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M29
May 19th, 2007, 08:59 PM
Hello,

With all the talk of the new VJ cab I thought I would toss a pic up of my combo cab. I bought the head version of the Valve Junior because of the 4/8/and16 ohm speaker taps but really wanted the combo version. Once I had the head I got tired of moving it around separately with the speaker cab and decided to make my own combo cab. I also wanted to put a larger speaker in it and decided to go with a 12 inch. I don't know what it will sound like as it is always crap shoot mixing things up with no engineering but I think I will be content with it. I bought a Weber 12 inch California speaker which should be here this week for my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and will use the stock Eminence speaker from that for my VJ combo cab. It will be a start but I don't know what it will sound like, I didn't like the sound of the stock Eminence speaker in the Hot Rod:o
I just ordered some vintage Marshall dark green toilex and will some tan weaved grill cloth my dad had laying around since the 60's he used on his home stereo cabinets. It is nice grille cloth and should look great with the Marshall dark green. In the picture there is some greenish blue filler which is Bondo body filler to fill screw holes and what not. Bondo works great with wood, it drys fast, doesn't shrink and sticks real good as long as you make sure there is no sanding dust on the wood.

Here is a pic. The cab has been screwed and glued and is getting somewhat heavy, which I was trying to avoid but ya gotta build them tough and tight. I was going to use plywood but decided at the l last minute to use poplar board. I was kind of in a hurry (not a good thing to do) with this stuff but this is what I came up with, I have way too many projects going and I just want to get this back to where I can use it.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/combocab.jpg

M29

ted s
May 20th, 2007, 09:11 AM
That's a great idea M29 !, I like that cut out along the front top.
Looking forward to seeing some more pics.
Maybe you could post pics at different stages of progress ?

thanks

Tim
May 20th, 2007, 11:29 AM
My oh my! First custom guitars and now custom amps. Have you ever thought of going into business with your own label. Yes, please show us the finished product.

M29
May 20th, 2007, 07:52 PM
Hello Ted S and Tim,

Thank you for the kind words on my work. I have done a little of this stuff over the years but I am not very good at it. My dad taught me a lot of this stuff when I was younger and helped us build cabs for our bands every now and then. I remember our guitar player back around 1970 wanted to have two SUNN 1000 cabinets instead of one and my dad showed us how to build it and made up a SUNN logo plate that looked just like the original our guitar player was overjoyed, now he could straddle his 1000 head across two cabs. Boy the things that thrilled ya when we were young:D
It is hard to do this kind of stuff for pay as you have so much time involved that you just can't make it worth while. Some store bought cabs are stapled together with particle board and what not and run down an assembly line and are still kind of pricey but to hand drill and glue and clamp and wait for the glue to dry and then put the tolex on and fit the front and back and cut holes for the speakers and access holes for the amp it just gets too time consuming. I used to like doing this stuff but now I just want to get it done so I can get some time in on the guitar:D

I will take some picks along the way. I still never feel real confident putting on the Naugahyde oops (showing my age) I mean tolex, I always have a though time with the corners although the covers help a lot to hide gaps. I am going to use the hardware from the Valve Junior head for this cab. I am going to try to keep with the Epiphone theme some with the front of this cab. This is where I used a cut similar to the stock head at the top front like you noted Ted S.
I am going to take the logo and cut it down to just say Epi instead of Epiphone and mount it off to the left side at an angle. Should be kind of a nice touch, something different. I am anxious to get that Marshall dark green tolex, it should look goooooood:R http://www.tubeampparts.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/tolex_green.jpg

Thanks again guys!

