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Yeah.

I went to a friends house who has a bunch of power tools and a shitload of 1/2 in. plywood (a bit warped, but it worked). I took the dimensions of an Avatar vintage style 1x12, 24"W x 20.5"H x 11"D, and cut some wood to that (less for certain sides, we used inner bits of pine to screw into). It took about 3 hours, but we constructed it, cut the speaker hole, etc.

What about a speaker? I had a vintage JBL D120F lying around. After a quick google I found these are pretty desireable and were used in twin reverbs (anyone back this up?). Yeah, we installed that. All thats left is the easy soldering and figuring out what jack to use (the standard guitar 1/4 wasnt big enough for the depth of the wood). Total price so far $O.

Unfortunately, I'll need to spend some money for the following: A handle, Covering of sorts (tolex?? tutorials?), and some metal corners. Obviously I'm not concerned to much about the looks, and I need this stuff for as cheap as possible. My local-est parts store is in southern Vermont, partsisparts.com. Any store which I can get stuff for cheap is good.

Questions: What should I put in front of the speaker? Some sort of strong metal screen? I will cover it up with some sort of crazy fabric, but what sort of grill materials are used? Anything I'm missing that I need?

I know, BUT, I'll try to have some pics up tomorrow, and when I get a new Bugera (first one is dead) back in the mail, I'll maybe demo it, if anyone is interested in what a old JBL sounds like.

Thanks.

I am useless, as far as advice goes but I gotta give you two thumbs up for the freeness.
wait, i do have advice! i'm pretty sure you can get something to use as the grill from a place like Home Depot or it's equivalent. I scored some scraps for free way back, when I needed some for a project. Find the smiliest person around and ask them politely. they might hook you up.

oolu wrote:I am useless, as far as advice goes but I gotta give you two thumbs up for the freeness.
wait, i do have advice! i'm pretty sure you can get something to use as the grill from a place like Home Depot or it's equivalent. I scored some scraps for free way back, when I needed some for a project. Find the smiliest person around and ask them politely. they might hook you up.

What would I ask for, though? Any scrap metal screening or something?

I built a cab from a kit and tolex was looking expensive so I covered it with fabric. It's just cotton stretched tight over the case and hel din place with drawing pins. I did the drawing pin thing as it holds perfectly well but it's also easily removeable should I ever want to change it. I can't remember how much it cost but it was quite cheap, certainly a lot cheaper than tolex. It's not perfect given the stretch and pin method I used, but it came out fairly well.

Some pics with the amp...

James wrote:I built a cab from a kit and tolex was looking expensive so I covered it with fabric. It's just cotton stretched tight over the case and hel din place with drawing pins. I did the drawing pin thing as it holds perfectly well but it's also easily removeable should I ever want to change it. I can't remember how much it cost but it was quite cheap, certainly a lot cheaper than tolex. It's not perfect given the stretch and pin method I used, but it came out fairly well.

Some pics with the amp...

► Show Spoiler

Damn, you showed me up

That actually looks great. hmm. What are drawing pins? I see them, but did you like, hammer them in? And is that just normal 100% cotton? NO rips so far, either? Also -- how did you attach the handle? cut holes for screws in fabric or what?

thanks.

additionally, the front of my amp is not recessed at all, its flush with the sides, so it won't look to great, dunno how I'll do it. Pics of it will help a lot. Tomorrow..

cobascis wrote:What would I ask for, though? Any scrap metal screening or something?

I said something to the effect of "Hey! I'm trying to finish up a project for school and I'm looking for some thick screening material... like a metal grill." The salesperson brought me to the section and we looked around together. We found what I needed and then I said "This stuff is kinda expensive for a school project. Do you guys have a scrap bin or something? Can I buy some leftovers, if there are any?" We walked to the shop in the back, found some stuff and then I said "How much is this worth?" The salesperson said that they didn't know and that they'd find out for me. He walked away, came back like 5 mins later and said that I could just have it cuz it would go in the trash, as nobody buys that kind of leftover material. It was probably a fluke, but you should try anyway.

