August 27, 2018

Does this TV cart look like a speaker cab?

Yes, I see it! If a Toaster oven can become an amp, surely this will live again as a speaker cab.

I built this TV cart using solid mahogany back in the mid '80s when woodworking was my passion. The shelves are one piece mahogany planed to a full inch thickness and the end frames are 1-1/8" thick. All dowel joinery. It's very sturdy.  A 25" RCA clunker sat on it for about 20 years.Then I upgraded to a 32" clunker so the TV cart just sat around collecting dust for several more years. When my daughter, Megan, moved out she took it and used it for a printer, router, and miscellaneous computer stuff. Now she's married and setting up a nest for the arrival of my grandson in September so the TV cart came home. It's a lot more beat up than I remembered.

Two of the casters had come loose so I took it to the shop to epoxy the sockets to the legs. After the repairs it just sat around the shop for a while, getting shuffled around everytime I needed to open another cabinet door. So if it's gonna just be in my way I decided to give it away or put it in the fireplace. That's when I started thinking...

Let's set an amplifier on it! And put some speakers in it. Some careful measurements revealed that a 1x15" or 2x12" were out of the question, so I started thinking about a 2x10. While researching 10" speakers I remembered that I still had the original Sunn 12" alnico drivers. So I decided to just build a 1x12 and use one of those. That makes it a cheap project too!

Kinda looks musical just sitting there. My first idea was to build a 1x12 cab that would sit on the lower shelf and then put a head on top.
That idea quickly gave way to just modify the cart to be the cab. I already have all the scraps and most of the hardware on hand.


This simple project consists of 5 pieces of scrap plywood, some wooden cleats, and a handful of hardware. I just built it on the fly with no plans. Just a bit of head scratching, a little elbow grease, and a few Ice House brews.


All woodworking is done. While I'm waiting for the grill cloth I'll touch up some of those scars. Megan had carved her name on it when she was young. I'll leave her "character" marks to show Tristan one day. Then I'm gonna give him a knife and sent him home. Maybe he has a creative side too! Hahaha...


Megan's handiwork. Hey dad. I can spell my name! Some would put this on the back of the cab but I'm gonna leave it on the front.


That cane grill cloth sure is bright. I may give that a light coat of shellac just to give it a bit of yellow tone.




All done. Looks like it could be sitting in the living room again. Not sure about the Hampeg though. I'm gonna try some other speakers. That Sunn sounds like it was rode hard in it's previous life. Hoping to find a speaker with strong tight bottom and clear top end for my Hampeg. Looking for a clean sound. This cab is too heavy to be used for a gig rig.


Finally got a decent speaker thanks to SILVERGUN. This Electro Voice EVM-12L makes the Hampeg sound really big. Unfortunately, I still sound like me, playing with two left hands!

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