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Post subject: Removing back from a combo amp? Will this harm speaker?
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 6:39 pm
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I recently picked up an old Silvertone 5 tube combo amp with a 12" speaker. Being that this thing is 54 years old it is actually in pretty good shape. After giving it a good cleaning I plugged in my Tele and got some nice breakup without having to max the volume.

Anyhow the next day I realized I hadn't popped the back panel on when I tested it. Thats about 7" by 18" and 1/2" thick of plywood not doing its job. So slapped it on and tested the Tele again and found that I had to crank the volume very high on the amp to get that breakup to return. Pretty sure all my settings were left as used the day before.

Does this scenario sound right? And am I risking damage to anything since Im guessing that running the speaker without the back amp panel simply isn't restricting a bit of air movement like it normally would?


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Post subject: Re: Removing back from a combo amp? Will this harm speaker?
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 6:55 pm
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Joined: Tue Jun 29, 2010 1:20 pm
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You are not going to damage the amp or speaker by simply leaving that small piece of wood off. That piece does add strength to the cabinet though. You might be imagining the drastic change in sound, or you actually did change your settings. :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Removing back from a combo amp? Will this harm speaker?
Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2014 8:45 pm
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Theoretically, the back panel (though not completely airtight) does increase the damping factor of the speaker. In practical terms though, I agree with shimmilou -- you're not likely to hear the difference and it does add a not-insignificant measure of structural integrity to those cheaply-made cabinets (usually fabricated from masonite, MDF, and/or ridiculously-thin plywood).

Arjay

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