Adding an External Speaker Jack to the Orange Crush 12 (or any guitar combo amp)

[@jonr4651]

Glad someone made this video. I knew it was possible to put in an ext out without a switch or extra box. But I wasn’t 100% confident on the wiring. Glad there’s someone putting that information out there instead of selling useless boxes to do the same thing.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for that feedback. I make these kinds of videos hoping they help someone else. It's good to get a comment like that.

[@muggins3000]

I just did this mod with my Crush 20 and it’s awesome! It was slightly more challenging as the amp chassis can be removed from these amps; I think there may be glue holding it into the cabinet. At any rate, the wiring is essentially the same. I dropped my new port in right next to the foot switch jack. Sounds amazing through my 212! Rock on!

[@musicalmiscellany]

Great to hear! I always hope these vids are helpful to someone and it sounds like you ended up with a much more functional combo. I don't know why they don't include the ext speaker jack from the factory.

[@muggins3000]

I think the 30 has one. They seem to add features as you move up. For me the foot switch was imperative, so I moved up to the 20. I guess they’re no fools! Anyway, thanks again. It’ll be great to get jam volumes out of this guy now.

[@davidpowers9023]

Thank you for creating this video! I want to add an Ext Speaker jack to my Orange Crush 35RT so I can run it into a 212 cab (not that the 10" speaker is lacking) and your demo gives me the confidence to get the job done right 😄

[@musicalmiscellany]

I’m glad it was helpful. I wish they’d just include it from the factory. Good luck.

[@Texas059]

Does the color of the wire matters if black or white

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@Texas059 The color doesn't matter but the polarity does. In other words + needs to got to + and - needs to go to - but the color doesn't really matter as long as you can tell which is which. Ultimately, a wire is a wire.

[@pauljw76]

Thank you for this video! Added 2 external shunt jacks to my Yamaha THR10II so I can get stereo effects with 2 external speakers.

[@musicalmiscellany]

I’m glad the video was helpful. Thanks for the comment.

[@cfh13]

Been wanting to do this mod to a Peavey Vip 3. I thought a shorting jack was the way to go but this is much easier.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out the vid. Good luck with the mod.

[@nickcorea8162]

This is great! I inherited an old 1st gen Talk Box that needs an amp for the signal. I have an little amp that I will be adding this ext speaker jack to. Thank you!

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@nickcorea8162 glad it was helpful. Thanks for watching

[@jerryhatrick5860]

Found one of these in the dump in the electronics boc. Nothing wrong with it I thought I'd have to repair it hahaha. He's sounding tiny practice amp I've ever used. I've been adding these Jack's to amps for years. I have so many speakers lol.. It's nice to play around and find what speaker sounds best with what amp. I bought and sold so many amps for nothing compared to what they are worth now. When younger. My ears sucked and speaker cabs were expensive for my income at the time.. The speaker can make or break an amp.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out the video. These small Orange combos really are pretty versatile once you add the speaker jack.

[@MaxNMyles]

great vid - now I want a cigar box guitar for slide stuff

[@musicalmiscellany]

CBGs are a lot of fun and super easy to build. Thanks for checking out the video. I hope it was helpful.

[@MaxNMyles]

@@musicalmiscellany yes - one of those things I've done before but forgot the wiring and needed a refresher. this was perfect for it. all small combos should come with those standard. many small amps sounds great (especially old solid state ones) they just have those crappy little speakers usually that holds back their true potential.

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@MaxNMyles I completely agree.

[@Tiny_Outdoors]

I literally just bought this amp for my cigar box guitar! I love how it sounds with yours an can’t wait to start practicing with it! Thanks for the awesome content!

[@musicalmiscellany]

Congrats. I think it pairs so well with CBG. I added a small reverb pedal on the back because I thought that was the only thing it was missing, but it does work really well with CBGs. Thanks for checking it out.

[@Tiny_Outdoors]

@@musicalmiscellany do you have any tips or pointers for a total beginner?

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@Tiny_Outdoors I have an entire playlist of CBG lessons. You can find it here: kzbin.info/aero/PLwIixlr7C6KXPJNtd6WUculsYimIwVOJ7

[@Tiny_Outdoors]

@@musicalmiscellany do you happen to know what settings to start off with to get that raspy blues sound with the dinner reverb pedal an this amp? I figured it was easier to ask before starting to mess with it so I can get it somewhat close lol

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@Tiny_Outdoors Check out this video... kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHm0lKJpfZhpnqM

[@SD0409]

This is the mod I've been wanting to do to my bass combo....

