Speaker cab restoration/ reconstruction (non- orange)

[murkofaeons]

Hey y'all, I got this ampeg v4 cab unloaded a few years ago with the intention of restoring it. I got it basically for free. The speaker baffle and back panel are warped and delaminated from obvious water damage but the sides are intact but a little moldy.

I've been thinking about replacing the baffle with a 2x12 baffle and the cab is already pretty compact and light. The back panel probably needs replaced. Did any of you have suggestions? Have any of your ever attempted something like this before? Is it even worth it? I have a matching vintage 2x15 bass cab and a vt-22 combo, so with this cab everything is looking nice!


Rather than try to host pics somewhere, I just put em on my Instagram. This is a direct link to my post there:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bebf9-0ncW8/

[Jondog]

I’d definitely replace any delaminated wood as it could be a soource for bd vibration sounds. Can’t exactly tell, but looks salvageable.

[murkofaeons]

I just realized that Instagram cropped some of the photos. Whoops

[caldurham]

definitely replace the baffle and back panel obviously.

if the sides are solid then start there. and yes i'd say it would be well worth it depending on what you wanted to do, if the shell is good. you could easily restore it to what it looked like or just do some kind of refinish.

you may want to source some good ply to make a new baffle and back panel. most good cabs are built with baltic birch or good birch plywood. regular furniture grade ply will work but there may be voids or patches. there can be voids and patches in birch ply as well but usually good baltic birch is void free and might have 1 patch on 1 side for instance. your mileage may vary.

i've refinished a few cabs myself. i am starting to get to the point where i'd rather see the wood of a cab than see the tolex. i don't gig anymore so i'm not worried about my cabs getting damaged. even though after the refinish they do have a rustic look to them. and i enjoy it so much i am thinking about building cabs myself. i am about to pick another unloaded cab shell up this weekend hopefully.

the first cab i did was my old peavey celestion loaded 4x12. the next cab i refinished was a valve junior 1x12 along with the head too. the cab that i refinished after that and the one that looks the best so far is a marshall 1960bv. it had mold in the grill and on the inside. tolex was really old and was almost flaking off. i've also gotten really good at getting tolex glue off now. it's messy but it's fast. i just use water and rubbing alcohol and a piece of crap orbital sander.

I don't really have any before pics of the peavey cab.
but here are some pics of the valve junior cab i redid. this is during the refinish. i wish i would have taken before pics but just imagine it with black tolex.



the last image shows it sitting on the refinished peavey cab.

and here is the marshall.








i'd eventually like to do something like this with an orange cab as well.

[murkofaeons]

Caldurham, looks great! I've seen plenty of cabs with the tolex removed and the cab stained. I think they always looks very classy.

I'm planning to take the front baffle out and bleach all the moldy spots inside and out. The tolex is pretty unsalvageable at this point, so removing it will help me assess the structure of the cab.


Got any ideas where to source good Baltic birch plywood?

[caldurham]

Got any ideas where to source good Baltic birch plywood?

that i do not. if you're in the states i know home depot can order it for you. and i think lowes can too. but i am not sure. it is kind of pricey for a 4'x8' sheet of it. i am trying to find a better source that has it on hand. i'm in the nashville area in tn with the gibson plant and there are a few specialty lumber shops in the area. i need to go scope these places out. if you have anything like that around you that would probably be your best bet.