M29

Spudman
May 20th, 2007, 08:20 PM
I just noticed that the top of your cabinet is the same shape as the Peavey JSX Mini Colossal. The music on this page is Joe Satriani demoing the amph.
http://www.peavey.com/flashHome.cfm

Too bad you can't see that shape here.
http://www.peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/detail/item/116592/number/00590670/cat/61/begin/1/JSX%3F+Mini+Colossal.cfm

You can see it here. Click on "Peavey Amp"
http://www.guitarplayertv.com/

ted s
May 20th, 2007, 10:08 PM
A carpenter friend built me a 2x12 cab for my Epi head last winter. (32"x17"12") I attempted to cover it a few months ago, got about 80% and tore it all off, was not going the way I liked, needed another set of hands. Completed round 2 tonight with the help of my brother. I have never done it before but am VERY happy how it turned out. I just have to find some really slick grill cloth. Any advice on grill cloth ?

Spudman
May 21st, 2007, 07:26 AM
Ted
I think Lopoline sells a variety of grill material.

http://www.lopoline.com/Grillcloth.html

M29
May 21st, 2007, 11:53 AM
Hello,

Here is where I got my tolex. http://www.tubeampparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=A Not to give them any plug but I am happy with the service I had on two occasions. I did not look around that much but I am sure there are more places.

Thanks Spudman for the link!

M29

ted s
May 21st, 2007, 03:06 PM
Thanks M & Spud.

M29
May 24th, 2007, 11:24 PM
Here are some progress shots of my VJ cab.

This pic I am sanding the corners of the front face that goes over the Valve Junior amp with a large tube and 40 grit sandpaper. These front edges will get rounded off similar to the edges of the cabinet.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab1.jpg

In this shot I am flat sanding the rough cut from the saber saw with 40 grit sand paper.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab2.jpg

This image shows where I am centering the speaker on the baffle board to mark the mounting holes and the area that needs to be cutout for the speaker cone. Getting closer!

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab3.jpg

Revving her up here, I could not wait so I clamped the baffle board to the cab and let her rip!

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab4.jpg

I wish that tolex would get here.
I still need to finish cutting the front face out and I am trying to decide if I want to put a wire mesh in the front between the amp and the speaker or leave it solid. I like the idea for added cooling on the tubes but it may end up canceling some frequencies of the speaker out. You don't want the speakers sound waves to go around the baffle board and cancel out any frequencies and this might happen if I leave an open cooling area between the amp and the speaker.

I played it some but it was about midnight and I could not turn it up. It appears to sound better with the back sealed. It adds a little bass. I am waiting for a Hammond output transformer to get here and that should extend my bass so I might not need the back closed up as much so I will wait and see how it sounds then before I mount the backing board.

Tomorrow I can turn it up:R

M29

ted s
May 25th, 2007, 05:10 AM
Excellent !.. thanks for sharing the pics. That's going to look great !

oldguy
May 25th, 2007, 06:29 AM
I like the idea for added cooling on the tubes but it may end up canceling some frequencies of the speaker out. You don't want the speakers sound waves to go around the baffle board and cancel out any frequencies and this might happen if I leave an open cooling area between the amp and the speaker.

Tomorrow I can turn it up:R

M29

It's looking great, M29! I do have one added suggestion, per the cooling, FWIW....
The VJr.'s stock values on R10 and R14 can be changed to help reduce the B+ voltage and reduce dissipation to the EL84. This will help reduce heat and should add some longevity to the little PC board.
R10-change to a 1K 3 Watt resistor
R14-change to a 240 or 270 1 Watt resistor

Here's a pic that might help w/ the OT swap also.If you zoom it in you'll see a couple of "handy hints" I added when I did mine. It will save you time.:cool:

http://www.box.net/shared/yxze4s56pa

duhvoodooman
May 25th, 2007, 07:17 AM
Wow, looking great there, M! You do quality work!! :DR

tot_Ou_tard
May 25th, 2007, 07:35 AM
Woweee M29! It's looking great!

BTW, I'm with you on the Naugahyde.;)

Robert
May 25th, 2007, 07:40 AM
Suhweet, M29! Very cool to see this!

M29
May 25th, 2007, 08:06 AM
Thanks all for the kind words.

Here is what the grill cloth looks like. I chose this cloth for sentimental reasons. My dad is 92 now and he used this cloth on his stereo cabinets back in the sixties. I think it will look good with the dark green Marshall tolex or Naugahyde;-) The gill cloth will cover just the speaker area and the rest of the front will be dark green like the rest of the cab. I was thinking of putting a tan tolex in the amp area and maybe some gold piping around the inside of the front.