[@musicalmiscellany]

I hope the video was helpful. This mod should work on a bass combo. Just make sure you get a really good ground on the jack as bass combos tend to have more power.

[@SD0409]

@@musicalmiscellany It was helpfull and then some. Thanks for your reply and additional advice. 😀

[@rock2blues59]

I guess for today's video you could have used Gretchen Wilson's song " All Jacked Up " as a theme song. Great video!

[@musicalmiscellany]

Ha ha. That would've been perfect.

[@josiasacostagonzalez2410]

excellent video! Great edition, great explications... thanks a LOT!

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for watching. It's great to hear the vid was helpful to someone.

[@garydesrosiers5692]

Very informative video as always, still waiting to install my A12 ,just can't find the time,🤣,thanks Kale for sharing 👍

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for watching. Hopefully it helps you but i know we’ve all got more projects than time.

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@taak2217 Sorry you're having troubles. More details would be good here. Is the buzz sound coming out of the speaker when the external cable is plugged in? Or when it's not plugged in? Also, I'm assuming you mean the internal speaker is making the buzz but I could be wrong about that. Details are important when troubleshooting. Anyway, if the ext spkr cable is unplugged and you're still not getting sound out of the internal speaker, either you've got a bad connection or you reversed the shunt and tip/sleeve contacts.

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@taak2217 Since you're not getting sound out of either speaker, you're not passing current though the jack. Chances are you mixed up the tip/sleeve/shunt arrangement on the jack. It's easy to do. Double-check all 3 of those (trace the jack's terminal to the contact to be sure you've got it right). Remember... amp positive goes to tip, both negatives go to sleeve, speaker positive goes to shunt. If you still can't figure it out, try bypassing the jack (with alligator clips or something similar) to see if it the internal speaker works without the jack. In other words, ensure there's not a problem with the amp itself. If it works and you're 100% sure the tip/sleeve/shunt arrangement is correct, you might have a defective jack.

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@taak2217 I know it's frustrating when things don't work like they should. One other thing to suggest. Occasionally, small amps use a + grounding system (meaning you'd reverse the +/- arrangement). In that case, both positives go to the sleeve and the negatives go to tip/shunt. You could try that. If that doesn't work, I'd suggest opening a thread on a pedals forum or sub-Reddit. As you point out, troubleshooting via KZbin comments is not ideal. Post a pic with the description of the issue and you'll probably get help a lot quicker. Good luck.

[@ironfactoryeast]

Thanks for this cool hack!

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for watching. I am hoping it will be helpful to a lot of folks.

[@danielgribble1113]

Nice video….now I know what’s inside without taking apart!

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out the vid. Glad it was helpful.

[@KennethCrickmore-sl8jl]

I have a first version Blackstar ID: Core stereo 40 which a will soon add a pair of switched 24" jacks because the amp is in fact stereo abd has a oair of 4 0hm 6.5: speakers so 2 jacks that will drive a pair of external speaker cabs that i will build and be sure that the impedance is 4 ohms for each cab.. thes will be vertical tower cabs that will have any sizee speakers from 6.5 full range up to 12" woofers but any version I build will be ported to get some bass regardless of the speaker size i use. 12" or 10" will be 4X 8" will be 6X and 6.5" will be 8X with the port in the middle half way down the front of the cabs. I have designs for all but haven't decided what size speakers I will use. when the external speaker jacks are in use they will disable th internal speakres so I can stnd the cabs side by side and lay the amp on top face down with the controls facing forward. so in effect I will have a 'Full Stack' or the cabs can stand to either side of my 100" screen on the wall for my home theater projector and the they can also be hooked into the system through a custom switching box i designed for that as well I can choose both the source and destination with the switching box so i can go from amp to surround system CD input and to all the speakers including the external tower cabs and the powered subwoofer too.. The guitar is a severely modified "Starcaster"- "Strat Electric Guitar By: Fender" with a custom stars and Planets outer space theme paint on both the body and head stock is complemented by the hand made brushed stainless steel extended pick guard that covers the extended control cavity that was needed tp accommodate the 3 quad rail/coil humbuckers and the 6 500K pots , 4 are P/P and 2 regular. 3 of the P/P are for Vol.. and coil split. the 2 regulars are tone ant the last P/P in the bridge tone pos. is also to activate the bridge and neck Pickups together regardless of any other controls. I upgraded from the PCB 5-way switch to a Fender 5-way blade switch. the total control circuit all works as designed. basic wiring is Like a '50's Les Paul with coil splits and I used ,047 orange drop tome caps for that clean bright Strat like tone that is enhanced by the coil splits as well. I simply added a 3rd pot paifor the 3rd pickup in my guitar. The pots are in 2 crescent rows to 3, with the upper for Vol and the lower for tone. The output jack in also mounted in the pickguard just behind the Bridge which got a new full size brass sustain block and roller saddles. the headstock got a titanium nut, roller string tree and licking tuners. I oriented the active coils when split so that the active coils are toward the bridge for the afore mentioned clean bright Strat Like tone. the 9-46 set of strings is tuned to E-Flat just like any 'Good' Strat should be tuned.. the number of tones available from this unique and very cool guitar are too many t even try to count, and when added to what is available from the tony stereo amp with all it's built in effects and available online programing from the "Architect" software to modify and adjust them , well there we are... Wanna Play???

