
It may not be the sexiest part of your rig, but the speaker enclosure plays a crucial role in the signal chain. Here’s what’s going on inside.
In our mad pursuit of boutique gear, it’s easy to overlook the humble speaker cabinet. While we drill down on the merits and specs of various speakers, the box that houses them typically takes a backseat to everything else in our signal chain. Which ain’t right, if you think about it. No guitarist is going to wow the crowd dangling a raw 12" speaker from a pole, right? The truth is, your cab plays as important a role as any other device in your rig, so it’s worth taking the time to explore it in its various forms. We’ll cover key points that will better acquaint you with what you already own and help you make an informed decision the next time you purchase a combo amp or extension cab. And while we’re at it, perhaps we’ll dispel a few myths.
Cabinet Material
If you ask guitarists what their cabs are made of, most will say “wood.” That’s the short answer, but it’s also very broad and incomplete. There are many different types of wood, and what a builder chooses will affect how the cabinet performs. Each type of wood has its pros and cons, and whether a cab has an open or closed back has a huge bearing on what a builder chooses to construct it with.
Many combo enclosures are made from solid wood—particularly vintage Fenders, which were built with solid pine. And since vintage gear is the gauge by which most new gear is measured, replica pine cabinets have grown in popularity over the years. Solid pine cabs typically have an open back, meaning the speaker is exposed to the air and thus delivers a more diffused and less directional sound. Solid pine is lighter than other cabinet woods and, as anyone who has lifted a combo amp knows, weight savings can be crucial—especially if you haul your gear to lots of rehearsals and gigs. But pine flexes, and this can emphasize certain frequencies. Because open-back combos don’t trap soundwaves, but rather allow them to escape, you don’t end up with resonant frequencies being accentuated by the cabinet walls. This explains why solid pine is ideal for open-back combos. Closed-back cabinets are more focused and directional, so it’s rare to find one made of solid pine, due to the aforementioned flexing and the sonic chaos it can bring.
Whether a cab has an open or closed back has a huge bearing on what a builder chooses to construct it with.
Most closed-back, or sealed, cabinets are constructed from plywood, as are some combos. The industry standard is 18 mm Baltic birch plywood, which differs from the sheets of plywood sold at the hardware store. To be a useful cabinet material, plywood needs to be voidless—meaning there is no trapped air between the plies. Unlike plywood used for less demanding tasks, Baltic birch plywood is made to be voidless, and this prevents the cabinet walls from rattling when you play. In Baltic birch plywood, each ply is a uniform thickness, laid with the grain alternating between north-south and east-west, and the boards are laminated with exterior-grade adhesives. The rigidity of Baltic birch plywood makes it an excellent material for closed-back cabinets, such as 4x12s and bigger 2x12s. Because of how it’s made, Baltic birch is nearly indestructible. However, this also makes it very heavy, which is why you see wheels on a lot of these larger cabinets.
You’d think the strength of Baltic birch would make it a good material for bass cabinets. Well, bass cabinets tend to need more rigidity than even Baltic birch offers, so they’re often made with chipboard or medium-density fiberboard (MDF). Both of these materials are extremely strong and have little-to-no flex because of the way they are made. Chipboard, sometimes called particleboard, is made by gluing together many different chips of otherwise useless wood scraps—and sometimes even sawdust. The chips are bound together with a resin and then drawn out into boards. MDF is made in much the same way, but, as its name suggests, uses much more finely broken-down wood fibers. This material is then pressed together with wax and resin at high temperatures. While the strength of these engineered materials is very high, so is the weight.
As a general rule, to do justice to the low frequencies of bass, mass wins. You need all that physical weight to help produce a burly low end. But there’s a downside to these man-made materials: They can deteriorate over time with heavy use, such as banging the cabinet against every stair as you hoist it up three flights to play for those 10 people.
Many combos have medium-density fiberboard cabs, which are sturdy but heavy. Some players opt to re-house their combos in aftermarket enclosures made of solid pine—the wood Leo Fender originally used. Available for popular models like this Fender Blues Junior, pine cabs look cool, shave pounds off the combo’s total weight, and arguably enhance the amp’s tone.
