Latest 2nd gen build

[Luthierwnc]

Hi All,

The chassis has been done for a few months but I finally got round to tolexing the cabs. This is "Lindley". 50-watts. FET, OD, Pab and Mid on the footswitch. It is sitting on a side-ported EV SRO 12". Haven't had the chance to air it out with this speaker but it sounded pretty good over a G12-65. I made the speaker cab the same height as my Thieles so I can slide one in there for 2 12's.

Cheers, Skip

[ER]

Real nice! Is that first pot FET gain? No bright-deep-R/J? Cool color too.
-E

[amplifiednation]

Nice work on the wrap! Did you port both sides of the cab? Did you include any sort of sound reflection panel behind the port?

Great build, I keep hearing so many good things about these second gen amps! I'm gonna roll one up this winter.

Looks great!

[Luthierwnc]

ER: Yes, FET gain. The bright is a P/P pot. No Deep or R/J.

AN: There are baffles angled to deflect sound out the sides.

Carolina blue. I do live here but went to San Diego State. I was toying with making them two-tone with blonde tolex on the tops and blue on the sides but went with the solid color. BTW, I used the Antique Electronics glue. Great stuff! Used less than a pint to do the whole job. sh

[qtone]

Looks great nice workspace.

[Luthierwnc]

Thanks QTone, That is a dedicated guitar workbench and it is the least used one in the shop. I've got 5 or 6 work areas but I still either use an old plywood/2X6 bench or the outfeed table on the saw for most stuff. The vise you see is for guitar bodies. At the bottom of the shot you can just make out carpeted 2X6s that have curves bandsawed to hold different body bombados for binding, butt strips, sanding (hate sanding) and other weird-angle stuff. sh

[playonit]

Is that an acoustic guitar side mold behind the cab....? SDSU...Worked there for 20 years....... Love the color.. very fresh looking.

[Luthierwnc]

Yep, that is the 650mm scale non-cutaway bending mold. The bender is just out of frame to the right. The cutaway mold is in it now.

SDSU class of '76.

Color is Carolina Blue. Mojo dropped it but you can still get all you want on EBay for about the same price.

I can't emphasize enough how great the tubesandmore glue is. No smell. Sticks like chewing gum and it doesn't take very much. The drawback is that waterborne glues shrink the tolex slightly. This was a problem in the top and bottom pieces because they have to be so precise on length. I was almost a quarter inch short after they checked perfect when dry. A heat gun and some persuasion got it to the edge but I'll leave a little extra next time.

This particular tolex was thinner than most and it also wanted to curl up as the fabric side shrank so it rolls up on itself and sticks. You can pull it apart but I had to leave it glue side down on some lattice as it dried so it wouldn't curl into a permanent scroll.

I'm hoping I can put it through it's paces tonight with the new speaker. Most Wednesday nights I teach a friend how to make guitars. We have an OM going for me and one of my open-bar 12-fret models going for him. The latter is built on a classical plantilla with an integrated neck so the build techniques are quite different. It will take a year to do at this pace but my wife watchs TV shows I don't like on Wednesdays so any excuse to be in the shop is a good one. If we take a break to study the acoustics of my basement, Nancy will have to turn up the volume on the TV

The speaker is a reconed (thanks OC Speaker) coffee can EV SRO. Heaviest 12" speaker ever made (unless it ties the EVM12L in the Thiele). I've heard 4 of them in a 4X12 is the voice of the gods but it would take several gods to move one. sh

[amplifiednation]

You cut tolex that precise when its dry? I like the water based cements, but i use oversized pieces and cut to fit while i apply the material, shrink has never been an issue for me. You wouldn't believe how fast I can wrap a cab that way.

[playonit]

Yep, that is the 650mm scale non-cutaway bending mold. The bender is just out of frame to the right. The cutaway mold is in it now.

SDSU class of '76.

Color is Carolina Blue. Mojo dropped it but you can still get all you want on EBay for about the same price.