[@musicalmiscellany]

Sounds like a fun project. Thanks for checking out the video. Good luck.

[@leejohnson3209]

I've got a Vox li'l night train head 5w that I'd love to be able to hook up to my Orange Crush 30r 10" speaker. Would be nice to have the spring reverb and control in the Orange still operational and be able to switch to the Vox when plugged in. Essentially just turning the Orange combo amp into a cab (with spring reverb) for the Vox. Is that even possible? I like the Orange's speaker tone and the spring reverb is lush, otherwise I'd just buy a 1x10 cab and reverb pedal, obviously!

[@musicalmiscellany]

Turning the Orange into a speaker cab is a pretty easy mod. It would be similar to what is in this video but use 2 standard mono jacks instead of 1 shunted jack. Connect the power leads and the speaker leads to their own jacks and mount them. Then connect the two jacks with a small cable (you'll probably want to make this yourself) when you want to use it in combo mode. This would allow you to use the Orange as a combo (both jacks connected), head (power jack connected to ext cab), or speaker cab (ext power connected to speaker jack) depending on which jack(s) are in use. However, the spring reverb part would be a lot more difficult. First of all the reverb is applied to the guitar signal, not the power signal, so you couldn't use a signal cable. Also, because the reverb requires power, the amp would need to be powered on when you want to use the reverb. I haven't looked inside, but there's probably some sort of preamp and recovery amp on the main circuit board. So you'd have to figure out where those are located and tap the signals there. Then you'd probably want to add a bypass switch so you still use the reverb with the combo. Provided you accomplished all that, you'd have to run your guitar signal through he reverb section, then to the head, then run the power from the head back to the cab. It would be a lot of work but it is doable. It would probably be a lot easier to just buy a reverb pedal.

[@EXSENTRIX]

Man! I'm really digging this!

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking it out. I hope it's helpful.

[@EXSENTRIX]

@@musicalmiscellany Extremely helpful thank you very much. I love doing stuff like this and now I also feel more confident buying this amp. I've thought about that mod before but wasn't exactly sure how it was done. This makes me happy.

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@EXSENTRIX That's good to hear. I hope you like the amp. It really is a great bedroom amp for the price and this mod makes it a lot more useful.

[@coreykeller5856]

I need a video to show how to hook up and be able to still use both sets of speakers

[@musicalmiscellany]

Luckily I have that video too. kzbin.info/www/bejne/omfXqaqen8p2brM

[@rafaelmeletti]

Just bought a used Crush 12 which I'm wlling to convert to a Tiny Terror Valve clone. It was good to see how the cassis is inside. It will need some mods, but it is doable, to have the valves pelow the amp, justvlike a 5e3 or 5f1.

[@musicalmiscellany]

That sounds like a fun project. Post a link when you get it completed. I'd like to see what you did. Thanks for checking out this vid and good luck.

[@JakeStrange66]

Glad I did the hook up BEFORE drilling a hole in my amp!!!! Either it doesn't work or I have two bad jacks ....which doesn't seem likely to get two defective jacks. Edit - tested one of the jacks & it's getting signal. So the jack is good. Tested the cable. It's good. There's something missing here.

[@musicalmiscellany]

It's not likely that you'd have 2 bad jacks, so there's probably something wrong with the wiring scheme or you've got the wrong kind of jack. First things first, you did get a 12A shunted mono jack and not a 12B stereo jack, correct? They look very similar.

[@JakeStrange66]

Yeah I have the correct jack. Just tested one of them & it's good. Tested my cable & it's good. I'll figure it out. Just not sure why I'm having trouble with something this simple. 🤷 I mean, I do all the maintenance on my guitars, I've replaced capacitors & resistors in entire stereo receivers...so this is pretty basic in comparison. But I should figure it out. I probably just make some rookie mistake or something. 😂

[@JakeStrange66]

@@musicalmiscellany & that's exactly what I did ... rookie mistake. 🤣

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@JakeStrange66 Glad you got it figured out. Have fun.

