Interested in having cabs built? I need a rough count.

[Ron]

I know some people like to roll their own cabinets for the Express. I don't have the right woodworking equipment to do the kind of job I would expect from a craftsman. However, I know someone who does and I'll be talking with him tomorrow about building a cabinet or two for me. He built the cabinets for the Sineva amp shown in my avatar.

[IMG:360:240]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v128/ ... 000665.jpg[/img]

I'd like to count the noses of potential cab orders so that Pete can decide whether he wants to take on another product line for the Amp Garage Express amp builders.

So, signal your interested with a post and let me know what you think is a fair price for a well built, finished hardwood cabinet. Remember, Pete is a commercial business, not a hobby shop.

Pete can engrave the control labels into the wood, as well as any name on the upper face using his CNC wood tools. My amps are engraved that way, with the control labels filled with red epoxy. The cost of the wood is a market variable, and my first cabinet will be flamey blonde maple, I hope.

[59model]

I was wondering the same, as I`m waiting on a cab from a retired cabinet maker friend. Mine will be made from Cedar so it should look and smell really nice when the tubes get cooking. That is one sweet looking cab you got in your avatar, I like the combination of the different woods and how you spaced out the knobs rather than cramming them all together like the original design. Really nice! Also, what price range are folks looking to pay for cabs like this? That has a lot to do with someone taking on a project like this.

[Ron]

The amp pictured above is not an Express clone, but a totally different amp built about three years ago, along with two others.

I know what you mean about crowding the controls - after finishing my first Express I found I couldn't use Fender blackface knobs because the center-to-center spacing was too small.

The cabinet in the picture uses flamed cherry for the four box panels, two lacewood inserts in front of the Al control panel at the sides, and a flamed maple upper front panel that is engraved but not filled. There is a flamed maple insert in the cherry on the bottom piece of the cabinet in front of the controls with engraved and filled control markings.

With all the computer design work, including two prototypes made in cheap wood, the cost to me was about $400 each for a build of three finished cabs.

Pete told me he wants to do something simpler (the cab in the pic has complex hidden locking joints cut with a CNC machine and some handle cutouts on the ends), meaning the Express cabs would cost less.

So far it looks like an order for two cabs for me.

[Curly]

Ron,
very nice cab

just a suggestion:

I'd suggest that it would be better for the builder to come up with a realistic ballpark price range to see if there would be any interest.

most amp builders who don't have cabinet experience don't know what market prices for hardwood are, or how much labor is involved.

with the numbers involved, it's probably closer to custom furniture making than regular amp cabs.

[59model]

Bob Burt makes some killer hardwood cabs, and will take on any project, but the price may be a little steep for a DIY amp. My friend the cabinet builder thinks he can build them for $150 using cedar. Flame and quilt we`re unsure of the pricing, but looking into it. I`ll post some pics when I get mine. Also, do most folks prefer the back to be completely open, or would a mesh type grill be more desirable? Seeing the low number of responses here, maybe nobody is even interested? After seeing that cherry wood with the flame front, I`d think you would have got flooded with emails. ?????

[Allynmey]

Here's a trio I had made last year. I amp getting three more in a couple of weeks. I think Cedar is too soft! Cherry, Maple, Mahogany, Bubinga, Ash, oak, or any other hardwood would be better!

Allynmey

[Guitar Adjuster]

Allynmey,

Are the ones in the photo Cherry?

Thanks,

Allen

[ScottW]

I'm still looking for a cab, have a few possiblities, but haven't settled on one yet. I agree that a cab builder should set the asking price. I usually don't repond particularly well when someone asks me how much I am willing to spend. But that's just me....

[Allynmey]

Allynmey,

Are the ones in the photo Cherry?

Thanks,

Allen

Yes they are.

Allyn

[Curly]

I agree that a cab builder should set the asking price. I usually don't repond particularly well when someone asks me how much I am willing to spend.

don't get me wrong ... I expect the builder to make a fair profit. It's just that I have no idea what a fair price would be. If others knew as little about cabinet making as I do, it would be like throwing darts at prices.

however, the owner of our engineering co. has a full blown wood shop, and had a wood turning business, so I could probably get some help making a cab

lately though, I'm more than willing to let those who actually know what they're doing do the work.

[Ron]

I'm still looking for a cab, have a few possiblities, but haven't settled on one yet. I agree that a cab builder should set the asking price. I usually don't repond particularly well when someone asks me how much I am willing to spend. But that's just me....

The cost of building a cab depends in part on the types of joints selected, in addition to the wood (inexpensive knotty pine or highly flamed maple?). The Callaham cab (see pix in the documentation section) and maybe some original TW cabs use a simple butt joint between the horizontal and vertical sides of the box. You can attach them with biscuits and glue, which is a less expensive means than a really nice miter joint seen in other TW cabs, but somewhat less appealing visually.

After talking with Pete at his shop yesterday, he let out that building cabs is not a money making proposition for him, even in some quantity. He is willing to build one for me, but won't start until Christmas. I hope he meant Christmas 2006. Meanwhile, he will think about how the joints are going to be made more simply than the Sineva cab in the pic.

Meanwhile, I have an idea for something from another planet entirely. Gonna get an estimate tomorrow, but it might be very expensive, I just dunno. However, right now I have the "bug" in my head for this one. It will address two "issues": (1) make the Express a roadworthy piece of gear, and (2) provide an enclosure design that is more appropriate to the sound of the amp.

More later, if there is a "later" on this.