Breaking in my Traditional 4x12...

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Hey guys!

So, I recently swapped my oversized 4x12 for a Mesa traditional 4x12....gave GC my cab a 5 days ago, and the cab was to be shipped from another AZ location that very day....

I called the GC to check in, and the cab is going to ship on Monday :x ...hopefully to be here by Tuesday....not too happy with them.

Now, I will get to play the cab on Wedensday for about 2 hours, but I have a show this Friday, and would like the cab to be atleast A LITTLE broken in....I want my tone to really shine through.

What is a good method to break in the speakers? Can I run a CD playing into it? Any ideas would be great

 

[recto-robbie]

Check this out,,,found it a while back on the Celestion speaker sight.
Hit the down arrow on the Ask DR. Decibel then hit the Breaking-in Speakers.. Good luck
http://professional.celestion.com/guitar/features/drdecibel/index.asp

 

[Russ]

You can loop a track into it and play it face down into the carpet for hours on end. That should do it. Or better yet put it in a closet or practice space and loop it there so that there is less direct reverberation sent back at the cones. The cones really need to be played and the coils need to be heated up a little. If you have an iso-box big enough or iso-room that would be even better. My first suggestion is a fast way to get them to break in but runs a slight risk of damaging a speaker from the spl and the direct reflection of the sound waves reverberating back at the speaker. Be sure that whatever you use to loop into it is only guitar tracks or vocals. Bass tracks will kill your speakers as will drums. No matter what you do your speakers will not be fully broken in by Friday. Don't even attempt it. This will only prematurely wear your speakers. I would lay the cabinet on its face for an hour per shot and let it cool down. I would repeat this as many times as possible until you start to get some break in. Again, I would avoid leaving it firing into the carpet for any real extended period of time. Your level that you are playing it into the floor should be as close to gig level as possible during the break in process.

 

[BigMac5]

Check this out,,,found it a while back on the Celestion speaker sight.
Hit the down arrow on the Ask DR. Decibel then hit the Breaking-in Speakers.. Good luck
http://professional.celestion.com/guitar/features/drdecibel/index.asp

How do I break in my speakers?

Important Note! Before breaking it in it's advisable to "warm up" the speaker gently for a few minutes with low-level playing or background hum.

Break in a speaker with a fat, clean tone: turn up the power amp volume to full, and control the level with the preamp gain. Use a level that will be quite loud, but not painful in a normal size room.

Have the bass and mid up full, and the treble at least half. On your guitar, use the middle pick up position (if your guitar has more than one pick up) and play for 10-15 minutes using lots of open chords, and chunky percussive playing. This will get the cone moving, and should excite all the cone modes and get everything to settle in nicely. The speaker will continue to mature over the years, but this will get it 95% of the way to tonal perfection in the shortest time.

I'm going to try that! :twisted:

 

[cellardweller]

I have two relatively new Avatar 2x12's that didn't get completely broken in before my band dissolved due to "disturbing the peace" complaints. :?

I might try looping a track in my closet, as suggested here.
The cabs sound like *** for recording as they are now.....

 

[jbird]

I really would'nt worry about it, play it normally, as you normally would!

 

[Guitarzan]

ditto.

 

[Russ]

The best break in is always just regular use. That takes time though...

 

[siggy14]

so tell us about the cab

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

Still hasn't gotten here...long stor short, GC f-ed up again....they have to order me a new one....the guy has promised me a bunch of free stuff for all the trouble though...in the mean time, they sent me a brand new oversized :x

 

[Russ]

And how was your show?

 

[stash49]

I have been told to use a tone generator. I'll ask about the details, but you are supposed to put it at particular freq. and let it go 8 hours or so.

http://www.nch.com.au/tonegen/index.html

 

[Kung-Fool]

Just play it.