Head Enclosure Cabinet for Dumble Style Amp Head

[jojo169]

Guys, I am planning to build head enclosure for my D-Style Amp. I know lot of people use 3/4" of plywood. But for the weight, I am going to use 15mm plywood. What do you guys think? Is it still good enough and of course for the look as well?

[statorvane]

I am not familiar with the Dumble heads. However I have built a number of Marshsall style head cabinets and find 1/2" ply works fine. I think 3/4" would be overkill unless the amplifier were a Marshall Major or Hiwatt.

[galtjunk]

What do you use for the roundover with 1/2 inch plywood?
Where can you find corners for for 1/2 inch?

[bcmatt]

I've considered thinner wood before because I was thinking of saving weight or because it was what I had on-hand.

I'd say that it is generally not worth it. First of all, the reduction in weight is probably not even noticeable for a head cab. Wood is light, and the actual amp is not. Probably it is more worth it to not complicate things by going thin... For the most part thin is strong enough as long as you can get a strong joint...but that can be hard without reinforcing inside, which this style of cab doesn't lend itself too because the chassis takes the whole width.

Rounding edges enough to fit with corners, and having it look right when tolexed make it pretty much worth it to stick with standard plywood thicknesses. Saving an un-noticeable half pound is not worth the complications. If it was made from solid purple-heart, weight would be a bigger issue and we wouldn't be using tolex or corners anyways.

[bcmatt]

Sorry, I take back my other post. I was reacting to the other talk about 1/2" plywood. 15mm is pretty much 5/8". You would probably be ok. You are really not saving any weight though.
If you already own the wood, it's worth trying. If you still need to buy the wood, not worth it.

[statorvane]

What do you use for the roundover with 1/2 inch plywood?

I use a 1/2 " roundover bit in my router and apply covering. I don't have corners on my amplifier heads; they are 4-hole Marshall style (plexi).

[lord preset]

Guys, I am planning to build head enclosure for my D-Style Amp. I know lot of people use 3/4" of plywood. But for the weight, I am going to use 15mm plywood. What do you guys think? Is it still good enough and of course for the look as well?

If you are concerned about weight and want the look of 3/4 " stock just use 1X pine. It's considerably lighter than plywood plus its easier to work. If you sort through the boards at Home Despot you can find fairly clear #2 pine with tight knots that works well.

[Phil_S]

My sentiments exactly. Forget the plywood. Pine is the ticket, cheap, too.

[ampmike]

another wood that is harder than pine and depot sells it is poplar,it works well for headcabs,

[statorvane]

Clear poplar is cheaper than pine, and easier to work with since it isn't ... sappy like pine. It also doesn't warp like pine can.

[Structo]

+1

[amplifiednation]

You guys are all crazy.

Bust out some killer 13 ply Russian birch, construct the box.
Dado yourself in a crossbar, drill your mounts, cut the control cutout
Give it a full 1/2 round over, countersink the corners

Cut a trapezoid in the back, some vents in the baffle...paint everything black.

Wrap with luxurious suede, genuine Vox, piping, chrome corners, top off with some aluminum trim on the bar.

Give that amp what it deserves! You aren't gonna get the look you want any other way!!!

[IMG768]http://i1317.photobucket.com/albums/t63 ... fcec05.jpg[/img]

[cbass]

plywood is going to be much less work.Its already flat .boards will need to be faced and planed.I dont care if they are already surfaced they will be cupped and twisted to some degree.

I think just some regualar ol a/c ply(look at it first different brands quality varies widely)would work fine for a head box.
I would seek out the void free birch for a speaker cab though

[amplifiednation]

I much prefer plywood. I've recently used some Liteply, from NJ, which I think is a brand name for poplar plywood, it's as light as pine but dents very easily.

The 12mm will work fine but you'll need to use non-wrapping corners or there will be a gap, and it's also tough to get the full 1/2" round over bit to cut a true 1/2" radius so the corners might not lay flat (it's only hard on the front/back edges since the bearing will fall below the edge). But you could always sand it the rest of the way.

I use 12mm for custom cabs like the Dominator I just built, or early Bassman cabs, since they don't have corner protectors it works nicely.

For a D style cab I don't think you are gonna lose enough weight for the headache of the 12mm...so if concerned about it, go Pine, or check out poplar ply.