Built Myself An Orange-Cab-A-Like 1x12

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JohnnyTheBoy
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Built Myself An Orange-Cab-A-Like 1x12

Post by JohnnyTheBoy »

Hey all!..after buying a Tiny Terror and gigging/rehearsing with it, I decided a 1x12 cab would be a spiffing idea to accompany the little beauty!
I (as usual) couldnt stump up enough dollar (£218) for a new Orange PPC112, so i thought Let's build a fecker! A friend had a surplus Celestion 60W G12 Vintage 30 in 16 ohm kicking around after a cab build that never happened, so after £40 changed hands i had my speaker...
I popped down to Wickes Diy, and picked up an 18mm ply board for £10 which was big enough to make all 4 sides without too much waste..

My plans were based partly on my Fender Super 60, and also the Orange PPC112..and it had to be Orange-A-Like!!
I was going to take the time to dovetail the joints, after finding out on Youtube how to do it using home made jigs etc, but decided against it, as no one would see once covered with material...so i simply countersunk and glued/screwed all pieces together, and then routed the edges..The PPC112 has an angled lip on the front, so to re-create that i used a table saw and cut 45 degree angles in some maple offcuts i had..Getting the angles to butt-up and glue into place was tricky, but i got there in the end..
Stage 1 The Build..
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A bit of filling and sanding was needed to get everything level and smooth, and i even used a coat of sanding sealer to stop any glue soaking in..it was worth the effort to get it as smooth as possible..a quick blast with a can of matt black spray sorted the inside out...
Then onto the covering!!
I settled on Orange Leatherette, purely as i was having a hard time locating proper Orange tolex, and also to keep cost down, as it was only £6.50 for 1 metre x 137cm thru Ebay :wink: I have no problems using it as its fairly tough, and have used it twice before on other cabs ive made, plus you get plenty of fabric incase of usual feck-ups :oops: ..
Stage 2 The Cover-up..
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After cutting the fabric down so that i'd have a 2" flap all round, and a 3" flap for the front, i got to work spraying a section at a time, and folding the edges and rolling the sides with a rolling pin just incase there were any air bubbles...i then stretched the fabric flaps into the inside of the box, and stapled the edges...
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The corners are a tricky thing to get right, but i found if you place two pieces over one another, and then make a diagonal cut, you can then peel away the two portions you dont need, leaving a (usually) perfect seam..almost invisible ha ha!! If youre having a go yourself, check out YouTube for tips, and try on scrap fabric first...
Stage 3 It's A Bit Baffling!..
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I decided on an open back cab, due to limitations with material, and also because i usually build closed back cabs so i thought id do this one differently..
The speaker baffle i cut from surplus MDF, and used a router jig to cut the hole, before blasting it with matt black...I had to make small battens to screw the upper and lower back plates onto, and also blasted them with a bit of matt black to tidy things up..
Stage 4 Grillcloth..
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Hhmmm what could i use for grillcloth, that would be cheap enough and have the same sort-of-looks-a bit-like the PPC112?..HESSIAN!! 1 Metre x 54" for £2.19..Ebay bargain again!!..I even steam ironed it flat, and then easily stretched over the speaker baffle, before folding and stapling it along the edges..tickety-fuckin-boo!!
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Here's what it looks like compared with the PPC112...Whadya think??..
Stage 5 Assembly..
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Fitted speaker, wired up to a spare 1/4" jack, and pre-drilled and screwed back plates on using jappaned black screws...the hardware corners, handle etc came from Ebay again, bargains.. 8)
Stage 6 The Reveal..
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Well it sounds fab, seems really loud even on 7watts (maybe its something to do with the 16 ohms?)...looks the business..and all in it's cost me £38.66 for materials, £40.00 for the speaker, so £78.66 total which is a saving of £140...happy happy joy joy :wink:
Cheers...Johnboy...
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paul_
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Post by paul_ »

Amazing dude, nice work.
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Post by Thom »

Quality.
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Post by dub »

Vintage 30s are louder than many other celestions, higher sensitivity. What were you using before?

Great work though. The grill reminds me of aen's lovebuzz amp.
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Post by Sloan »

tickety-fuckin-boo!!
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Post by Dave »

Amazing work!
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Post by Aiden »

Ace!
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JohnnyTheBoy
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Post by JohnnyTheBoy »

Cheers all!! Am well happy with the way its turned out, especially the build quality...
dub wrote:Vintage 30s are louder than many other celestions, higher sensitivity. What were you using before?
Ok Dub, I've only ever used borrowed 4x12' s at rehearsal studios and at gigs, so I guess running them off 8ohms makes a difference..
Maybe its louder on full 16ohms...
dub wrote:Great work though. The grill reminds me of aen's lovebuzz amp.
Thanks, thats a compliment ;)
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Post by lorez »

Looks great and makes me want to pick up the idea of retolexing my bassman (it'll have to wait until I've moved though). Some great tips though, thanks
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Post by Progrockabuse »

you could setup a little side business making these, i'd buy one. great work!
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Post by Concretebadger »

I did a double-take there because my cab has a G12H and a V30, so wasn't sure at first which one of those you're using here. The V30 is indeed very loud and has very 'forward' upper mids...it should cut through the mix nicely.

It looks dead smart with the TT perched on top. Very portable too I'll bet. Excellent work!
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Post by JohnnyTheBoy »

lorez wrote:Looks great and makes me want to pick up the idea of retolexing my bassman (it'll have to wait until I've moved though). Some great tips though, thanks
Yeh have a go when you get the time! I nearly used white tolex as orange is a bitch to get hold of..and damn expensive too!..a friend of mine who has a Matamp even rang them to see if they had any suitable offcuts, but they quoted him a rediculous figure...
Have a look at YouTube and search "retolexing a cab" and you'll find some good stuff how to do it..there's a Matamp one on there where Jeff builds a 2x12..he flies thru the process tho, as he's used to doing it...

Cheers Progy!...yeh if I had the space and a routine worked out, it could be possible to make and sell them...I've already put the idea to a chippy friend of mine, but he's non too keen at the minute... :?

Mr badger, I hear what you're saying as regards to the upper mids...and yep, nice and portable too..although I've gotta find a space for it somewhere as my missus is goin spare as its on our chest freezer at the mo :oops:
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toez10
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Post by toez10 »

Cab looks great!
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Post by vroaches »

This is inspiring