Official Luthiers Forum!

Brad Goodman sent me a great piece of ziricote for my amp project's
faceplate. I can't wait to get this all in the cabinet and ready to go, but I
have one more parts order to go before I get there. The only thing
missing is the inlay of my lion between the on/off switch and last knob;
and I think I might try silver or copper wire on it afterall (if they may a
brass, bronze, or copper inlay wire).    

If you look at a Matchless amp, they have a baffle under the dials. That
baffle will cover 3/8"s on the sides and 3/4" on the bottom. That will put
the dials in the vertical in the center. The baffle will be covered in the
paisely seen in the first pic. The rest of the cab will be a smooth black
leatherette seen in the background of the first pic.





James Orr38889.8813888889

Hey James, the top picture makes me want to advise you to go back through your wiring and check for "shorts".

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

[QUOTE=Don Williams] Hey James, the top picture makes me want to advise you to go back through your wiring and check for "shorts".

[/QUOTE]

Maybe he's auditioning for the Chili peppers

_________________
Jim Kirby
kirby@udel.edu

Sound effects: VWAH WAH WAHHHHH

It's going to be cool! lolJames Orr38889.8917013889

[QUOTE=Don Williams] Hey James, the top picture makes me want to advise you to go back through your wiring and check for "shorts".

[/QUOTE]

Yeah, no need to check, there they are!!!!

that's the coolest face plate I've ever seen John How38889.9028356482

_________________
Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Thanks Hesh! I'm trying to figure out the finish. I don't think a glossy
finish would look right, but I'm afraid a semi-gloss would be a big
reflection of white. I'll likely finish with danish oil and wax. Do you have
any ideas?

And thanks John!

James, ever use Micro Mesh? If you go up to 12000 it will have a deep rich luster without any finish.

James, my friend, I have to say that your choice of speaker cloth doesn't do anything for that ziricote except insult it.    Since I've now put my foot across the threshold without being invited, I'd like to suggest that you use something that will set off the wood...maybe a black or chocolate brown cloth with gold inclusions like Vox's cloth. Or maybe something lighter to match the knobs. In any case, no heavy or busy patterns! I'd like to conclude by apologizing for my outburst and saying that I'm shutting up now.

James, i can't wait to see the finished product of your project, really interesting! Serge Poirier38890.0023263889

Carlton, all I've offered here is my creativity, and you come through to
slash my dreams.

JUST KIDDING!   The paisely would be horrendous, wouldn't it? haha. No
no, the paisely won't be the speaker cloth, it will cover a decorative baffle
that goes around the faceplate. The cabinet will be black, and the
faceplate will be this brown, so I wanted to help make it less dark and add
a little hope and optimism to it. Something friendly and cool. The
speaker cloth I'll be ordering is the same as the marshall bluesbreaker
cloth.

Thanks Paul. I was actually going to do something similar tomorrow. I've
never used micromesh, but I was thinking about sanding it up pretty
high. I would go to 600 if were to oil/wax it, so why not keep going? It's
a small enough piece that it wouldn't be too toilsome.

Thanks, serge!

[QUOTE=James Orr]the paisely won't be the speaker cloth, it will cover a decorative baffle
that goes around the faceplate.[/QUOTE]
Whew!!! Sorry for misreading your intent.    Now, about that "decorative baffle"...

James,
that's going to look great! For whatever it's worth, I think you'll need
some kind of surface finish on that ziricote. In about a month of using it,
you'll have dark circles around the knobs from the oil in your hands, if
you don't finish it with a solid finish. Even an oil finish won't prevent it
from darkening. Why not use a satin or completely flat lacquer or
waterborne finish? You won't even be aware of it being there.

As far as the wire inlay is concerned, I'd use square gold wire you can buy
at a number of jewelry makers web sites. Copper or brass will tarnish
even under the finish and just won't keep the sparkle of gold. It's not
expensive either, something like $10 for 50 ft (20 gauge).
Craig S.

James,
   Are you planning on any screening for the functions of the knobs or just leaving it blank under or over them.

   I built a pair of amps in the past and when it came time for me to label the faceplates, I used rub-on letter in white from an A.C. Moore craft supply store. They measured about 1/8" high and looked alot like they were screened on like at Fender or Marshall. I rubbed them on in place and then sprayed a sealer over them to lock them down and followed that with a few coats of satin lacquer that looked nice over it when it set up.

   The amp looks great, by the way!

Regards,
Kevin Gallagher/Omega Guitars

[QUOTE=Kevin Gallagher] James,
   Are you planning on any screening for the functions of the knobs or just leaving it blank under or over them.[/QUOTE]
Masking tape and a Sharpie?

Thanks a bunch, Kevin. I don't think I'm going to label the controls. It
would be better to, but I can't think of an aesthetically pleasing way. I
may simply write with a white pencil to keep the grassroots look of it
going. I know what the controls are (volume, treble, bass, master), but I
know other people will probably want to play with the amp.