Hey Folks,

Many months ago I was asking you all for advice on what amp I should get. You talked me into a black faced Bandmaster. After getting one of those and having it freshened up by an amp tech, I had to make a cabinet for the speaker.

I decided to try my hand at some woodworking with nice woods. So the cabinet is mostly maple with cherry edges. I made the back convertible, so it can have the rear panel installed or removed. Filled with a Weber 12F150T. With a busy work schedule it took months to finish this all up. You all were such a great help that I thought I’d post some pics of the final setup. Especially big thanks to SURFmole who answered lots of my questions.

How does it sound…? Well, I think it’s amazing. Just super. I should have done this many years ago. But, to be honest, I don’t think my opinion is worth anything with regard to a recommendation of a Bandmaster. I’m comparing this amp to the lousy Peavey Audition 20 that I’ve had for about 20 years. Always hated that thing. It’s about the size of a reverb tank. So compared to that, I’m really in amp heaven. “Upgrade” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Now I need to play guitar to get my skills up to the level of this nice amp. Although it sure does make practicing more fun.

Here’s what it looks like…

And while I was building it, my gal asked why I was making an outhouse when we have a perfectly good, working toilet in the bathroom.

Some more pics…

Nice. I like DIY stuff. The baffle looks pretty thick....were the extra rings necessary?

Don

DannySnyder
Some nice woodworking skills there, good job. Are you planning on gigging with that or is it for home use?If gigging you may want to have a cover made for it.

Thanks Danny. I made this for home only. That’s one of the reasons why I used the pretty wood. It really ties the room together (better than Tolex). Besides, I’m not a good enough player to gig.

JetBlue
Nice. I like DIY stuff. The baffle looks pretty thick....were the extra rings necessary?

edit: just noticed the screw holes on the back panel....are those for a removable cover (closed back)?

Thanks. Yup, the screw holes on the back are, indeed, for the removable rear baffle (not shown in the photo).

Not sure if the extra ring was needed or not. But I overengineered the whole thing, so it won’t ever fall apart. The front baffle is 3/4” thick ply. Then I added another 3/4” thick ring to that for the screws holding in the speaker. So the speaker is mounted into 1.5” of wood, total. It won’t go anywhere. And if I ever decide to change speakers there’s lots of wood for new screw holes and such.

surferXmatt
Nice work - Maple sides, but what is the outer framing made of? Looks like Cherry or Alder.

Yep, that’s cherry. Thanks.

Good call Eddie. I think that is a must, the matching head cabinet.

eddiekatcher
And now for "Pandora's Box." That cabinet simply dictates a matching natural wood cabinet for the Bandmaster chassis......

trick really trick!

ed

Thanks Ed. But look at what you’ve started. ;)

I was thinking about the matching amp head and I’m on the fence about it. On one hand, yeah, it would look cooler, match the nice speaker cabinet, and fit in the living room better. On the other hand, that Bandmaster is my first piece of “real” guitar gear and, even as it is now, it’s still cool and novel for me to look at. Not to mention listen to. (Gonna get a new guitar when the weather warms up, too.) Admitedly, with my crazy work schedule, a lack of time to make the new amp head cabinet is also playing a role. I’ll think about. Maybe…

SURFmole-

You answered lots of my early questions, so an especially big thanks goes to you.

I thought about a roundover on the rings. Didn’t want to weaken the wood where the speaker gets mounted in. In the end, the whole cabinet is pretty overengineered, I guess. Stereo speakers are usually built such that you mount the speaker on the front of the baffle, not the rear of the baffle like this Weber. Anyways, that 3/4” dimension doesn’t even come close to the wavelength of the frequencies encountered from a guitar. And the speaker is so big (12”), too, so air movement from the edges shouldn’t be a problem. (I design stereo speakers, crossovers, etc. in one of my other hobbies.)

Besides, I like the sound so much that I don’t want to touch a thing at this, admittedly still early, stage. Have not even played with the open versus closed back.

The bass is really full and creamy. The highs are clear but not too pointy or sharp. It does a single coil proud. Overall it just sounds really nice. (Though my reverb tank and guitar need some help in the near future.) I wonder what is contributing to the characteristic sound of this amp. My current feeling is the biggest factor might be the large paper cone. Then it’s a tube amp and the smoothness inherent in tubes. Large paper cones can distort and break apart in a much smoother manner than, say, metal or poly cones. I like it.