How long does a custom guitar cabinet build take?

Around three weeks for most cabs, increasing to four to six weeks for more complex custom designs, plus transit time. That's generally a few days in the UK, up to a week for EU and around a week elsewhere.

Will I have to pay any taxes on a guitar cabinet?

UK customers pay VAT included in the price. Outside the UK we remove VAT but you may be liable for local taxes. EU customers pay local VAT only, no duties as cabs are UK made. US customers pay a tariff generally around 10% plus a small admin fee.

Which is better - open or closed back cabinet?

Neither is better - it depends on your playing style. Open back fills the room with more ambience, suited to clean, blues and indie. Closed back gives a more focused sound with tighter low end, think rock and metal. There is lots of crossover between the two styles.

What impedance should I use for my guitar cab?

We generally recommend 8ohm cabs as most amps support this. If you may want to use two cabs, go for 16ohm. Tonal differences between impedances are small compared to speaker and cab choice.

What is the best way of reducing guitar cab weight?

The biggest impact is using neodymium speakers, saving 2 to 3kg per speaker while still sounding great. For 4x12 players, neo speakers in an oversized 2x12 will be half the weight and still deliver.

Custom Guitar Cabinet FAQs

Q: Are speaker cabs that important?

Speaker cabs are really important. They turn your electrical signal into a physical sound wave and are arguably the most important thing in the chain. Unlike pedals or amps, a cab has no controls - you've got one shot to get it right and that's what we do at Zilla.

Q: What kind of wood do you use?

We use high quality birch ply. Thickness determines resonating mass which affects the sound. Most of our guitar cabs are 12 and 15mm, with bass cabs mostly 18mm. We use this as a feature to get the right sound for the right cab.

Q: Does Zilla use finger joints on the cabs?

We use finger or box joints for our cabs. It is a stronger joint and will last longer. Building something better for little extra cost and effort is something we'd always do.

Q: Do you sell unloaded cabs?

Yes. We often encourage using speakers you already have as it saves money. To find the unloaded price, choose your cab and specs on our cab customizer then select unloaded under speakers.

Q: Do you sell outside of the UK?

Yes, most of our business is outside the UK. We ship worldwide and cabs are insured in transit. We remove UK taxes for international orders so you aren't paying twice.

Q: What power rating speaker should I use?

Choose a speaker rated higher than the maximum output of your amp. A higher rated speaker gives a cleaner sound. Speakers compress more as you increase the power, which some players prefer.

The Cabinets

Are speaker cabs that important?

Speaker cabs are really important. They're the thing at the end of the chain that turns your electrical signal into a physical sound wave. It's arguably the most important thing in the chain. It's also relatively fixed; so imagine if your distortion pedal or reverb setting had no controls - it was on all the time you are playing. You'd want to make sure you got exactly the right pedal in that case. The truth is whether you use a distortion plus, DSL or Shredmaster, you'll generally be able to find a setting that works for you, but we'd all choose different settings. In a way it's like your guitar - you wouldn't use a Gibson L5 in a Metallica covers band, it wouldn't sound right... and even a guitar has volume and tone controls, the cab has none. Basically, you've got one shot to get it right and that's what we do at Zilla.

How long does a build take?

In general we say around three weeks. This may increase to four to six weeks for a more complex custom design cab, but the majority of the cabs on our website will take about three weeks plus time in transit. That is generally a few days in the UK, three days to a week or so to EU and around a week or so elsewhere. This can vary depending on the courier etc.

We keep most cabs in stock as bare wood models and cover when needed. A cab takes the same amount of time regardless of how long an order is on the books, any more than a month is usually just a sign of inefficiency rather than demand.

Do you build amp heads?

We don’t make amplifiers, and these days we don’t make so many custom amp head shells cabs as we mostly just concentrate on our own cabs, but we do still make certain models for existing customers or customers wanting a head and cab rig.

Does Zilla use finger joints on the cabs?

We use finger - or more accurately - box joints for our cabs. It isn’t particularly necessary in some ways but it is a stronger joint and will last longer. Building something better for little extra cost and effort is something we’d always do.

What kind of wood do you use?

We use a really nice birch ply. It's a high standard and conforms to all safety standards, but most importantly it sounds really nice too!