James wrote:I built a cab from a kit and tolex was looking expensive so I covered it with fabric. It's just cotton stretched tight over the case and hel din place with drawing pins. ...It's not perfect given the stretch and pin method I used, but it came out fairly well.

Man, that is fantastic-looking! Great job... why is it so big, though? There's enough space in there to make it a 4x12.

I drilled it all when it was just wood, and when the fabric was stretched over I used a pin or something to make the hole before screwing the handle in. There aren't any rips but then I don't move it around much, it just sits in my room. There's a small gap where you can see the wood in the bottom left (as you look at it) where I cut it badly. I got a strip of fabric long enough to do the perimiter with say 10cm overhang all round, then as i pulled it tight i just used scissors to trim it near the corners so there wasn't too much fabric to pin back.

drawing pin = thumb tack?

I had to hammer a few in, but some went in without it. I think it's pine but I can't remember. I'm guessing the fabric is just plain cotton.

You could maybe do it for free using an old bed sheet or something? I have a jurrasic park set somewhere that thinking about it I should have used. I was going to buy some Mr. Mrn curtains for this purpose at a boot sale recently but I was too hungover to want to talk to the women selling them about them.

You could probably cover a stack with that.

This thread just got robroe'd

James wrote:You could maybe do it for free using an old bed sheet or something? I have a jurrasic park set somewhere that thinking about it I should have used. I was going to buy some Mr. Mrn curtains for this purpose at a boot sale recently but I was too hungover to want to talk to the women selling them about them.

Drawing pin = brit thumb tack?

That bed sheet idea is golden, dunno if I have any cool ones like that though, I'll look into it. I think I'm going to buy some cool looking fabric for a grill. Though, it'd be nice to keep it a FREE project. I need feet, too. hmm. I'll have to be pretty resourceful.

James wrote:This thread just got robroe'd

lol -- sadly. I've never seen spongebob in my life. I grew up with minimal television, and if any, it was PBS. or wallace and grommit.

cobascis wrote:Drawing pin = brit thumb tack?

James wrote:

cobascis wrote:Drawing pin = brit thumb tack?

She's a beaut. Hmm I think I may be able to use some lawn chair roughish fabric for the grill. Can't wait till tomorrow. The JBL sounds great from the brief 5 minutes I played through it with a BASS amp.

I'm thinking if you wanted to make it more permanent you could probably lacquer it in some way. spray it with clear coat or somethin.

mage wrote:I'm thinking if you wanted to make it more permanent you could probably lacquer it in some way. spray it with clear coat or somethin.

That's be good, except the fugly plywood. hmm. Maybe spray paint it black, then do that? I don't really know how paints react with each other.

oh, I meant over the cloth.

I'm building a cab too and I am going to use a screen door protector that they put on screen doors so dogs don't break through the screen. As for the jack not fitting through the plywood, you can drill a bigger hole (bigger than the nut for the jack) halfway through the plywood so it's sunken in.
Fabric at a fabric store is really cheap for a few yards. They even have stuff that looks like it should be used for this purpose in mine. They also have a lot of tolex-type stuff in different colors and textures that's pretty cheap also. Nothing like a big tattooed guy going into a fabric shop with all the old ladies and picking up a few yards of fabric!

Bill Oakley wrote:I'm building a cab too and I am going to use a screen door protector that they put on screen doors so dogs don't break through the screen. As for the jack not fitting through the plywood, you can drill a bigger hole (bigger than the nut for the jack) halfway through the plywood so it's sunken in.
Fabric at a fabric store is really cheap for a few yards. They even have stuff that looks like it should be used for this purpose in mine. They also have a lot of tolex-type stuff in different colors and textures that's pretty cheap also. Nothing like a big tattooed guy going into a fabric shop with all the old ladies and picking up a few yards of fabric!

Lucky about that cheap tolex stuff; I'll look around.

How can I make a handle for free?

Levitate it with your mind?