Putting Casters on a Nice Amp / Cab

OlinMusic

New member
I have had this come up many times - I used to have a Wood/Wicker Mesa Boogie and it was sooo heavy I would have LOVED casters or REMOVABLE CASTERS.

I have had a few amps that have road cases, but damn those make it real heavy. Is it sinful or devaluing to add Casters to a Cab or Combo?

If NO, then what removable casters do you recommend? I like the Mesas.
 
Re: Putting Casters on a Nice Amp / Cab

I've used the Ernie Ball removable casters. My two SWR cabs are like 85 and 92 pounds. When I first got them, they had no casters and I lived on a 3 floor walk up. As if it wasn't enough of a bear getting the cabs up the stairs, then carrying them from flight to flight and to the studio. I think I got the casters the next day. I had to borrow a larger bit for my drill, but it made a difference. Make sure you drill pilot holes, and you might be better off drilling a series of holes getting larger for the insert part. As far as reliability- two of the caster wheels have split- but it's not too bad considering they're heavy cabs and I've put a lot of miles on those caster wheels. Besides that they're like $15 a set.
 
Re: Putting Casters on a Nice Amp / Cab

Hopefully, the Boogie cab was deeper than most for stability. The wheel's sockets tend to be inboard of the amps edges. Mesa, and any good tube amp brands are quite top heavy.

The rear wheel sockets are easy to put in, but the front sockets need better planning, as the front baffle board may be tilted, and you never want to put the drill bit through the front of the baffle, or speaker. Moving the casters back from the speaker baffle makes the top heaviess even worse. Then, unless you do not care about scratching wood floors...the regular amp feet need to be installed, somewhere on the bottom.

You could take some strong cabinetry plywood, and some quality surface-mount casters*...and create a righteous shallow, heavy duty wheeled "tray" of sorts to snugly carry the amp while is to be wheeled around. Instead of pop-out casters, you are simply making a box, that lets you pop-out the amp instead, if you like. I suppose a couple nylon web tie-downs could be used to strap over the top of amp, virtually making it one solid piece while transporting it.

*Nice heavy duty casters (that have rubber treads) can be found at industrial suppliers, old fashioned hardware stores, and perhaps the big box hardware stores.

edit: forgot to mention: I have used the Ernie Ball casters with good results, but the top heaviness issue increases as the depth of the cab decreases. A small combo is easier to knock over than a deep cab, IMHO.
 
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Re: Putting Casters on a Nice Amp / Cab

I'm certainly glad I got casters for my Oversized Splawn cab. This things gotta weigh 80 lbs or more. I just wheel the sucker through the house and into the garage where the drums are when the occasion arises. Quite a back saver.
 
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