Speaker Cab

[AJ]

Since I've been a tad slack of late, and am waiting on some more stable weather to do more to the telecaster (TL-1) kit, I came across a great bargain and bought myself a dual terror amp head.. Its in as new condition and was just within my budget,er em well was just a tad more than I wanted to spend, but a hell of a lot cheaper than going to buy a brand newbie off the shelf. I went down the route of a full tube head on advice from my good friend Chris (57strummers I think is his forum name here)

Not sure if you guys will be interested in this but here goes:

with the above purchase, I now needed a speaker cab to try out the divorce maker material (the amp). I did a fair bit of research on what I thought I liked and had been advised on re speakers etc. Decision was made to go with an open backed cab as I just could not get my aging head around the tuned closed cab formula for tuning size holes/internal space / to what area you want to be highlighted in the response curves etc..(my brain started to hurt bad by then..lol)
I liked the idea of the early models of fender with the pine as it had a nice mellow effect on the tones.. I like the Marshal cabs as they look solid. Messa Bogie have a nice one also, and I have an orange amp head. All these cab are around the same external sizes for a single speaker cab, so in a nutshell, it's a "bitsa" of roughly the same proportions.

Parts list:
Bunnings:
2 x 295 x 18 dressed pine $17 each
4 x 30 x30 dressed pine $2.45 each
1 x 1200 x 12 ply $ 15
assortment of screws and some feet (going to get some rubber ones soon)

Jay-Car:
2 internal handles $4.50
1 locking jack $18.95
4 metal corner protectors $4.95
1 mt of 100 amp speaker cable multi core $3.00
2 snazzy looking guitar end jacks $3.00

AutoBarn:
1 mt of speaker cab carpet ~$17
1 can of carpet glue $20

Starlet Music:
1 Celestion G12 Vintage 30 (60 watt) speaker $120

approx cost of project: $250.40 plus some incidentals like solder and sandpaper etc if you don't have them already. So the making of a single cab is slightly cheaper than buying a commercially made one in tolex .... no room for any artistic flair with that method..or learning curves.
The other benefit is you can buy the stuff needed as funds allow..

[AJ]

I did not take many pictures during the early stages of the wood butchery.. just cutting up and gluing etc
this is where I have completed the initial box stage and getting ready to go onto covering stages:

[wokkaboy]

looks really well built AJ, good effort, looks like a cabinet from a shop. Would it be possible for you to do a build diary to see whats involved ? Also would love to hear a sound demo video and post it on the video thread ! Thats if you got out of the naughty corner ! LOL !

[AJ]

With the back , I made it so the baffle can be removed for replacing the grill cloth when it is needing it, hence the small removable pieces in the support strip around the back. I purchased some material from spotlight that is remarkably like grill cloth but was only $10.. for a 1mt x 1200. Easy to change for me if it did not pan out how I liked. I glued the grill cloth to the back of the baffle board as I didn't want to use staples etc, and it is still held firmly in place with out vibrating on the baffle board.
I cut out the hole for the speaker and inset permanent mounting bolts, sprayed the areas where the major joints for the outside covering and also sprayed the inside of the cab to protect the wood

[wokkaboy]

wow cheers AJ, did you have to do much research on building speaker cabinets ? looks well built. Amazing what you can achieve when your not in the naughty corner !

[AJ]

Finalized the shaping of the corners so the edge protectors would sit flush, drilled holes etc then proceeded to cover the box with the the carpet.. I held my tongue at various angles to get the laying out and attachment correct as I could. There is a first time at trying something for every one, and this I thought may be my nemesis.
Not so, it went on fairly easily and without my pinkies getting stuck to what they shouldn't be stuck to..lol
After covering, I mounted the monster speaker, wired up the connections and give it a quick noise test at vol 1 .. yep it makes cool tones and will get the neighbors off side fairly quickly if turned up!
The son took a vid of me having a test .. is too embarrassing to put up here..maybe when I am thawed out and have learnt to hold a tune , maybe just then I might..

Now all I need to do is think of a goodish catch name for it and make up a nameplate and stick it on it to finish it off completely.. some how I don't think sticking a Marshal/ messa bogie / orange label on it would cut the ice .. so any help with a cool name for the cab would be of help for me

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from wokkaboy on November 4, 2013, 13:41
wow cheers AJ, did you have to do much research on building speaker cabinets ? looks well built. Amazing what you can achieve when your not in the naughty corner !

If you look at the open cabs, the need for a tuned area at the back of the speaker is not vital, and for 12 inch open cabs, the outside dimension from most makers are nearly all the same.. (did the research using the wifi in the naughty corner ... 8-)

[wokkaboy]

glad you made good use of time and the wifi in the naughty corner AJ. Have you looked into building a combo amp ? The electronics must be pretty difficult but achieveable if a amp kit was available.

[AJ]

/<\\/p>[]<\\/p>/Quote from wokkaboy on November 4, 2013, 13:59
glad you made good use of time and the wifi in the naughty corner AJ. Have you looked into building a combo amp ? The electronics must be pretty difficult but achieveable if a amp kit was available.

I was originally going to do 1 watt valve kit, many of them are available on the net and ebay, then that would make a nice combo valve amp, and an enjoyable time to put it all together. In the end, the dual terror head won out as it has more scope than the cheaper kits.
To do a combo version of what is above, is only a matter of extending the height dimension to allow for adequate room to house the electronics. If I were to sell this as a unit I would definitely go down that route next time. with a valve DIY kit for the electronics.

[phloggy]

That looks cool. I'd love to do an amp someday, but I'm too scared of electricity and killing myself.