thecabguy.com -- any opinions?

[Setyaback]

Does anyone have any experience working with cab builder John Hinsdale? His website is thecabguy.com

I put in a request for an estimate about a week ago and haven't heard anything back, just curious if this is typical.

Thanks!

[Despres]

I ordered a cab from John about a month ago, and it is in UPS' hands right now, with estimated delivery tomorrow, so hopefully I will be posting a glowing review of his work tomorrow night.

That said, I've exchanged emails with him over the past 5 weeks or so, and his response time has ranged from about an hour to about a week - He is a one man show, and I get the impression that his forte is building cabinets, not answering emails. But other than the sporadic email response times, my experience with him has been positive so far, and I have no doubt that my cabinet will be exactly what I wanted when it gets here tomorrow.

[Setyaback]

Originally Posted by Despres

I ordered a cab from John about a month ago, and it is in UPS' hands right now, with estimated delivery tomorrow, so hopefully I will be posting a glowing review of his work tomorrow night.

That said, I've exchanged emails with him over the past 5 weeks or so, and his response time has ranged from about an hour to about a week - He is a one man show, and I get the impression that his forte is building cabinets, not answering emails. But other than the sporadic email response times, my experience with him has been positive so far, and I have no doubt that my cabinet will be exactly what I wanted when it gets here tomorrow.

Thanks a lot for the info -- I'll sit tight and await a response. 1 month turnaround on a custom-built cabinet is not bad at all, and he has very competitive pricing. Hope your new cab works out well for you!

[Despres]

Yeah, he initially quoted me 3-4 weeks, so the turnaround wasn't bad at all. I found his pricing to be very competitive, especially for a cab built exactly to my specs. I will post pics tomorrow - I made the mistake of getting the speaker way before the cab, so I am dying to put the thing together!

I liked dealing with John because he doesn't have a set design and didn't upcharge for options - I got a 1x15 cab, and my head's footprint is 19x12 - he quoted a price for a 19x19x12 cab with 1 jack, and a closed back, I asked if he could make it a little taller than wide (19x24x12), put a parallel jack on the back and make it open back with an oval cutout, and his response was 'no problem, same price.'

[Setyaback]

That's great to hear. I'm looking at 1x15 combo cab a la vibroclone -- I'm sure something he's done more than a few times in the past! The only "extra" I'm thinking of is adding an extra "middle" panel on the back to make it somewhat convertible between open & closed back. Getting excited now :)

[Despres]

Well, it has recently come to my attention that today is NOT Thursday, so I guess I mis-spoke, my cab will be here tomorrow, not today. This week is dragging by!

[Prairie Dawg]

I ordered a custom built cabinet from John which was a Tweed Deluxe that could take a 15 inch speaker. It was a pretty good job but the top and bottom tweed panels were installed cattywhompus. It looks OK, just different. Also one of the holes securing the chassis was drilled off center so I had to slot out my chassis-which is a Weber. The tweed was well cut and installed and the overall construction is fine.

[jkrischan]

For great custom cabs @ reasonable cost and turnaround my money goes to John Mergili

[Setyaback]

Originally Posted by jkrischan

For great custom cabs @ reasonable cost and turnaround my money goes to John Mergili

According to his website he only does small tweed cabs?

[jkrischan]

No, those are just the most requested cabs, send. Him an email

[Setyaback]

Originally Posted by jkrischan

No, those are just the most requested cabs, send. Him an email

good to know -- thanks!

[backalleyblues]

despres,
have you gotten your cab yet? Looking to order one shortly, would like to know how yours turned out...

Franc Robert

[Despres]

The Cab did arrive today, and I am very pleased with it - it is fairly basic in design - a 19x12x24 box with black tolex, silver grill cloth and standard hardware, but it appears very well built. I have worked various aspects of construction over the years, so sloppy little things tend to bug me, and it shows that John takes pride in his work - the rear panel fits tightly enough that I had to give it a firm tug to pull it out after all the screws were removed. He counter-sunk the oval head screws before applying the tolex, so the screwheads barely protrude from the back, and the inside is very neatly painted black (and appears to be sanded prior to paint). There is no excess glue evident in the corners, and even the interior screws that hold the baffleboard in place are evenly spaced, evenly sunk and straight. The solder on the jacks is clean and the hook-up wire is nice fat copper speaker wire.

It came with 8 studs installed to mount the speaker, and they were all straight and spaced properly, so I just took the nuts & washers off them, slid the speaker on, and screwed them back on. The hookup wires have spade terminals, so installing the speaker took no time at all (except for all the screws holding the rear panel in place).

All in all, I'd say the finish level and attention to detail are first rate on this one - at the price point, I would still be pleased even if it wasn't as nicely done, but it looks like it was built by someone who takes pride in their work.

I will try and grab a few photos tomorrow.

[Setyaback]

Glad to hear you're happy with the cab -- I just hope I hear back from the guy, it's been over a week since I inquired. John Mergili replied quickly, but he's considerably more expensive (almost twice as much) and I'm on a tight budget.

[Despres]

You could try to email him again or call. If I email a vendor and they don't respond, I usually don't follow up, but it might be worth it, his prices are pretty good.

[Setyaback]

John (thecabguy.com) did write back over the weekend with a quote, and apologized profusely for the delay.

Pretty close to pulling the trigger -- He quoted me $228 shipped.

[Despres]

Yup, that's what mine was too. I didn't want to quote his pricing in case he changed things. From the research I did prior to buying mine, I didn't think I'd find a better price than that, and it came out great.

[Setyaback]

Yeah, the pricing seems to have gone up just a hair from the list on his website. He was listing full-size cabs (Twins, etc) at $185. He has overpriced (Super, etc) listed at $200, but I'd think a 1x15 is a lot closer to a Twin in size than a Super. But it's still the best price around, at least in my research.

[Despres]

Yeah, the $15 wasn't a deal breaker for me, especially with only $28 for shipping a big box.

[ddhr]

He made a cabinet for me a couple years ago for my Bandmaster head. Great work and pretty quick build time. He was in contact a lot as I was making my decision. I'd buy from him again in a heartbeat.