Amplifier Design

[Jeru]

I've always been the guy who could 'make the thing' but I was never good at the fit and finish,
the making it look good. So, for a while I found creative ways around the issue -- for instance,
the chassis of the 'Deluxe' (it's a 5E3 circuit) was from an old console, all rusted and cool looking
when I got it so I created a design that was simple to build / difficult to 'screw up' and that kind of
~leaned in to and put on display the existing crappiness of the chassis.

First point of this thread -- I'm getting better at it. A friend helped me with the joinery of the
'Spitfire' cab, but the finishing was all me. I built the 'Champ' head from scratch, but the cab
is an old Wilder Amps 2x12 cabinet that I stripped and refinished (i.e. not built by me).

Second point of this thread -- I am really getting a kick out of using old car badges
identifying the amp models..

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[NickK_chugchug]

On the spitfire you could wrap around a strip of metal so that the two bolts on the top go through it and the metal then wraps over the front and tucks in before the speaker section. It would break up the line, hide the bolts (contrast change makes things stand out) and it could match the front grill cloth if the metal was champagne gold. It would remind me of the old 1920s style travel trunks! (which would take a design queue along the lines of the Fender guitar cases that stole the leather ends from 1920s suitcases)

Half the fun is designing to hide the attaching bolts or designing features to distract the eye.

I use T-nuts that fit between the cloth and the wood baffle. The screw secures through a baton in the back, through the baffle and into the T-nut. Just make sure the screw length is not protruding the T-nut to make bump on the grill mesh.

 

[RoscoeElegante]

Second point of this thread -- I am really getting a kick out of using old car badges
identifying the amp models..

I hear ya!

I've got a '58 Plymouth Belvedere's badge on my Vox AC15. And a '49 Dodge Meadowbrook's badge awaiting my rehousing my Excelsior Pro into a 54's Westinghouse TV's cabinet. I love those old things, as well as many other product badges back in the built-so-beefy days....

 

[Peegoo]

@Jeru Love it! That's nice work.

Automotive badges just work with amplifiers. It's a thing here on my builds on Planet Peegoo.

This is off a '60s Ford Falcon.

This is a frankensteined Blackheart Killer Ant.

Here's a modified Two Stroke.

This is a little 1-watt mini Plexi head.

 

[Powdog]

Agree with above, there are a few effective ways to hide the baffle screws from behind. I like the old car logos too. I built a few “car” amps years ago but approached it from a different aesthetic, designing the cabs to look like the interior of old 50s cars.

I really like the handles. Very 60s. Plus, no one ever sits on the amps.

 

[GlideOn-Designs]

Nah man, put two thin chrome trims pieces down the middle to make it look like the grill is the car grill