JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Guitars and Guitarist Forum amp enhancer (for open back combos)

Anyone seen this yet? There's a video on their news page.
http://www.soundenhancer.com/the_enhancer.htm
They go for up to $370.00
I've come up with a few different designs you could build for about $50.0 and do the same thing...

My circular design:
http://www.mydatabus.com/public/tavernstuff/e/circleampenhancer.jpg

The circular 'enhancer' can be flipped and put on top of your combo which could have another 2/12 extension cab under that...

http://www.mydatabus.com/public/tavernstuff/e/ampenhancer3Astack.jpg

maybe you could take it one step farther, and put a chair back on it. Then we could sit and rock when we rock out. :-)

Nice design though!

It will change the sound of your amp. This may be good, or it may be bad. It will probably be a personal preference.

The combo amp has been around for quite a while and people may not like the sound of an improved design. After all, solid state amps are also more efficient, lighter, smaller, can have lower distortion, etc., but many, if not most, guitar players prefer tube amps.

My own experiments indicate that "open" back cabinets that are about 60 to 70 % closed in back tend to have the best balanced bass response. More closed, the bass starts getting boomy. More open, the bass drops off a lot. The exact amount depends upon the speaker type and cabinet construction. This 60 to 70 % closed is also what is typical for most commercially available "open" back cabinets (Fenders, Voxes, etc.)

Of course, whether your amp is raised off the floor or is sitting near a wall or corner will change its response.

I'm a firm believer in angling amps toward guitar players heads. Helps keep volumes at workable levels. The Soundenhancer looks like it simulates an enclosure and baffles the blowback sound forward. It might just help out those amps stuck in a corner somewhere. Nice bit of engineering Jim.

Is generating more volume really a problem? Why not turn the volume knob up? Mine goes to 11.

I have never cared to have my amp pointing at my head. The Fender amps had swivel legs so that you could angle them back, but I soon learned that too much me meant I could not hear the other instruments so well. I prefer the amp to point out to the audience and I get a peripheral angle from the soundwave.

I always thought open backs were open to allow tubes to breath, reduce weight (and cost of added material) and for easy access to tube changes & speakers... otherwise, wouldn't all cabs (2 & 4 x 12's) be open backed?

As for using something like this device to increase volume by directing the additional speaker output (it's rear projection) rather than turning up your amp, well, turning up your amp puts more stress on it doesn't it? More juice to your speakers promoting a shorter lifespan? Now your amp may last a bit longer (but not your back from the additional stuff you gotta carry!).

As for that volume knob that goes to 11, just pull the pot out and snip off the internal tab that stops the pot at it's normal '10' spot and now you have a volume that will just spin in complete circles over & over.... try getting louder than that!
11 indeed.... mine goes to infinity... ;>)

And putting a chair back on it? I'll go you one better! I'll put 4 wheels on it, nail a chair on the back of it and now i've got a cub-kart with a killer looking exhaust pipe & loud tunes (the amp had better run on batteries tho' - cruising down the road jamming & steering with my knees...).

And of course, a device like this thing means you have to decide if the stage/room size warrants it's use. Most people are brought up having the amp controls readily at hand and near head height. When I first saw the enhancer pics my first thought was that i'd fall over trying to reach the amp knobs (wait, I don't drink anymore...).
It's all an experiment in design anyway... Thank goodness my neighbor has a router & bits, and my local autobody shop will rhino the thing for free too!
-Jim

Bass speakers are closed in back so that an enclosed cushion of air inside the box helps keep the speaker cone from moving too violently and ripping the cone material. A guitar amp, on the other hand, is open backed to allow it to move more freely. A bass speaker will travel a greater distance due to the much longer wavelengths of the bass notes, than a guitar produces. As you mentioned, the amp head is generally open to allow the heat to dissipate.

Don't know much about amps outside of some small tube and transister amps.
I noticed that some of these karoakes seem to serve well as a kind of amp or PA system.
I know it could'nt be in the grand arena, but someone out there has most likely tried it.

Know that may not be more to this topic, but I wonder if anyone else sees the value of karoakes as an amp or to enhance.

Matt