Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

RW James

New member
So... I bought a Line 6 Spider II 112 combo amp. It took me a while to get used to the modelling aspects of this amp - but I'm getting to like it better every time I use it.

Two things I didn't like was the weight - and the speaker. They used a Celestion 75 watt speaker, but it had a really tightly focused pattern - if you were just a little off axis you couldn't hardly hear it.

I had a Celestion G12S-50 speaker that I could use, so I ordered a G12T-75 to fill it out. They are both 16 ohm so I wired them in series. EDIT: Make that parallel

Then I removed the amp chassis from the combo cabinet and built a matching head cabinet to hold the amp chassis as well as a Furman power conditioner that I had.

I went for a rustic shipping crate motif, and stained everything green. I think it turned out pretty well... It sounds good, and that's the most important thing. Here are a couple of pictures:
head.jpg

quarterstack.jpg
 
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Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

That looks pretty darn cool. I love the greenish color from the stain. Great job.
 
Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

That's totally awesome. I love homebuilt gear. That reminds me, I need to hack together a cab for the old pair of 12s in the garage. :D
 
Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

Speaker jack on the front? Hmmm. don't see that everyday... I like it. Looks bullet proof.

Now if you made a mic stand out of an old crowbar, you'd really be happenin'.
 
Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

the jacks on the front are the only thing i'm iffy about. othersiwe it looks bad ass...very evil look actually! nice work!

-Mike
 
Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

Thanks, guys...

Yeah I put the speaker jacks in the front - honestly didn't give it much thought - but it works for me. I wanted the back open in the head and everything accessible... plus, the back of the speaker cab is actually sized to hold my pedal board - so no room for a speaker jack back there.
 
Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

RW James said:
plus, the back of the speaker cab is actually sized to hold my pedal board - so no room for a speaker jack back there.
Awesome idea. I'd never thought of doing something like that.
 
Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

Kommerzbassist said:
Haha that looks like cheap crap... but it definately has stlye :beerchug:
Okay... "looks like" is subjective - so I can't argue that point. I do go for value whenever I can - but not "cheap" just to save a few bucks.

It's built out of 3/4" birch plywood (except for one piece that is oak - it fit!), the trim pieces are poplar (non-structural). The stain is a special custom blend I had made at a Kelly-Moore paint store, with a clear satin top coat.

The fixtures were all deliberately purchased at Lowes hardware store. I could have gone with standard amp parts, but I really wanted this to be different. The only exception were the carry handles on the top of each unit - I bought them at a music store.

The speaker covers were purchased at an auto sound store.
 
Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

That looks a little ghetto. But, in a good way.
 
Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

Thanks everyone... I really appreciate all your comments...


But I do have a big question - because it's come up here and other forums - and privately. It's about the speaker jack being in the front.

What is wrong with having the speaker jack in the front?


I've been hearing enough about this that I am considering moving it to the back. But I can't come up with a good reason to do so other than everyone sems to thing I should.

Please - convince me...

Thanks
 
Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

The speaker jack should be where you want it. ;)

The only thing I'd do is make short custom cable with right-angle plugs to make it look made-for-each-other.

Artie
 
Re: Homebuilt Head and Cabinet

Keep it man! that setup looks great. i would do what artie suggested, and give a right angle plug. it would "clean" it up, so to speak. i really like the modern/rustic constrast. rock on!

¢g
 
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