building cabinets

i would like to buy a head, and just make my own bass cabinet. i was wondering wether this is to supremly hard. i'm skilled and can build anything so that is no problem. however i was wondering wether i should try to come up with my own design or copy a classic like a bassman. i was also wondering if i do wether it should be open back or closed (lower frequency with closed right?). i wanted 2 15" in it and was also wondering wether i should buy any peticular brand of speaker, or could i basically get any quality speakers. any hints or suggestions would be much appreciated. thnx.

also - would it matter too much if i bought a mesa boogie head but copied a bassman cabinet?

If you have the skill to do a good job on the cab, then the only advantage to buying a factory box is that you know ahead of time what it sounds like. If you look at this thread and follow the link in my post there, you should have enough basic info to get started on your design. For a bass cab, you need to make it very rigid, so you should allow for some heavy bracing on each panel. You might want to use 1 inch plywood instead of 3/4 inch. Good luck!

i was thinking of using 1 inch "mdf" (or intitials close to tht) and its this super dense wood, made of glue and saw dust, would that be better? is the denser the wood the better? but i know it'll weigh more then i could carry. is it worth sacrificing mobility for density?

medium density fiberboard is [u]not[/u] a good choice for speaker cab material.

As you've already pointed out, the stuff is heavy beyond belief. Worse, it is not as stiff as one would expect, making it a poor choice. To add insult to injury, the fibre content tends to absorb moisture, causing it to fall apart as the screws rip out of the joints, and the glue you put it together with pulls the top layer away.

Your best choice is a good grade of 3/4" or 1" birch plywood, with 2x2" or 2x4" bracing. The idea is to make the walls of the cab as stiff and rigid as possible. You should have a serious brace across the front panel between the speakers. A 2-by-4 on edge is minmum for a 2-15 cab. Use 2x2's along each seam, and across each panel in a couple of places. Use a good wood glue like Pro-bond or WoodTite. Epoxy is even better, if you can afford the cost. Use screws to hold everything together while the glue hardens, and then leave them there. Bass cabs in particular, experience extreme internal pressure variations, so it should be strong enough that you would be confident that it could survive a tumble down a long flight of stairs.

okay, wasn't thinking about the moisture concept. so i'll be useing 1" ply now. (please give any other pointers that i have obviously overlooked and will curse myself for later, once i've built this beast).
But now i was wondering what brand of speakers i should be looking into. i only know car audio subs, not amp loudspeakers. i want to spend an average amount of money on them, so nothing too extreme. but definitly higher end 15's.

When you have finished the woodworking, before you get into tuning the cab, you should seal the wood inside and out with several coats of something like polyurethane varnish.

If you cover the outside with Tolex, you will want to add some sturdy corner hardware to reduce wear and tear on the vinyl. A big trunk handle on each side may come in handy too.

For speakers, I suggest you contact Raskolnikov for his recommendations. I know good bass when I hear it, but I don't know a lot about how to make it happen. :)