Researching beater cabs available for cheap builds

[olddawg]

So while I've been convalescing from my heart attack I’ve been bored out of my mind and even though I can't be lifting cabs around yet I'm trying to find used SS beaters to mount some finished chassis I have in. What I keep finding is Line 6. They seem to fail a lot ( although I think a lot of the failures are minor if not just a need of a reset. I have a couple of 200 watt chassis in the garage that I picked up dead for $19 and now work fine. Just are useless, lol), are in generally good shape, have the right configuration, and can usually be found for around $100 with a Celestian 12" or two in them. The only problem is that they are MDF and heavier than I would prefer. Anyway…. this is what I'm finding:


Just waiting to be gutted and the combo chassis mounted from the top. Might have to make a back cover but so what? And make a new badge of course!

[eschertron]

Almost as if Line 6 was making the cabs just so they could be re-purposed! Classic looks for such a "modern" amp

[Justin Thomas]

A friend of mine had one of those but in a 2x12". He played in three different bands with it, and of all the thousands of sounds (and even the contemporary Variax to go with it) and 160W, he could only find one sound that cut through a REAL drummer... he went back to tubes. But that cabinet took a LOT of abuse.

Justin

[olddawg]

A friend of mine had one of those but in a 2x12". He played in three different bands with it, and of all the thousands of sounds (and even the contemporary Variax to go with it) and 160W, he could only find one sound that cut through a REAL drummer... he went back to tubes. But that cabinet took a LOT of abuse.

Justin

IMHO they are just loud, obnoxious, and the presets seem to lock up at the worse possible moment. I've played a lot of gigs where I have had to lend my amp to someone with a "locked up" DSP amp. They don't like unclean AC mains in old buildings. Lol. That said... I think gutting them for cabs is a good option. But they weigh 48 lbs with the SS amp. Probably ad at least 5 lbs more with a loaded tube chassis. Is 50 -55 lbs acceptable for a 20-30 watt, 1x12" combo? I swear that dense MDF is like steel plate! But cash local pickup for a lot less than a custom made or home build cab with a speaker is a no brainier.

[bob p]

Just waiting to be gutted and the combo chassis mounted from the top. Might have to make a back cover but so what? And make a new badge of course!

I think you have a spare Bugera logo you could put on it.

[bob p]

Is 50 -55 lbs acceptable for a 20-30 watt, 1x12" combo? I swear that dense MDF is like steel plate! But cash local pickup for a lot less than a custom made or home build cab with a speaker is a no brainier.

the problem is that MDF is heavy, it sounds dead (they love it for HiFi speaker builds) and it's not all that durable. get it wet and you're really in trouble. so it's got 3 things going against it. i hate MDF but it's hard to pass up a ready-made box that has decent speakers if you get it at the right price.

I'd get a handtruck.

[olddawg]

I think you have a spare Bugera logo you could put on it.

I usually slap a band logo bumper sticker over it.

[J M Fahey]

The only problem is that they are MDF and heavier than I would prefer.

FWIW even Fender and Marshall are MDF today.

And I have seen Marshall and VOX (including AC4) made out of chipboard (which in any case is lighter than MDF).

Here you can appreciate that fine wood grain and texture in all its glory:

[olddawg]

Nothing wrong with chip board. It's light and has no voids. Just don't get it wet. Just ask Silvertone.

[J M Fahey]

I use nothing else since forever, except for a few selected cabinets for real Pro touring customers where saving a few pounds translates into important savings in air freight, in that case I use thin (1/2") "baltic birch", our locally available version made out of very good Chilean or Brazilian woods.
Light and strong cabinets, but take extra internal bracing to minimize wall vibration.

[Justin Thomas]

Juan,

Is the Vox you posted above MDF or chip board?
I always associated chip board with the stuff they use as sub-flooring, usually called "plywood" around here. Plywood I consider to be wide (comparitively) sheets pressed together in opposite grain orientation.

Depending on what that Vox is, I'll refrain from any remarks about new vs. old for the moment...

Justin

[Enzo]

A good question. To me the stuff in the photo looks like pressed sawdust. What I call chip board - perhaps incorrectly - is the stuff that looks like large flakes of wood, like an inch or two or three across, all hunked together to form a sheet.

what I call chip board:

[g1]

Justin, are you talking about OSB ?
(aka flakeboard)

I think chipboard is the older type paper based like silvertone.
Particle board, mdf, and osb are all something else:

http://www.diy-live.com/particle.html

I think the Vox example above is actually particle board? But seems to depend where you are. In some countries, particle board is called chipboard, in the US, chipboard seems to refer to paper-based.

[Leo_Gnardo]

I think chipboard is the older type paper based like silvertone.

The greyish board often seen in Silvertones, Danelectros & similar amps is what I call homasote, also known as beaverboard. It was popular in the 1930's - 60's as a cheap wall & ceiling board, in fact my bedroom ceiling is made of 8 sheets of the stuff. Made of cellulose fiber slurry pressed & dried into sheets, sort of a very thick felt paper product. I like the way Dano put a couple of saw slices in a piece then bent it 90 degrees for soft-shoulder box corners.

[Justin Thomas]

Justin, are you talking about OSB ?
(aka flakeboard)

I think chipboard is the older type paper based like silvertone.
Particle board, mdf, and osb are all something else:

diy live, home improvement, do-it-yourself

I think the Vox example above is actually particle board? But seems to depend where you are. In some countries, particle board is called chipboard, in the US, chipboard seems to refer to paper-based.

G1, what I call chipboard is what Enzo posted - 1"-3" flakes all laid together haphazardly, usually in large sheets, then glued and pressed. The stuff they use for sub-flooring, walls on houses, etc.

Justin