DIY Hardwood Speaker and amp cab?

Jay- · 3rd May 2008, 05:01 PM

I have found threads about DIY wood guitar cabs on this forum.

However does any one have blue prints? I'm in Brazil and looking at rose wood boards (Not ban, legal stuff) Perhaps lower grade all board woods.

1. How thick for a 2x12?
2. Anything special to know?

Any way I'm getting at cost and want one of those nice wood cabs.

I know a guy was selling blue prints on ebay but cant find the link now.
any help for blue prints for a 2x12 cab of all wood?

My thought was bring in my 4x12 and have the guy destroy my cab and make measurements and learn construction but blueprints even pay blue prints would be good!

Thanks!

dewey decibel · 6th May 2008, 07:58 PM

I'll try and help you as much as I can. I've built some hard wood cabs, as well as regular cabs.

First, there are several different kinds of cab designs; open back, closed back, ported, etc. You should choose one based on the sound and volume you want. In generally open backed cabs are more the "Fender" sound, and closed back the "Marshall" sound, that's one way to look at it.

When it comes down to an open backed cab there's really not much to it- it's basically a box. The most important things are how the baffle's attached, and the baffle's size and thickness. Old tweed Fenders have what's called a floating baffle, where it's attached with only a couple bolts. This allows the baffle to flex just a little bit, and coupled with the fact that they were using thin material can create a really resonate cab. Later Fenders have much more fixed baffles with thicker material.

Closed back gets more complicated. One thing to keep in mind is that sound comes out of both the front and the back of the speaker cone. In an open backed cab all that sound comes out the back of the speaker, through the cabinet, and out the back of the amp, which is why they sound so full. In a closed back cab all the sound and pressure stays in the cabinet. This has an effect on the way the speakers react. If you build a closed back cabinet to the wrong dimensions it can actually do damage to your speakers. You can also have issues with standing waves which can give you a boomy sound or other issues. But keep in mind that the Marshall 4X12"s that everybody loves were designed with none of this in mind and the dimensions were simply the smallest they thought they could use to support that many speakers.

Anyway, I think it'd be best to start with an open backed cab as they tend to be more forgiving. As far as hardwood cabs, the thing is there are no blueprints. None of the major manufacturers made hardwood cabs. All the classic amps were either pine or ply wood. And almost all baffles were ply. So it's new ground. Something to consider is that plywood is stronger than solid wood. So if you're using ply you can use thinner material. The old Fender cabs that used pine for the sides used 3/4" stock. And keep in mind that the thicker the stock the heavier the cab. I think 3/4" is fine, but don't forget- hardwoods are heavy. You're talking about rosewood, that could be a 40 lb cabinet (empty) for a 1x12", where as pine would be like 16 lbs. If you shave that down to maybe 5/8" you'll knock maybe 8 lbs off that. I wouldn't go lower than 1/2" in any case, though.

OK, I'm rambling. Make a box- you can base it on any size/dimension you want. You can check here:

http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/

...to get dimensions on the classic Fender amps. Just pick a size you like and go with it. The back panels and baffle are held on by cleats that you attach to the inside of the cab. Cleats attach to the cab, back panels or baffle attaches to the cleats. The trickiest part is attaching grille cloth to the baffle. The easiest way is to build a little frame around the edge of the baffle (so that there's space between the grille cloth and the face of the speaker) and wrap it around the edge of the baffle, stapling it to the other side. Pulling and keeping it taut is the trick. Keep in mind you need to then account for the grille cloth's thickness when you cut your baffle. Use T-nuts to attach the speaker. That's all there is to it really.

When it comes to the baffle I think you should still use ply wood. You want a ply with no voids. The usual choice is baltic birch ply wood, which is often used by cabinet makers for drawers. It's very high quality with no voids, and it's also made with thinner layers, so there's more plys compared to say, plain pine plywood. This is a european product, so it comes in metric sizes and is often sold by the number of plys. 9 or 11 ply baltic birch is fine, that will be around 1/2". If you want a more lively sound you can go thinner, or ice versa. I wouldn't go thinner than 1/4" though, and that's for a single speaker. Multiple speakers and you want at least a 1/2" for sure.

