Recent new cabinet build

[old wrench]

I have a couple of Curt Emery's excellent small amp heads - a Micro-Baby and a Super-Baby

These are very professionally built heads with top-shelf components and point-to-point wiring

I've been using both of them for quite a few years now with a range of different speaker cabs, but recently I decided to build a more dedicated cab similar to ones that Curt used to build and sell along with his amps



I used regular old 3/4" pine for the cab's carcase, and 1/4" Birch plywood for the speaker baffle and rear panels

All corner joints are half-blind dovetailed, and the baffle and back panels are let into 5/16" deep grooves machined into the carcase - so there are no fasteners used in the cabinet construction at all - just good joinery and good old Tite-bond glue



The decorative and functional octagonal-shaped medallion on the front face is made up from 1/4" thick pine - it stiffens and reinforces the baffle

I used regular old woven cane instead of grill-cloth - the cane is the same stuff used for chair bottoms - I've used it for this purpose before, and it works well, lots of protection and very durable

I topped it off with a nice real leather handle, and gave it four good-sized rubber feet - I have some nice corner hardware in both nickel and black finishes, but I kind of like the look without the added corner hardware - just plain

For a speaker, I went with a Weber 10" Alnico Blue Pup - it plays real nice with the Emery amps - very articulate without being brash - it's the same speaker Curt used in his cabs

Either amp (both chassis are the same size) will tuck away in the bottom of the cab, and the amp's feet fit into four drilled recesses in the cab's floor - I still need to add a velcro strap to tie down and secure the head for transport

I wired it up with a double jack setup with both a male end to plug into a head, and a female jack to take a regular speaker cable connection










The cab has a surprisingly "big" sound - very open sounding

The setup also functions perfectly well with the amp head sitting inside the cab like in the pic just above ^^^

.

 

[Swirling Snow]

That is sweet!

The Emery is the one amp I might have preferred to my Swart. Lovely cabinet.

 

[brookdalebill]

Wow!

 

[Peegoo]

@old wrench

WOW that is nice work!

 

[chas.wahl]

Very nice. Share how you finished the cab?

 

[Kev-wilson]

Lovely work there, and your dovetails look gorgeous!

 

[screefer]

Kudos!

 

[King Fan]

Killer, nice one!

 

[RoscoeElegante]

Beautiful work, @old wrench! Congrats!

 

[HaWE]

I have a couple of Curt Emery's excellent small amp heads - a Micro-Baby and a Super-Baby

These are very professionally built heads with top-shelf components and point-to-point wiring

I've been using both of them for quite a few years now with a range of different speaker cabs, but recently I decided to build a more dedicated cab similar to ones that Curt used to build and sell along with his amps



I used regular old 3/4" pine for the cab's carcase, and 1/4" Birch plywood for the speaker baffle and rear panels

All corner joints are half-blind dovetailed, and the baffle and back panels are let into 5/16" deep grooves machined into the carcase - so there are no fasteners used in the cabinet construction at all - just good joinery and good old Tite-bond glue



The decorative and functional octagonal-shaped medallion on the front face is made up from 1/4" thick pine - it stiffens and reinforces the baffle

I used regular old woven cane instead of grill-cloth - the cane is the same stuff used for chair bottoms - I've used it for this purpose before, and it works well, lots of protection and very durable

I topped it off with a nice real leather handle, and gave it four good-sized rubber feet - I have some nice corner hardware in both nickel and black finishes, but I kind of like the look without the added corner hardware - just plain

For a speaker, I went with a Weber 10" Alnico Blue Pup - it plays real nice with the Emery amps - very articulate without being brash - it's the same speaker Curt used in his cabs

Either amp (both chassis are the same size) will tuck away in the bottom of the cab, and the amp's feet fit into four drilled recesses in the cab's floor - I still need to add a velcro strap to tie down and secure the head for transport

I wired it up with a double jack setup with both a male end to plug into a head, and a female jack to take a regular speaker cable connection


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The cab has a surprisingly "big" sound - very open sounding

The setup also functions perfectly well with the amp head sitting inside the cab like in the pic just above ^^^

.

You did a great job , I like it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also a very good idea to place the amp in the bottom of the cab.

 

[old wrench]

Very nice. Share how you finished the cab?

My finishing plan was pretty simple - Trans-tint dye and a clear finish

After sanding to 220 grit, I then mixed up some Trans-tint dye (50% red Mahogany and 50% brown Mahogany) and dna to the recommended strength (1 part dye / 32 parts dna) and applied that with a piece of white Scotch-brite until I happy with the color and surface texture - then I gave it a good coat of Zinsers shellac followed by a quick rub-down with a tan (medium) Scotch-brite pad after it dried

The rest of my plan at that point was simply to brush on 3 or 4 coats of Varathane semi-gloss poly and call it good



I had about a half of a can of brush-on Varathane poly left over from another project that I figured I'd use up on this cab - it's an easy finish to apply, it's durable, and it generally looks pretty good

But, after applying the first coat, I noticed a lot of small bubbles in the finish which I hadn't expected see - my first thought was that maybe there was "something?" on the cab that was contaminating the finish and causing the bubbles - maybe something on the tack-rag?

I sanded the bubbles flat with 320 grit and wiped the cab down nice and clean with naptha, and then brushed on another coat of Varathane poly - but as it dried, a whole new crop of bubbles appeared !!!