I am trying to decide how to put the Epiphone emblem on. What position do you guys like? I kind of wanted to go with just Epi instead of Epiphone, just a thought for something different.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab5.jpg

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab6.jpg

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab7.jpg

Thanks again guys!

M29

duhvoodooman
May 25th, 2007, 08:16 AM
I like #1.

M29
May 25th, 2007, 08:25 AM
Hello duhvoodooman,

Yeah I like that one too. It has a little style and it fills in the area nicely.

The gaps around the front boards are to give room for the grill cloth, tolex and piping thickness. It looks kind of nasty right now, they are just setting in there with no screws yet.

I had a chance to turn it up briefly this morning. It sounded a little thin and I do not care for this spiky sounding Fender/Hot Rod speaker in this setup either but I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on this so it will do for now. I am still experimenting with ports and what not to see if I can get a better bass response. My VJ sounds somewhat thin anyways and I am hoping the transformer will help that. I have a 12 inch Weber California coming for my Hot Rod and I will stick it in here first to hear what it sounds like. I don't plan to spend another hundred dollars for one in the VJ but I would like to hear what it sounds like.

Thanks again duhvoodooman for the kind words.

M29

Big K
May 25th, 2007, 09:15 AM
great idea, should sound sweet in the larger enclosure.....

als_lespaul
May 25th, 2007, 09:36 AM
This thing is going to look soooo cool! I hope you'll post some sound clips when you're done. :R

sunvalleylaw
May 25th, 2007, 11:56 AM
I really like it and adore the grill cloth you picked! My folks had some old speakers with that cloth that were just cool somehow! I like emblem position #1 as well. Thanks for keeping us posted!

M29
May 27th, 2007, 06:17 PM
Well...Here is the semi finished cab along with my finished Chinese Strat that I setup like a Squier '51. I still have to mount the handle and amp bolt caps on the top, which I am going to wait to do until I get the mods done and quit taking the darn amp in and out. I need to install shielding on the inside of the upper cab as well, like the head had. I will be trying different speakers for a while so the back cover will be temporary.
I tried to use as many parts as I could from the Epiphone VJ head to keep costs at a minimum and to bring over as much flavor as I could from the original.

I have some of this tolex left is anyone is interested. The piece I have left is 38 inches by 105 inches.

My Hammond 125DSE transformer came in and I plan to put that in this week sometime. I am anxious to try it out with the transformer. Maybe I can put a clip together of some sort, I don't play very well yet so don't hold your breath:eek: I still have not been able to turn it up yet but look forward to it:R

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjstrat.jpg

It is hard to see the shade of vintage Marshall dark green tolex but I like it. I may end up getting a different piping and put it around the upper inside along with across the front like it is now. This piping is from the head cab. I need to find an upholstery shop around here. It would be too much with shipping on the web for such a cheap small piece.

I have a bunch of images to put up of putting the tolex on. I will get that up soon.

I hope ya like it:D

M29

Robert
May 27th, 2007, 06:19 PM
Looks awesome! When do we get to hear it?

M29
May 27th, 2007, 06:27 PM
Hello Robert,

Thank you for the kind words.
Well...my wife just had a surgery, my son is graduating, I have to have a surgery and with everyone at home for a while it is hard to do any recording or playing loud but I hope to slip some jammin in soon and I am sure I will find a slot to record something. I do want to wait till I get the transformer in though. I play all the time with the headphones on or with the guitar unamplified but it is hard right now to do anything loud:(

Hey that lesson on (Improve your phrasing with triads) is a lot of fun! I have been workin it over. Lots of new ideas flowing, thanks a million Robert!