[@pandinusimperator4974]

Thank you! Great video, just what I was looking for. I have an old 65 VOX Pathfinder (great amp by the way) and I need to be able to run it into a dynamic load box for recording late at night. Just subscribed to your channel. Thank you again!

[@musicalmiscellany]

I'm glad the video was helpful. Thanks for check it out.

[@jfrankcarr]

The Mosky Spring Reverb is a nice, inexpensive, reverb pedal. I used it a lot until I splurged and bought a Keeley Caverns.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Ah yes. Reverb pedals are another deep rabbit hole. LOL. The Caverns is definitely a nice one. Thanks for watching.

[@2witchita]

Great video How to. Right on.

[@musicalmiscellany]

thanks for checking it out. Hopefully it was helpful.

[@_-Unity-_]

Hi. First of thanks for the video. I have a peavey Bandit id like to turn into a head. If i just soldered the speaker wires to the jack would that work to plug into my 2x12? Hope that makes sense, im brand new to this stuff. Thanks

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out the video. If you followed the directions in this video that should work with the caveat that the 212 cab would need to the same impedance as the stock speaker. I believe most of these Peavey amps used an 8 ohm speaker so you'd want to find an 8 ohm 212 cab.

[@_-Unity-_]

Wow super fast reply! Subbed! Ya, i have a 2x12 8ohm cab. i was looking to take the peavey combo speaker right out and cut the cab down to look more like just a head. So i would then just need to attach the speaker wires from amp to the switchcraft jack, correct? Does it matter where the - and + wires go on the jack? Thank you and please forgive my stupidity❤

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@_-Unity-_ It sounds like you're on the right track. If you're not going to use the speaker at all, you can just use a standard 1/4" mono jack. Run the speaker wires to the jack, mount it, and plug in the cab in with a standard 1/4" speaker cable.

[@_-Unity-_]

Thank you! ❤

[@jimcamp2423]

Could always check the speaker cable that goes to the cab for Impedance, if the Combo speaker & Cab speaker are 1/2 or significantly less than the 7 Ohms, that the Combo speaker was originally the 2 speakers are in parallel. A 16 Ohm cab with the 8 Ohm Combo in parallel & then there are Impedance calculators that will tell you where the Impedance is set. Another way to do this is to add a toggle switch to switch from Combo to an external cab. I like the shunted jack better though. Also when you clipped the wires, you could've left more at the speaker terminals twisted the new wires & soldered those just the same. There was going to be more wire needed for the output jack anyway. The upside to doing it that way is that you don't need mew speaker crimp spades.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for watching the video.

[@Stevie_evie]

Similar video elsewhere talks about putting a resistor across two of the tabs on that newly added jack, and that way if a cable is plugged into it, but the other end of the cable isn't plugged into anything, you protect the amp from damage. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaCQk2dviraeeZI

[@musicalmiscellany]

You could certainly do that. It's good advice. However, it's not going to prevent the problem, it's just going to provide a very slight failure protection. He even mentions that in the video. Think about it this way, the average resistor is 1W or less. So if you have a 15W amp, that resistor will only protect from a 6.7% of the amp's output at most. If a surge is above that, the resistor won't do anything anyway. Obviously, there are 2W, 3W, 4W resistors that would offer a little more protection, but still... you need to be careful. The best thing to do is treat the cable with respect and always plug it into the speaker first (or even better, only plug/unplug when the amp is off). All of that said, it won't really hurt anything to add a small resistor so if it makes you feel better... go ahead and do it. 👍

[@Stevie_evie]

@@musicalmiscellany I know zero about it, just pasted it in blindly in case it was remotely useful. Cheers for elaborating on it 👍

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@Stevie_evie It's a good idea. I see what he was thinking. I'm just a fan of always treating current with respect and using the most foolproof method. Thanks for checking out my vid.

[@SlwRpr]

Hey, I'm 66 retired machinist last year, loved the drilling part, ha. Good job on the speaker out mod. I liked the cigar box guitar, did you make that? Good job young man.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking it out. I did make that CBG and it sounds really great. I've got a lot of CBG vids on my channel.

[@bobjohnston4325]

Kale, I thought that was so cool when I saw your first video using the shunted jack. This is even better. Now I have to order a second jack. Are you going to cause me to order a third or will I be safe in only ordering one?