Belatedly, I realized that the problem must be in the can of Varathane poly itself - evidently, it either got contaminated with "something?", or it had simply gone bad - I really don't know what exactly happened with it - as a test, I brushed some on a bare piece of wood, and as it dried, it bubbled up - so the remaining contents are destined for the haz-mat bin at the local recycle place



So, I finally wised-up and bought some new Varathane satin poly in the aerosol can - and after sanding the whole cab once again with 320 grit and wiping it down again with naptha, I sprayed on 3 or 4 coats, two hours apart

The cab finish turned out OK, but it might have looked a little better if I hadn't run into the bubble problem and all the extra sanding - but, c'est la vie



Originally, I was going for a semi-gloss finish, but after the screw-up I opted for satin finish instead - a satin or matte finish is a lot more forgiving when there are small finish imperfections and screw-ups

A gloss or even a semi-gloss finish has a way of high-lighting any imperfections in the surface because of the way the imperfections reflect the light - whereas a satin or matte is a whole lot more forgiving in that respect - it hides a lot

.

 

[Mongo Park]

Beauty
How is the bass with a mostly open back.

 

[old wrench]

That is sweet!

The Emery is the one amp I might have preferred to my Swart. Lovely cabinet.

Which Emery amp did you have?


I especially like the Super-Baby - there is such a wide variety of tones you can get depending on which tubes you plug into it - it really barks with a KT66 or EL34 power tube

The Micro-Baby is also amazing - it's output power is similar to an old tube car radio - with a 6G6 or 6K6 power tube it has a great tone, but it sounds even better with a 6V6 - with a Yellow-Jacket and a EL84 it sounds like a mini-Marshall

I've wondered what happened with Emery Sound - Curt was off to such a great start with his designs and his work is really first-class - very clean - all neatly planned out point-to-point wiring with a minimum of actual "wire" involved

His designs have a different visual aspect than most - sort of a Modern/Art Deco look

I corresponded with him a bit - probably about 10 years or so ago - at that time he was having some sort of a health problem - losing his ability to speak, so he was limited to emails - no phone calls

I've noticed that his website is still up and running, and it looks exactly the same as it did 10 years ago


I designed this recent cab in the same spirit as the pretty Mahogany cabs that Curt used to build to go with his amps - same speaker too, Weber Blue Pup

.

 

[chas.wahl]

My finishing plan was pretty simple - Trans-tint dye and a clear finish

Sorry if my request opened up old wounds -- it sure looks great. I've got a little pine head cabinet that I'm going to try using just shellac on -- first time with that -- which is why I asked.

 

[old wrench]

Lovely work there, and your dovetails look gorgeous!

I think most of it has to do with the dovetail jig I use -

Years ago, I found a good deal on a used Porter-Cable 24" jig - it's very solid and heavy-duty

.

 

[old wrench]

Sorry if my request opened up old wounds -- it sure looks great. I've got a little pine head cabinet that I'm going to try using just shellac on -- first time with that -- which is why I asked.

No worries - I'm a quick healer!

Shellac brings out the grain nicely and also seals the wood - and ordinarily , a durable finish like poly or something similar goes on over it very nicely - without problems

The Varathane satin aerosol worked great and gives the Pine a nice glow instead of a hard shine

.

 

[old wrench]

Beauty
How is the bass with a mostly open back.

I'm happy with the bass response - I wasn't really expecting a huge thundering bass response from the Blue Pup - it has a nice and clear bottom end - not flubby or farty (for lack of better terms!)

The Blue Pup speaker has a articulate and defined sound, but it's not spiky or brash - I'd guess the cone design (it's definitely a different design from the norm) and the Alnico magnet has something to do with that

The cab with the Blue Pup has a very open and pleasant 3D sound - the thin and stiff baffle and more open back than usual might have an influence

I'm using the 30 watt Blue Pup with light doping - the 30 watt version is supposed to be a little smoother sounding than the 20 watt version

.

 

[eallen]

Man, that is sweet & simple at the same time! Nice work.

 

[Swirling Snow]

Which Emery amp did you have?


I especially like the Super-Baby - there is such a wide variety of tones you can get depending on which tubes you plug into it - it really barks with a KT66 or EL34 power tube

The Micro-Baby is also amazing - it's output power is similar to an old tube car radio - with a 6G6 or 6K6 power tube it has a great tone, but it sounds even better with a 6V6 - with a Yellow-Jacket and a EL84 it sounds like a mini-Marshall

I've wondered what happened with Emery Sound - Curt was off to such a great start with his designs and his work is really first-class - very clean - all neatly planned out point-to-point wiring with a minimum of actual "wire" involved

His designs have a different visual aspect than most - sort of a Modern/Art Deco look

I corresponded with him a bit - probably about 10 years or so ago - at that time he was having some sort of a health problem - losing his ability to speak, so he was limited to emails - no phone calls

I've noticed that his website is still up and running, and it looks exactly the same as it did 10 years ago


I designed this recent cab in the same spirit as the pretty Mahogany cabs that Curt used to build to go with his amps - same speaker too, Weber Blue Pup

.

I never did get to buy one, and almost 20 years later, no, it doesn't look promising. They missed announcing their 20th anniversary on the web page. 5 years ago.

Also, I lack your woodworking skills. I could never build a cabinet that looks as nice as yours.