M29

ted s
May 27th, 2007, 08:12 PM
M29 !!!! Holy Sheeeeite man ! that looks absolutely amazing !
Excellent.. a job well done.. awsome.. just awsome.. :cool:

M29
May 27th, 2007, 08:17 PM
Thanks ted s I am glad you like it! It seems to be a good size but it is a bit on the heavy side, not something I wanted with a bad back. I do like it all in one though and I have the three speaker taps that the VJ combo don't have and with a 12 inch speaker as well. I'm happy now:D

Thanks again ted s

M29

tot_Ou_tard
May 28th, 2007, 05:13 AM
It really looks great M29.

I liked your idea of only using the Epi, but the angled epiphone has a nice vibe.

If you ever decided to make another one so you could play in stereo, then one could be Epi' & the other 'Phone.

duhvoodooman
May 28th, 2007, 06:59 AM
WOW!!!!! Gorgeous job, M! You are a craftsman, sir!

Spudman
May 28th, 2007, 09:05 AM
Fantastic! If I ever need reconstructive surgery I think I'm going to talk to you first. I'll bet you can do a better job than almost any doctor.:D

Robert
May 28th, 2007, 09:58 AM
Fantastic! If I ever need reconstructive surgery I think I'm going to talk to you first. I'll bet you can do a better job than almost any doctor.:D

Amen to that! You can make anything look good, M29! Even "faders" like Spudman and myself. :DR

sunvalleylaw
May 28th, 2007, 10:15 AM
Wow M29! The finished product is even better than I thought, and given your talents, I expected greatness. I LOVE that grill cloth!

warren0728
May 28th, 2007, 10:35 AM
wow...what a beautiful looking amp! Where should i ship my valve jr. combo for a face lift?!! :DR

ww

6STRINGS 9LIVES
May 29th, 2007, 10:45 AM
M29 , great job , nice design and choice of cosmetics , beautiful ..is it open back or sealed ?

Tone2TheBone
May 29th, 2007, 10:52 AM
Oh wow! I just went back and looked at this thread. Dang that came out cool as hell! You're very creative!

tot_Ou_tard
May 29th, 2007, 04:46 PM
Fantastic! If I ever need reconstructive surgery I think I'm going to talk to you first. I'll bet you can do a better job than almost any doctor.:D
So Spud, what color Naugahyde (er, I meen Tolex) ear do you want? Marshall green might clash with your tweed nose.

ted s
May 29th, 2007, 04:48 PM
wow...what a beautiful looking amp! Where should i ship my valve jr. combo for a face lift?!! :DR
ww

Hey, now THAT sounds like a plan ! Good way to make some gas money ?!

warren0728
May 29th, 2007, 04:55 PM
picturing m29 and dvm holding signs by the side of the road..."will build for GAS money" :D

ww

duhvoodooman
May 29th, 2007, 05:15 PM
Hey, I never thought of that! Maybe I should take the ZYS "on the road"! :D

ted s
May 29th, 2007, 05:24 PM
Maybe a little mobile pancake house as well ?

M29
May 29th, 2007, 05:25 PM
Man...you guys are giving way more credit than I deserve:o . I am going to take some pics of the messups I did on this cab. Some of my corners have gaps, which are somewhat covered by the corner caps I have a large gap on the bottom where the tolex meets. I had to re drill a few holes that mount the speaker baffle on because I drilled into other screws that I used for bracing on the inside. Let me see... I had to redo the front face a few times because it did not line up right with the amp, bad planning and rushing the job. Now...do you really want me working on your stuff:eek:

Thank you all for the kind words I really appreciate it. It sure is fun though and I now have my Hammond transformer in (thank you oldguy for the help) and I have to say all VJ's should have come with a Hammond transformer, it is a huge improvement! I love it! I could not put the guitar down today while I had some time alone. I am now not lacking in bass. The whole sound has richend up like you would not believe. The best way I can describe the sound is to compare it to your computer monitor. You know how the 257 colors looks now compared to the richness of color of the new systems? That is what I think describes the sound of the tranny swap. I don't know what it is but there is a lot more sound throughout the spectrum than it had before and the sound is tighter. Maybe it is harmonics or whatever but it sounds so full and rich I just love it. I do think I could use a bit more top end sparkle but I think there are some mods that might address that.

