Guitar Amplifier Isolation Cabinets, Round 3
Posted by Reid Greven on October 30, 2008
OK kids, hopefully this will be the last word on Guitar Amplifier Isolation Cabinets…
Chris Briley (again, one of the masters of the universe) passed along the following 4 PDF documents that help explain our Iso Boxes…
Our first generation boxes were about 48″ wide and about 33″ tall, and about 48″ deep. This seemed a reasonable height at the time, considering they would need to be stacked on top of one another due to backstage space restrictions.
However, as the Browns Bridge and Buckhead church buildings were being built with a larger backstage area, it allowed an opportunity to improve, and even simplify the design. So the newest generation cabinets are 48″ x 48″ x 48″. They’re just a big cube made from 3/4″ MDF building material. They even had the sheets of MDF cut at Home Depot.
There’s no official measurement guide to the boxes, other than the fact that the top and bottom are 4′ squares – so let’s do the math on the rest together, OK?
Top – 48″ x 48″
Bottom – 48″ x 48″
Sides (x2) – 48″ x 46.5″
Back – 46.5″ x 46.5″
Doors (x2) – 46.5″ x 23.25″
I think those measurements work. I’m sure you’ll want to double check the math…
Also, the new boxes, because of their height and because they’re not stacked on top of each other, don’t require a tray that rolls out. So that helps! There’ now lots of room to stick a big Marshall cab in there…
ISO Cabinet Wiring and Parts.pdf
BB Guitar Iso 1 Panel.pdf BB Guitar Iso 2 Panel.pdf
NOTE: Iso Panels 1 and 2 are simply reflect Box #1 and Box #2 (meaning guitarist #1’s amp and guitarist #2’s amp…)
These panels were custom made by Rapco . Chris just sent them the Iso Panel PDFs and they made each one for about $150.00.
**This panel replaces our “Generation 1″ pop-up boxes that have ended up being a pain and we no longer use on newer boxes.
NOTE: Sends 1 and 2 are for mic level input (for use with Combo amps), Sends 3 & 4 are used for Speaker level inputs (when a head is used on stage and a speaker cabinet is in the iso box)
NOTE: The RJ45 (Ethernet) jack was installed and run to stage because of future uses. No one currently uses it, but theoretically it could be used with a Line 6 pedal board linked to an amp in the iso box via Ethernet cable…
NOTE: The acoustic treatment can be acoustic panelling (that you cut to measure) or acoustic treatment stuff, like this Auralex stuff.
So altogether, it looks like you can make each box for under $400…
And here are some pics of our “Generation 1″ boxes for inspiration:
Troy Kennedy said
Hey Reid,
Did your guitar players give up on the X3 Lives?
A while back you talked about possible sharing some of your players X3 patches. Is that still a possibility?
Peace,
troy
Reid Greven said
No, they have not given up on the X3 Live. In fact, the vast majority of our regular guitarists still use the X3 Live. But there are still a handful of guys that rely on their amps, and we still get questions about the Iso Cabinets, hence my Round 3 post.
And I’ll get back to working on getting some patches…
Troy Kennedy said
Thanks, my friend!
Peace,
T
dofus kamas said
Great post!! I just have to copy it
martin said
I think I understand why you are making these enclosures for the amps,
(to keep the tone of the amp I presume)
But wouldn’t it be easier to use a nice Iso Speaker box instead, What is your experienve with ISo speakers or what have you heard positive or negative,
Would really like to know, I play in a church too. The X3live might suffice. But I am really into tone, and only have enough dough to do one trick or the other.
God Bless.
Reid Greven said
Martin,
Can you send a pic or link to the kind of Iso Speaker you’re talking about?
Is it something like this?
http://www.randallamplifiers.com/Cabinets/Isolation-Series-Cabs/Isolation.html
Martin said
Reid,
Thanks for responding.
Yes!! It does look like your link. and also like this one.
http://www.riverainfo.com/index.php?view=article&catid=66%3Aisolation-cabinet&id=92%3Asilent-sister-isolation-cabinet-wpressure-relief&option=com_content&Itemid=54
I was wondering if you have ever tried these types of speaker “only”isolation boxes, It seems to me that they would be less hassle than having a whole amp inside a box than having to mess with the mic placement and volume knobs and such, from inside the box.. rather than outside the box,
then you only have the speaker and mics to deal with. I was curios why you don’t use this speaker only type instead? I am only assuming, but is it because you prefer the miced sound inside your version, as compared to the enclosed speaker version of isolating the amplified sound to run to
the main FOH, or perhaps it is bit more economical. I understand that each guitarist likes his own “speaker and amp combo”, but if you were able to just have the guitarist bring there amp for that service and run each amp through an isolation speaker box, to me it seems that it would be more
economical and less set up time. So my main question is… Have you ever used or thought about using the speaker only boxes for your church or no. If you have ever thought about it, what is your opinion on the difference and quality of each as far as sound quality and user friendliness, I heard
that the speaker boxes sound better than the full enclosure over the amp “but out of the mouth of 2 or 3 witnesses let every word be established”.
Thanks.
Martin