Free Casters! Really!

  • Thread starter Thread starter stevieb
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stevieb

Just another guy, really.
Nope, I am not giving them away, but you can get 'em as easily as I did. I have put casters from office chairs under two amps so far- had to drill holes in the bottom of a Behringer ACX-1000, but the Ampeg Reverberocket (reissue) already had caster mount brackets installed, AND THE ONES I SALVAGED FROM A BROKEN OFFICE CHAIR FIT, PERFECTLY. So, you want free casters? That roll easily? And are made to roll even with 200+ pounds on them? Find yourself a broken office chair- they usually break where the backrest mounts to the seat, or the seat to the base, but the casters almost never break. Pry off the casters (5, usually, which gives you a spare) and go to town!
 
Not just free, either. The spherical casters are much more sidewalk friendly than the old style flat casters. I found out the hard way--I had a VT-22 with the old style casters.

Most of the time, you can pop the casters out with a small flat screwdriver or the screwdriver blade on a pocketknife.
 
All the chair casters I see these days have a pair of circular wheels, and are not the spherical type. I used the spherical once, years ago, but didn't like them- could have been the material they were made of, but they didn't last too long.

Either way, I am constantly on the lookout for broken desk chairs, now. Oh, and as it happened, a quad of the chair casters popped right into the factory sockets on the bottom of an Ampeg Reverberocket re-issue!
 
Most newer office chairs have shitty plastic wheels designed to roll fat american asses on carpet. they probably won't last on pavement/sidewalks. That doesn't mean I'm not going to take a walk around and see what I can scrounge up.

Thanks.
 
OR you can use a dolly and not have to worry about any of that.

I suppose that if the only thing you ever move is a single amp casters make sense but otherwise they don't. A dolly is MUCH easier to move amps around with (you don't have to stoop over holding onto the amp handle) plus the little wheels on casters rattle the shit out of your amp over any kind of roughness in the pavement while the large wheels of a dolly are much gentler.
This is especially important when a tube amps' tubes are still hot although it's a good idea to just not move one 'till it cools off.

If you move more than a single amp then a dolly is definitely the way to go.
First thing I do on any amp that comes with casters is remove them.
 
I generally buy steel-wheeled casters from harbor freight, because they're cheap, durable, and wide enough not to get caught in sidewalk cracks.

Occasionally, they even put them on sale.
 
Dolly, Schmolly. For big moves, I have two hand trucks, one with pneumatic tires- and that momma is da bomb. But if you gotta roll an amp across a stage or a room, having it's own wheels is, well, da bomb.
 
stevieb said:
Dolly, Schmolly. For big moves, I have two hand trucks, one with pneumatic tires- and that momma is da bomb. But if you gotta roll an amp across a stage or a room, having it's own wheels is, well, da bomb.
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well, by dolly I meant a hand truck. You CAN call them dolly's ......... short for refrigerator dolly or hand truck if you prefer.
I was specifically talking about a Rock & Roll dolly ...... expensive but one piece of gear I'd immediately replace if it got stolen.

For moving an amp short distances though, I prefer not being a lard-ass and picking the damned thing up.
ya' know ........ when you get older you need weight bearing exercise to keep your bone density up!
:D


Seriously though .... my Mark V only weighs 65 lbs. Screw me if I can't pick that up.
When I bought it I had some folks on the boards express concern over moving something that heavy.
That's why people my age end up in 'mobility' scooters.
I absolutely refuse to be that lazy.
 
Lt. Bob said:
Seriously though .... my Mark V only weighs 65 lbs. Screw me if I can't pick that up.
When I bought it I had some folks on the boards express concern over moving something that heavy.
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It would be pretty fuckin' stupid to put casters on an amp head.

:laughings:

lou
 
Sky Blue Lou said:
It would be pretty fuckin' stupid to put casters on an amp head.

:laughings:

lou
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ummm ..... it's a combo.
And that's the very type of amp people usually want casters on.


I can see it on a 4X12 cab of course.
But I'm not gonna be too lazy to carry a combo.
Hell, my Ampeg VT-22 weighs 95lbs and I carry that.
Not often though!
:D
 
Sky Blue Lou said:
You know, I thought it was. Mine is the head. The image was just too funny to resist posting.


lou
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It is pretty funny ....... I may have to put casters on one of my Ampeg heads just for the shock and laughter value.

:laughings:

I haven't heard much from ya' on your V.
You still to busy to fool with it much?
 
Well I had my bout and didn't really feel like playing much and I also quit the band so I've been taking a bit of an extended break from guitar.

Having said that I fired it up the other night and played my R4 LP for a while. Freakin' awesome. I do love it. As I ease back in that will be the one getting the most use.


lou
 
Sky Blue Lou said:
Well I had my bout and didn't really feel like playing much and I also quit the band so I've been taking a bit of an extended break from guitar.

Having said that I fired it up the other night and played my R4 LP for a while. Freakin' awesome. I do love it. As I ease back in that will be the one getting the most use.


lou
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yeah ...... it's really one of the best amps I've ever had and I've had a lot of 'em.

Ironically, all of the gigs I've been doing this summer pretty much need for me to use a modeler direct into the PA so I never get to use the damned thing.

:rolleyes:
 
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