6STRINGS 9LIVES, Here is a pic of where I am at with the rear panel.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab8.jpg

I had a chance today to play loud with the back panel and see what sounds I could get. If I left the panel off completely, I got a pretty thin sound with a pronounced midrange. If I put the back totally on, I got a pretty flat response with good bass and a slight dip in the midrange. I messed with moving it around and around and I came up with this compromise, which I am pleased with although I would like a bit more bass response but I don't think I am going to get any heavy chunkin sounds with a 12 inch in this small of a cabinet. Overall I am please so far with the sound and that is with the Fender/Eminence Hot Rod Deluxe stock speaker. This made me wonder if a transformer swap on my Hot Rod would help out with the stock speaker. It sounds pretty good to me now.

I hope to get more pics up tonight of the tolex going on and maybe some of my messups:eek:

Thanks again guys, you are too kind:R
M29

warren0728
May 29th, 2007, 06:04 PM
Maybe a little mobile pancake house as well ?
now you're talkin'!! http://www.clicksmilies.com/s1106/ernaehrung/food-smiley-002.gif

ww

Spudman
May 29th, 2007, 07:47 PM
M29
What you need is a miniature folded horn design for the back panel. That would increase your bass.

M29
May 31st, 2007, 06:06 AM
Hello Spudman,

Yeah that would work. I remember reading an audio magazine back in the 60's of my dads and seeing a guy that was trying to get the ultimate bass response from a 15 inch speaker. He mounted the speaker in a hole in the back yard and had a horn that he built from wood and what not that entered his stereo room from the back of the house. He had some awesome bass response but I bet he had a lot of neighbor response as well:eek:

M29

6STRINGS 9LIVES
May 31st, 2007, 07:08 AM
Again beautiful job M29 .. If yo build a sealed back cabinet , ( one with no opening in it ) it would definitely improve the bottom end , you can use foam inside the enclosure to help dampen the reflected sound .. I've got some pics of a similar sealed back 1-12 combo that uses this design if you'd like .. 6S9L

M29
May 31st, 2007, 09:00 PM
Hello 6STRINGS 9LIVES,

Yes I would like to see that cabinet. Do you know what kind of speaker it has in it?

Thank you for the help.

M29

M29
May 31st, 2007, 09:39 PM
I have some images of the tolex going on this cab. First off I have not done this kind of stuff in quite a while and in this first step I drew a perpendicular line on the bottom short side to start my tolex install. I recommend that you do not do it this way and I would do it differently the next time I do it.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab9.jpg

What I would do instead is start with a long side and work my way around to the last short side, (the bottom would be best). This way I could take both ends and overlap them and make a cut through both pieces. Then take out the cut off parts and then when I glue them together to make a perfect seam.

Now...lets say this image is a long side instead of the illustrated short side.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab10.jpg

I try to get the wood and tolex perfectly clean so there will be nothing poking through when I glue it down. Also you want to get all the sanding dust off so the glue has good adhesion. I use a damp cloth and when that is dry I use a lint roller.
The best glue I have found for this is 3M's General Adhesive spray, which can be found in automotive supply stores. This withstands heat very well being made for automotive interiors, which helps when you play outside in the hot sun.

Here is a long side cleaned and glued, ready to apply the tolex. I did this alone because it was a small job but I could have used some help holding the tolex off the glue while I place it like I wanted too. Once this stuff is put together it is very very and I mean very tough to get back off. Actually impossible if left very long to dry. Sticking real good is what we want but if you misalign it, it is real bad.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab12.jpg

I use a towel to run across the tolex to seat the glue. A rubber roller would probably be better.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab13.jpg

Here is the top being glued up. The tolex fits nice and tight to the curves with this type of glue. Here you can see the mounting holes for the amp. These will be cut out later on and plugged with the plugs that come with the VJ head cab.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab14.jpg

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab15.jpg


Well I hit the limit on images so I will continue this in another post.

