I've got an attack of GAS for a hardwood Mesa Boogie!

allen

Not sure whether I want to be saved or encouraged.

I haven't seen one for sale, but am thinking of buying one and getting it put into a custom cab made by a UK builder (no idea who)

Here are some gratuitous pictures to give you the gist of what I'm thinking.

Any recommendations for someone to do the work?

Should I do it?

Secret_Sam

Nice idea.  Given what folks are willing to pay for beautiful high end guitars, it's surprising how butt ugly most amps and speakers are.  Dunno why nice woods are not the norm.  Or at least some finish that isn't fifties tweed or black lino.  Sorry, tolex.

If you are happy drawing up plans, you can send them to a workshop that does CNC cutting, and then screw and glue and polish the components yourself.  

Celestion used to provide suggested cabinet drawings on an obscure page on their website. It takes a bit of searching to find it.  Obviously you would need to adapt their drawings for use in a combo.

Their general advice is that guitar cabs aren't very scientific, and stuff like thiele small parameters is not necessary except for bass cabs.  

A couple of thoughts: the amount of 'closedness' is an important part of the sound, so you might want to experiment with a couple of different back panels before declaring victory.  

Had you thought of an aluminium grille instead of rattan?  Laser cutting is fairly pricey, but if you are customizing a Mesa, I guess that won't bother you much.

And a handle on the side leaves the top deck clear for FX boxes and beer glasses.  You can dangle it sideways when you carry it.  The centre of gravity needs some thought.  For extra luxury, you could have a saddle maker do you a leather handle. 

Or you could just pay someone to copy the existing Mesa shape, but then you would miss out on all the finickiness and frustration.

Wishing you fun with the project.  

Secret_Sam

https://celestion.com/blog/cabinet-handbook/

There you go.

joeW

Check out 633 amps for more inspiration - I know Cliff does a lot of wood finishes 

CountryDave

I recall some years ago Guitarist had a comp to win a PRS & Boogie combo in a matching finish.
It looked incredible.
Can’t help thinking a decent chiropractor may need to be on speed dial, but that’s probably just my age.
  

Secret_Sam

Hardwood cabs are not necessarily heavier than MDF cabs of the same exterior size.  But joining and frequently using a gym can't hurt.  Much.

allen

That's one of the factors actually. I have a feeling that solid woods like maple tend to be denser/heavier.

fretmeister

Does Zilla do posh wood?

I'd be too worried about dents.

Getting a regular amp and rehousing is definitely a better idea than paying Mesa/Gibson gouging prices for it though.

digitalkettle

What about @BlackbirdCabs ?

allen

fretmeister said:

Does Zilla do posh wood?

I'd be too worried about dents.

Getting a regular amp and rehousing is definitely a better idea than paying Mesa/Gibson gouging prices for it though.

I found out that Zilla don't. I just rang them this morning.

snowblind

This got me thinking. How about a cabinet made from polished concrete or maybe worktop granite?

However I am in the market for someone to fix the cab on an Epiphone BC30 that got crushed in transit (thanks UPS).This thread is giving me ideas. Have the box remade as a piece of living room furniture maybe. If top gear can make a V8 coffee table how about a 30W drinks cabinet?

ICBM

Back in the late 80s, the ultimate Blues Lawyer set-up was a PRS Custom and a hardwood MkIII Boogie in the front room next to the potted cheese plant or whatever it was...

When I first went to Chandler Guitars in I think 1986, they had a display in the middle of the shop with a royal blue/birds and a vintage amber/moons PRS, along with a MkIII combo in bubinga and a head/Thiele cab set in flame maple. They were something like £1500 each, when I'd just bought a 1970 Les Paul Deluxe for £350, so they were so far out of reach they may as well have been a million. (Disclaimer: prices and colours may be subject to age-related memory error.)

I still think they're cool, actually. Although I've never been able to get more than one great sound at once out of a MkIII, since all the knobs work on all the channels.

Secret_Sam

allen said:

That's one of the factors actually. I have a feeling that solid woods like maple tend to be denser/heavier.

