DIY 4x12 cab completed.

[rahimiiii]

I am finished with my 4x12 cab. I am just waiting for speakers. Spent about 5 hours covering the whole thing and I used contact cement so the whole room is filled with noxious fumes. The corners didn't turn out as well as I want because I didn't cut them correctly. I tried some of the guides out there where you did the corner correctly but I think I need more experience to do them right. Most of the mistakes were covered by the corner protect though. Oh and by the way, get a tailor's shear for cutting the cloth backed vinyl. Regular scissor will cut cloth but not for long (they wear out and won't cut through heavy cloth at all) however tailor's shear does cost more than regular scissor... I'd use razors but its real tedious when cutting yards of the stuff. About the rubber cement. I at first brushed on both surface and tried to press it together but the cloth and the raw wood sucked in most of the adhesive and the result is a loose bond. So after wasting one can of adhesive I poured on the unthinned adhesive (I had thinned it before with mineral spirit for easier brushing) and brushed it on liberally, then press the cloth on while the adhesive is wet. Work small area at a time though, like 1/3 of the panel at a time. It did take a while for the adhesive to dry though...

 

[Music Man 91]

lookin' good. what kind of speakers are ya thinkin' of ?
my cab has vintage 30's and it rocks! :headbang1:

 

[spauldingrules]

Nice!  For those of us (me) interested in doing the same thing but who are COMPLETE noobs, how about a close-up of the jack and connections?  Also, when you get the speakers, I would appreciate it if you could show a pic of how you connect the speaker cable to the back of the speakers.

Thanks!

TS

 

[neilium]

Good job on the piping and front grille. Tolex is a PITA to work with. I think it looks fine.

How did you do your corner joints?

 

[-CB-]

Tolex is fine to work with, if you use the right stuff for it, and use it as it ought to be used.

I've used em all.... Weldwood Contact Cement in the red can is the stuff.  Put it on the tolex and wood with a chip brush, let dry 20minutes.  Stick it down.  DONE.  If you put it down "wet" it'll slide all over the place.  Key:  follow the directions, let it DRY then put it together.  Trust me, it works, and STAYS where you put it.

 

[dbw]

Damn, that looks nice.  What's the impedance?  How much does it weigh?

What's the cloth on the front made of?  I've always wondered that... my cat uses my amps as scratching posts all the time and there's not a mark on them, that shit is durable.  Where did you get the handles?

Are you gonna make a slant to go with it?  :kewlpics:

 

[rahimiiii]

The corner joint is butt joints... because I did not have a router at the time so couldn't do finger or rabbet or dado joints. By the time I got the router the box is already assembled... The front grill cloth is just some black cotton cloth I got at a textile shop. The black skin isn't even tolex, its black levant that looks like tolex. I stuck it down wet because I didn't care about it sliding around and if I put them on both sides I would need to use a LOT of glue... how much glue do you guys typically use to do a 4x12 cab?

I plan to use SAMMI 12 inch 100 watt speakers. I can't afford a vintage 30, I really don't want to pay 99 dollars each for something made in China. SAMMI sounds pretty good already... and really cheap too. I have not wired up the jack yet... will do that once the speaker comes in.

I already used up about 1200cc of the rubber cement... I didn't think I'd use that much glue but really needed to brush it on thick to get it to have any adhesive properties. Primarily because the cloth backing sucked in alot of glue...

 

[Music Man 91]

sounds awesome  :headbang1: