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Post subject: HOW TO:Custom Built Extension Cabinet (Warning LOTS OF PICS)
Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 6:10 am
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Hey all, I frequent the Stratocaster forum here, and don't generally post on the amp forum. They do alot of build threads over there, and I've done one of my own, only it fits here. If you want to read alot of waffle about what me and a mate did on the weekend, read on :)

So, I have a Hotrod Deluxe. It cuts it fine in the band but I want a bit more height rather than having it on the floor. I could use crates or one of those amp stands.... or I could buy the extension cabinet to go underneath it :).

I check out the specs on the extension cab. MDF and a G12P-80. Not bad but if I'm doing it myself (and with a little help from my friends) I might as well get what I want.

So a nice sheet of Marine ply and a Celestion V30 later I'm ready to get cracking. I enlisted the help of my buddy "Dr Morgs" who has a monster wood working shed with all the tools. We had a long weekend here in Aus (bank holiday is another term for it) so it made for the perfect project. Here goes :)

Firstly, draw up some plans based on the existing cab, wanna make sure it's the right size:

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Mark out the marine ply for the panels:

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We've masked them off so it helps stop the ply from chipping at the edges through the cuts, speaking of which, ONTO THE TABLE SAW!

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Table saw was a little sticky from some lanolin spray from a previous project so we needed to grease that bad boy up:

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Silverglide it was called. Amazing stuff, abrasive but super slippery at the same time

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Back to the measuring and cutting of panels:

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Ok, so to join the edges Dr Morgs recommends this stair cut method which he has a fancy name for. Basically take the thickness of your wood, divide it by two and set your table saw blade that deep. Also you have to add some dado shims and a chipper to your table saw blade to make sure it's the right thickness (again, your wood thickness / 2). Anyway the joining edges get passed through the table saw after it's been set to this level:

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And you get a result like such

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and then the pieces lock in like this:

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Pretty neat huh. Now we need some rails to screw the panels together. Got some offcuts of solid timber for this bit (marine ply, being ply, can hold screws one way, but not so good the other way):

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Line em up on the side boards and start drilling:

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Couple of screws to attach them and first rails are done:

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Time to start our sound board. Marine Ply has already been cut to size in the first lot of cuts, lets make our hole for the speaker. Center of the board was found using a straight edge, corner to diagonal opposite corner, draw a line through the middle. Repeat with other 2 corners. Draw the line and now you have the center of the board. Out comes your year 9 compass. Measure the diameter of the speaker, set the compass to the radius and then draw the circle:

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Cut it out with a jig saw. The shed comes with an interesting home built feature, a moving power point. Cable strung across the roof + shower curtain hangers + extension chorde + cable ties = safe movable power:

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useful for powering the portable jigsaw where we needed it.

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We need a frame for the speaker grill. Some more offcuts, cut at 45 degrees (theres a handy slide attachment for the tablesaw in use here, it allows you to set the angle of the piece of wood being cut) then staple together and cover in cloth plus many many more staples

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Lets see how it's going together (nothing below is glued) Sides + soundboard + cloth:

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Looking good! Lets get some rails for the soundboard and dry assemble it together:

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Mint :) Ok need to cut a hole for the speaker jackplate:

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You'll see the final product later, trust me it worked, and the "portable jig in a vice used as a makeshift bandsaw" technique was ripped directly from the guys who built the roofs and bridges at the Delhi commonwealth games.

GLUE TIME! (standard PVA glue)

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Give him the clamps </clamps the robot from futurama>
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Let it dry over night :) Then sand and plane the edges flush, fill in any gaps:

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Now retape the edges (tape paper over the speaker hole), paint the soundboard, and route the edges on the table router:

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Curves looking good, now time to sand. Check out this vice, it's got little chocks that pop up from inside the work bench

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Great for holding big rectangle things of wood and sanding them as such:

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Now everything is glued, routed, filled and sanded, time to put the vinyl on. I decided to go with black for two reasons

1) Its not tweed, so it will look different under my cabinet
2) It's a standard
3) Because it's a standard, it costs $45AUS a meter rather than $115AUS that the lacquered tweed cost... OUCH

