My homebrew "Knotty Pine Blues" amp!

[Vec]

Hi all....forum newbie Vaughn here again!

Being an electronic tech by profession, I've built a number of amps over the years and they were mainly head/cab configuration...so I thought it was time to try my hand at building an interesting combo amp for gigging with my weekend band. With this amp, I wanted to try something different and make it a faded blue jeans color on knotty pine. So, I went to my local Lowe's and found the wood and stain I needed, and I already had an empty tweed style chassis laying around...so the devious plan was put into motion. So, last summer, out of a pile of sawdust and solder fumes, out popped my "Knotty Pine Blues" combo amp...and I've been gigging it ever since. And it sounds great with my new Hallmark 60 Custom guitar, BTW.

It's a dual 6L6, class AB, tube rectified, 45 watt configuration with an unusual speaker configuration of one 10" Jensen Neo and one 12" Jensen Neo speaker. It has a nice round tone and the dissimilar speakers seem to create a swirly effect when you stand in front of the amp.

I'm new to the Forum...so I thought you all might get a kick out of seeing my garage built faded blue jeans "Knotty Pine Blues" amp:

[Veenture]

Hey Vec,
what a nice surprise and treat you're giving us! I was meaning to ask you about your avatar ever since your intro but you beat me to it, cool! Wow, the amp’s so cool, it is just begging for a Sparkle Blue or a Solid Blue or a Blue Burst Mo' to keep it company! (Heck, …or a Sunburst …or a CAR …or a …xxx)

Have you thought of putting your own logo on it ? -like dotting the "i". I’m sure that "VAUGHN" would simply stand out proud! BTW and what about putting patents on your ideas (dual speaker comb.) and design for such a unique amp?!

I like combo’s myself and have two Fenders; a Solid State Princeton 112-plus from the late 80’s (nifty little thing) and a Custom Vibrolux Reverb Reissue (tube) that I treated myself to last year …and currently saving up for a “Vaughn”...

I’m envious of your skills and I’m sure that all of us here on the forum -and especially our project builders- would be SO interested to know how you manage to make such wonderful things out of a mere "pile of sawdust and solder fumes" (!)…right guys? (Now for that pic of your SUNSET SPARKLE in front of the K.P.B.)

Thanks for sharing!

[GattonFan]

Great looking amp! Did you use blue dye, or trans paint to get that effect?

[Veenture]

Great looking amp! Did you use blue dye, or trans paint to get that effect?

...I'm just wondering if anybody has ever tried covering an amp cabinet with the REAL thing?! ...like cutting up an old pair of blue jeans...never seen one! ...hint...

[Dennisthe Menace]

Veenture posted:

Have you thought of putting your own logo on it ?

How about................."VecTec" ?......

[Strat-o-rama]

I bet that baby stands out on stage! Nice work, Vec.
Is it a tweed Bassman type circuit?

[Mr. Bill]

Vec:
Really nice job there. I've always loved the sound of dual mis-matched speakers, like on the old Gibsons. Big bottom end from the 12 and great midrange from the 10. Very Cool!

Veenture:
There was an amp with denim looking covering back in the early seventies (?). I can't remember if it was the Gibson SG series or Crate or another brand. It wasn't real fabric, it was vinyl that was made to look like denim.

[64sunburst]

Cool looking amp. Dual 6L6 @ 45 watts sounds just right to me, and I like the idea of the 10" and 12" combo. I'd like to hear it.

[Vec]

I bet that baby stands out on stage! Nice work, Vec.
Is it a tweed Bassman type circuit?

Sort of...the circuit sort of combines parts of a few different amps that I liked over the years with a few ideas of my own. I was seeking the tone & feel somewhere between Fender tweed & blackface...with that loose wirey character of a tweed but with the clean headroom and tighter bottom of a blackface but without being too squeaky clean or stiff either...and I think I've about got it where I want it. But, who knows when another idea or tone might start the creative juices flowing again . And I was lucky enough for the amp to work well with my homebrew dual channel OD pedal.

[Vec]

Great looking amp! Did you use blue dye, or trans paint to get that effect?

Thanks. I got the blue oil based stain at my local Lowe's store, applied it with a brush, and wiped off the excess with a rag. And, fortunately, there was enough of the natural pine color still showing through the blue stain to give me the faded blue jeans look I was seeking. A day or so after the stain dried, I gave the amp a couple of coats of clear polyurethane...and, by that time, I had the chassis far enough along for its initial smoke test .