[@musicalmiscellany]

Ha ha. Well... I don't have any other videos of this type currently planned. :-) You can't have too many around though I suppose.

[@williamcolvin3609]

More than likely a TDA2003 Power Transistor with a LM4558 Preamp driving the TDA2003 - same setup as in the Footnote Amp for $9.00 from Parts Express and it drives a 4 Ohm 6-1/2 inch speaker just fine. The 4 Ohm speaker will give twice the output power of the 8 Ohm speaker.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for watching the video. That's good information to know. I realize a lot of manufacturers rate these amps conservatively but I certainly wouldn't want to recommend people not match the supplied impedance - unless they have proof the amp is indeed stable at a lower impedance rating of course.

[@lone_wolf2453]

Can u do a video on adding fx loop.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out this vid. Adding FX Loop is actually a pretty difficult thing to do and it will be different for every amp. It's not a mod like this one which can easily be applied to every combo amp. It requires an analysis of the circuit and, on some amps, it may not even be possible at all. Alas, it's probably not a good contender for a DIY tutorial.

[@mikeburny6094]

Nice video...do you have a video in which 2 speakers will work and there will be a switch to disable one of them?

[@musicalmiscellany]

I'm assuming you mean two speakers inside the combo amp, not one internal and one external. I don't have a video to that specific scenario but you could use this one as a guide.kzbin.info/www/bejne/omfXqaqen8p2brM If you wired each speaker to a separate jack (so you'd have 3 jacks on the back of the amp), you could simply create a y-cable that goes from the amp out to both of the speaker inputs and a straight cable when you only want to use one speaker. It would be pretty simple actually. Needless to say, you'd have to pay attention to the factory wiring scheme to see if the speakers are wired in parallel or series and create your y-cable accordingly. Also, check the stability of your amp's output transformer to make sure it can handle the load of a single speaker. E.G. if you had 2 4-ohm speakers wired in series, that would be a 8-ohm load, so you'd want to make sure the amp is 4-ohm stable for a single speaker arrangement. If they're wired in parallel, it shouldn't matter because 1 speaker will always be a higher load than two. I hope that made sense.

[@mikeburny6094]

@@musicalmiscellany thanks for the reply..sorry for the confusion what I mean was current existing speaker in combo amp and an external both working together at the same time. So basically the combo speaker (internal) is having sound and then adding another external speaker to add sound and enhance output..

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@mikeburny6094 I'd still reference the same video/mod. I think it's still the easiest way to accomplish what you're wanting. You could follow the steps in the vid and just make a y-cable to go both the internal and external speaker. So... you'd have 2 jacks on the back of your amp and 3 cables: a short cable for internal speaker only (shown in the video), a longer cable for external speaker only (shown in the video), and a third y-cable for both speakers. That's how I would do it.

[@hanyzaky3284]

Thanks for this useful video? Could I use just orange speaker as a cabinet for any head through this jack ?

[@musicalmiscellany]

That definitely would not work with this wiring scheme. It would be possible to wire it like that though. If you used a standard mono jack in place of the shunted jack, it wouldn't cut the internal speaker when you plug an external cab in, but it would allow you to plug in an external audio (provided the amp is powered off of course) into the internal speaker. A better way to do that might be to add 2 jacks, one coming from the amp and one going to the speaker. Then if you want to use the internal amp/speaker combo, just connect the two with a short cable. This would give you a lot of possibilities (combo, head, cab).

[@musicalmiscellany]

I just posted this video describing what I'm referencing... kzbin.info/www/bejne/omfXqaqen8p2brM

[@skookum696]

Also, how do you have that little reverb pedal mounted and wired?

[@musicalmiscellany]

I just put a piece of velcro on the back and mounted the pedal there. I plug the guitar into the pedal and use a short cable to go from the output of the pedal to the input of the amp. Basically it's a poor man's reverb.

[@brennen22359]

Just bought an Orange crush 20. Thanks for the video. I'm looking at doing the same to mine. Question, does the speaker jack have some voo-doo magic in it that shuts off signal to the Orange speaker? Heard of guys wiring an external speaker shut off to keep that little annoying bastard quiet.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Yes. The shunted mono jack connects the internal speaker when there is no plug inserted and disconnects it when a plug is present. Thanks for checking it out. Watch the video linked in the description to learn more about the jack.

[@robertmellang6998]

I have a Fender Frontman 212 R. I want to put an extension cab jack on it, but I don’t know how.