M29

M29
May 31st, 2007, 09:41 PM
I like to wrap the sides now. In this image I have cut a short angle at the end of each side, so I end up with a nice 45 degree seam at each corner. Then I cut a straight cut going in to the corner to the mounting strip. Next I put glue on both pieces and let it dry the appropriate time per the instructions on the can.

Here the same thing is done with the top. I put newspaper and masking tape where I don't want the glue this stuff is very sticky as you will find out on your hands.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab17.jpg

You will have to make angle cuts to get a good fit in angles and corners like this.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab18.jpg

Now it is time for the hardware. I used a rough grit disk grinder to hack off the ends so the steel caps will fit tight to the vinyl. I learned this trick when I took the corner caps off the Valve Junior head cab. Worked great!

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab19.jpg

I had bought some rubber feet for another cabinet a while ago and did not use them so they worked great here.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab20.jpg


I wanted to place the pads out as far as I could because this cab is so narrow so I used one of the screws that held the steel corners on to mount the rubber pads. I did have to cut a section out of the pad so it set flat when mounted with the steel corner.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab21.jpg

Then here again is the almost finished cabinet.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjstrat.jpg

I hope this helps.

M29

sunvalleylaw
May 31st, 2007, 10:14 PM
That is really cool! Great explanation. I love the combo look of the guitar and cab.

ted s
June 1st, 2007, 05:39 AM
Nice tutorial M29 !

oldguy
June 1st, 2007, 05:41 AM
M29, That combo amp looks great!:D You're now a boo-teak amp builder w/ a one of a kind custom amp in your collection... way to go, bro!:D
Thanks for posting the pics, that is good info you're sharing. Those little tricks and tips make projects like this go a lot smoother.


Thank you all for the kind words I really appreciate it. It sure is fun though and I now have my Hammond transformer in (thank you oldguy for the help) and I have to say all VJ's should have come with a Hammond transformer, it is a huge improvement! I love it! I could not put the guitar down today while I had some time alone. I am now not lacking in bass.

I do think I could use a bit more top end sparkle but I think there are some mods that might address that.

This made me wonder if a transformer swap on my Hot Rod would help out with the stock speaker. It sounds pretty good to me now.

M29

Glad you like the Hammond swap. I don't think an OT swap will change alot in the HRD, Fender didn't screw up the HRD design like Epi did on the VJr, AFAIK.
An EL84 tube "likes" to see around 5k impedance from the OT, Epi used an undersized OT, but with a whopping 7.5k imp. in the VJr, so changing it to a big, beefy Hammond w/ a 5k imp. is going to really improve that frequency response. Then you get that tighter, smoother tone throughout the sound spectrum. ;)

tot_Ou_tard
June 1st, 2007, 05:47 AM
Thanks for the pic's & description. I love to see how it was done & it'll be invaluable for anyone wanting to do something similar themselves.

Big K
June 1st, 2007, 07:03 AM
thanks for the info, outstanding work....

Tone2TheBone
June 1st, 2007, 08:39 AM
I never get tired of complimenting you on your detailed and comprehensive photo tutorials. Simply amazing. Huzzah!

6STRINGS 9LIVES
June 2nd, 2007, 09:14 PM
M29 heres a pic of my Traynor ygm-3 , you can see the foam used to surround the inside of the enclosure ..6S9L

1120

Robert
June 2nd, 2007, 09:36 PM
M29, thanks so much for posting this - it is fantastic info for all of us, current and/or future fretters!

r_a_smith3530
June 3rd, 2007, 09:31 AM
Wow M29, I just came across this post. Beautiful job on the cabinet. Same goes for the strat/'51 leaning against it. You have a combo to really be proud of. While reading through your posts, a couple of ideas came to mind. I noticed that you used a lot of automotive supplies in your work. When it comes to cleaning the cabinet and tolex prior to spraying on the adhesive, wouldn't automotive tack cloth work better than the method you used? I know from doing a fair share of automotive painting over the years, that tack cloth picks up even the finest of sanding dust. Also, when laying out the Tolex, instead of using a towel, how about trying a rolling pin, like they use in a pizza parlor? Anyway, just a couple of thoughts to share.

