Connecting Cabinets To Heads
 

On the back of my amp, there are three speaker outputs. One for 4 ohm, 8 ohm, 16 ohm. Could I connect a cabinet to each of these without harming the amp? I am thinking of hooking a 4 ohm and ohm cabinet to it. Just worried about it frying my amp.

What kind of amp?
Do you mean like having a 4ohm and an 8 ohm cabinet hooked up to the amp at the same time?
Or something like two different cabinets for two separate tones while using an A/B switcher box to bounce between both?

I'm no expert on stacks (I'm sure GB or RezZ will correct inaccuracies) but I don't think it's possible to run two different cabinets at the same time, flip flopping should be fine though. Just remember to make sure the amp is set to the lowest ohm rating on the cabinets, having the amp set to 4ohm with a 16ohm cab is OK, going the other way, not so much.

Dave is absolutely correct. Dont use more than one cabinet at a time. Move between them individually, and obviously make ABSOLUTELY SURE your connections are right before turning anything on.

Alright. I was planning on adding a 2x12 cabinet on to my Kustom 4x12, but that doesn't seem like its going to work. I can't get the impedance right. So I guess I'll beef the 4x12 up itself with some decent speakers. I have a budgetof about 450. Any suggestions?

If you need more beef than a 4x12 can give you, I think you have other problems.

What speakers are in it now?

This is the cabinet:Kustom KG412 4x12 Guitar Speaker Cabinet Black Slant: Shop Amplifiers & Effects & Other Musical Instruments | Musician's Friend. A Kustom KG12 with original speakers. I'm not so much trying to increase the volume as much as improving the sound. Make it unique. I thought that by adding a different cabinet with different speakers the two sounds would mix into something new. But since I can't do that, I thought I could put in different speaker types in. Like two of this kind two of that kind. I've restored instruments before, but have never done any work on my amp itself. (Which, If it matters, is an Egnater Rebel 20) So I'm a little lost on the ins and outs of what I'm doing.

You can get around that somewhat if you are running a combo amp though a 4x12. My 1x12 combo can be hooked into a 4x12 with all 5 speakers running. Although Im honestly not sure how that would fair with a 2x12 or higher combo amp.

As far as different speakers..lots of people do that. Although other than speakers I would think open or closed back would impact the sound just as much.

edit: I dont think their are many out there but two 32ohm cabs would work.

I know what you're referring too but whats the sound difference? I thought all guitar amps were open, except for cabs. Why are most combo's open but cabs closed?

Okay, I was thinking of getting an Eminence Red Coat The Govorner (75 watts), Celestion Seventy (80 watts), Jensen C12N (50 Watts), and a Jensen Jet series Falcon (50 watts). All these at 16 ohms. If I wired them all in parallel, I'd have a 4 ohm cabinet.

Anybody have any experience with these speakers?

Open Cab: big spacey sound with less bass.
Closed Cab: more bass more mids, a more focused sound

Idk about most combo's being closed, I see a lot hat are open. Unless its really cranked up I really never notice the difference anyways. Some bands will used closed vs open depending on the size and accoustics of the room they are playing.

The Red Coat Gov is my favorite eminence speaker. And just so you know (cant remember exactly which model) the Red Coat series are mostly modeled after classic Celestian speakers like Vintage 30's and Greenbacks.

Closed cabinets don't have more bass by the way. Ported cabinets (open cabinets) have more bass owing to the fact the drivers have to overcome less air pressure during their travel, allowing longer throw cones to perform more efficiently in the bass registers.

Where closed cabinets excel is in CONTROL of what bass they already have, since due to the more rigid construction and controlled amount of air inside, they don't have to worry about boundary effect in rooms from the port.


I don't recommend mixing speakers. You'll end up with unpredictable frequency bumps and notches that can't be compensated for with a simple 3 way tone stack+presence.

It will also make the amplifier a freaking NIGHTMARE to mic up, because you won't have a consistent sound from each speaker. The mic'd up tone with be different on every cone, meaning you'll need to record with 4 mics in parallel and then sum them, in order to record the sound of the cabinet as a whole.

When in doubt, KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid.

I should not have said more bass but just a difference more focused bass response. As far as my knowladge goes they direct the lower frequencies out in more of the direction it is pointed unlike an open back which is throwing the sound more evenly across the room. In a small room a open back cab is probably better as a closed might sound completely different from one audience member to another. If you are playing hi gain metal those bands are almost all using closed back cabs because of the bass response. Now this is mostly noticeable when its cranked up super loud, but what metal band is playing at low volumes anyways.

And while your right about mixing speakers being dangerous, its still very possible. Plently of well known artists as well as regular joes do it all the time. I mean if your choosing from 2 speakers that are very similar with the same ratings then I cant see the problem. Like you said you have to be careful, and micing the amp would definitely be a little challenging. That dude from Oasis used to mic all his speakers. Hell he ran a 4x12 cab with different speakers powered by a little blues jr and it sounded great.

I am curious how noe mics that though. Ill do some reading!

I do not speak of the music soley of the tone he was using.