[@musicalmiscellany]

By extension jack, I'm assuming you mean you still want the internal speakers to work but also add an external cab? If so, you'd essentially just follow the same thing I do in this vid but use a standard mono jack opposed to a shunted mono jack. *However, make sure you check the impedance rating of the amp.* If the internal speakers as equivalent to the minimum load, you'll need to swap out the internal speakers as well as adding the jack. If you wire an amp at an impedance lower than it is rated for, you run the risk of frying the output transformer (so be careful). Honestly though... it's an easy mod provided the amp supports it.

[@robertmellang6998]

@@musicalmiscellany I want to use it as a head, then run a speaker cable to an extension cab that is inside an isolated cab box. So I can record at higher levels in my townhouse. So when I am plugged into the extension cab the speakers in the combo are bypassed.

[@musicalmiscellany]

UPDATE: I just looked up manual on the Frontman 212R. They rate the amp at 100W at 4 ohms. The factory speakers are 8 ohm drivers in parallel which would result in a 4 ohm (minimum) load. In other words, I wouldn't recommend adding an external speaker jack to this amp in the default configuration. You could re-wire the internal speakers in a series configuration. This would result in a 16 ohm load (note the amp will be significantly quieter in this configuration). Then you could add an external jack and a 16 ohm extension cab. That would result in an 8 ohm load with the external cab. Another option would be to swap out the internal speakers for 16 ohm speakers. Then you could add an 8 ohm extension cab and run the amp at the full 4 ohm load. That's what I'd recommend honestly. It's doable but it will take a little bit of work. Good luck.

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@robertmellang6998 What you just described is exact what this video covers. That's why I thought you were talking about something else.

[@robertmellang6998]

@@musicalmiscellany I kinda knew that but I am slightly afraid to dig into it. Also the two speakers throw me off a little. But I wanna do it my self.

[@carlfrei2419]

I did this mod however, when the jack touches the chasse I get a buzz so I had to use insulator washer on both sides of the jack. Any idea why? Did I do something wrong?

[@musicalmiscellany]

If it works, you did everything correctly. Sometimes circuits have a tendency to pick up noise as you add jacks. You did the right thing by insulating the jack. Nice work.

[@kendall72fxr]

But, for example, you're swamping a 1x12 combo for a 1x12 combo. Is there a way to make your combo work W/ the external speaker???? ie making a stack out of it?

[@musicalmiscellany]

This mod allows you to turn a combo into a head. So it wouldn't make much sense to use a 1x12 cab if the amp had an internal 12. However, you could easily connect a 2x12, a 4x12, a 4x10, or even a 1x8 using this method. If what you're wanting to do is make the combo more flexible, you might want to check out this video. kzbin.info/www/bejne/omfXqaqen8p2brM It's mod allows you to use the combo as a head, a cab, or both. That sounds like it might be what you're looking for. Thanks for checking out the vid.

[@MrUran11]

Thanks!

[@musicalmiscellany]

You bet. Thanks for watching the video.

[@chriscrooks8617]

Awesome vid but I’m just going to add double end Alligator clips an hook it to my speaker post an then to my bigger speaker. Only because I don’t want to drill any holes in amp .

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for watching. What you're suggesting would work fine in the studio or for a bedroom setup but it's probably going to become problematic if you plan to take the setup on location or gig with it. In that case the jack would be a much surer bet. Give it a shot though... alligator clips should work (just make sure they don't touch).

[@chriscrooks8617]

@@musicalmiscellany thank you for the tip an won’t touch they are insulated Double end Alligator clips. Happy New Year an stay safe .

[@markkempster7367]

Would it be posible to use an orange micro terror as a head through an orange 25 bass amp to utilise the valve of the micro terror?. Failing that, i have yamaha twin (yamahas version of a fender twin) with a blown amp. I could use this as a cab but i believe the speakers are hard wired to the amp. Many thanks :)

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out this video. It sounds like you might want to take a look at this one. kzbin.info/www/bejne/omfXqaqen8p2brM That will probably answer a lot of your questions.

[@markkempster7367]

@@musicalmiscellany thanks man. I'll do that now 👍

[@modelx89]

So how do you get sound from both speakers at the same time?

[@musicalmiscellany]

You would simply use a standard mono jack instead of a shunted jack. However, be advised that may require some additional research to determine the impedance stability of your amp. If the amp has an 8-ohm internal speaker, and it is rated 8-ohm stable (like this one)... you'd have to swap the internal speaker to stay in within spec. If the amp was 4 ohm stable, you'd be able to do it with the included speaker (provided your ext cabinet was also 8-ohm). FYI, if you run an output load lower than what's supported, it could burn out the amp's transformer.

