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Help Repairing Cabinet on Fender RAD Practice Amp

ajdes

ajdes

Sep 12, 2020
22
10
#1
Hi all,

I'm new to bass. I was in the market for a cheap (sub $80) practice amp. I wasnt thrilled with the new stuff I was seeing online, but a guy near me had a 90s MIA Fender RAD PR 190 Bass amp that seemed neat (not a lot of info about it online but people seem to like it ok). I talk to the guy, he shows me a video of him playing through the amp, everything looks fine, I agree to buy it for $60. Tonight I went to pick it up and when I grab the handle something feels off. I inspect it and its got a little bulge in the felt on the side of the cabinet. He says, "Oh its got a crack there, I assumed you saw that in the pictures". I say "no" (there was definitely no way to see that in his pictures =/). I don't want the amp with the crack so I start to leave, and he offers it to me for a lower price. I'm pretty annoyed but I'm already there and I need an amp, so we settle for half off.

Anyway so now i've got the amp, the speaker looks fine and the electronics seem to work fine. I'm going to guess it was dropped at some point in its life which caused the crack. I'd like to repair the crack at least enough so that its stable when moving it around. How would you recommend doing this?

The back of the amp is closed, and there doesnt seem any obvious way to take it apart. I'm going to assume its probably all glued and stapled together? Even if it was possible to take it apart, is that worth the trouble for a cheap amp like this?

I'm thinking my best bet might be to just cut the felt on the cracked side, fill the crack with wood glue, screw on a metal mending plate, then re-glue the felt down? Is there any reason why this would be a bad idea? I assume a metal mending plate on the outside is not going to mess with the speaker or electronics?

Am I missing anything obvious? Is there an easy way to get to the inside of the cabinet that I'm not seeing (to do a cleaner repair)?

On a side note, the amp has 75W on the back of it (though someone seems to have scratched it out with a sharpie for some reason), but it seems fairly small/light and its only got a 10" speaker. Is 75W like peak wattage or something (vs RMS)? I know watts doesnt tell the whole story, but it seems smaller than a modern day "75 Watt" amp.

I tried to capture everything in the pictures, but its kind of hard to see with the felt. I appreciate any help. Thanks

IMG_20200924_201640.jpg



IMG_20200924_202248.jpg
IMG_20200924_201549.jpg
 
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#4
I didn't say it CAN'T be repaired, but IN PRACTICE it's not repairable.

The amount of time, effort and cost to attempt repairs in that kind of material would eclipse the cost of building a new cabinet. Its a combination of particle board and MDF, once broken is almost impossible to repair adequately and then the existing covering which must be removed must be replaced.

It would be like spending a thousand dollars to save a hundred.
 
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#5
Does it rattle or make funny noises? If no just leave it. It can be repaired but I agree it would take time and materials above its worth. Maybe if it feels unstable zap a couple drywall screws in there to try and sure it up, but if it still sounds ok and isn't falling apart I'd vote to just let it be.

Is the "75 watts" printed near the power supply cable? It is probably the power consumption rating if so.
 
#6
When the cabinet is broken like that, screws aren't going to help, certainly not without scabbing some backer behind the cracks. The cracks make butt joints which are impossible to screw.

Also, there are so many breaks that it's a losing battle, the cabinet is being held together by the rat fur.
 
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#7
Ah, I see it now. The area ABOVE the speaker box, BELOW the amp. Thought it was the bottom panel. Also, are those cracks on the baffle board too? I really should wear my glasses more. Well, you could run a strap around the outside....

But really, if it doesn't make bad noises and you dont plan on moving it around, just rock it.
 
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#8
I am completely new to bass amps so I might be missing something basic.

Why would it be a bad idea to glue the crack with wood glue and put a metal mending plate across it? Is the worry that it wont be air tight enough? I'm not really worried about what it looks like cosmetically.

It sounds ok enough to me for a practice amp, it doesnt have any rattles or anything.
 
