec 27, 2006 16:13:21 GMT -7
I LOVE my single 12 old style, but its in storage til/if I get back overseas this summer. I'd like to give that little open back 2X10 a spin sometime too. Looks kinda 'Tremoluxy'. Let me know when your in my neck of the woods BW you can give mine a spin. Yeah, but Buddy, make sure you wear snowshoes if you go to see Matt.
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Post by benttop (Steve) on Jan 7, 2007 10:45:59 GMT -7
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Post by guitarstan on Jan 7, 2007 16:42:17 GMT -7
Thanks for the link....every aspect of tone must be explored to comprehend the complexities at hand.
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