Thickness of wood determines resonating mass, which will affect the sound. We use everything from 9mm to 18mm but most of our guitar cabs are 12 and 15mm, with our bass cabs mostly 18mm. We use this as a feature to get the right sound for the right cab.

Speakers and Options

Do you offer speakers other than Celestion?

At the moment we only really offer Celestion speakers but we are working at adding more brands. For customers who want a different speakers we can supply unloaded cabs or if you send your speakers to us we can often fit them for you. It's always worth asking us specifics though as we do sometimes have small amounts of stock from other brands.

Do you sell unloaded cabs?

Yes, we sell unloaded cabs, no problem at all. In fact we often encourage using any speakers you already have as it saves money and gives a good home to your existing speakers. To find the unloaded price, choose the cab and specs on our cab builder program, then under speakers select unloaded. If you scroll down it will give you a price breakdown.

If Zilla doesn't stock a speaker I want, can I buy them elsewhere?

Yes you can. We stock the full range of Celestions but if you want some WGS, Eminence, Fanes etc you can source them elsewhere and have them sent to us for fitting. This is generally only recommended for UK customers though due to tax and logistics implications. It's also worth asking us first too as we may occasionally have other stock.

Can I send Zilla my speakers to fit?

Depending on your region you can. This service is normally only for UK customers though as there can be tax and logisitics complications. We generally don't charge if we are fitting your existing speakers.

What guarantee is on the cabinet and speakers?

There is a years warranty on the cab and speakers. The speakers are thoroughly tested before they go out to avoid any out-of-the-box issues and there's really not much to go wrong with the cabs themselves. Regardless, we will often send replacement to faulty cab parts after the year as we don't like seeing issues.... that said, issues are rare and generally just cabinet hardware from hard use.

Shipping and Taxes

Do you have any overseas dealers?

We don't... well we have a shop in Denmark that have stocked our cabs but other than that we ship direct. It generally means we can charge less but also have a one to one interaction with the customer and get direct feedback.

Do you sell outside of the UK?

We love sending cabs to other countries, in fact most of our business is outside of the UK. The world is much smaller than when we started twenty years ago and we have a lot of experience in sending parcels to other countries. Cabs are insured in transit but we do everything we can to avoid damage by packing cabs really well.

There may be some taxes or duties to pay - this changes between regions, but if this is the case we remove UK taxes so you aren't paying twice. We aren't tax experts and don't give legal advice but we can generally give a guide on what to expect. Don't be scared it's a relatively straightforward process, and in general UK taxes are relatively high so you will often be saving! Do please ask us for any more information and check out or informal guide here.

Will I have to pay any taxes?

If you are based in the UK then UK VAT is included in the price.

If you are outside of the UK them yes. We can't provide tax advice, it is up to you to find out but from experience taxes to EU, USA, Canada and Australia are generally sensible so there are generally no major shocks. We've sent loads of parcels and make things as easy as possible. Most of our business is outside of the UK and we've been doing this for twenty years.

If you are based outside of the UK then we remove the UK VAT (sales tax) but you will most probably be liable for some in your region. This is generally quite easy to arrange through the courier as the parcel is on its way to you. The courier will request the taxes/duties and usually apply a small admin fee too.

For EU customers. Due to Brexit we no longer charge UK taxes to you but you will have to pay some taxes in your country. Generally these are a similar amount and as we have already removed the UK taxes you wont be paying twice. The cabs are UK made so there wont be any duties, just your countries VAT and a small admin fee. The courier will help arrange this.

For US customers, the taxes are generally small but there is a duty or tariff to be applied. This is generally around 10% at time of writing plus a small admin fee. On occasion we have the ability to prepay this for you but please ask us about this as things can change.

Do please ask us for any more information and check out or informal guide here.

Online you only give options for UK, EU and USA. Do you sell to other regions?

Yes, we will send all over the world... We've even sent cabs to islands and regions we'd never heard of before. We don't have other countries on there as shipping quotes can change. We send a lot of cabs to Norway, Switzerland, Canada and Australia for example. We have to get individual quotes for shipping to regions outside the EU and USA but we generally get good shipping rates so don't be scared to ask.

Technical Details

What is the best sounding cab?

The best sounding cab is the cab that's best suited to you and your playing style. The big factors in any cab recommendation are

the cab size or model - this may well be determined by physical requirements you have as a player (ie something small and light for small gigs).
speaker choice - different speakers sound different and have different technical specs, i.e. power rating, and back choice.
open or closed back will make a big difference. Open will give a more ambient, less direct sound (think more combo type sound rather than head and cab), and closed back will give a more focused, direct sound, with a tighter low end.

