amp cabinet wisdom

hey guys, I'm relatively new to guitar and learning from my roommate, who is fairly experienced. We are pooling our money together (mostly for his benefit at this point) to get a nice amp cabinet for him to lug around to his shows. I was looking to call on your experiences/knowledge for what to look for in a good cabinet. We have a product we are considering (which I'd also appreciate your thoughts on) but I'm not comfortable making a decision yet.

Originally Posted by: CosovoWe are pooling our money together (mostly for his benefit at this point) to get a nice amp cabinet for him to lug around to his shows.

These guys make the best standard & custom speaker cabs in the business.

http://www.stagecraftgear.com/servlet/StoreFront

Even if you don't use them you can learn a lot about amp cab construction & options from their site. Hope this helps!

awesome - thank you!

CSchlegel, how do you think these compare? They seem pretty solid for the price: http://www.fundable.com/arachnid-amp-cabs-usa

There are some things to consider when choosing an amp cab... First, what kind of head do you have (tube/solid state, how many watts). Secondly, what kind of sound ar eyou looking for? What kind of music are you playing?

The cabinets that you linked to look like they're solidly built but I honestly question the use of a bedliner as a coating... Most amp cab companies use a simliar resin/mesh material, often Tolex, but this is much thinner and it actually hardens into a more vibration-friendly material... From what I know of bedliner material... it never fully cures into a hard material but maintains a slight rubbery feel... this is terrible for resonance. I can understand if the idea of the cab is to let the speakers and amp do the talking... but part of a well designed cabinet is the fact that it compliments and helps project the sound of the speakers and amp.

Which leads me to another point - Be sure you get quality speakers in the cab that you choose. A great amp can be ruined by poorly balanced speakers...

Just a few points to take note of while you're looking around. Usually, just avoid plywood and you should be good to go...

Originally Posted by: CosovoCSchlegel, how do you think these compare? They seem pretty solid for the price: http://www.fundable.com/arachnid-amp-cabs-usa

It looks like an interesting idea. But I would never buy one without playing through it first, because I have no experience with a cab using that unusual material. It might be awful, or the best thing to happen in cab construction in the last 50 years. :) But without playing through it I wouldn't know.