Bandmaster like CAB

[bluescaster]

Hi,

I'm building a 1x12 cab for my amp. I would like to build something with the look of a Bandmaster cab. My questions are:

How to maintained the baffleboard ? There is no visible screws.

Is the grillcloth directly staple on baffleboard or is there another board in front of the baffle ? In this case, how this boad is maintained on it ?

If somebody have pictures it would be very nice !

Regards.

[Ken Moon]

The old Fender cabs had a single front baffle with the grille cloth pulled and stapled directly to it, and the speakers mounted from the back.

Then the baffle is held against a frame of 1x1 cleats that goes all the way around, with a bunch of wood screws.

If you search for images of bandmaster cabs, you'll find lots of them that willl give you a good look from the backside, like this one:

[img:620:465]http://a5.images.reverb.com/image/uploa ... sn70id.jpg[/img]

[Ken Moon]

On their combo amps, Fender liked to use "double screws" (there's a technical name for them but I can't remember it right now), that have wood screw threads on one end and machine screw threads on the other. These are sold by several amps parts places, and I even found some at Home Depot. But on most standalone cabs they simply attached the speakers to the baffle board with short wood screws. Here's a Super combo:

[img768]http://littlebrotherblues.com/Gear/Blac ... 301090.JPG[/img]

The grille cloth is usually pulled around the edges of the baffle board about 1 inch from the edge, and held down with a lot of staples, kind of like this (this guy went even farther by adding screws to the staples):

[img:760:632]http://www.carltonguitars.com.au/resour ... 3_4_38.jpg[/img]

Another option is to put the staples along the outside edges. Many folks have come up with cool ways to get a good stretch - this is my favorite:

[img1200]https://courses.physics.illinois.edu/ph ... oard11.JPG[/img]

[Ken Moon]

Here is the speaker mounting screw used on the combo amps:

[img:592:481]http://www.mojotone.com/Speaker-Mountin ... -image.jpg[/img]

http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/Speak ... z10tfk7ssA

[AcornHouse]

Fender also glues the grill cloth on the back along with the staples (as I found out when I went to remove the cloth from a Blues Jr. baffle.)

[bluescaster]

Thank you very much. On the Super cab, we can't see any screw at the bottom of the board, Super has Floating board ?

[billyz]

Don't forget the 1/4" x 1" lathe around the front perimeter of the baffle to hold the grill cloth away from the baffle. Prevents the grill from slapping the baffle board. Fender stapled the grill to the edge of the baffle , no glue was used. The whole baffle assembly is held to the cabinet by the internal wood screws , from the inside perimeter. The old baffles used standard machine screws to hold the speaker. But those fancy dual threaded ones look cool.

[billyz]

Thank you very much. On the Super cab, we can't see any screw at the bottom of the board, Super has Floating board ?

Yes, the super reverb and all pre cbs combos used a floating baffle. Only the blackface used particle board, all other pre cbs used ply baffles.

[AcornHouse]

Fender stapled the grill to the edge of the baffle , no glue was used.

They may not have done it in the past, but they are now. I just made a new baffle rather than trying to get the cloth off.

[billyz]

Fender stapled the grill to the edge of the baffle , no glue was used.

They may not have done it in the past, but they are now. I just made a new baffle rather than trying to get the cloth off.

Yes, I was specifically describing a pre cbs cabinet. As that is what he had pictured.

[Ken Moon]

I'm surprised Fender started putting glue on the grille cloth. It must make a sticky mess, and as noted, makes it virtually impossible to get off if you want to replace it.

Stapling the grille cloth, especially around the corners, can be a PITA but you just have to be patient and try different ways of folding and stapling (especially the corners) until you come up with a method that you feel comfortable with.

An electric stapler is a must, and try to find nice strong staples about 1/2" long. I use the stapler to get just a little more "pull" on the grille cloth as I put each staple in at a diagonal, and staple one long side first (starting with the middle staple and going out evenly to the right and left until I finish that side), followed by the opposite long side, then the other two sides.

I'm glad billyz remembered to mention the lathe strips in between the front edges of the cloth and the front baffle. I didn't catch on to this when I first looked at pics of Fender cabs, but since then, I've seen some pics with the cloth removed, and they definitely did use them.

The older cabs were also stuffed wall to wall with big thick pieces of yellow fiberglass, and I hate fiberglass, but if you want to be totally authentic, you should use it. Me, I like to rip the fiber out of a $5 pillow from Target and use that instead, if I want stuffing (stuffing supposedly makes the cab sound larger than it is).