Menu 0
Open or Closed Back Guitar Cabinet

Open Back Vs. Closed Back Cabinets: Which One is for You?

April 04, 2016

Open or Closed Back Guitar Cabinet

When purchasing a new speaker cabinet, guitarists are often faced with the choice of open back or closed back cabinets. An often overlooked factor, this seemingly simple choice is responsible for a large part of your tone. While no cabinet style is necessarily better, they are different, and it’s just a matter of finding which one works better for your situation.

All other factors aside, closed back cabinets generally have a more focused, crisp sound. Since the back is sealed, the sound is projected straight forward. This may make the guitar a little hard to hear when you’re standing to the sides of the amp, but this could be a good thing in a cluttered, busy mix.

In contrast, open back cabinets allow the tone of your guitar to project through both the front and back of the cabinet, creating a wider, more organic sound that is less compressed and less focused. This is particularly useful when the monitoring situation onstage is less than ideal, but at the same time this may cause the guitar sound to wash over all the other instruments.



But it doesn’t always have to be one or the other. Carvin Audio’s innovative VX212 cabinet allows you to quickly and easily change your tone on the fly. It has removable back ports so you can switch up your sound between sealed, one port, or two port tuning. Leave both ports intact and you’ll get a classic tone with crisp mid-range and tight bass. For extended bass response, remove one port. Take two ports off and you’ll change the frequency center of the bass boost and make it more noticeable. This cabinet opens up a whole new world of tonal possibilities and lets you find the sweet spot in your guitar sound.

Featuring Carvin’s roadworthy Baltic Birch construction and weighing in at only 60 lbs, the VX212 is a complete solution for your tone. It even has two ¼” phone jacks and a stereo/mono switch in instances where you want to split your signal between two amps. Find your best tone today with the Carvin Audio VX212.



Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.

Also in Guitar / Bass Amplifier Info & Education

What to Do When You're
What to Do When You're "Stuck in a Rut," Part 2

December 13, 2018 2 Comments

The traditional advice often given to the bride when selecting her wedding attire, was, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." I have no idea what that could possibly have to do with music. But since you can literally do just about anything to break out of a rut, let's apply the old adage to our current situation and see what happens.

Read More

What to Do When You're
What to Do When You're "Stuck in a Rut," Part 1

December 05, 2018 3 Comments

One of the most common frustrations most musicians experience is the dreaded "Stuck in a Rut Syndrome" (I just made that up, but you get the idea). Because of the incomprehensible amount of time one must invest to master a musical instrument, it is easy to work your way into practice habits that can interfere with your advancement. You worked so long at getting it right, that it became a habit. But even though you have mastered it, you continue drilling the exercise. Worse yet, this can even happen with exercises that you haven't yet mastered, locking you into endlessly practicing badly. You know you need something fresh, but it can be hard to know what to change. So, the next time you find yourself stuck in a rut, look to one of these easy techniques to help you get back on track fast.

Read More

What's in a Guitar Pick?
What's in a Guitar Pick?

November 16, 2018 6 Comments

If I were ever arrested for being a guitar player and they searched my house for evidence, they'd probably come up with a few hundred guitar picks. Years worth of them in gig bags, junk drawers, pocket change and sofa cushions. Chances are most guitar players could say the same. Usually there is at least some variety in most "private collections," but eventually most of us find something we're comfortable with and settle down, seldom making another change unless the style demands it. Yet many players have never really studied picks and the nuances of each type. A new pick can inspire a different way of picking or help the player to get a better feel for a challenging technique, such as alternate or sweep picking. Every once in a while, exploring a handful of new picks can lead to new avenues of playing, for only a few cents... okay, dollars. Forgive me; I've been at this a long time.

Read More