Bought a ‘64 and fixing it up. Here’s the speaker baffle I need to fix up. Anyone who has done this before have any advice? The aperture had been cut out to allow for a front loading speaker.
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Ampeg B15N Baffle
- Thread starter Bulltrout
- Start date
This is still the original baffle, yes? If so, just plug the unnecessary holes with dowels/ putty and and move on.
It is the original baffle, but if you look closely, you’ll see the original holes are the ones that are affected by the cut out. Maybe I just need to anchor in the T nuts with epoxy and go for the simple solution as you suggest.
i'd say, keep the original baffle Work as much as possible with dowels, glue and so on to restore it. It doesn't look so bad from the pictures you posted.
- Feb 13, 2008
- 1,247
- 1,916
- Disclosures
- Owner, Vintage Blue (repro cabinets)
Do you still have the original grill baffle? If so you will also need to add back the missing 3/8" thick spacer blocks that used to be glued to the speaker baffle. You may also want to trim the tolex back a little where it is overhanging the ports. This was sometimes a source of buzzing.
The cutout plys look to be in good shape. Loose plys can lead to rattling which is bad. I repair holes with QuikWood, an epoxy putty. T-nuts are good and stronger than the original rear mounting studs. If you want studs, similar ones are available from
https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/roberto-s-xoir-1966-sb-12-cabinet-restoration/
The blue check vinyl is available. Replacing it is a big job to say the least. A good tutorial is in the TB Portaflex Wiki.
https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/ampeg-portaflex-wiki/
The wiki
https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/roberto-s-xoir-1966-sb-12-cabinet-restoration/
https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/roberto-s-xoir-1966-sb-12-cabinet-restoration/
The blue check vinyl is available. Replacing it is a big job to say the least. A good tutorial is in the TB Portaflex Wiki.
https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/ampeg-portaflex-wiki/
The wiki
https://www.talkbass.com/wiki/roberto-s-xoir-1966-sb-12-cabinet-restoration/
Thanks. I’m not going to retired, just bring it back to fighting form. I think I wanna put something more original than a Peavey Scorpion into it
My friend just gave me a D130F that needs reconing. Might go that route too
What do you guys use to replace the insulation in the cabinet? I was going to pick up some mineral wool with a density of around 2 lbs sq/ft but that might be overkill
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I don’t like spun glass insulation. It’s not healthy, there are air currents in the cab loose fibers can get into the air.
I use ¼” thick wool felt. I cut it oversize and press fit it in. It’s stiff.
Felt | Aircraft Spruce ®
Felt All wool, 1/4 inch thick felt for paddings. Firm but resilient construction for many aircraft applications. Gray/ brown mix
Hardware store recycled jean insulating batting works well.
There is also damping material from parts-express. They sell a nice denim.
Cabinet Damping Material
Take control of unwanted speaker vibrations with our stock of Acousta-Stuf polyfill fiber fill, multi-layer acoustic sound damping foam, and absorption coating paintable damping materials.
www.parts-express.com
Thanks!I don’t like spun glass insulation. It’s not healthy, there are air currents in the cab loose fibers can get into the air.
I use ¼” thick wool felt. I cut it oversize and press fit it in. It’s stiff.
Felt | Aircraft Spruce ®
Felt All wool, 1/4 inch thick felt for paddings. Firm but resilient construction for many aircraft applications. Gray/ brown mixwww.aircraftspruce.com
Hardware store recycled jean insulating batting works well.
There is also damping material from parts-express. They sell a nice denim.
Cabinet Damping Material
Take control of unwanted speaker vibrations with our stock of Acousta-Stuf polyfill fiber fill, multi-layer acoustic sound damping foam, and absorption coating paintable damping materials.www.parts-express.com
Those E140's are excellent for bass! ... when installed in the correct enclosure.
Kind of a crap shoot for your situation, without "doing the math", but sometimes ya get lucky.
I built this cab for my Ampeg V4B, but it sounds great with every amp I've put through it.
Kind of a crap shoot for your situation, without "doing the math", but sometimes ya get lucky.
I built this cab for my Ampeg V4B, but it sounds great with every amp I've put through it.
I finally got around to following your advice about the cleats. I trimmed the tolex in the fall, which made a difference, but the rubber spacers I had been using for the baffle offset caused buzzing and rattling. I got some oak 3/8 stock this week and made the cleats, glued and clamped them in place and remounted the speaker and the baffle onto the cleats. Almost all my noise is now gone. I need to tighten the speaker in one place (I see a 1mm gap), and I may look at the seal from the lid to the cabinet - when I press down on it, the cabinet removes the remaining unwanted artefacts.
So, the baffle ain't the prettiest, but everything seems to be working properly now...almost
Should have mentioned, I have an Eminence from 1975 in the amp right now. 15"squareback speaker. I think I have it from one of my old Ampeg B25 cabinets. This is a temporary solution, until I find an original 1964 speaker (I can hear you laughing from here), or get a modern replacement. Anyhow, thanks everyone, your input is tremendously helpful.
Last issue, I hope, is the seal between the lid and the cabinet. I'm getting some leakage there. What has anyone else used to replace the existing gasket?
