tunr a cab into a head

[PRS24]

how hard would it be to turn a .50 cal cab into just a head without buying a new shell. i've seen it done but how would you and how hard would it be??

 

[lerxst88]

If you have access to a shop and are good with wood working it shouldnt be too bad.

you could try to find a furniture builder in your area and have him or her build you a nice wood cabinet

 

[PRS24]

what all would i have to do, do you know???

 

[lerxst88]

thats kind of what I meant.

Having someone tolex a head cab is gonna be a pain and if you are willing to spend a bit on decent wood you can have the Mark IIC+ look provided you find some wicker cane grill.

I made my own head for my old Marshall DSL 401 and it came out pretty nice. Not pretty but for $10 and a a bit of work it came out really nice.

 

[scottieL]

It'd definitely be messy if you weren't quite sure of what you were up to, also you are guaranteed to wreck the any chance of keeping the speaker cab part in the process.

If you were to do it, (which is not recommended), you'd have to make parallel cuts under the head area (make **** sure you have the clearance right for tubes and transformers and reverb pans etc.) cut off the bottom piece and glue it on where you severed the top part. It'll be a rough job and you're probably be better off doing it from scratch or ordering one.

 

[#2121313]

I would definitely say do not try and modify your existing combo shell into a head shell - this is an easy one; three reasons:

1) It'd likely turn into a hack job as you'd have to cut thru the existing tolex.
2) Once it does turn into a hack job what are you going to do? At least if you try and build one from scratch and if it were to fail you could just pop your chassis back into the combo and your good to go!
3) Material to make one from scratch would be less than $20 and to replace your combo if it gets hacked would cost $100+

Now for the solution:

What I would do, and have done already with my .50 Cal+ (funny enough) is:

Buy a piece of 3/4" MDF from Home Depot, you can get a sheet 48" X 48" which will be more than enough, you can probably squeeze out 2 heads if you measure and make the right cuts.

You definitely need to visualize it before and while you are building it (as mentioned above by GTS). Make each cut carefully and draw it out first, even just a rough scribble it doesn't have to be to scale but you gotta see it in your mind first otherwise it'll go south rather quickly!

You can use your existing combo to get some of the measurements/most actually. MDF is strong and can be painted easily and takes quite well to spray paint, only problem is it chips easily. If you are looking to transport your head frequently then look into tolex or even that carpet like material you often find on car audio type sub woofers. You can get thin black colored that will be very easy to work with, tolex may be tricky if you aren't familiar or don't have the right adhesive.

Tools needed: Chop saw that can cut miters, carpenters glue (get the good stuff like Le Page), good 1 1/2" wood screws, drill with drill bits (pre-drill your holes!) and screw driver or driver bits for the drill. Sand paper, start with 60 grit and finish with 220 grit.

I'll tell you right now, getting the angle of the front of the head where the top piece meets the two side pieces is a bit of a ***** to get even-thoroughly think this thru when making your cuts.

As for the front piece where someone mentioned the grill or grill cloth, just cut a piece of the MDF to go in here and have it sit flush with the bottom piece and the two side pieces, looks awesome and it's simple.

This should at least set you in the right direction, it's necessarily hard, but you need to have a general idea of you to work with the tools and then just have patience and think it thru, don't rush it, I mean for $20 you can have two attempts at it.

By the way, you could also have Home Depot make some cuts for you, otherwise you will need a table saw to get the 48"X48" piece down to a size that fit your chop saw.

If when making your head, I'd cut my pieces 1/16" larger than I need, you don't want the opening of the head where the chassis fits thru to be too tight where you have to force it in.

Don't rush, and after you make each cut fit it to the piece it's attaching to to make sure you made the correct miter cuts!

Good luck!

If I find a picture of the one I made I'll post it, but I have a feeling I lost the photo's...I have since sold it...

 

[JimmyB]

I'm glad we managed to have George chime in on this topic! :mrgreen:

If he was going to tolex (or re-tolex) the new head cab, what's the best adhesive to use... and/or easiest to use? One thing I'm thinking of is set-up time, if you haven't lined the tolex up perfectly and have to wiggle it a bit? :wink:

 

[ketiov]

If you're not too worried about how the outside of the headshell looks, paint it with Bedliner. It's cheap, easy to apply, and durable. You can get it at Wal Mart.

I'll actually be painting a headshell and three cabinets with it over the next few weekends.

 

[#2121313]

Good advice #2121313 but use a 3/4" "shop grade plywood" birch or maple are common.
MDF while cheap (inexpensive) is heavy and not the best for painting. It chips easily too.

Yes GTS, excellent point, I did find the MDF to chip easily. Cuts like paper, but I would agree plywood (shop grade as you mentioned) would be best...This is your area of expertise.

lerxst88 - I think you have enough info to get going let us know how it turns out.

 

[therieldeal]

I'd try to find someone with a head who wants to turn theirs into a combo... then trade.