The Steel Guitar Forum

Because of lack of supply and cost I am building a speaker cabinet to mount a Quilter Tone Block 202 and a 15" speaker.
Can anyone recommend a minimum thickness of plywood I should use?
I am planning to build it similar to the Quilter 15” BlockDock cabinet.
Does anyone know if the 19”x19.75”x12” dimension of this cabinet are inside or outside dimensions?
Any help would be apprieciated.
Thanks
Evan

3/4" is the most common, I built a guitar cab once from 1/2", but most are 3/4". Void free wood will keep noises down.
Generally dimensions are outside measurement.

The BlockDock 15 cabinet is open at the back so I'm wondering: Why those dimensions specifically? To just look like the Quilter cabinet? I'm sort of in the same boat as you. I just bought and reconed two EV SRO15L speakers and originally thought to build a 12x28x33 bassman cabinet but now am leaning toward building two separate sealed smaller cabinets. Since I don't expect to need the distance efficiency a ported cabinet or folded horn affords, I think a sealed cabinet is the way to go. 3/4 inch plywood is good for not being resonant and being sturdy but it weighs a lot. I have tons of pine so I think I'll tongue and groove pieces for the box and use 3/4 MDO for the front, both for the deadness and the dimensional stability. I'm interested to see where you decide to go with this.

Here is an EV design, I built one for my wife back in the 80's. I can't tell you how many times we've played 100-150 seat venues with this cab instead of her Cerwin Vega cab!
Similar dimensions with an open back should work for steel!
http://www.realoldiesradio.com/docs/EV/ ... _TL606.pdf

I have a Travis Toy 12 combo amp. The speaker specs for the 12 are outside dimensions so I would assume the specs for the 15 are also outside dimensions. The speaker is a front mount. The grille assembly is velcro attached.

The rear of the cabinet is not a straight "open back". Its customized to house the TB202 amp. A little complex. Probably never be able to clone it.

not exactly what you wanted, but there is a quilter 15" cab in the for sale section:

https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtop ... highlight=

Maybe post this inquiry in the "Builders Corner".

Hi Evan,

Here's a link to Baltic Birch plywood. I think the 15mm thick (about 5/8" thick) is optimal for cabinet speakers.

https://www.westwindhardwood.com/produc ... h-plywood/

Pros: high quality (usually very flat), free of voids or knots, light weight, next best thing to solid pine as a tonewood for cabinets.

Cons: expensive, and also this website states it's made in Russia, although the baltic birch ply I've used in the past was from Finland.

You may think about using solid pine for your cabinet.

Quilter has great customer service. If contacted they may supply you with a plan for the cabinet. A stretch I know but it can't hurt to ask.

Greg

Update, my Block Dock 12 cabinet (what is used for the Travis Toy 12) uses 3/4" material. I can't tell what the material is due to covering and paint. Quilter lists the empty cabinet as 15 lbs.

Hey Bill, thank you very much for the link to the EV design. I think you've changed my mind about the sealed cabinet approach. Do you have the port insert in or out on yours? Is it covered in tolex? What kind of screening to protect the cone?

Here is a picture of the cabinet I built originally for To house a Eminence EPS-15C. The cabinet is built out of close to 1/2" solid birch plywood I bought a Busy Beaver locally. and covered with auto trunk carpet. It is drilled to install an Evans top and bottom units out of a 12" amp. Sounded great till a Quilter 202 I ordered in Aug. 2021 And arrived on March 4th 2022 came on the scene.

The Area where the upper unit set gives me enough room to place a platform and mount the 202 Tone Block in the cabinet. With a hold down bar like the Quilter Dock uses to secure the Tone Block. But I would have a longer handle to span the 202 or make a heavy leather strap handle that would run from side to side across the top of the cabinet. With the speaker, The cabinet weighs 21 lb. With the 202 Tone Block would be 25 lb. Since it was built to use the Evans 2 piece amp. The cabinet has about 2 1/2" slots top and bottom for heat ventilation in the back.

Robert, that cab was my first attempt, and I had no way to radius the corners, so I made it look like the PA rack. I used upholstery material from a local shop, and the grill screen is just that! Since I was building it for bass, I used an EVM 15B, and I covered the port. (40 Hz is the low note for a bass guitar).

Thanks again Bill. I'll have to get my wife to break ours in with her bass when I'm done.