#9
Ya. But you don't want to create a rattle, tho. And as stated, there is a real chance the covering is holding it all together. To get enough access to the damage, there is a possibility of making things worse too. I still vote just leave it since it sounds ok.
 
#10
Because you will never get enough glue in those joints to make any difference. There’s just too much damage in places that are virtually impossible to repair.

With even basic tools and some experience, building that cabinet is a 2 hour job. Fixing the broken cabinet is a 2 day job and it may not stay fixed.

You say you are new to bass amps. This might be a good time to take a step back and listen to the advice from somebody more experienced.
 
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#11
I'm with bass cooker and agedhorse.

You COULD get a syringe, take the speaker out, mix some water and wood glue, and potentially inject enough wood glue and water into whatever that cab is made of (probably particle board or MDF) between all the cracks and maybe it'll hold. You'd need to open those cracks up enough to get the syringe in there though. I wouldn't bother with screwing it, or using metal panels or anything, and just applying glue on top of everything would leave you with a cab with glue all over it.

My two cents - MDF, particle board, and OSB are cheap. Take measurements of everything and cut out some panels and build a new cab. It's really not too difficult.

Of course if it were my amp, I'd take measurements now, write them down somewhere. From there I'd keep using the amp as-is and you'd have the dimensions of the cab stored somewhere so you don't need to worry if, say, the cab gets thrown out of a moving car and only the speaker and the head unit are left in immaculate condition. Why are we bothered about its current state? Does it rattle? The cabinet certainly made it home, and other than the force applied to the cabinet by the speaker, picking it up and moving it around are the only stress it's going to go under with normal use. So unless there's a rattle I personally wouldn't bother with a new cab, the cracks are just wabi sabi. Just don't sit on it or get it wet
 
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#12
I appreciate the responses. I dont think i'm ready to take on building a new cabinet right now (maybe down the road if I fall in love with it). For now I will just use it as is.

pie_man_25 said:
Why are we bothered about its current state? Does it rattle?
Click to expand...

No rattles or noises as far as I've experienced. I mostly just wanted to shore it up so I could move it around without fear of damaging it further. I also figured air is leaking from the crack, so patching it up might improve the sound a bit.

The enclosure itself is still pretty rigid, its not like its crumbling. Definitely still usable for practicing in my basement.
 
#13
ThOTE="ajdes, post: 24474468, member: 372403"]Hi all,

I'm new to bass. I was in the market for a cheap (sub $80) practice amp. I wasnt thrilled with the new stuff I was seeing online, but a guy near me had a 90s MIA Fender RAD PR 190 Bass amp that seemed neat (not a lot of info about it online but people seem to like it ok). I talk to the guy, he shows me a video of him playing through the amp, everything looks fine, I agree to buy it for $60. Tonight I went to pick it up and when I grab the handle something feels off. I inspect it and its got a little bulge in the felt on the side of the cabinet. He says, "Oh its got a crack there, I assumed you saw that in the pictures". I say "no" (there was definitely no way to see that in his pictures =/). I don't want the amp with the crack so I start to leave, and he offers it to me for a lower price. I'm pretty annoyed but I'm already there and I need an amp, so we settle for half off.

Anyway so now i've got the amp, the speaker looks fine and the electronics seem to work fine. I'm going to guess it was dropped at some point in its life which caused the crack. I'd like to repair the crack at least enough so that its stable when moving it around. How would you recommend doing this?

The back of the amp is closed, and there doesnt seem any obvious way to take it apart. I'm going to assume its probably all glued and stapled together? Even if it was possible to take it apart, is that worth the trouble for a cheap amp like this?

I'm thinking my best bet might be to just cut the felt on the cracked side, fill the crack with wood glue, screw on a metal mending plate, then re-glue the felt down? Is there any reason why this would be a bad idea? I assume a metal mending plate on the outside is not going to mess with the speaker or electronics?

