112 Bluesbreaker Combo Cab Build *Pics*

[Batman]

I'm on vacation and staying at my parents place so I thought I would take advantage of my Dad's full wood shop and build a 112 Bluesbreaker style combo cab for my modded Epiphone Valve Junior. The finished cab will be similar to this.



The cab dimensions are 24" x 20" x 9" and is being built out of 3/4" Pine with a 3/4" Birch baffle. Both the Pine and Birch rough lumber were milled from trees from Dad's property so the cost so far has been nil.

The rough wood was edge jointed and ripped into 3 3/16" wide strips that were edge glued to create the main panels. Once they were dry, they were planed to 3/4" and trimmed to width and length.

Here are the edge jointed and planed panels layed out on the bench ready for assembly.







The Birch baffle is almost too pretty to cover with grill cloth so I may have to rethink this. . .

The corners of the cab were dovetailed in this jig and dry fit. This is the first time I have used a dovetail jig on Pine and unfortunatly there was some tear-out but I am planning on covering the cab with Tolex so the gaps can be filled with wood filler.








Here is as for as we've gotten today. We have to wait for the glue to dry before any more work can be done. Not a bad day's work!

[bilbarstow]

Holy Bluesbreaker, Batman !

Nice job, it looks like a fitting home for the VJr that you put so much love into.

I'm finishing up a 1x10 + 1x12 slant front cab, and I just got my OT and parts to re-do my VJr following your valuable thread.

But now I'm starting to think that I need a combo. Funny thing is, I enjoy the woodworking almost as much as the amp building.

With pine, use a FRESH backer board for each set of cuts, and start with a light back-cut to help eliminate tear-out. Another thing that helps is if you can get a vari-speed control for your router (I have the same Makita), and adjust your speed a little - too fast can cause the tear-out.

Good luck on the rest of the build !

[Batman]

Hey Bill,

Thanks for the advice and the props! Very cool on starting your VJ mod! Let me know how it turns out. . .

The worst tear-outs were my first couple of cuts. It took a couple to get the feel for how fast to feed the router and how best to cut the pins. I love woodworking but don't have many tools at home; I take every opportunity to use the shop here but it's a 4-hour drive so we don't get here as often as I would like. My shop at home is set up for metal work and electronics...

[Batman]

Finished for now. I need the speaker to make the cut out in the baffle and it's at home. I am also going to tolex this at some point but that adventure will have to wait until the Fall.

[joba]

Looks great! Clean polished work.

[Soul Tramp]

Batman, a word of caution on the heat vent cutout. If you make it too narrow, there won't be enough tolex (once slit down the middle) to wrap around to the back.

[Batman]

Originally Posted by Soul Tramp

Batman, a word of caution on the heat vent cutout. If you make it too narrow, there won't be enough tolex (once slit down the middle) to wrap around to the back.

Thanks for the advice Don, I hadn't thought about that. . .

The cut out is only 1" wide so I will have to widen it so there is enough material . . .

[drpietrzak]

It looks great!

[Soul Tramp]

Originally Posted by Batman

Thanks for the advice Don, I hadn't thought about that. . .

[alligatorbling]

awesome!!!! these builds are great for low watters, i did the same thing for my vox
ac4tv chassis =) i made a few changes to the over all build though.



keep us posted! its looking awesome!!!

[kingedb]

Great job Batman! Love this stuff.

[classic]

YES ... great job ... congrats!

[Batman]

Thanks everyone!

I enjoy this stuff almost as much as playing!

[alligatorbling]

Originally Posted by Batman

Thanks everyone!

I enjoy this stuff almost as much as playing!

its a lot of fun isnt it!?

you will be building another cab after this one, trust me =)

[AxeBuilder]

I wish I had a Dad with a wood shop; no, I wish I still had a Dad! You are very lucky!

Nice work!

[alligatorbling]

batman, might i suggest two jacks in the back.

run one jack to the valve jr, the other jack to the speaker. you can tie them together via a patch cable for combo use.

unplug the patch cable from both jacks and you have the option to plug a head into the speaker jack and use it as a cab for your daisy cutter =)

btw, what speaker are you going to run?


oh also.... with the two jacks, you can run an attenuator =)

[Batman]

Originally Posted by alligatorbling

batman, might i suggest two jacks in the back.

run one jack to the valve jr, the other jack to the speaker. you can tie them together via a patch cable for combo use.

unplug the patch cable from both jacks and you have the option to plug a head into the speaker jack and use it as a cab for your daisy cutter =)

btw, what speaker are you going to run?


oh also.... with the two jacks, you can run an attenuator =)

That's a good idea Bling.

I haven't completely decided which speaker I am going to run. It will be either the WGS Reaper HP (G12H) or Invader 50 (G12M). I will be building another one of these combo's for the Daisycutter and am leaning toward using the Reaper with the DC. I will most likely use the Invader (Green Beret) with the VJ combo.

[Batman]

I finally got around to finishing this cab. I "borrowed" the hardware from the original EVJ cab (Handle, corner protectors and Rubber feet) and installed the grill cloth today.

I'll also post pic's of the cab when I get the amp and speaker reinstalled (when I get home tomorrow)