Need help finding a custom amp builder...

[Gilmourisgod]

^^^^^^Good advice on the grille cloth, anything out of stock is likely to stay that way for weeks or months. Been trying to get a car fixed for MONTHS, the parts on back order with no promise of when they will be delivered. Welcome to the New Normal.

 

[Hofnerbacker]

Thanks all for your advice.

I found a DIY Vox cabinet plan online at http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/voxamp/voxcab.htm
and am going to hire a carpenter to do all the woodwork except for assembly.

Then I will hire an electrician to install the speakers and wiring.

Finally, I'll hire an upholsterer to apply the Tolex, speaker cloth, and piping.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

The wiring is simple enough you might want to do it yourself, pretty much two wires soldered to a jack.

 

[Redbrangus]

Thanks all for your advice.

I found a DIY Vox cabinet plan online at http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/voxamp/voxcab.htm
and am going to hire a carpenter to do all the woodwork except for assembly.

Then I will hire an electrician to install the speakers and wiring.

Finally, I'll hire an upholsterer to apply the Tolex, speaker cloth, and piping.

The article you referenced does indeed have some useful information for achieving the Vox cosmetic look. I'm sure you've noticed that the referenced cab's dimensions are not the same as the one you listed in your earlier post. I presume the one in your picture is the so-called 'T-100' cab and the one in the drawings is actually a Super Beatle cab, which is taller and shallower, but essentially has the same internal volume. As previously observed, you don't really have the internal volume you would need to get adequate bass response out of 4 drivers, but I gather you're determined to go ahead with the concept. Have you determined what driver you're going to use? Four of anything worthwhile adds up to an appreciable amount of money; it seems a shame to stuff them into a too-small enclosure, but hey...it's your project. Is there some reason why you decided against the Vox 215 concept? There's not really enough volume for that either, but it seems like you'd be closer to it.

Circling back to the construction article you referred to: simple reinforced butt joints would be sufficient joinery -- don't let his digression about dowelling or dovetails distract you. Your carpenter will probably tell you that. And you certainly don't need to reinforce the corner joints with steel angle iron, another technique the author endorsed -- not unless you're going to be suspending an interconnected column of these things about 8 high.

The wiring is simple enough you might want to do it yourself, pretty much two wires soldered to a jack.

The OP wants to do a 412 configuration, so it isn't quite that simple, even if it isn't particularly complicated. If you want the cab to be 8 ohms total, the only choice will be a series/parallel combination of 8-ohm drivers. For a 4-ohm cab, you could use 4 x 16-ohm drivers in parallel, or as with the 8-ohm cab, 4 x 4-ohm drivers in series/parallel.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

The article you referenced does indeed have some useful information for achieving the Vox cosmetic look. I'm sure you've noticed that the referenced cab's dimensions are not the same as the one you listed in your earlier post. I presume the one in your picture is the so-called 'T-100' cab and the one in the drawings is actually a Super Beatle cab, which is taller and shallower, but essentially has the same internal volume. As previously observed, you don't really have the internal volume you would need to get adequate bass response out of 4 drivers, but I gather you're determined to go ahead with the concept. Have you determined what driver you're going to use? Four of anything worthwhile adds up to an appreciable amount of money; it seems a shame to stuff them into a too-small enclosure, but hey...it's your project. Is there some reason why you decided against the Vox 215 concept? There's not really enough volume for that either, but it seems like you'd be closer to it.

Circling back to the construction article you referred to: simple reinforced butt joints would be sufficient joinery -- don't let his digression about dowelling or dovetails distract you. Your carpenter will probably tell you that. And you certainly don't need to reinforce the corner joints with steel angle iron, another technique the author endorsed -- not unless you're going to be suspending an interconnected column of these things about 8 high.

The OP wants to do a 412 configuration, so it isn't quite that simple, even if it isn't particularly complicated. If you want the cab to be 8 ohms total, the only choice will be a series/parallel combination of 8-ohm drivers. For a 4-ohm cab, you could use 4 x 16-ohm drivers in parallel, or as with the 8-ohm cab, 4 x 4-ohm drivers in series/parallel.

I may be talking through my hat here, but have to ask - if the cab needs more volume to turn it into a good bass cab, can it just be made deeper? That way it still looks like the original to the audience and yet will have the interior space needed to make four 12's sound good? I remember my Standel was easily twice as deep as my '66 Fender Bassman amp was, but it was a bass reflex design and used 4 round ports which really moved a lot of air with that 215 cab. Certainly a ported cab is a whole different monster than a sealed cab, but couldn't just making it deeper to come up with the internal space needed for the four 12's work as long as you did the math?

 

[Redbrangus]

Yes, the cab could be made deeper to increase the internal volume.

 

[Hofnerbacker]

The wiring is simple enough you might want to do it yourself, pretty much two wires soldered to a jack.

Uhhh, thanks for the advice but I better get a professional. I don't want to end up like Keith Relf.

 

[abarson]

Uhhh, thanks for the advice but I better get a professional. I don't want to end up like Keith Relf.

I can appreciate your attitude of leaving certain work to professionals if you are uncomfortable with the task.
What bewilders me is that there's a gallery of experienced builders telling you that the current dimensions are too small to provide good performance with 4 12's. You need to have the cabinet designed for the speakers or you'll potentially be wasting lots of cash.

 

[Analogeezer]

I think the bigger question is did the Vox bass amps actually sound that good, even back in period?

Sure the AC30 is a legend but it was a lot easier making a guitar amp back then compared to a bass amp.

Something tells me if one had a classic Vox rig and fired it up, you would be disappointed in the sound, even considering the age of it. Things were much different circa 1967 - 1969 when the Acoustic 360 and SVT showed up.

The entire reason for the existence of those amps is bass amps prior to that kinda sucked (B15 aside but that was not a powerful amp and was best used in the studio).

I was a huge fan of the Beatles as a yute* but I never wanted to own a Vox bass amp, by the time I started playing bass (circa 1973 ish) Vox bass amps were kinda seen as antiques.

I guess the OP wants the vintage look in a modern package but he's going to struggle hiring all those professionals, buying materials and components for $2,000.

Analogeezer

p.s. *Amazing how many of you got the "My Cousin Vinny" reference