The Steel Guitar Forum

Help! I have an early 70s Fender Quad Reverb. It has four 12s in it. It is probably the best sounding amp I've ever had but it is a monster---heavy and bulky. I've been thinking about cutting it down and putting a 15" in it. I can't see how it is mounted unless there are grooves in the sides and the board is slid in. Help me!-----Eddie

I have a '74 Twin Reverb that has dados (slots) cut in the side panels of the cabinet and the baffle is glued in. The grille is on a separate frame that is Velcroed to the front of the baffle.

The only way to replace the original baffle would be to cut it out flush with the side panels and install cleats to mount the new baffle to. Of course then it wouldn't be "original" anymore...

Just looked at this post again. If you pull the chassis out of the cabinet you should be able to see where the slots in the side panels extend above the baffle.
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<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Mark Herrick on 17 November 2004 at 11:40 PM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Mark Herrick on 18 November 2004 at 11:51 AM.]</p></FONT>

Thanks Mark' I was pretty sure that the set up you described was right. As far as it being original anymore, I don,t really care. I'll have a great tube steel amp. I had rather sell it than alter it but no one seems intrested in an amp that big. It would make a great studio amp or for someone that plays a regular gig and did'nt have to move it very often. Anyway, I have other vintage Fender amps so changing this one won,t upset me. Thanks once again,--------Eddie

Like Mark said, I did an older Twin with a Sawzall, you can flex the saw blades as not to dig up the tolex

If you're going thru all this trouble to modify the cabinet, why not just build a "head" cab for it, and get a separate 15" speaker cab ?....It would be lighter and easier to move around....Just a thought..
Sincerely, Jim

"Quack" has the right idea.

That Twin cabinet I mentioned was/is in pretty rough shape. At one time I considered cutting the original baffle out, replacing it with at single 15" baffle and doing a re-tolex job. After calculating the effort and cost involved I ended up just buying a replacement cabinet with a 15" baffle.

Wow! Quad Reverb...one COOL AMP!

Eddie,
I have a nice Fender Twin head cab that was owned by MR Lloyd Green, available.
Let me know if you have interest.

Thanks,
Bob
270-780-9826

<SMALL>Wow! Quad Reverb...one COOL AMP!</SMALL>

it would seem a shame to chop it up...

If it was me I'd opt for a new cabinet, either a head only or a 15 combo, and put the original in storage...

in a perfect world where $$ is no object

I'm with Dave on this. Buy a head cabinet for the chassis (Mojotone, about $200) or build one yourself. If nothing else, you can just take some lumber yard boards and build your own "crate."

You can turn the old cabinet into a speaker cabinet, although it will still be big and heavy. If you want to keep it open backed, you can close up the front slot with something easily removable (for later conversion back to stock); or you can put a closed back on it and convert it into a reflex Thiele cabinet. To do this, attach a horizontal board flush at the bottom of the slot. It should be a close fit at the front and sides, with about a 3/4" to 1" slot between the back of the board and the closed back. The closed back can be plywood painted flat black. It wont be perfectly tuned, but it will still have better reinforced lows than an open-back cabinet. Also, reflexing the mids and highs out the front makes it louder. I did this with a 15" speaker in a Vibrasonic cabinet - incredible sound. Any of the above can easily be removed for back-to-stock conversion.

But, just to let you know about the other option, I recently sawed out the baffle of a late '70s silver-face Pro Reverb. I just slightly angled a hand circular power saw to keep from chewing up the tolex. There were a few nicks in it, but I just dabbed flat black over them and they were mostly covered up by the grill. I then chisseled it off flush with the inside of the cabinet sides. To attach the new plywood baffle, I used 1 x 1 strips and wood screws. I cut everything very carefully and screwed it really tight, to get a good seal. Ideally you would use wood glue, but I had in the back of my mind that I might want to put the two 12s back in some day for resale.

This Pro 1x15 is great, but even if the two 12s are put back in, it is altered from stock and might not get as high a price with knowledgeable collectors who take the grill off or notice the 1 x 1 strips (they can be painted black to make them less noticable). I can't tell that any of this affects the sound. So a musician who just wants a great amp to play probably wont care. I wouldn't.

I'm sure there are plenty of guys on this forum with wood working ability's that could build you just what you need !!...If not ...... http://www.vibroworld.com/parts/tech21.html

These guys are also very reputable...
http://www.avatarspeakers.com/ <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by James Quackenbush on 23 November 2004 at 11:49 AM.]</p></FONT>

Hi Guys: I've already forgotten about the idea of reworking the cabinet. It's just to nice of an amp to butcher. I don't really need it for a steel amp but it would be a "killer". This thing sounds like a juke box--especially with a Gibson 335 or a Les Paul plugged into it. The only problem is---what good is a great sound if you can't take it with you. It's just to big to move everytime the phone rings. I'm quite capable of building and covering a new cabinet but I think I'll just forget it. I would sell this amp for 500.00 if anyone is intrested. Thanks guys for your input----------Eddie

What i do is to just make a new cabinet, same specs as the orig Fender cab, but old style with the mountable front baffle. You can make it much lighter and make it for a 15" if that's what you want. To take it a step further, you can get a nice board at Home depot for about 20-30 bucks, and make a natural wood cab which looks fantastic! I've made them with white pine which is great, poplar which the board i got had a beautiful grain to it but they're usually pretty plain, and cedar which is absolutely gorgeous but is a pain in the keester to work with. On mine i make the joints with hand made dove tails which look really cool.

All in all you can:

1. Build a beautiful cab nobody else has

2. not tear up or otherwise destroy the orig Fender cab

3. make it lighter and with the speaker compliment that you want

If anybody is interested i have pics of a twin i did and an Evans, made of poplar and white pine, respectively.

I'll help in any way i can to keep you guys from tearing up your orig cab you never know, it may be worth a fortune some day and those chassis are too easy to just drop into something else if that's what you want


PMS

PS-my e-mail has changed to psmith@lsuhsc.edu, not sure how to change that in my profile <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Patrick Smith on 29 November 2004 at 07:12 PM.]</p></FONT><FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Patrick Smith on 29 November 2004 at 07:13 PM.]</p></FONT>