An amps and cabs re-housing, repurposing and building saga

[5595bassman]

Chapiter 1

It started some 6 years ago when I came across a Kijiji ad for a head and cab consisting of a cut-down Peavey Audition 110 and a Peavey Stereo Chorus 212 both for CA$80.00!!.

Since the SC212 amp was declared dead, it was used as a cab only. The speakers were Selenium 12G2 in good working order.

When I asked what happened to the original Scorpions he told me they had coil rub and were in the Selenium boxes and ready to be thrown away. I offered CA$20.00 for them and we concluded the deal.

I needed the Selenium to complete a previously acquired Yamaha G100-212ii combo without speakers for CA$100.00 and there they went. I considered the rest to be a free acquisition.

As expected a good cleaning of the jacks and pots of the SC212 resurrected the amp and as usual getting the old melted foam out of the coils gave back life to the Scorpions. I sold the combo for CA$300. So far so good! And I’m left with the little 20 watts head.

Chapiter 2

A few years later I got for free an old and empty ported 12” & Tweeter Peavey 112PT PA cab and it’s format fits the head. The problem is the A110 works at 4 Ohms and I do not have such a 12”. So they both went in storage until I find the proper speaker.

Chapiter 3

A few months ago I noticed this ‘70s 4 x 8” Traynor PA column lying around which I have no real use for. The speakers are 8 Ohms 20W. I can make a new baffle and fit two in the 112PT cab making it a 4 Ohms 40W.

I cut the baffle, screw and glue new supports, make a new 2x8” baffle. Refinish the original 1x12” baffle so it still can be reinstalled if need be.

Now I have a working set. Not the best amp ever made but very low cost functional and good looking set-up that can be used by my grand-kids when they come home.


Chapiter 4

Not long before Xmas I found another good deal I cannot let go.

A graduating foreign student returning in his country is selling his gear not able to bring it with him and he must leave the next day. It is the second time I encounter such situation.

A 2000 CIC Squier Affinity Strat in a Fender molded hard shell case, a Peavey Audition 110 combo amp, cable, guitar strap with Schaller straplock, guitar stand and tripod boom mic stand. All for CA$250.

I then can consider the amp being also a free acquisition.

Now I can tell how this amp his sounding in its original form with its low quality 10” speaker. Not good. Very week low end, shrill high end, boxy, etc.

Its brother (the head) with the 2x8 cab has a lot nicer tone, sounds fuller. Maybe the amp is wrong. I got the chassis out, clean it, hooked it up to the cab. Surprise, it is slightly better and louder than the other. Conclusion: I need a better cab.

I still have the 2 remaining 8”. I have some 60 years old solid pine 12” wide planks salvaged from my son remodeled house.

I start building the cabinets for the head and the speakers. This one will be a bit smaller open back (15”W”x20”Hx10.5”D) because of the quantity of left over Tolex and wood at my disposition.

I spent just a little under $100 for glue, screws, handles, legs, corners, pieces of woods for cleats and grill frame.

This set-up has a cuter look and a different tone. The size and the Open vs Ported and Closed back features bring a pleasing difference.

Now I am left with the empty combo cabinet which a 12” speaker can fit in when the chassis is not in.

The saga is not over yet.

To be continued...when I will come across a suitable 4 Ohms 12” speaker at low cost just for the fun of it since I still have enough cleats, plywood, screws and grill cloth to cover the full front opening.

 

[5595bassman]

Resuming the saga...

Chapiter 5

I went shopping and found a 4 Ohms 12" speaker at a seller I already bought some stuff from.
A Celestion G12E-50 made for Line 6.

I made a baffle to cover the full front of the now emptied Audition 110 combo cabinet and fixed the grill cloth to it. Some new cleats are holding it in place in the same position and angle as the baffle for the original 10".
All this is easily reversible.

It achieves a very different sound than the two other cabs with their 2x8" deliver. It seems more efficient but that could be because of the more pronounced high ends and faint low ends.

I did not try the 12" in the convertible 112PT but I am confident that such a set-up will provide a darker tone than the little cab does while being still clearer than what both bigger cabs are with their 2x8” speakers.

I made a test using both amps simultaneously. Even if, for some reason I will have to investigate, head No 2 (the re-housed one) is louder than No 1 (the cut down head), using the quieter one with the 12" provides an easier balance of the significant difference in tones.

In conclusion those 3 cabs offer a good range of tones and I am happy with this experiment.

They, for sure, will be handy to try any low powered amps in the future since the Audition 110 remains to me an overall questionable quality device sound wise.

 

[5595bassman]

Most recent addition to the saga....

Chapiter 6

The transformation of the Audition 110 combo into a mini-stack required a 4 Ohms 12" speaker as described in Chapiter 5.

In order to obtain the Line 6/Celestion G12E-50 speaker, I had to buy the already cut-down combo it was coming from. CA$ 80.00 made those 2 complete mini-stacks a reality.
I cleaned the "head", installed the missing bottom panel, a proper jack cup, and some AC cord holders.

So here is this Line 6 Spider II 30 "head" matched with the home-made 2 x 8" open back cabinet described in Chapiter 4.

 

[mexicanyella]

I love the scaled-down early 70s Ampeg/Sunn look. Nice work!

How does the Spider 30 head work for you?

I’m not sure if this holds true for the Audition 110 preamp circuit, but on various other older Peavey SS amps I’ve tried, the magic (magic is in the ear of the beholder, I know) was in really pushing the clean channel. Sometimes with weird-looking EQ settings. And sometimes with a compression pedal compressing a little and boosting some too.

I feel like there’s an identifiable Peavey-ness, a tendency toward a kind of cutting attack to the notes and a barely breaking up squawk that really can cut through and sound cool in a mix.