Custom/homemade cabinets.

[lexx9]

I was looking on Ebay and I saw a Ark amp and was intrigued by the desisn of the cabinet.I was wondering if anyboby here has made any cabs/amps that are different from the average run of the mill amplifier? Not only in shape but different tolex, grill....you know what I mean! Of course we gotta have pics. lexx

 

[sjhusting]

This count?

(link removed)

steven

 

[lexx9]

Beautiful job! lexx

 

[xjazzy]

You can see here a home I made for an older speaker I had.
It was supposed to be a flight case for an amp, but the measures wore wrong and the amp didn't fit!

I'm still looking for something to put in front of the speaker!

 

[dangelico603]

Here's my soon to be completed Gibson EH-185 clone. Hey jazzy, I think you should just get another Tele to put in front of the speaker.
Jason

 

[xjazzy]

Here's my soon to be completed Gibson EH-185 clone. Hey jazzy, I think you should just get another Tele to put in front of the speaker.
Jason

I've done that already (Squier CV) but it doesn't fit in there
I have to try some grill cloth but it's hard to find that around here.

 

[jefrs]

Some things I learnt (got wrong) when I built my own 1x12.

The size and thickness of the baffle board effects the sound, as does the way it's suspended or mounted into the cab. It can be quite thin and it needs to vibrate.

Do not build the cab from the thickest, heaviest plywood you can find.

 

[sjhusting]

Some things I learnt (got wrong) when I built my own 1x12.

The size and thickness of the baffle board effects the sound, as does the way it's suspended or mounted into the cab. It can be quite thin and it needs to vibrate.

Do not build the cab from the thickest, heaviest plywood you can find.

You can use 1/2" baltic birch for a 1-12" baffle. Might even get away with 3/8".

Mounting it as a 'floating' baffle (fixed only top and bottom) helps it resonate, too.

If it's an open-back, use a resonant solid wood for the cab, like pine, spruce, poplar, or any other tonewood. I've used normal DIY solid pine, but I must have looked like a real clown pulling out every single piece of wood, checking it for warping, and knocking it with my knuckle to see how it sounds. It works though; I got a solid, good-sounding cab out of it. Course, when you cover it with glue and tolex, you dampen all that, but tweed enhances it.

If you do closed-back or ported, and want all the sound to come out the front, use good 3/4" voidless ply. Make a good stiff cab. Voidless is important for the baffle, too - the thing about baltic ply is it is usually voidless, the cheap stuff you get at the DIY is anything but voidless. Voided, so to speak. Then you get layers of ply vibrating against each other - not good. You could look for a long time before you realize that annoying buzz is coming from inside the baffle.

My brother built a 1-12" baffle out of a soundboard from an old grand piano. Very nice. Stuck it in a walnut cab, made from a single 40-year old piece. Put a 5e3 that I built for him in there. Beautiful amp, visually and sonically. Here's a shot:

http://www.stevenhusting.com/Amps/other/foot_5e3_2.jpg

just my 2 cents worth

steven

 

[Durango Twango]

Maybe not what everyone was after, but I just built a fairly traditional 1x12 with a new(er) form of joinery. I have a Festool Domino joiner that I've been using for some interior work in my house and I decided to try it out on a pine cab. I did a test joint with four dominos and was able to put my entire weight (190, er, plus lbs) on the joint with two hour old glue. Incredibly strong, MUCH faster than dovetails and the cab resonates like all get out.

The cab got a 1/2" baltic birch floating baffle and ported back - pretty much a detuned cab. Sounds GREAT with a not nearly broken in EVM 12L. It's getting tolex and grille cloth as soon as UPS delivers.

 

[Tele-Dave]

You can see here a home I made for an older speaker I had.

Wow!!! A speaker inside of a Tele!!! What will they think of next.....

 

[mattnorthrop]

Hey dangelico603,

I looking to build a eh copy of some sort (150, 185, etc). I've built other amps, mainly fender copies, but don't know what to do about finding a field coil speaker.

Do you have any pointers as where to begin?

Thanks!
-Matt

 

[mattnorthrop]

Sorry, I failed to spell check before posting that last reply. My apologies!

 

[morroben]

Well I don't know if you would call it cool, but it's different. Made out of pine on the back deck of the apartment I was living in at the time. The handle is a gate handle from Home Depot, although it's lovingly referred to as an outhouse handle. The shade of red has been likened to a monthly issue that affects ladies and men that are involved with ladies. My friends give me a hard time about it, but I like it. It's different, it works, it was very cheap, and it sounds perfectly fine. I didn't have a good way to finger joint the corners so I drilled and pinned them with wood dowels....hey, it works.

Oh...and the grill cloth is a fabric remnant from a fabric shop around the corner from a bar I frequent.

 

[Durango Twango]

Here are some pics of that test corner including a torture test. The finished cab is very straight and very resonant.

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[maumari]

I just did this "laundry" cabinet from scratch for the madamp 15w kit.

The most interesting thing is the front panel: transparent perspex, black sprayed inside, carved with dremel, lighted with 2 pc modding neons. Hellish.

see it all at
(link removed)

Ciao
Mauro