MDF boards are often thicker for equivalent strength, so weight per square metre is probably more relevant than density. Solid wood would probably be heavier per square metre than equivalently strong plywood, though. 

I had an oversized 1x12 made out of 38mm Japanese cedar with a CNC cut 15mm birch ply baffle and a Creamback.  Dunno what the weight is, but a very easy one-hand carry. A bit heavier than a Spellbinder bass combo, so maybe 15kg.  38mm is very heavy duty.  You could get away with 20mm and still have something robust and a lot lighter.  We had some 38mm lying around, which is why I used it.  

Yes wood can be dinged.  You can sand and revarnish the dings, or decide that they are mojo. Either way it looks better than Blue Peter sticky-back plastic.  Sorry - 'tolex'.  

ICBM

Secret_Sam said:

MDF boards are often thicker for equivalent strength, so weight per square metre is probably more relevant than density. Solid wood would probably be heavier per square metre than equivalently strong plywood, though.

Guitar cabinets are over-engineered for strength usually - solid pine cabinets are easily strong enough, and weigh less than ply. I suspect most hardwoods weigh slightly more, assuming the same thickness is used. The heaviest cabinets seem to be those very thick particle-board cabinets sometimes used in the 70s by makers (eg HH) with a misguided idea that they needed to be as dense and inert as possible. That's a good thing for hi-fi cabinets, probably even for PA - apart from transporting them - but definitely not for guitar and probably not for bass either.

Secret_Sam said:

Yes wood can be dinged.  You can sand and revarnish the dings, or decide that they are mojo. Either way it looks better than Blue Peter sticky-back plastic.  Sorry - 'tolex'.  

Likewise, I don't understand the love for tolex - it might have been the smartest type of covering available in 1960, and it hides a multitude of sins like knotty pine and gaps in the corner joints, but it rips up easily and looks tatty very quickly unless it's protected with a cover or a road case. (Or unless it's the stuff Peavey used in the 80s, which seemed to be made of industrial abrasive cloth or something!) There are a lot of nicer-looking alternatives now.

(Disclaimer - I have just had a cabinet made with a traditional tolex covering, but the reason for that is I wanted it to match my Fender amp head.)

Litterick

My Princeton Reverb II has an oak cabinet, which is good-looking and hard-wearing (and exceptionally rare). I support the OP's plan.

Modulus_Amps

That bottom Lonestar photo is gorgeous! I would happily have one.

One of the first speaker cabs I ever built was a plywood cab, varnished and polished to a sheen. Not sure my DSL head appreciated it enough though.

@BlackbirdCabs could probably help with this.

duotone

Those hardwood Mesa amps are stunning.  Go for it @allen !

duotone

Modulus_Amps said:

That bottom Lonestar photo is gorgeous! I would happily have one.

One of the first speaker cabs I ever built was a plywood cab, varnished and polished to a sheen. Not sure my DSL head appreciated it enough though.

@BlackbirdCabs could probably help with this.

A bit like this Award-Session BluesBaby amp @Modulus_Amps ?

https://guitar.com/reviews/award-session-bluesbaby-22-review/

Modulus_Amps

@duotone said:

Modulus_Amps said:

That bottom Lonestar photo is gorgeous! I would happily have one.

One of the first speaker cabs I ever built was a plywood cab, varnished and polished to a sheen. Not sure my DSL head appreciated it enough though.

BlackbirdCabs could probably help with this.

A bit like this Award-Session BluesBaby amp Modulus_Amps ?

https://guitar.com/reviews/award-session-bluesbaby-22-review/

Just about, Mine had a darker stain. I also had no idea how speaker cabs were built then, so the carcass was two 18mm ply sheet sandwiched together to get that thick edge look like a Marshall 4 x 12. The cab was heavy AF.

Flotsam

Material costs and labour are going to be pretty serious on a custom build like this but I think you should go for it, if you can afford it.

Funkfingers

ICBM said:

a hardwood MkIII Boogie

I know somebody with one of those. It lives in a wheeled flight case. The top and sides of the case lift away like a butter dish to leave the amp standing on a trolley. Thus, it can be pushed around the room rather than lifted.

The mighty EVM-12L loudspeaker contributes a good bit to the weight.