Amp modification question

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famous beagle

famous beagle

Well-known member
Hey guys,

I have a Mesa Boogie Maverick 2x12 combo, and I'm wanting to put the guts into a head and leave the speakers in the cabinet.

This is mainly because I want to build an air-tight speaker isolation box, and I don't want to have the tubes in there and have to worry about ventilation.

The building of the actual head cabinet won't be a big deal for me, but I'm having a time locating other types of supplies like the tolex, name plate, etc. I checked boogie's website but didn't see anything about that. I haven't tried calling them yet, but I will tomorrow.


Does anyone have any experience doing this type of thing? Or is there an easier way to do what I'm wanting to do?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
famous beagle said:
Hey guys,

I have a Mesa Boogie Maverick 2x12 combo, and I'm wanting to put the guts into a head and leave the speakers in the cabinet.

This is mainly because I want to build an air-tight speaker isolation box, and I don't want to have the tubes in there and have to worry about ventilation.

The building of the actual head cabinet won't be a big deal for me, but I'm having a time locating other types of supplies like the tolex, name plate, etc. I checked boogie's website but didn't see anything about that. I haven't tried calling them yet, but I will tomorrow.


Does anyone have any experience doing this type of thing? Or is there an easier way to do what I'm wanting to do?

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Something I've seen done (some very well and some not so) is to cut a combo amp off a little below the tops of the tubes (looking at them upside down) and reattach the bottom of the combo to the truncated amp cabinet. You'd have plenty of Tolex, and you could leave the bottom corners intact (plus an inch or two of the sides) and use internal bracing to reattach the bottom.

I have seen "chop jobs" like this done that unless you looked in the back you'd never know it wasn't a factory made amp cab. You'd have to have pretty good carpentry skills to make it look good, but no more than building an amp cab from scratch.
 
ggunn said:
Something I've seen done (some very well and some not so) is to cut a combo amp off a little below the tops of the tubes (looking at them upside down) and reattach the bottom of the combo to the truncated amp cabinet. You'd have plenty of Tolex, and you could leave the bottom corners intact (plus an inch or two of the sides) and use internal bracing to reattach the bottom.

I have seen "chop jobs" like this done that unless you looked in the back you'd never know it wasn't a factory made amp cab. You'd have to have pretty good carpentry skills to make it look good, but no more than building an amp cab from scratch.
Click to expand...
I would not do this you might want to resell it later and it is more value in the original case.
What I did with my Fender Twin was make a new head out of ply, allowing enough space to put the reverb tank under the valves. Fro the speaker box I measured up from the bottom to the lowest part of the tubes and that was the height(inside dimension) and the same width. I made mine open backed as I like them better but you could just as easily seal it.
I got my tolex from www.stewmac.com you could also try www.partsexpress.com
If you have a sealed cab you will need ports, you can get them from parts express, as far as depth of the ports goes on a pa cab I have made them as long as a speaker is deep, it works. Stewmac also has grill cloth.
There are a few tricks in glueing, I start out by laying the tolex down and clamping a bit of wood over it, I then fold it back and paint both surfaces about 6 inches then wait for it to be touch dry. At this point lay a dry 1 inch squ bit of wood over the glued surface and pull out the tolex till it is firm, the wood stops the surfaces touching as it is a contact glue. Then pull out the wood and smooth the joint outward from the clamp. Reclamp at the end of the joint area and repeat.
It is not a fast job but you can make a really professional job if you take your time.
 
I forgot to add, I used my twin like this for about 5 years then in November got a Dual Showman head so I put the old one back in it's case, added new speakers to the box I'd made and now have a choice.
 
Why not just unhook the speakers and build an air tight speaker cab and leave the amp in the original package?
 
Outlaws said:
Why not just unhook the speakers and build an air tight speaker cab and leave the amp in the original package?
Click to expand...

That's another way to do it. I assume you're talking about something like these right?

http://www.jlhproducts.com/axetrak/main.asp

http://www.jlhproducts.com/axetrak/main.asp


One reason is that I already have the materials I'd need to build the isolation box (all the MDF, insulation, and hardware), so I could do that for free. I have the materials for the head cab as well, except for the tolex and trimmings. I wouldn't really need it to look great though. I wouldn't be gigging with it.

I dunno ... I need to think about my options more.
 
There are a few Tolex suppliers...not that hard to find really. I'm keeping an eye on a couple Ebay auctions right now...seems to be the best deal going so far. I'd just like to know why it's so damn expensive :rolleyes:

Here are a few others;

http://www.vibroworld.com/parts/tech11.html

http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/cg...s/op=eq/sf=category/se=Tweed & Tolex/tf=brand

http://www.newtube.com/content/estore_list.asp?category=17&catname=Tolex

I like this one...they've got all sorts of amp and case hardware - http://www.tubeampparts.com/Merchan...e=BCTMG5WPPY&Category_Code=SI&Product_Count=8

Get the best glue you can afford! I use contact cement...it's messy to work with...you've gotta be sure of what you're doing cuz once it's on...it's ON. I've heard of water based stuff which is supposed to clean up easier and will let you move the material around a bit before it sets...I haven't tried it myself.
 
Just had a cup of coffee...well two actually :D . I found a place that will build a complete custom cabinet for your amp covered the way you like it at a fairly decent price. I wanted to neaten thing up in my guitar room (I'm a neat freak). I have this odd ball sized amp head so I looked around for a way to put it into a full-sized cabinet head.

Http://www.vibroworld.com it might be worth a look. Could save you a lot of aggrivation rounding up pieces and parts.

Their site is a little confusing...chase this link http://www.vibroworld.com/parts/tech21.html#unclaimed and go down about half way...just past all the Fender stuff...there's a section for their custom stuff.
 
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