[@ColurRocks]

What would happen if you just used the headphone out jack that comes already built in?

[@musicalmiscellany]

I wouldn’t recommend that. First of all the headphone jack is stereo and the speaker is mono. Also the headphone jack has a very low output where the speaker will require a bit more damping to move the cone. You could actually damage the speaker (or possibly the amp).

[@tomedmonds4737]

Great video, after watching this I was able to disconnect the crimp connectors at the speaker using the tip of my thumb to press the catch in. No tools required! 😁 Noob question: when you plugged in your ext cab the sound no longer played from the crush's speaker. What is it that stops/switches the signal the signal when you hook up to another speaker? Cheers, Tom

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out the video and I'm glad it was helpful to you. The secret of this mod is in the shunted jack. When no cable is in the jack, the signal passes to the internal speaker. When the cable is plugged in, it disconnects the internal speaker sending the power to the cable.

[@swmorgan515]

Thanks! I'm doing a similar mod on the CR35RT. In the video you didn't mention what guague was used in the Orange. Do you remember?

[@musicalmiscellany]

Oh jeez. I can’t remember for sure. I think it was 16 gauge. Thanks for checking out the vid. I hope it was helpful

[@swmorgan515]

@@musicalmiscellany Thanks. Yep it was, got my CR35RT all wired up, 16 gague is what I went with.

[@phademusic4744]

I have a rowland cube 20gx that I want to connect to a Marshall cabinet 4 x 12 will this same mod work

[@musicalmiscellany]

I haven't tried it on that amp but theoretically it should work.

[@zmzcost]

mine speaker is 4ohms, what cab speaker should i use? and if i got to use 2 cabinets the specs need to be divided for each of the speakers?

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out the vid. Cab impedance is really about is the stability of the amplifier section inside the combo. If the amp is 4 ohm stable (based on the 4 ohm speaker), you'll want to use a 4 ohm load (or higher but not lower). So if you had one cab, it would be 4 ohm (though you could use a single 8 ohm or 16 ohm cab as well). If you had 2 cabs, they'd both need to be 8 ohm cabs and they'd need to be wired in parallel for a 4 ohm load. If you had two 4 ohm cabs, you'd wire them in series for an 8 ohm load. Make sense?

[@zmzcost]

@musicalmiscellany thanks man! it makes total sense. great video btw. greetings from Brazil🔥

[@skookum696]

Could you wire the external jack from the existing speaker terminals and run 2 speakers?

[@musicalmiscellany]

You could do the same thing with a standard mono jack and essentially create a parallel external speaker jack. However... make sure you look up the specs on your amp before you do this. If you amp is 8 ohm stable and has an 8 ohm speaker... you'll need to change the internal speaker or risk frying the output transformer. Either that or you could rewire them in series but then your amp would make less power. If your amp is 4 ohm stable and has an 8 ohm speaker... good to go (provided you also use an 8 ohm external cab). So, yes it's doable but do your homework first to make sure you don't fry the amp.

[@skookum696]

@@musicalmiscellany sure appreciate you taking the time to get back to me! Thanks much!

[@capomundial86]

Hi, i did the same thing to my Orange crush mini and now as soon as you turn it on it starts hissing. I checked and it's grounded correctly (both grounds going to the switched jack)

[@capomundial86]

To clarify, the hiss is barely noticeable unless you turn on the overdrive and crank the knobs, then you can really hear it.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out the vid. I'd need some more info to really troubleshoot it, but anytime you add a component for a circuit, you have a chance to pick up noise. The best way to avoid this is to create solid grounding. For instance, you can use shielded wire (instead of plain wire) or even ground the negative side of the jack to the main ground on the amp. A good way to tell if you have a grounding problem is to touch a piece of metal on the cord or guitar and see if the hum gets quieter. If it does, it's related to grounding.

[@capomundial86]

@@musicalmiscellany thanks, man. I took it to a tech and he said that its a really small amount of noise which might be normal but hes going to test it in a few days.

[@mercom1]

Thanks for the vid. How many watt speaker do you think that little amp will drive?

