converting a combo into a head & cab

[Maury]

Now that I've owned my LSC for 7 months now, it makes me wish I bought a short head & compact 1x12. Is it possible to buy a headshell for my amp's chassis? If so, I could buy an empty 1x12 open back cab and transplant my speaker too. Anyone ever do this?

 

[chennie]

I did this to my Rectoverb combo. But I build my own head case. Took the amp chassis out of the combo and placed in said head. The combo with the speaker I left as a 1x12 cab.

To give an idea: The middle cab was the original combo. Notice that the amp chassis is placed at the top of the head and not at the bottom wich is usual for an head.

 

[Maury]

wow thanks Chennie - looks great! How difficult was it to build that?

 

[chennie]

Relatively easy. Did that job in my spare time I found in two weeks. So let's say three afternoons?

 

[Maury]

Cool. Not to bug you to death, but where does one find the materials for this job? thanks for all your time... this sounds like a fun project.

 

[insideout]

Nice job chennie!! That looks great 8)

 

[chennie]

Cool. Not to bug you to death, but where does one find the materials for this job? thanks for all your time... this sounds like a fun project.

Well I bought the building materials from a local DIY shop and the finishing materials from the internet. And to make sure you are not indeed bugging me to death , a small how to do it.

Measure your amp chassis first, get it first out of the combo shell to give you an idea how that works. Probably you should unscrew your handle first. When all screws are out you should be able to budge the chassis a little and slide it out with ease.

Then make a design. I just used pen and paper, some like to use CAD tools or something. Keep in mind that side panels go inside the upper and bottom panels. Keep margins of 2-3 mm everywhere around the chassis, keep margins of 2-3 mm for tolex or other finishing materials. Keep margins for the front and back panel. You don't want any knobs sticking out of the head. Keep in mind with dimensions that the tubes need a little headroom for air ventilation and to replace the tubes. Also keep in mind the space and position of the reverb tank. This is a little more difficult since the orientation of the tank may cause a lot of noise. You should test the final position of the tank if it gives any noise. I placed tin foil on the inside of the head where the cassis is placed, to make sure that in combination with the chassis the circuit is shielded.

For the materials: I used 18 mm plywood. Since a head doesn't need acoustical properties I used a lighter, less quality ply wood (NOT recommendable for speaker cabs) and glue. No screws, but I used (don't know the english word for it) "drill a little hole where the connection of plate to plate is, fill it with glue and place a little wooden stick of 4-6 mm in diameter and 2-3 cm long" As where as possible or just for building convenience I used slats on the inside. The front is just a wooden plank I had left, made air vents and attached a speakergrill. The back is a metal plate with holes.

For the finish I used tolex. You can find instructions for that on the internet. A VOX style handle and FENDER style corners. Mesa style parts are hard to come by and quite expensive. At least here in the Netherlands.

 

[Maury]

wow - THANKS!!

 

[djw]

Go, Maury, go!

Seems we've been on the same trajectory with our amps. I've been kinda thinking about this too... I'm not ready to pull the trigger yet, but let us know if you do it and how it goes.

Cheers, and happy thanksgiving.

 

[Maury]

thanks DJ - but there are 2 Maurys. The one who wants it done yesterday and acts totally impulsively ... and the one who procrastinates at a professional level LOL

which one will show up for this project?

 

[chennie]

I hope the impulsive one Way more fun. =)

Remember, you are not going to make any irreversible changes. You can always put the chassis back in your combo to go back to the original state. In other words, you've got nothing to lose.

 

[fabien]

I'm converting my Nomad 45 1x12 to top right now. Glued the case yesterday. Now waiting for the tolex, handle and corners from a webshop.

I used exactly the same method as chennie, 18mm plywood and 6mm dowels and the case looks and feels rock solid.
It's very easy and fun to do and I've got two left hands when it comes to manual work. Get your wood cut to the right size by a good wood shop, all cuts will be square and your cab will assemble perfectly.

I'll post some pics tomorrow.

@ chennie : I know we live in the same country (know you from gitaarnet), wouldn't you have by any chance a leftover piece of grillcloth for me? I need only about 45cm x 30cm or so and to buy 100cm x145cm seems a bit overkill

 

[Aart]

You can probably get a small piece like that from Nico Verduin. www.verelec.com.

 

[chennie]

@ chennie : I know we live in the same country (know you from gitaarnet), wouldn't you have by any chance a leftover piece of grillcloth for me? I need only about 45cm x 30cm or so and to buy 100cm x145cm seems a bit overkill

I checked, but don't have any left. Verelec should help you indeed.

Dowels, is that what it is called ?

 

[fabien]

I'll check there. Thanks anyway.
I'm gonna post a request on gitaarnet, might have some luck.
I'm planning to build a 2x12 cab too so I'll need a larger piece then that would justify a full meter.

Yes indeed that's dowels.

 

[chennie]

From my picture, a few posts above you can also see that there is a self build 2x12 cab. Same principle, only no slats. The baffle and back can be done in various ways. But I only want to say this and probably heard this a dozen times already: use quality wood for cabs =) Dont go the DIY shop for wood, but go to a timber shop.

When finished, post you stuff ! I already know that Aart also made fine looking cabs and heads.

 

[fabien]

Ok, it's neither rocket science nor museum art, but it's going fine 'till now

First tho original combo, the cab will be used with the head

Here's the wood, four planks cut to size at the timber shop and some beams for stability during assembly:

Glue is drying

Hammer in those dowels!

Raw box is ready but still got to saw the top to match the slanting

I guess this was the easy part, applying the tolex is gonna be another cookie

 

[Maury]

OK - not exactly the same project, but along the same lines... if I take my LSC chassis & speaker out of its 1x12 oversized cabinet, will it fit into a compact 1x12 cabinet like the Mark IV or Express 550?

Maybe that would be just as good for me... to have a more portable combo?

 

[fabien]

On the Mesa site they state that the LoneStar head comes in two width: 23 and 27 inches. I would guess that 23" is the minimum required to fit. If you take your chassis out you'll see the width you need.
Don't forget that a smaller cabinet will have effect on your tone.

 

[Maury]

Thanks Fabien ... good point. I wonder if I would lose too much low end if I, say, transplanted my LSC combo into an LSS size combo.