M29
June 8th, 2007, 07:05 AM
Hello,

Thanks all for the kind words, you are giving me way too much credit.

Thank you for the image 6STRINGS 9LIVES of the foam surround in your Traynor, I will add this to mine.

Yes, r_a_smith3530 I think autobody tack cloth would work good for taking the dust off the surface. Also vacuuming helps get the dust out of the pores and also a blow gun. It is actually best to use as many of these ways as you can because a small layer of dust can really cause trouble with adhesion.

I mustered up a couple images of my mistakes and maybe some solutions to them, this is what you get for rushing a job.

In this image you see my rather large gap on the bottom. This could have been avoided by lapping the two ends and cutting through them both and then removing the excess and gluing them both down at the same time for a perfect seam.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab23.jpg

Here is one of my sloppy cab corner gaps. Rush rush rush...

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab24.jpg

This shows where I cut too short on my wrapping of the tolex around this curve. I actually saw this on a couple Fender amps as well but they put a layer of tolex under the gap on purpose to hide the wood underneath. You can see a fairly large gap between the amp and the front face. This was intentional as I was going to add piping here but now I don't know if I will or not, it might make it look too gaudy.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab25.jpg

This image shows where I did not even up the gap around the back cover of the cab. There is a tight spot where the tolex gets pushed back when I put the back on. If I would have taken a plane or a sanding block with rough paper on it I could have avoided this. It is here to stay now that the tolex is on and glued down. This will probably tear in time if I have to remove the back very much. I think I will take it back off one more time to add some foam surround and then put it on for good. Or at least until I blow the speaker. But with 5 watts, I don't expect that to happen any time soon:R

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab26.jpg

I just wanted to mention that using solid board instead of plywood is not the best thing to do unless you are sure that the wood is very very dry. The reason is that when a solid board is used you run the risk of a crack, which will show up in your tolex and may also weaken your cabinet if it is in an area where there are no screws holding it together. I used poplar board from the local lumber yard against my own judgment but I wanted to get this done in a timely manner and I am now hoping that it will not crack. I spent a good deal of time looking for as dry and straight wood as I could to eliminate this problem but you never really know until you give it time. Actually it is a good idea to seal the inside with paint or something to help keep moisture from absorbing into the wood from the back side, the tolex will keep it sealed pretty good on the outside.
If you look at the end of a solid board you will see the grain pattern and if the board is cupping at all. It is sometimes rough to find a solid board that is not cupping and if it is not real dry it may end up cupping later on. What happens here is when you screw down the wood you put pressure on the ends of the board and if there is a cup in the middle is might crack on you. Here is an image that helps illustrate what I mean.

http://www.qix.net/~lmjbo/vjcab28.jpg

Because plywood has opposite layers of wood that are glued together, they all help keep the other layers from twisting and warping, which makes plywood a good material to use for a cabinet.
Now...There is also a lot of controversy, which I will try to avoid concerning the makeup of a speaker cabinet. Some like plywood and some like solid board. Some do not want the cabinet to add any sound at all to the speaker from resonates and some audio companies in the past have gone as far as adding a layer of sand between the wood layers of a cabinet to keep it from resonating. Some prefer baltic birch plywood specifically. I have heard that some of the guitar amp companies use solid board in their cabinetry in the past. This subject I do not know much about but have recently read on the web somewhere. Personally if I were to take my time, I would use a good stable plywood like baltic birch or fir or luan, Stay away, please stay away did I say please stay away from pine plywood? This plywood warps real bad and could cause problems later on. I would feel pretty secure with any of the other plywoods mentioned.

I hope this helps some. I am sorry if I have drug this out way too long and it was not my intention to do so but I thought some of this stuff should be mentioned and again, I really appreciate your kind words on my work.

M29

WackyT
June 8th, 2007, 07:26 AM
How does MDF (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium-density_fibreboard) do in a speaker cabinet?