We have some audio samples on the website as well as information on model type and back type.

Tell us what type of music do you play and ultimately what would you like to get out of your cabinet? Why not try our cab recommender to help narrow down the choices?

What impedance should I use?

In most cases we can use 4, 8 or 16ohms cabs, although 4ohm 1x12s are a bit trickier. Most amps run 4 and 8ohm, 4, 8 and 16ohm or 8 and 16ohm, so we generally go for 8ohm cabs. That being said, if your amp has 8 and 16ohm outputs and you think you may want to use two cabs, then go for 16ohms cabs. There are slight tonal differences but they are general and make less of a difference than speaker, cab and back choice. If you have any questions on this just ask and we can offer advice.

What impedance sounds best?

It depends on your taste. The rule of thumb is 16ohm speakers will sound a little bit brighter, but remember that means for 2x12s, two 16ohm speakers will make for an 8ohm cab.

What power rating speaker should I use?

In general it is best to choose a speaker or combination of speakers that is rated higher than the maximum output of the amp. Some people say it needs to be twice the maximum output of your amp but I’d say it needs to be greater than the maximum output that you’re going to play at. Using an amp rated higher than your speaker runs the risk of you blowing the speaker.

That said, using a speaker far more powerful that you play will general mean for a cleaner sound. Speakers compress more as you increase the power, which some people like, but if you need a stable sound or particularly if you need a stable sound at different volumes then you’ll want to go for a relatively high powered guitar speaker.

Which is better - open or closed back?

It isn't necessarily that one is better than the other - it's that one will be best suited to your playing style and tastes. Open will fill the room a bit more giving a bit more ambience... think of a combo rather than a head and cab, so generally more suited to clean, blues and indie. Whereas closed back will give a more focused sound with a tighter low end- think rock and metal. That said there is loads of cross over between the two styles.

Can a 1x12 sound like a 4x12?

No, unless you're using a particularly bad sounding 4x12! Like for like, larger cabinets with more speaker do sound bigger, but it doesn't have to be a big problem. If you ideally want a big sound like from a 4x12 but need something lighter and smaller, then a Fatboy or Super Fatboy 2x12 will come really close. Going for a vertical version if possible will help with a slightly better spread of sound and, although it might not be your first choice, the neo creamback is a really nice all round speaker and will shave off a further 6kg from the weight of a 2x12. So, you can get a good compromise in a cab that is easier to lift, easier to transport, about half the weight and cheaper. A Fatbaby 1x12 will take things a step further. It wont have such a thud in the low end that a 4x12 gives but again it could be a compromise.

Can a small light 1x12 still sound good?

Absolutely yes. A Dinky 1x12 with a neo creamback is light and sounds great. It won't have the low end of a large cab, but for the size and weight being factored in it is great. It won't give the low end thud of larger cabs but will cut through nicely.

That being said, pushing things much smaller will generally result in a much smaller sound.

What is the best way of reducing weight?

There are a few ways of reducing weight in a cab. Getting a smaller cab, getting a cab with fewer speakers, using a lighter or thinner construction material or using a lighter speaker.

Generally I'd say the biggest impact you'll have on keeping a full sound but reducing the weight is using a neodymium speaker. These days the neo speakers on the market sound really good and a versatile, so even if it's not your first choice they sound good and will shave off between 2 and 3kg per speaker.

Reducing the size of the cab can work too, but I'd be tempted to reduce the number of speakers and keep the size of the cab still quite large. Reducing weight is usually 4x12s players moving to 2x12s or 2x12 players moving to 1x12s. For 4x12s players I'd say go for neo speaker and oversized 2x12, that rig will probably be half the weight, a lot smaller and still give a lot of the admirable qualities of a 4x12.

Do I need a big cab to sound good?

No, absolutely not. A bigger cab will generally fill the sound out and give you more low end but you still need a quality cab. Using the wrong materials or design will be detrimental to the sound. You're better off using a quality small cab with good speakers, this will generally sound a lot letter. it's not the size of the cab, its the quality and suitability of the cab and speaker choice first of all.

Can't find the answer to your question on this page? Why not give us a shout and we'll no doubt be able to help.