Thread: Amp Head and 2x10 Cab

The stuff up didn't turn out too bad once I'd cleaned up the joint but it still annoys me that I let it happen... Here's the pic of how it turned out.

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Getting much closer to completion on these two now.

I glued up the speaker cab today after prepping and painting the baffle and grill frame yesterday.

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I also rounded over the amp head edges using an 8mm bit. I would have liked to go a little bigger on the round over but was worried about breaking through to the mortices in the top and bottom panels. It came up pretty good but took a long time for me to remove the burn marks on all the end grain, not looking forward to doing the same on the speaker cab.

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A question for those watching the build. I was thinking about painting the amp head back panel in the same matt black used on the speaker baffle. This will kind of make it disappear when viewing through the front of the amp head and will hide the crappy looking plywood that I've used but I'm not sure if it should stay with it's wood finish to keep the whole thing uniform. What do you guys think?

I'd paint it black.

Originally Posted by stevemc32

The stuff up didn't turn out too bad once I'd cleaned up the joint but it still annoys me that I let it happen... Here's the pic of how it turned out.

pffft, theres like a bee's d!ck of difference there... notthing to worry about haha

looks good to me

Thanks guys.

I think I will paint the amp back panel but it was too windy today to get it done.

It's all starting to come together now though. I rounded over the edges on the speaker cab and gave it an initial sand to 120 grit. I still need to drill the back panel supports for speaker cab and glue them in.

Went about fitting the grill cloth to the frame today. It had some creases from being folded and posted to me so I first tried to get it flat. The iron didn't work too well and ended up damaging a small section. I gave up on that idea and thought maybe the hotbox would be better so rolled it around a big cardboard tube and set it in the box for 10 minutes at 60 degrees. It came out nice and floppy but didn't stay that way for long and the creases were still there...

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So stretching it flat was the last option left and it looks to have worked ok. It's another first attempt at a new process so the results were as expected. I tried really hard to keep the cloth lined up properly but it started to wander towards one end. It's certainly acceptable but I'd probably consider having it done professionally next time to get it spot on. I think I needed a stronger staple gun.

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Stuck the amp into the head and fitted up the grill to have a look how it's coming together.

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Last day of holidays today unfortunately so it's a return to work tomorrow. I had hoped to have these two completed by now but a "required" kitchen renovation took up most of my time. Oh well, back to it.

where'd you get the grille cloth from?

Originally Posted by d.m.s

where'd you get the grille cloth from?

I got it off ebay from a Hong Kong seller. If you search oxblood in ebay you should find it no problems.

If you want to get it locally I think evatco have a fairly good range of grill cloth, Tolex and other parts.

The cabs are coming along great Steve

Really dig the faceplate on the headshell too, thats a cool design with the 2 stripes in there.

With the grillcloth dont be afraid to remove the staples where it`s gone slightly off line. It takes some practice to get it dead straight and every so often i have to remove a couple of staples and re-align to get it dead straight.

Once your stapled the grillcloth in place and your happy everything is straight, knock the staples in a little more with a hammer to lock everything into place.

cheers
Brad

Thanks for the comments and advice on the grill cloth Brad, much appreciated. Fantastic finish on your latest creations, really impressive.

Not much progress on the cabinets this weekend, just sanding away. I've got the speaker cabinet final sanded to 400 grit and have decided on Cabots Danish Oil for the finish followed by a coat of wax. I was concerned that the application notes given on the can of oil might not be too useful for me as it says to rub the oil in with 400 grit wet and dry. I've done a test run this afternoon on the inside of the speaker cabinet to see how it would work and found that the dust from the darker wood was being deposited into the grain on the lighter Silky Oak so not real successful. I've tested a couple of patches without sanding in the oil and will see how it all looks tomorrow.

Crap loads of sanding later the cabinets are finally ready for some finish. I got the first coat of oil onto them today and it looks pretty good. I decided not to bother with the 400 grit rubbing in as the different coloured timbers definitely caused a problem however it still seems to have gone ok. If I have the patience then I'm hoping to get another 2 - 3 coats onto them before waxing.

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I picked up a brushed steel switch plate last visit to Jaycar for $7 and will use that for the jack plate. I've got the three jacks fitted and recessed into the back panel. Hopefully get them wired up tomorrow and sand up the back panels ready for oiling.

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Got the speaker jacks wired up today and ready for final fitting.

Also got a second coat of the oil onto the cabinets. I must say the Cabots Danish Oil is a lot easier to use than the Feast Watson Scandinavian Oil that I've used previously. Unfortunately it stinks really badly, just like an old diesel boat motor if my sensory memory serves me correctly. Very unpleasant.

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Finally finished up the head and cab today. Both boxes have been given four coats of the Danish Oil and about a week for it to harden up and fully cure.

My rubber feet arrived the other day so they have been fitted today along with the leather handles.

Pretty happy with the results, they definitely look the goods and the speaker cabinet sounds awesome. I've read that new speakers need some breaking in so I assume the sound will only get better.

Here's the final shots.

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Thanks for the help along the way, much appreciated.

Bloody beauty, something to be proud of.

Tha'ts an absolute ripper mate, very nicely done