Okay the title says it all. This summer i'm going to put my RL-P in a fiberglass box (my first one, and yes I'm doing lots of research now). My question has to do with the compostion of the box. I've heard that nearly all fiberglass boxes contian quite a bit of wood (the glass is usually just for an ascetic front) and I've heard that 100% fiberglass (minus the mounting ring) usually sound really bad or "hollow". With that said, do you agree (considering the glass will he hella stiff, I'm going to overkill this thing). If including wood does make it sound better, do you have any rough estimates on percentage. Could I get away with glassing in and exposing a few sections of wood, think rib cage here (I think that would help strenght as well as acoustics.

Thanks,

B

Oh and Jelly, good job on your glassin, I've learned a lot.

a properly built glass enclosure will sound the same as a properly built wood enclosure of the same internal volume

It's very possible that you could get a hollow sounding design, if the fiberglassed box isnt built properly. Ie. with proper bracing, framework, correct glass material choice and resin mix, etc. Building a 100% fiberglass box, frankly, is just a bad idea. Wood, MDF specifically, is a much better material for building enclosures. Even the most amazing looking fiberglass enclosures almost always have a skeleton of wood inside of them. You are spot on assuming so. If you are going to do this, I would HIGLY suggest building an internal framework first. It is much easier to stretch your fabric from these points using fasteners/staples, etc. Bracing/reinforcing WILL help you to build a better enclosure, and in turn, a better sounding enclosure. There is no magic percentage though, just do what feels right. If the enclosure is going to be removed often, you might want to try and keep the weight down, but then you will probably be sacrificing sturdiness and durability. If its going to be mounted against a body panel (ie. spare tire/trunk sides) I'd reccomend bolting it to the vehicle's framework as well.

Now, not that jelly hasnt done a good job, but he does need some more practice. IF you do the glassing/stretching part right, you wont need to use all that bondo.( Body filler is just that, body filler, not body coverer ). If you want to really learn about glassing, the best thing is to head on over to glassmanscustomforum.com There are a lot of great tutorials and a lot of experts hanging around there. I've found it to be an excellent resource.

i think i've come along way. this is only my 3rd thing i've done w/ glass. next is my box for 2 15's

but definatly if your gonna do it make a mdf frame. it'll be alot easier to stretch...

I have built enclosures consisting of 99.9% fibre, and no SQ issues that I am aware of. Wood framework is only needed if you are integrating a shape, as long as the fibreglass is not in flat panels, it will be very very strong. For added rigidity, I use a skeleton of poly rope on the inside.

Bracing a fiberglass enclosure is quite easy. after already streching the fleec with no frame work (initial framework is just for the shape, not the strength) then you cut a strip of MDF or other wood andwedge it where you want it. then glas 4-6layres of mat around it and few inches up its base. the resin will bond to the wood and, of course, to the interior walls. same thing can be done in an all MDF enclsoure if you are going the screwless way.

Fiberglass enclsoures that sound "hollow" are generally too thin.