Particle board: really that bad?

[bbmyers]

MDF Boogers are the worst! One good reason not to make anything out of it right there. Formaldehyde fumes are bad but often it's painted on every side anyway, or should be to prevent moisture damage. So, less of an issue.

It's heavier than almost anything else. It's mostly glue. I think my Marshall "portable combo" JCM800 was made from MDF, the thing weighed at least 85 lbs, portable my butt!

Can't roast marshmallows with it. Not kid friendly.

It's never my first choice material for woodworking. For templates it works pretty good though..

Bb

[uriah1]

Originally Posted by JDRNoPro

Not sure about the BJR., but the "Vintage Reissue Series", i.e. PRRI,DRRI,SRRI,TRRI all use Baltic Birch cabs with "particle board" speaker baffles - models like the original Blackface amps did. I think the Bassman uses a pine cab..........again, like the originals.

thx..you would think the baffle, that does plenty of shaking, would
get the birch treatment too.

[popthree]

i wonder if anyone has ever made an amp cab out of plastic

[celeste]

Originally Posted by popthree

i wonder if anyone has ever made an amp cab out of plastic

A serious amp? not that I recall. A toy amp? yes. they sound like a toy.

[popthree]

Originally Posted by celeste

A serious amp? not that I recall. A toy amp? yes. they sound like a toy.

well i realize there are tiny amps like the dano honeytone or whatever that are made of plastic.. but that's not what i meant.

i wonder if anyone has ever made a full size amplifier using plastic for the cabinet? would it be any worse than MDF ? it might at least, be lighter...

i'm not suggesting that its a good idea... i don't think MDF is a good idea either.

[3 Chord]

Originally Posted by celeste

A serious amp? not that I recall. A toy amp? yes. they sound like a toy.

My 1939 (or maybe '43, not sure) Bakelite radio sounds pretty sweet with it's plastic housing. So does my 1959 one.

[teleman78]

Originally Posted by eddiewagner

I friends,
But that new fender excelsior is made from particles.
I looked around and even highclass marshalls are made from that stuff. Is it really that bad?
Eddie

From experience I can tell you that yes MDF (Medium-Density Fiberboard) is a terrible choice for its musical qualities. The only reason this is implemented by the BIG manufacturers in production in "recent years" (Ex. Fender, Marshall) has to do with reducing manufacturing costs. This stuff is cheap, solid wood isn't... it helps their bottom line.

I say from experience because I purchased a 1979 Silverface Fender Vibro Champ (I got a pretty good deal) but it's cabinet was made out of MDF and not solid pine. I noticed that the amp had no projection and not resonance.

Since I got such a good deal, I opted to buy a solid pine cabinet for it made by JD Newell Amps. I tell you.. the difference is night and day. There is just no comparison period IMO.

[Arbiter]

I like it, soundwise. It's acoustically dead/neutral (take your pick of terms). Cons are that it is not very strong, and it's heavy.

Related side note: Best sounding resonator guitar I ever heard was made by my former coworker, Hideo Tateno (he's still up in the San Jose/Peninsula area, so far as I know) out of MDF. You hear that cone and NOTHING else.

[Arbiter]

Originally Posted by popthree

i wonder if anyone has ever made a full size amplifier using plastic for the cabinet? would it be any worse than MDF ? it might at least, be lighter...

Tone King made some amps for Fender a few years back using a fairly thick ABS cabinet. They looked cool as hell. Wish I could find some pictures.

[middy]

It's kind of funny how so many people here recommend silverface Fenders in one thread and decry the evils of mdf in the next...

[teleman78]

Originally Posted by middy

It's kind of funny how so many people here recommend silverface Fenders in one thread and decry the evils of mdf in the next...

Not to go off the topic but ^

There are two typed of Silverface Fenders... Usually the ones made between '67 - '70 had solid pine cabinets. From '71 till '81 most cabs were made out of MDF.. however there are some exceptions.

I guess what people recommend most when it comes to Silverface Amps is their circuit design. As you come to realize buying a Silverface amps is a tricky thing and/or any vintage amp for that matter, you really need to know what you are buying and the price needs to be right.

I believe Silverface Circuits are just as good sounding if not better sounding than Blackface circuits IMO.

[charlie chitlin]

An amp is a musical instrument.
I'd prefer mine to be made of wood.

[bdgregory]

I have a 72 Pro Reverb, and a 74 Super Reverb. Both are solid pine cabinets except tor the baffle on the Pro is MDF. I didn't realize SF amps were MDF.

[String Tree]

There is some good stuff out there.
HDF (High Density Fiberboard).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardboard

[gwjensen]

Originally Posted by popthree

i wonder if anyone has ever made an amp cab out of plastic

I could see that being pretty resonant! I know they make them out of aluminum... a British company, but can't remember the name. They build the whole 1x12 and 2x12 combos that way.

[songofthewind]

I think Stewart Ward mentioned on another thread that the cabinet was the most expensive component in his amps.

[bdgregory]

what material is used in the ZT Lunchbox amps? They look like plastic in the pictures.

[popthree]

now that i think about it, i believe i have seen an old amp that looked to be made of plastic.. maybe while poking around on ebay.. i want to say it was a magnatone of some sort.

[popthree]

Originally Posted by tap4154

You think it would be at it's low $400 MSRP, perhaps well under $300 street, with a quality ply or solid wood cabinet? There's huge difference on not only price, but ease of manufacture,

Any time you purchase MDF it's straight as an arrow. Every piece in the stack. Not so with ply, especially the lower grade ply.

Kustom managed to deliver reasonably low price point tube amps with pine cabs

[Dave_O]

Originally Posted by bdgregory

what material is used in the ZT Lunchbox amps? They look like plastic in the pictures.

Maybe ask the OP, he's got a Luchbox...

Hey Eddie-- I went looking at ZT's website, and "Capt Twang and The Rhythm Cat" are on the front page of the Artist Gallery! We are in the company of greatness, people!!