But then you have some other things to consider- how are you going to finish your cab? Are you going to leave it raw? There so much to finishing- you could just do a wipe on oil kind of finish, but that realy won't give you much (if any) protection.

I'm rambling. I like hardwood cabs, and I think if done right they sound better. For one thing you don't have all that tolex on there to dampen the sound. But they're going to sound different than regular cabs. One thing to keep in mind is that even with the harder woods (like maple) you're cab is still going to sound darker overall than a cab made of pine. It's just the way it is. It works well for some amp designs but not as much for others. I like mahogany myself, and it also tends to be fairly lightweight. The other major consideration is the joinery- how you connect the sides. Most of the classic cabs were finger joints, but a lot of these newer cabs are half blind dovetails. These are really strong and look nice, but are harder to do. Also, since they're stronger they change the way the cab sounds.

If you have a specific sound or purpose you're going for I can help you much more.

Jay- · 31st May 2008, 07:08 PM

Thanks for the help!

Im about to buy on Monday.

The two woods I have picked are both red in color. The guy assured me thats not a big deal as I could stain the light wood red...

I found a curious wood that is hard as stone, $100 for a 10 foot board.
Second was semi hard for $16.

Both are 1 inch thick!

Lastly they are all 12 inches deep, is that big enough for an amp?
I look over at The Fender Amp Field Guide and it appears there enough amps that are not very deep.

What about 1 inch thick, is that to thick? He offered to take it down to 3/4 inch.
Again this is hardwood boards, extremely heavy. He had one board that was hugely figured but it was near white... Im tempted to get that but again have no idea other then the swirling patterns.

Perhaps I should build one of each!

Again thanks for the help, this is exciting iv never built my own cab!

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3rd May 2008, 05:01 PM	#1
Jay- Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 742	DIY Hardwood Speaker and amp cab? I have found threads about DIY wood guitar cabs on this forum. However does any one have blue prints? I'm in Brazil and looking at rose wood boards (Not ban, legal stuff) Perhaps lower grade all board woods. 1. How thick for a 2x12? 2. Anything special to know? Any way I'm getting at cost and want one of those nice wood cabs. I know a guy was selling blue prints on ebay but cant find the link now. any help for blue prints for a 2x12 cab of all wood? My thought was bring in my 4x12 and have the guy destroy my cab and make measurements and learn construction but blueprints even pay blue prints would be good! Thanks! __________________ ~Cell phone free for over 15 years..~

