Posted by Paul C. on May 27, 2001 at 16:23:19

In Reply to: Jason - Check this out posted by Wayne Parham on May 27, 2001 at 15:59:59:

While I like the look of pebble grain vinyl, the norm these days in the musical inst, pro sound industry is carpet covering. And in just a few months those nice looking speakers start to get ragged looking, frayed. At least with vinyl covering, you could glue down the torn spots with a drop or two of superglue, maybe touch up with a black Sharpie pen, and they would look pretty good.

Another thing, for cabinets that need to be roadworthy, I prefer plywood cabinet material to MDF. MDF doesn't hold up under moisture, heaven forbid it gets wet, rained on outdoors, or some drunk spills a beer on it (why do people assume my expensive speakers are resting places for their drinks?)... swells, and chips. Screws do not hold well in MDF, so corner protectors get knocked off, and other handling damage.

I have used furniture grade birch ply for many years. Several local musicians have brought me their commercially built MDF speakers to be copied over in birch ply. Even if there are a few resonance issues (and I brace well internally) this is nothing compared to the increased durability of road equipment using the ply over MDF.

Just a few more thoughts on building cabs for working musicians.