Photo by Andy Ellis
Cabinet Joinery
I’m sure you’ve heard a lot about different types of corner joints and how the joinery method impacts the cabinet. There are three main types of joints: the rabbet joint, the box or finger joint, and the dovetail joint.
The three types of joinery used for building speaker cabs. Dovetail joints are the strongest and are most often found on high-end cabinets with exposed, stained wood.
Diagram by C.J. Sutton
As you can see in the diagram, these are quite different from each other, but it’s important to note that unless the joint is made poorly and allows the corners to flex, the joinery type has virtually no effect on the sound. Rabbet joints are the most commonly used in domestic cabinets because they are fast and easy to execute, and they’re strong. Finger joints are the most sought-after because that’s how Leo did it in the ’50s and ’60s. These joints are stronger than rabbet joints and reduce the potential for flexing. The strongest of all is the dovetail joint. Good dovetail joints can hold together without any glue, but don’t worry—no one actually builds speaker cabinets with unglued dovetail joints. You’ll see dovetail joints on higher-end cabinets, particularly those made of stained wood with visible joints that are part of the look.
The Baffle
The front part of the cabinet where the speakers mount is called the baffle. It needs to be the strongest and most rigid piece of all because this part of the cabinet is subject to the most impact stress. Baffles are nearly always made with Baltic birch plywood, or in some cases even MDF—even if the cabinet walls are made of solid wood, such as pine.
There’s a lot of hubbub about whether speakers should be mounted to the front or rear of the baffle. When a cab has a front-loaded speaker, the grille is removable to allow access to it. Front-loaded speakers are found most often in bass cabs and ported guitar cabs, where the back of the cab is designed for rigidity and is not removable. A rear-loaded speaker attaches to the back of the baffle, which you access in closed-back cabs—such as a Marshall 4x12—via a removable back panel. Most open-back combo amps also sport rear-loaded speakers.
The rigidity of Baltic birch plywood makes it an excellent material for closed-back cabinets, such as 4x12s and bigger 2x12s.
The theory behind front-loaded speakers is that they don’t seal up perfectly to the baffle and thus allow air to escape, which adds some musicality to the sound. Also, in a recording situation, it’s easier to swap out front-loaded speakers in a quest for different tones. Conversely, rear-loaded speakers can be more of a pain to replace. In closed-back cabs, you have to remove the entire rear panel. If you’ve ever opened up a 4x12 cabinet, you know there are a lot of screws involved in securing that back panel. And if you’ve ever decided to take a shortcut and not put all the screws back in, then you know about the potential for ugly rattling.
A side note about 4x12 cabs: Some have posts inside that connect the center of the baffle to the rear panel. These baffle posts are designed to offer additional support and create one more connection point to keep the rear panel from flexing.
Speakers can be attached to either the front or rear of the baffle. Front-loaded speakers are accessed through a removeable grille; rear-loaded speakers are housed in open-back enclosures or in closed-back cabs with a removeable rear panel.
Diagram by C.J. Sutton
Before you can access the rear-loaded speaker in some open-back combo amps, you first have to remove the chassis. This means virtually disassembling the entire amp. Please note: Never stick your hand inside an amp chassis. There can be lethal voltages present even after the amp is turned off and unplugged.
So is one speaker-mounting method superior to the other? That depends on what you’re after: Rear-loaded speakers form a tighter seal to the baffle and provide a sound that works well with rock ’n’ roll and heavier music, and front-loaded speakers can sound airier. But there’s no right or wrong. My friend Jason Jordan of Monarch Cabs says it best: “It’s all a matter of preference, really. What guitarists think of as a “good” sound is based on the music they listen to. As builders, we have formulas for making speaker cabs sound a certain way. It is a science. But at the end of the day, you need to experiment and listen, and then simply go with what works for you and your playing.”
Although the vast majority of amp cabs have either an open back or closed back, it is possible to have both. This 4x10 Marshall cab has been professionally modified to be configured either way, depending on the size of the stage and the band’s music. If you’re considering doing this yourself, the trick is to cut the back panel into thirds and then completely wrap each piece in “cab carpet.” This creates a super-tight fit between the panels and prevents rattling. In closed-back mode, tour-case latches hold the middle section securely to the fixed top and bottom pieces.