Am I missing anything obvious? Is there an easy way to get to the inside of the cabinet that I'm not seeing (to do a cleaner repair)?

On a side note, the amp has 75W on the back of it (though someone seems to have scratched it out with a sharpie for some reason), but it seems fairly small/light and its only got a 10" speaker. Is 75W like peak wattage or something (vs RMS)? I know watts doesnt tell the whole story, but it seems smaller than a modern day "75 Watt" amp.

I tried to capture everything in the pictures, but its kind of hard to see with the felt. I appreciate any help. Thanks

View attachment 3995748


View attachment 3995749 View attachment 3995750[/QUOTE]
ajdes said:
Hi all,

I'm new to bass. I was in the market for a cheap (sub $80) practice amp. I wasnt thrilled with the new stuff I was seeing online, but a guy near me had a 90s MIA Fender RAD PR 190 Bass amp that seemed neat (not a lot of info about it online but people seem to like it ok). I talk to the guy, he shows me a video of him playing through the amp, everything looks fine, I agree to buy it for $60. Tonight I went to pick it up and when I grab the handle something feels off. I inspect it and its got a little bulge in the felt on the side of the cabinet. He says, "Oh its got a crack there, I assumed you saw that in the pictures". I say "no" (there was definitely no way to see that in his pictures =/). I don't want the amp with the crack so I start to leave, and he offers it to me for a lower price. I'm pretty annoyed but I'm already there and I need an amp, so we settle for half off.

Anyway so now i've got the amp, the speaker looks fine and the electronics seem to work fine. I'm going to guess it was dropped at some point in its life which caused the crack. I'd like to repair the crack at least enough so that its stable when moving it around. How would you recommend doing this?

The back of the amp is closed, and there doesnt seem any obvious way to take it apart. I'm going to assume its probably all glued and stapled together? Even if it was possible to take it apart, is that worth the trouble for a cheap amp like this?

I'm thinking my best bet might be to just cut the felt on the cracked side, fill the crack with wood glue, screw on a metal mending plate, then re-glue the felt down? Is there any reason why this would be a bad idea? I assume a metal mending plate on the outside is not going to mess with the speaker or electronics?

Am I missing anything obvious? Is there an easy way to get to the inside of the cabinet that I'm not seeing (to do a cleaner repair)?

On a side note, the amp has 75W on the back of it (though someone seems to have scratched it out with a sharpie for some reason), but it seems fairly small/light and its only got a 10" speaker. Is 75W like peak wattage or something (vs RMS)? I know watts doesnt tell the whole story, but it seems smaller than a modern day "75 Watt" amp.

I tried to capture everything in the pictures, but its kind of hard to see with the felt. I appreciate any help. Thanks

View attachment 3995748


View attachment 3995749 View attachment 3995750
Click to expand...
Here's what I, repeat, I, would do. Discard it. If you are committed, put some carpenter's glue in a syringe and inject the glue deep into every crack, flipping the cab on each side so the glue can flow into the crack. Glue the carpet back down. I don't think it'll budge. But, I'm no woodworker. Just an apartment dweller with limited resources. But, I've fixed particle board items this way and they don't break anymore after the wood glue treatment. That glue is strong. You won't need metal plates.
 
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#16
The amplifier is rated for 20 watts. They get fairly loud for what they are. I've had one for 20 years as a practice amp and now it's in the kids room.

Listen to Agedhorse.
If I were in your shoes, I would try to rebuild the cabinet from new MDF(and not bother with the 'rat fur' carpet covering)

Or play at low volumes or use the headphone function

Or chalk this up as a lesson learned and save up for another amp.

Sorry to hear you got taken on the deal.
 
#17
I took a peek behind the speaker to see what the crack looked like on the inside of the speaker box, and its not cracked inside the box. I just appears to be the outer side piece of wood which attaches the amp to the speaker box (not sure what to call it). So that is obviously not great for the structural integrity of the amp, but it should still sound normal right?
 

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