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6th May 2008, 07:58 PM	#2
dewey decibel Gear maniac Join Date: Jul 2007 Posts: 202	I'll try and help you as much as I can. I've built some hard wood cabs, as well as regular cabs. First, there are several different kinds of cab designs; open back, closed back, ported, etc. You should choose one based on the sound and volume you want. In generally open backed cabs are more the "Fender" sound, and closed back the "Marshall" sound, that's one way to look at it. When it comes down to an open backed cab there's really not much to it- it's basically a box. The most important things are how the baffle's attached, and the baffle's size and thickness. Old tweed Fenders have what's called a floating baffle, where it's attached with only a couple bolts. This allows the baffle to flex just a little bit, and coupled with the fact that they were using thin material can create a really resonate cab. Later Fenders have much more fixed baffles with thicker material. Closed back gets more complicated. One thing to keep in mind is that sound comes out of both the front and the back of the speaker cone. In an open backed cab all that sound comes out the back of the speaker, through the cabinet, and out the back of the amp, which is why they sound so full. In a closed back cab all the sound and pressure stays in the cabinet. This has an effect on the way the speakers react. If you build a closed back cabinet to the wrong dimensions it can actually do damage to your speakers. You can also have issues with standing waves which can give you a boomy sound or other issues. But keep in mind that the Marshall 4X12"s that everybody loves were designed with none of this in mind and the dimensions were simply the smallest they thought they could use to support that many speakers. Anyway, I think it'd be best to start with an open backed cab as they tend to be more forgiving. As far as hardwood cabs, the thing is there are no blueprints. None of the major manufacturers made hardwood cabs. All the classic amps were either pine or ply wood. And almost all baffles were ply. So it's new ground. Something to consider is that plywood is stronger than solid wood. So if you're using ply you can use thinner material. The old Fender cabs that used pine for the sides used 3/4" stock. And keep in mind that the thicker the stock the heavier the cab. I think 3/4" is fine, but don't forget- hardwoods are heavy. You're talking about rosewood, that could be a 40 lb cabinet (empty) for a 1x12", where as pine would be like 16 lbs. If you shave that down to maybe 5/8" you'll knock maybe 8 lbs off that. I wouldn't go lower than 1/2" in any case, though. OK, I'm rambling. Make a box- you can base it on any size/dimension you want. You can check here: http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/ ...to get dimensions on the classic Fender amps. Just pick a size you like and go with it. The back panels and baffle are held on by cleats that you attach to the inside of the cab. Cleats attach to the cab, back panels or baffle attaches to the cleats. The trickiest part is attaching grille cloth to the baffle. The easiest way is to build a little frame around the edge of the baffle (so that there's space between the grille cloth and the face of the speaker) and wrap it around the edge of the baffle, stapling it to the other side. Pulling and keeping it taut is the trick. Keep in mind you need to then account for the grille cloth's thickness when you cut your baffle. Use T-nuts to attach the speaker. That's all there is to it really. When it comes to the baffle I think you should still use ply wood. You want a ply with no voids. The usual choice is baltic birch ply wood, which is often used by cabinet makers for drawers. It's very high quality with no voids, and it's also made with thinner layers, so there's more plys compared to say, plain pine plywood. This is a european product, so it comes in metric sizes and is often sold by the number of plys. 9 or 11 ply baltic birch is fine, that will be around 1/2". If you want a more lively sound you can go thinner, or ice versa. I wouldn't go thinner than 1/4" though, and that's for a single speaker. Multiple speakers and you want at least a 1/2" for sure. But then you have some other things to consider- how are you going to finish your cab? Are you going to leave it raw? There so much to finishing- you could just do a wipe on oil kind of finish, but that realy won't give you much (if any) protection. I'm rambling. I like hardwood cabs, and I think if done right they sound better. For one thing you don't have all that tolex on there to dampen the sound. But they're going to sound different than regular cabs. One thing to keep in mind is that even with the harder woods (like maple) you're cab is still going to sound darker overall than a cab made of pine. It's just the way it is. It works well for some amp designs but not as much for others. I like mahogany myself, and it also tends to be fairly lightweight. The other major consideration is the joinery- how you connect the sides. Most of the classic cabs were finger joints, but a lot of these newer cabs are half blind dovetails. These are really strong and look nice, but are harder to do. Also, since they're stronger they change the way the cab sounds. If you have a specific sound or purpose you're going for I can help you much more.

31st May 2008, 07:08 PM	#3
Jay- Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 742	Thanks for the help! Im about to buy on Monday. The two woods I have picked are both red in color. The guy assured me thats not a big deal as I could stain the light wood red... I found a curious wood that is hard as stone, $100 for a 10 foot board. Second was semi hard for $16. Both are 1 inch thick! Lastly they are all 12 inches deep, is that big enough for an amp? I look over at The Fender Amp Field Guide and it appears there enough amps that are not very deep. What about 1 inch thick, is that to thick? He offered to take it down to 3/4 inch. Again this is hardwood boards, extremely heavy. He had one board that was hugely figured but it was near white... Im tempted to get that but again have no idea other then the swirling patterns. Perhaps I should build one of each! Again thanks for the help, this is exciting iv never built my own cab!