Photo by Andy Ellis
Cab Placement
So what happens when you want to take your rig public? What should you consider when placing an amp or cab onstage? The answer depends greatly on whether the cab is going to be miked up or not. If it is, then the cab can really go anywhere. To keep the stage volume down, many bands face their cabs backward—or even remove them completely from the stage—because the miked sound will be fed back through the monitors, which can be either onstage wedges or in-ear buds.
If you’re not miking your speakers, and the sound from the cabinet is the sound the audience will hear, it gets a bit trickier. You have to position the amp so you can hear it while you’re playing, yet the audience also gets a good mix. If your cabinet has wheels, you might find that popping them off or setting the cab on its side increases low-end resonance through greater contact with the floor. But this stage coupling might introduce muddiness into the band’s sound—exactly what you want to avoid. It depends on the stage and room, and each venue is different. The way to tame unwanted rumble is to reduce contact with the floor, perhaps by using an amp stand, or keeping the wheels attached to your cab, or placing it on the rolling bottom of a road case. Wheels offer another advantage: They make it easier to move your cab around during soundcheck until you find the sweet spot where you, the band, and the listeners can all enjoy your cosmic licks.
Some amp cabs are designed not to be heard—at least by anyone in the immediate vicinity. Such sealed “speaker coffins” have an internal mic clamped to a gooseneck to allow for precise positioning. Accessed through a hinged trap door, the mic connects to a recording console or front-of-house mixer via an external XLR jack. Notice how the Celestion Greenback in this Demeter Silent Speaker Chamber is front-loaded to facilitate quick speaker swaps.
Photo by Andy Ellis
Visual Vibe
Some players swear the cab’s covering material—or even its color—and grille cloth have an effect on tone. In my experience, I haven’t noticed any evidence of this. Certain grille cloth materials, such as cane, are more rigid than others, and this could potentially influence the sound, but essentially grille cloth choice is cosmetic and if it has any effect at all on tone, it’s very slight. By the time the drums get pounding and you’ve cranked up your amp in response, it’s the speakers you’ll be hearing, not the grille cloth. And if you think a cab wrapped in red or green vinyl sounds better than black Tolex, who’s going to dispute that? After all, you might actually play better because you love the way your amp looks.
By the time the drums get pounding and you’ve cranked up your amp in response, it’s the speakers you’ll be hearing, not the grille cloth.
While some players agonize over the thickness of the grille cloth or cabinet covering material, there’s little evidence these cosmetic details have any significant effect on tone.
Photo by Michael Silva
Eyes On the Prize
When it comes to gear, my motto has long been “if it sounds right, it is right.” Once you understand the basics—wood, construction details, and how speakers are mounted—it’s then a matter of putting in the hours with different types of rigs and amp cabs.
In the process, you’ll develop an instinct for what sounds best with your guitars, technique, and musical style. And this is where the fun begins. My advice? Don’t stress over little things like what type of corner joints you have. Just get out there and play!
If you’re not miking your speakers, and the sound from the cabinet is the sound the audience will hear, it gets a bit trickier. You have to position the amp so you can hear it while you’re playing, yet the audience also gets a good mix. If your cabinet has wheels, you might find that popping them off or setting the cab on its side increases low-end resonance through greater contact with the floor. But this stage coupling might introduce muddiness into the band’s sound—exactly what you want to avoid. It depends on the stage and room, and each venue is different. The way to tame unwanted rumble is to reduce contact with the floor, perhaps by using an amp stand, or keeping the wheels attached to your cab, or placing it on the rolling bottom of a road case. Wheels offer another advantage: They make it easier to move your cab around during soundcheck until you find the sweet spot where you, the band, and the listeners can all enjoy your cosmic licks.
This Japan-made Guyatone brings back memories of hitchin’ rides around the U.S.
This oddball vintage Guyatone has a streak of Jack Kerouac’s adventurous, thumbing spirit.
