So, I’m cheap and I’m crawling the used market looking for a mark bass amp, cabinets or combos.
I found acab that is in my price range but I still need an amp.
I pulled the head on this SWR working mans 12" 100w I have and it looks like I might be able to just build an enclosure and use it as a temporary head with a cab.
Has anyone done this before? I’m trying to build a lighter rig for gigging and this SWR speaker and enclosure is super heavy.
Unless you know what you’re doing I would be extremely careful with building an amp enclosure from scratch as due to the power levels the shock hazard is high if you don’t ensure proper insulation and grounding.
That’s not to say not to do it, but make sure you’re well informed first.
In this case it’s likely not so bad as the baseplate and backplate are already covering the meat of the internal enclosure there but I would ask an expert that’s done this before. @terb is probably a good choice.
Yea it has a full plate on the bottom. The pain is the front is an angle but I don’t care if it hangs over since that’s what it does already. I could either go the heavy route and build a full plywood box. Or I could be risky and bend a metal top for it. There are 4 threadded bolt holes in the top.
It’s basically an enclosure in a plywood box. I’m building another plywood box to put it in. It has a metal bottom and the caps don’t touch.
I could probably do with a c cheaper tip but I’m doing a full sleeve just to ensure there is 0 chance for warping and accidental grounding even though this thing is thick steel.
Speaking of being afraid to cut the panels hahahahaha last time I take AI advice to build something. I knew it was wrong and I just built it anyway. Hahahaha. Time for some creative cutting. Least I got in some good practice. It came together way too easy anyway.
At least there is a light at the end of the tunnel. In case anyone is wondering why I am engaging in this madness, here is my gear acquisition of the day
Well banana banana I’m still here…
Had to cut this box down and re glue/screw then there was a little kerfuffle with the bolt pattern but it’s screwed in there and ready for action.
I threaded a strap through the side for a handle since the home Depot cabinet handle I bought was trash.
It’s not pretty but I’m about to fire it up and see if it works.
The speaker out for the combo speaker might be a different size, probably because they didn’t want people to power another speaker with it
The external speaker out should be 1/4". Not sure if you can use it without the internal speaker though.
It would probably have been easier to sell the combo and search for a second hand one ticking all the boxes (weight, power…) or just get another amp head for the Markbass. There are a few available for less than 150$ with more than 200W (Warwick Gnome, tc electronic BQ250…).
Yea it works through the cab out. It’s a 100w/160w combo it’s heavy though. I have it up for sale but $100-150 is probably the most I can get for it and my only other amp is a rumble 40