We tried using permanent spray adhesive, but that stuff just wouldn't stick. PVA TO THE RESCUE (Seam starts bottom right of cab, then wrapped it, gluing as we went)

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Corner time:

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stick all that down, hammer in the speaker grill and:

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Nearly there :D As you saw we covered over the hole for the jack plate. Cut that out and screw in the plate

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Its an 8 ohm speaker soooo:

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Speaker time

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(now unfortunately I didn't get any shots of me wiring the speaker to the jack. you'll see it later). FEET:

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Speaker going in (you can see the wire attached)

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Handle:

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Finally we made a little wooden block to hold the speaker grill in, covered it and attached it to the front

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AND hey presto:

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We plugged it in, worked a treat, the V30 is definitely a bit brighter than the Jensen p12n that I have currently, I think they are a perfect match really :)

Heres some shots of the shed, because you need shots of the shed :)

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As with most build threads, there has to be a foreman who manages the build. Meet trev:

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Beer of choice this weekend, as it's feeling very summery here in AUS, was the extremely quaffable James Boag's Premium

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And retiring to the veranda after a hard couple'o'days building with a Boags and this view.... life aint too bad at all :)

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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 7:09 am
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Nice pictures and nice job , congratulation


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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 7:26 am
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Looks great! But why didn't you paint the inside black?

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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 7:27 am
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Well I was gonna make it a closed back cabinet, with a vinyl piece that screwed into the gap. but it sounded soo good open, and looked nice the way it was I left it :)

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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 7:29 am
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Great Job, and inspiring!

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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:54 am
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I'll stick with Leo's method of cabinet design and assembly.

Nice documentation pics though.

Arjay

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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 9:45 am
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I admire such an aptitude ! Congratulation. :D

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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:15 pm
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Exellent and sweet! And you made a very nice thread out of it, too, for which I would like to leave a big THANK YOU! 8)

rock on

-Nutter

Oh, and as mentioned by Impulse7 there are many other inspiring builds to be found here. Check'em out!

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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 4:35 pm
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Love it!! You did a great job on that cab mate, and it looks fantastic! I've been wanting to make a 2x12 DRRI combo, or maybe just a 2x12 cab, or maybe a 2x12 cab and DRRI head!! I'd really love to make it out of some exotic wood like Birdseye maple or something, but I need more experience in the woodworking field before I tackle anything as expensive as that. I'm a metal worker by trade. You need something made from metal, you just let me know! :lol: Thanks for the build thread!! I love build threads!!!

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Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 5:05 pm
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A 2 x 12 combo cab for a DR would need to be approximately 4.5" taller than stock and the speakers would need to be arranged in a staggered array in order to fit. A pair of 10's are do-able in a stock cab though. I know several folks who've converted their DRRI's into piggyback configurations -- they work quite well. Just bear in mind, the DR and DRRI need to see 8Ω at the speaker jack. Thus, you'll need a pair of 16Ω drivers wired in parallel.

HTH

Arjay

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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:01 pm
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Awsome job on the cabinet. Here is a photo of the "Supersonic 2-12" cabinet that I made in my garage in April of this year. A friend of mine sold me the vintage logo. I loaded it with one Weber 50watt 16ohm Blue Dog, and one Weber 50watt 16ohm Silver Bell. They sound awesome! I used 13 ply birch, dovetailed the joints, and used poplar for the internal bracing, and all Fender hardware. Handle, corners, pop-out casters, vintage style jack, back panel screws,-all Fender.
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Last edited by kevinhd1200 on Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:06 pm
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Nice cab Kevinhd1200


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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:08 pm
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Thank you. I thought the project would have been easier to complete than it was, but the results were very rewarding.

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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 5:02 pm
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kevinhd1200 wrote:
Thank you. I thought the project would have been easier to complete than it was, but the results were very rewarding.


It's as nice as any store-bought or home-made clone I've seen, hawg dawg (including my own).

Rawk on!

Arjay

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Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 5:57 pm
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Man, You guys are skilled !!!! WOW

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