The other day, I saw something I hadn’t noticed in quite some time. Driving home from work, I saw an interesting-looking fellow hitchhiking. When I was a kid, “hitchers” seemed much more common, but, then again, the world didn’t seem as dangerous as today. Heck, I can remember hitching to my uncle’s cabin in Bradford, Pennsylvania—home of Zippo lighters—and riding almost 200 miles while I sat in a spare tire in the open bed of a pickup truck! Yes, safety wasn’t a big concern for kids back in the day.
So, as I’m prone to do, I started digging around hitchhiking culture and stories. Surprisingly, there are organized groups that embrace the hitching life, but the practice remains on the fringe in the U.S. Back in the 1950s, writer Jack Kerouac wrote the novel On the Road, which celebrated hitchhiking and exposed readers to the thrill of maverick travel. Heck, even Mike Dugan (the guitarist in all my videos) hitched his way to California in the 1960s. But seeing that fellow on the side of the road also sparked another image in my brain: Yep, it always comes back to guitars.
Let me present to you a guitar that’s ready to go hitching: the Guyatone LG-180T, hailing from 1966. The “thumbs-up” headstock and the big “thumb” on the upper bout always made me think of thumbing a ride, and I bought and sold this guitar so long ago that I had forgotten about it, until I saw that hitchhiking dude. Guyatone was an interesting Japanese company because they were primarily an electronics company, and most of their guitars had their wooden parts produced by other factories. In the case of the LG-180T, the bodies were made by Yamaha in Hamamatsu, Japan. At that time, Yamaha was arguably making the finest Japanese guitars, and the wood on this Guyatone model is outstanding. We don’t often see Guyatone-branded guitars here in the U.S., but a lot of players recognize the early ’60s label Kent—a brand name used by an American importer for Guyatone guitars.
With a bit of imagination, the LG-180T’s “thumbs up” headstock seems to be looking for a roadside ride.
Kent guitars were extremely popular from the early ’60s until around 1966. The U.S. importer B&J fed the American need for electric guitars with several nice Kent models, but when the Guyatone contract ended, so did most of the Kent guitars. After that, Guyatone primarily sold guitars in Japan, so this example is a rare model in the U.S.
“Unless you are a master at guitar setups, this would be a difficult player.”
This headstock is either the ugliest or the coolest of the Guyatone designs. I can’t decide which. I will say, no other Japanese guitar company ever put out anything like this. You have to give the Guyatone designers a thumbs up for trying to stand out in the crowd! Guyatone decided to forgo an adjustable truss rod in this model, opting instead for a light alloy non-adjustable core to reinforce the neck. Speaking of the neck, this instrument features the most odd-feeling neck. It’s very thin but has a deep shoulder (if that makes any sense). Totally strange!
Another strange feature is the bridge, which offers very little adjustment because of the three large saddles, which sort of rock back and forth with the tremolo. It’s a shame because these pickups sound great! They’re very crisp and have plenty of zing, but unless you are a master at guitar set-ups, this would be a difficult player.
This could be why the LG-180T only appeared in the 1966 and 1967 catalogs. After that, it disappeared along with all the other Yamaha-made Guyatone electrics. By 1969, Guyatone had gone bankrupt for the first time, and thus ended guitar production for a few decades. At least we were blessed with some wacky guitar designs we can marvel at while remembering the days when you could play in the back end of an explosive 1973 AMC Gremlin while your mom raced around town. Two thumbs up for surviving our childhoods! PG
Building upon the foundation of the beloved Core Collection H-535, this versatile instrument is designed to serve as a masterpiece in tone.
The new model features striking aesthetic updates and refined tonal enhancements. Crafted at the iconic 225 Parsons Street factory, home to other world-famous models like the H-150, H-157, and H-575 - the H-555 continues to exemplify the very best of American craftsmanship.
The Core Collection H-555 features a set of Custom Shop 225 Hot Classic Humbuckers, meticulously wound in-house with carefully selected components, and voiced to deliver added punch and richness while preserving exceptional dynamics and touch sensitivity. Seamlessly complementing the H-555’s semi-hollow construction, they blend warmth and woodiness with refined, articulate clarity.
