Slanted Guitar Cabs vs. Straight Guitar Cabs - Which do you prefer in the studio?

[RockTheRoll]

Slanted Guitar Cabs vs. Straight Guitar Cabs - Which do you prefer in the studio? and why!

[norman]

never recorded either but alwayed liked the straight ones better. for what ever thats worth

[RockTheRoll]

Not much.

[Chrislpp]

It makes little difference to me. If you're looking for differenct sounds you'd be better figuring out which brand of cab you want and what speakers to stick in there


and that is another holy war itself

[Jeff16years]

i like slanted so that I don't have to get on my hands and knees every time I want to hear what it sounds like

[Rev2010]

Originally Posted by Jeff16years

i like slanted so that I don't have to get on my hands and knees every time I want to hear what it sounds like

Heh, this thread topic is a bit funny. But I'm with Jeff, slanted are better as you get more sound directed up as well. For recording though, this slanted vs. straight is pretty pointless. Remember nearly everytime a guitarist records he/she will be wearing headphones and hearing the amp in the headphones. When I've recorded in studios in the past they always put me and the amp in different rooms even. To the mic there's no difference in the cabs at all. The slanted up cabs are to distribute some sound upward and spread it out more in the venue you are playing.


Rev.

[guitarwolle]

There is a diefference as the two cabinet types have a different volume, i.e. the slanted has less volume.

Furthermore, at least for MArshall cabs, the strait cab has a sloping front aswell which directs the sound a bit towards the player.

I've experimented alot with different speakers and cabs. Not every speaker works in every cab type for me.

After years of playing and trying, for me the following combinations worked best (all Marshall cabs):

1. Staight cab with Celestion G12H30 from 1972 plus a little dampening of the inside of the cab (carpet on the real wall).

2. Slanted cab with G12M25 from 1987

3. Slanted cab with G12T75 in a very rare 15 Ohm version from 1982

All of these cabs are used for recording and sound, especially in combination with my omnidirectional mics very good. My main cab is the one with the G12H30.

To find your sound, you have to experiment alot, with speakers and with cab types.

[James Lugo]

I don't use slant cabs; live, studio etc... STRAIGHT ALL THE WAY! Misdirecting air in a cab is not nearly as good as a straight with all speakers facing the same way.

[stafs]

What about standing waves in straight cab? I allways tought, slanted cabs are better because of less parralell surfaces inside the cab.
Maybe someone can shed the light on this?

[Sean240]

Never cared about sloped cabs when recording. Live, yeah I used to run some homemade twin 12' cabs - I copied my mate's old Mesa Boogie cabs. They were stacked vertically, but the interesting point was the bottom 12' was closed at the rear and front ported, and the top was slanted and open back. It delivered tight bass out of the bottom whereas the top was free to move faster so it had the glassy highs. (FOH guy preferred to mic the top 12")

So I'd say back to you all, do you prefer your cabs enclosed, ported or open back? I believe there's a lot more tonal variation there. At least with partially open or ported cabs, if the sound is too bright you can stuff the hole/s with something when you want to tame the highs a bit...

Interesting to browse the various cab lineups in the Boogie catalog today - they seem to have a lot of fully enclosed cabs and cabs with half or three-quarter enclosed backs.

As soon as I sell some junk and get some space back, I plan on building another 2x12 cab out of marine plywood. I like home built - my cabs are not pretty but they will NEVER rattle, and I can build split-backs to give me options.

[Rev2010]

OK, all this talk about slanted cabs having "less volume" than straight cabs and straight cabs having "less standing waves" is all way ridiculous to me. Sorry to sound confrontational but if you're going to claim such things please back this up. For one I can't imagine how a slanted cab would mystically have less volume over a straight cab wired the same way with the same speakers. Please explain how this would be and please don't come up with, "Technically 1db is lost in....". Secondly, for the other poster, please explain how four speakers all straight would have less standing waves against a flat back than 2 flat and two angled up.

And after all this anyway... can you guys honestly say this makes any difference whatsoever to a mic in front of *one* of the speakers for a recording? Come on now

Rev.

[SkunkWorks]

Rev, I think they are talking about geometric volume, not loudness.

Even still, there's not going to be much volumetric difference between, say, a Marshall straight vs. slant 4x12 from what I can see when I look at them beside each other... due to the fact that the entire front baffle on the "straight" cab actually leans back (inward as you go vertical) slightly. What I'm getting at is that although the top half of the angle cab seems to have more lean and therefore less volume inside that top half, the bottom half of the angle cab is perfectly straight therefore it will have more volume to its lower half than the bottom half of the "straight" cab which is actually slightly angled inward... if you follow me. In the end, it seems to me that those aspects of the angle cab would sort of balance out and give it more or less the same internal volume as the "straight" cab.

It's all moot to me anyway for this reason...

I actually asked my favorite producer/engineer, who is also a member here on this forum, this very question about the angle vs. straight Marshall cabs and was told it makes no difference. To me, this guy and his team get the most sickest guitar tones in modern rock these days, recorded tones that make me depressed every time I think I'm becoming happy with my own and then pop in one of his cd's to reference. If it makes no difference to HIM, then that's good enough for ME.

By the way, as he himself has mentioned here in the forum somewhere, one thing that actually WILL make a difference is to put that cab, whatever it may be, up on bricks.

[rob S]

when loaded with the same speakers, i have found that straight cabs have more bottom than slants.
or is it slants have less bottom.....

[fakiekid]

to be fair if your putting a microphone an inch off of the speaker I don't think it really matters!

[bgrotto]

I tend to like straight cabs, however, the best-sounding cab at the studio (by FAR!! Sounds awesome!) is a slanted cab.

Go figure.

My buddy calls these things "audiosyncracies".

[ironbelly]

i prefer the one that sounds the best for the song.

[teleharmonium]

Straight front cabs are better for everything except playing live shows in venues with a balcony where the guitar is not going through the PA.

I cannot imagine why anybody would want more bleed and dispersion from a loud guitar 4 x 12 than they would get from a straight front cab for recording purposes, but whatever floats your boat.

[EBGB]

straight for the bottom cab and angled sitting on top it of course

[rob S]

Originally Posted by fakiekid

to be fair if your putting a microphone an inch off of the speaker I don't think it really matters!

no it was noticeable mic'd.
it was an in studio test.

[glissando]

I don't know the answer to your question and frankly find it a bit ridiculous as you are obviously referring to a rig with lots of SPL and in that case probably won't make a shit of difference...I personally don't like micing cabinets that have more than one speaker....and yes more than one speaker and the amount and density of the wood do affect a microphone 2 inches away from another speaker in the same cabinet

[rob S]

whats "difference"?

in sales ?, no it wont make a shit of difference.
in bottom end?, yes, you will get more out of a straight cab.
does it matter?, i have no idea.

[KRStudio]

Originally Posted by bgrotto

My buddy calls these things "audiosyncracies".

I want this as a studio name! Audiosyncracie

[Bubbakron]

Slanted, you get a more dynamic sound through out the room, more headroom on your track!!!