I can't emphasize enough how great the tubesandmore glue is. No smell. Sticks like chewing gum and it doesn't take very much. The drawback is that waterborne glues shrink the tolex slightly. This was a problem in the top and bottom pieces because they have to be so precise on length. I was almost a quarter inch short after they checked perfect when dry. A heat gun and some persuasion got it to the edge but I'll leave a little extra next time.

This particular tolex was thinner than most and it also wanted to curl up as the fabric side shrank so it rolls up on itself and sticks. You can pull it apart but I had to leave it glue side down on some lattice as it dried so it wouldn't curl into a permanent scroll.

I'm hoping I can put it through it's paces tonight with the new speaker. Most Wednesday nights I teach a friend how to make guitars. We have an OM going for me and one of my open-bar 12-fret models going for him. The latter is built on a classical plantilla with an integrated neck so the build techniques are quite different. It will take a year to do at this pace but my wife watchs TV shows I don't like on Wednesdays so any excuse to be in the shop is a good one. If we take a break to study the acoustics of my basement, Nancy will have to turn up the volume on the TV

The speaker is a reconed (thanks OC Speaker) coffee can EV SRO. Heaviest 12" speaker ever made (unless it ties the EVM12L in the Thiele). I've heard 4 of them in a 4X12 is the voice of the gods but it would take several gods to move one. sh

That's awesome... Building my very first acoustic, lot's of fun.. slow going on this first one...lots of jig building and tool acquiring I was at SDSU from 79-99 here's a thread of my first build if interested...
http://www.luthierforum.com/index.php?/ ... rst-build/

[Structo]

I definitely want to try tolexing a cab one of these days.

I was of the understanding that the water based glue did not affect the tolex like the solvent based glue does?

I think sometimes the problems we run into with the material is that it was not made for contact application like real Tolex is.

So some may be much thinner and some may be thicker.

With the AES glue, do you apply it to both the cab and fabric and let it get tacky before wrapping?

[amplifiednation]

The H20 glue by Wilsonart is my favorite. It's water based, non toxic, cleans up with a paper towel, and wipes off any tolex surface that you accidentally get it on. It's heat resistant for outdoor gigs and at $35/gallon at Home Depot its pretty cost effective (i can do like 10 headshells with a gallon). You don't have to pay shipping either.

Paint it on both surfaces, let completely dry, apply. You only get one or two shots though depending on the humidity of the day. In the summer I put it in the sun to dry, winter i use a fan in my shop or sometimes the heatgun if I am short on time. If I get any bubbles (very rare) they are usually from a spot that wasn't completely dry and they go away with the heatgun.

I've been using it for 3 years and have not had a problem one time. Not even one complaint from customers either. I bet I've tolexed 300 cabs with it. It will even stick tolex to tolex if you do an overlapping design like on old Fenders.

McMaster Carr has some water based vinyl glue that I would like to try but it's the same price.

[Structo]

Thanks Taylor, now I remember you saying you used the Wilson Art glue.

I actually installed Wilson Art wooden laminate flooring in my dining room and kitchen about 12 years ago.
When I was researching laminate floors, Wilson Art was the only one that was moisture proof.
Pergo and the other brands were not.

Important consideration when dealing with wet areas like kitchens.
In fact, the water line to the dishwasher broke one day and put about five gallons of water on the floor.
No damage.

[Luthierwnc]

Taylor, I've always cut the top and bottom pieces on Fender-style cabs exactly to the interior width -- but I've used solvent-based glues as well. I like the waterborne stuff for lots of intelligent reasons but didn't expect it to pucker like that. Most of the other pieces usually have some slop. In this case a 19.625" width needed another .25" Some abuse with the heat gun made things right but next time I'll know. sh

[CHIP]

I used the tubesandmore glue also it worked great. Though I don't recall a shrinkage problem.
On the right #183 clone Rough Blond tolex.