The Core Collection H-555’s aesthetic has been elevated with multi-ply binding on the body, headstock, and pickguard. Its neck, sculpted in a classic ’50s profile, delivers effortless comfort and is adorned with elegant block inlays, seamlessly blending style with playability. Gold hardware complements the aesthetic, exuding elegance while presenting the H-555 as a truly premium and versatile instrument for the discerning player.
Available in Ebony and Trans Cherry, each Core Collection H-555 is beautifully finished with a nitrocellulose vintage gloss that features a subtle shine and gracefully ages over time. An Artisan Aged option is also available for those seeking an authentically well-loved look and feel, achieved through a meticulous, entirely hand-finished aging process. The new Core Collection continues Heritage’s tradition of world-class craftsmanship, offering a true masterpiece in tone and design for discerning players. Each guitar is shipped in a premium Heritage Custom Shop hard case.
Key Features
- Finest Tonewoods: Laminated highly figured Curly Maple (Top & Back) with solid Curly Maple sides
- Heritage Custom Shop 225 Hot Classic Humbuckers: Designed and wound in-house
- Headstock: Multi-ply bound headstock, featuring a Kite inlay, 3×3 tuners laser-etched with Heritage graphics
- Neck Profile: Comfortable ’50s C-shape for a vintage feel
- Bridge: Tune-O-Matic with aluminum stopbar tailpiece for enhanced sustain
- Made in the USA: Crafted at 225 Parsons Street
For more information, please visit heritageguitars.com.
Ariel Posen and the Heritage Custom Shop Core Collection H-555 - YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.Fifteen watts that sits in a unique tone space and offers modern signal routing options.
A distinct alternative to the most popular 1x10 combos. Muscular and thick for a 1x10 at many settings. Pairs easily with single-coils and humbuckers. Cool looks.
Tone stack could be more rangeful.
$999
Supro Montauk
supro.com
When you imagine an ideal creative space, what do you see? A loft? A barn? A cabin far from distraction? Reveling in such visions is inspiration and a beautiful escape. Reality for most of us, though, is different. We’re lucky to have a corner in the kitchen or a converted closet to make music in. Still, there’s a romance and sense of possibility in these modest spaces, and the 15-watt, 1x10, all-tubeSupro Montauk is an amplifier well suited to this kind of place. It enlivens cramped corners with its classy, colorful appearance. It’s compact. It’s also potent enough to sound and respond like a bigger amp in a small room.
The Montauk works in tight quarters for reasons other than size, though—with three pre-power-section outputs that can route dry signal, all-wet signal from the amp’s spring reverb, or a mixture of both to a DAW or power amplifier.
Different Stripes and Spacious Places
Vintage Supro amps are modestly lovely things. The China-made Montauk doesn’t adhere toold Supro style motifs in the strictest sense. Its white skunk stripe is more commonly seen on black Supro combos from the late 1950s, while the blue “rhino hide” vinyl evokes Supros from the following decade. But the Montauk’s handsome looks make a cramped corner look a lot less dour. It looks pretty cool on a stage, too, but the Montauk attribute most likely to please performing guitarists is the small size (17.75" x 16.5" x 7.5") and light weight (29 pounds), which, if you tote your guitar in a gig bag and keep your other stuff to a minimum, facilitates magical one-trip load ins.
Keen-eyed Supro-spotters noting the Montauk’s weight and dimensions might spy the similarities to another 1x10 Supro combo,the Amulet. A casual comparison of the two amps might suggest that the Montauk is, more-or-less, an Amulet without tremolo and power scaling. They share the same tube complement, including a relatively uncommon 1x6L6 power section. But while the Montauk lacks the Amulet’s tremolo, the Montauk’s spring reverb features level and dwell controls rather than the Amulet’s single reverb-level knob.
“High reverb levels and low dwell settings evoke a small, reflective room with metallic overtones from the spring sprinkled on top—leaving ghostly ambience in the wake of strong, defined transient tones.”
