Need help finding a custom amp builder...

[abarson]

Thank you for your question. I want both the head and the cab cloned on the outside, and the cab the same size as the original (36" tall, 27.4" wide, 14" deep. VOX made a Valvetronix guitar cab back in the 2000s that was 4x12, although it was 160 W RMS in stereo and 320 W in mono. I've tried looking for the VOX AD412 cabs online but no luck. If I could find one, I'd have someone reconfigure it for bass speakers and more power.

If a 410 was found to have better performance than a 412 with those dimensions, would that be acceptable?
I can understand going for a specific aesthetic, but I would never do so if it compromised my sound. Don't forget, the audience will neither know nor care what size speakers are in the cabinet.

When you say "reconfigure for bass speakers and more power" you do realize that just shoving bass speakers into a guitar cabinet doesn't make it good for bass, right?

 

[Analogeezer]

Just my humble opinion but the larger Vox amps only looked cool if the Beatles were in front of them.

I actually owned a Vox guitar amp when I was a yute, a Cambridge Reverb. It was one of the all transistor ones made in the US by Thomas Organ.

Even in 1973 I found the aesthetics to be kinda old fashioned. FANTASTIC Reverb on that amp though, had a full sized Hammond Spring tank in the bottom of the cab (it was open backed with a 10" speaker), so like over a foot long and about three inches high. Made those tiny tanks in Fenders sound like metallic trash.

But that's just me, best of luck with your build.

Analogeezer

 

[basscooker]

I’m not gonna pretend to know how terrible the T/S parameters or whatnot would work out, but if we’re just throwing speakers in a box with reckless abandon, we could take a cue from the Berg HG series and have a rear firing and maybe a down firing driver. We could get all 4 12s crammed in that way.

Thing is, Mr. B DOESNT just cram speakers in a box.

If one will drop a lot of dough into a custom rig it kinda just makes more sense to me they would want great results.

What are the dimensions like on the Bergs? From what I've read they're awesome... if they're close enough dimensionally why not dress up one of his?

 

[funkinbottom]

I actually owned a Vox guitar amp when I was a yute

"Yute....yute Mr. Gambini?"

 

[basscooker]

Did you just say "two yutes!?!"

 

[retroXvertigo]

Excuse me, your honor

Two YOOOUUUTHHSSS

 

[shwashwa]

just get a hollow amp head cabinet and hollow speaker cabinet, but open backs, and put in whatever amp and speaker cab you want. just set them down inside the hollow cab for your show and then take them out. a modern, powerful 1x12 or 2 should do the trick with a class D head

 

[SC Bassboy]

I'm very picky about what I want as far as a head/cab rig. I want a 500 watt head with a 4x12 cab and I want the whole thing to look exactly like this, except brand new. Weight is not an issue with me, I want my rig to look like a fridge.

Does anyone here know a custom amp builder who could make me one of these? I've had no luck searching on the internet and I had to cuss out a Sweetwater "engineer" who tried to interest me in one of those 50 watt toys Vox currently makes. I have zero interest in any other manufacturers or models.

Most modern bass amps/cabs either look like toys or have garish colors/logos that are an instant NO for me. View attachment 4504602

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This guy builds amplifiers local to me. Some of the best sounding guitar amps I have ever heard. I spoke with him about building me a tube bass amp years ago and he was open to the idea. Might at least be a source for the amplifier.

 

[Auspuff]

I'm very picky about what I want as far as a head/cab rig. I want a 500 watt head with a 4x12 cab and I want the whole thing to look exactly like this, except brand new. Weight is not an issue with me, I want my rig to look like a fridge.

Does anyone here know a custom amp builder who could make me one of these? I've had no luck searching on the internet and I had to cuss out a Sweetwater "engineer" who tried to interest me in one of those 50 watt toys Vox currently makes. I have zero interest in any other manufacturers or models.

Most modern bass amps/cabs either look like toys or have garish colors/logos that are an instant NO for me. View attachment 4504602

If you find one, let me know.

 

[deepestend]

This guy is great. Former Sadowsky guy who builds cabs. Worth talking to him: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

 

[pglaser01]

Did you just say "two yutes!?!"

 

[Rip Van Dan]

Sure! The modern amp could sit inside the cab.

You could put all kids of modern class D amps inside the head without any problem. The cab is the problem. If you just jam 12" bass speakers in there, you have almost no chance of them sounding any good at all. The speakers used have to match the internal volume of the cab and take into account any porting. Generally speaking, porting in a cab gives you better and lower low end with the right speakers in it. Good news is that you could hide the port on the back of the cab with little or no problem. But getting bass speakers that will sound good in such a cab is going to be a real trick and you or whoever builds it for you will need to spend some time on the phone with Eminence Speakers to get the best chance of a good speaker match for that to end up being a decent bass cab. Shot below is from late 1971.

Here's a catalog listing of the Super Beatle amp and you can see the "trolley it stood on. You could loosen the wheels on the side of the trolley tilt the amp back to the desired angle and then tighten them back up. I don't think either Bill on keys or Steve on guitar ever used that tilt feature. I've always preferred the trapazoidal head on the big Vox amps. Nobody else that I'm aware of ever used them. They were very distinctive and cool-looking!

 

[Hofnerbacker]

The grill cloth looks to be available, shouldn't be to hard to find a builder willing to take your money. Where ya located?

Hampton, VA

 

[Hofnerbacker]

Sounds & looks good ! That would be cool. Advice from a old dude: Older you get the harder it will be to move!! Plus you will need a station wagon to move it in !!!

I'm old, too. I don't mind the size and weight.

 

[Hofnerbacker]

What is your budget?

$2,000.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I saw Cheap Trick backing up Aerosmith years ago. We had nosebleed seats almost behind the stage. The guitarist had a bank of something like 10 big stacks done in checkerboard tolex per his schtick, but you could see that 9 of them were clearly just empty boxes, with just one miked. Showbiz! If the goal is purely aesthetic, the cheapest route is probably something like a factory built 4x10 tricked out to look like a Vox, basically a box inside a box. 4 x 12 just stuffed into a box of those dimensions is unlikely to sound good. They are admittedly cool to look at, hope you get it done. The $2k budget may be a stretch based on what Im seeing for current construction cost for even crappy casework like vanities and kitchen cabinets. Materials alone, like plywood, are ridiculously expensive right now.

 

[6thplanet]

Ok, so your fine with out the custom 500 watt head and going with an amp in disguise. Any preference for said amp?

Next are you willing to nix the 4 12's if performance isn't obtained in an enclosure that meets your size requirements? Are you dead set on the Vox exact measurements?

 

[sxaxsx]

Is anyone really going to notice if the cab is a couple inches deeper than the original? Like is anyone from the audience going to come up on stage with a tape measure and a copy of the original specs to compare?

 

[MultiScaleMale]

$2,000.

I think you’re going to be unable to find what you want in that budget.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

I would go ahead and order this now. It seems that there are about 16 yards in existence right now and who knows when it might be restocked if it sells out.

https://www.mojotone.com/British-Brown-Diamond-Grill-Cloth-30-Wide