If you use reverb a lot and in varying levels of intensity, you’ll appreciate the extra flexibility. High reverb levels and low dwell settings evoke a small, reflective room with metallic overtones from the spring sprinkled on top—leaving ghostly ambience in the wake of strong, defined transient tones. There are many shades of this subtle texture to explore, and it’s a great sound and solution for those who find the spring reverbs in Fender amps (which feature no dwell control) an all-or-nothing proposition. For those who like to get deep in the pipeline, though, the dwell offers room to roam. Mixing high level and dwell settings blunts the amp’s touch sensitivity a bit, and at 15 watts you trade headroom for natural compression, compounding the fogginess of these aggressive settings. A Twin Reverb it ain’t. But there is texture aplenty to play with.
A Long, Wide Strand
Admirably, the Montauk speaks in many voices when paired with a guitar alone. The EQ sits most naturally and alive with treble and bass in the noon-to-2-o’clock region, and a slight midrange lean adds welcome punch. Even the amp’s trebliest realms afford you a lot of expressive headroom if you have enough range and sensitivity in your guitar volume and tone pots. Interactions between the gain and master output controls yield scads of different tone color, too. Generally, I preferred high gain settings, which add a firecracker edge to maximum guitar volume settings and preserve touch and pick response at attenuated guitar volume and tone levels.
If working with the Montauk in this fashion feels natural, you’ll need very few pedals. But it’s a good fit for many effects. A Fuzz Face sounded nasty without collapsing into spitty junk, and the Klon-ish Electro-Harmonix Soul Food added muscle and character in its clean-boost guise and at grittier gain levels. There’s plenty of headroom for exploring nuance and complexity in delays and modulations. It also pairs happily with a wide range of guitars and pickups: Every time I thought a Telecaster was a perfect fit, I’d plug in an SG with PAFs and drift away in Mick Taylor/Stones bliss.
The Verdict
Because the gain, master, tone, and reverb controls are fairly interactive, it took me a minute to suss out the Montauk’s best and sweetest tones. But by the time I was through with this review, I found many sweet spots that fill the spaces between Vox and Fender templates. There’s also raunch in abundance when you turn it up. It’s tempting to view the Montauk as a competitor to the Fender Princeton and Vox AC15. At a thousand bucks, it’s $400 dollars less than the Mexico-made Princeton ’68 Custom and $170 more than the AC15, also made in China. In purely tone terms, though, it represents a real alternative to those stalwarts. I’d be more than happy to see one in a backline, provided I wasn’t trying to rise above a Geezer Butler/Bill Ward rhythm section. And with its capacity for routing to other amps and recording consoles in many intriguing configurations, it succeeds in being a genuinely interesting combination of vintage style and sound and home-studio utility—all without adding a single digital or solid-state component to the mix.
Watch the official video documenting the sold-out event at House of Blues in Anaheim. Join Paul Reed Smith and special guests as they toast to quality and excellence in guitar craftsmanship.
PRS Guitars today released the official video documenting the full night of performances at their 40th Anniversary celebration, held January 24th in conjunction with the 2025 NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants) Show. The sold-out, private event took place at House of Blues in Anaheim, California and featured performances by PRS artists Randy Bowland, Curt Chambers, David Grissom, Jon Jourdan, Howard Leese, Mark Lettieri Group, Herman Li, John Mayer, Orianthi, Tim Pierce, Noah Robertson, Shantaia, Philip Sayce, and Dany Villarreal, along with Paul Reed Smith and his Eightlock band.
“What a night! Big thanks to everyone who came out to support us: retailers, distributors, vendors, content creators, industry friends, and especially the artists. I loved every second. We are so pleased to share the whole night now on this video,” said Paul Reed Smith, Founder & Managing General Partner of PRS Guitars. “I couldn’t be more proud to still be here 40 years later.”
With nearly 1,400 of the who’s who in the musical instrument industry in attendance, the night ended with a thoughtful toast from PRS Signature Artist John Mayer, who reflected on 40 years of PRS Guitars and the quality that sets the brand apart. “The guitars are great. You can’t last 40 years if the guitars aren’t great,” said Mayer. “Many of you started hearing about PRS the same way I did, which is you would talk about PRS and someone would say ‘They’re too nice.’ What’s too nice for a guitar? What, you want that special vibe that only tuning every song can give you on stage? You want that grit just like your heroes … bad intonation? The product is incredible.”