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for watching the video. Your question gets into a much more complicated area of speaker/amp design. Every amp has a rating called a damping factor. The is the amp's actual ability to move the speaker cones (or more precisely, to stop a speaker cone once it's moving). Amps with high damping factors could easily drive 8 speakers or more but some smaller (particularly battery-powered) amps may only be able to drive 1 or 2 safely. Every speaker has an efficiency rating as well. Some speakers are more efficient, meaning they require less power to produce volume. That will factor in as well, especially in multi-speaker setups. In short, it's a simple question with a very complicated answer. All of that said, when it comes to this Orange amp, I'd be comfortable plugging it into a 412 cab but nothing more than that... and, of course, you'd want to use an 8-ohm cab (whether it's 1, 2, or 4 speakers). You could 'theoretically' take 2 16-ohm 412 cabs and wire them in parallel for an 8-ohm load and this amp 'should' handle it. However, I would not be confident in this little amp's ability to damp 8 12" speakers so I personally wouldn't try it. I hope that all made sense.

[@jonathanpaulpano]

Dude!!! I have an orange crush 20 and I'm planning to do this mod as I can't cut through the band mix. I'm planning to buy a cheap JOYO 112v cabinet with an 8 ohm celestion speaker. My question is, is it safe if you plug in/plug out the jack while the amp is still powered on?

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking it out. As a best practice, you shouldn’t turn the amp on until the cabinet is connected. You can plug in the guitar after it’s powered on but again… best practice says you should turn it off or at least lower the volume

[@jimlytleworks]

Did it require long shaft 12A jack?

[@musicalmiscellany]

Not for this particular mod. The metal panel was only about 1/8" thick. That may vary depending on the rear panel of your amp though.

[@CalitranoN]

Can I do the opposite attach an external amp to internal speaker with the same jack?

[@musicalmiscellany]

That would definitely not work in this arrangement. If you plugged power into this jack it would send power into the power amp and probably fry the circuit board. However, it you wanted to use it as a cab, it would be pretty easy. You could simply use 2 mono jacks (one going to the speaker and another going to the circuit board) and mount them on the back of the amp (make sure to label them somehow). Then create a small 1/4" cable to connect the two jacks. Keep the cable short and use right-angle connector and it would sit flush against the back of the amp so you wouldn't even notice it. If you did that, you could use it as a combo, a head, or a speaker cab based on which jacks you used. It would be a very flexible setup. You could even use the internal amp to power an external speaker cab while simultaneously using an external amp to power the internal speaker.

[@musicalmiscellany]

I just posted a video explaining how to do this... kzbin.info/www/bejne/omfXqaqen8p2brM

[@CalitranoN]

@@musicalmiscellany love it!!! thank you sure, i will check it out!!!

[@shibumi5210]

Another video showed adding a resistor to the switch, so that even with a cable plugged in but no speaker cabinet attached, it still presented a load to prevent the amp from burning out... seems a very good idea...

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for watching the video. That's a great suggestion and I actually thought about doing just that. I could've easily put a 1 or 2 watt resistor bridging the terminals of the jack. With a small amp like this that should be sufficient. However, I really started thinking about it and decided it's better to just form the habit of plugging the cable into the cabinet first. If you do that, the resistor isn't needed. On the flip side, if you know the resistor is there, it could cause you to be more careless and well... that can end badly. You are 100% correct though. Adding a simple resistor would make it possible to plug in either end first. Although - even with the resistor - you still take a risk if you plug the cable into the amp first. The resistor will give the current a safe path... but not for very long. That said... most folks would say some protection is better than none, so adding a resistor is a viable option. I suppose it comes down to personal preference. Holy cow that was a long reply. LOL.

[@swmorgan515]

Would be very useful on a tube amp. Solid state amps though from my understanding are usually ok to be operated without a speaker load.

[@jommarcaparino2402]

Can i apply this in the other brand of guitar amps?

[@musicalmiscellany]

This mod should work on pretty much any guitar combo.

[@Texas059]

If I buy a speaker harness already built would that work❤

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out the video but I'm not sure what you're asking exactly. I did a Google search for "speaker harness" and nothing that it returned was even close to a mod like this... but perhaps I'm misunderstanding.

[@Texas059]

Can I buy this with the wire already Already connected jack (Switchcraft part# 12A).

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@Texas059 If you could find a harness that had all the wires pre-soldered, that would certainly work, but you'd still need to attach the +/- output wires from the circuit board to the harness. There's no way around that.

[@Texas059]

If I leave wire from the circuitboard to the speaker solder wire to the jack would that still work

[@musicalmiscellany]

@@Texas059 That would not work. If you did that the speaker would continue to function with the external cabinet plugged in. Additionally that would double the impedance.

[@johncrawford7570]

I have the same practice amp reverb pedal weird

[@johncrawford7570]

I have 1960 Harmony tube amp and someone had added a connection from the speaker to a quarter inch Jack in the back I used it as a preamp to my marshal it sounds great but the amp is so old it breaks up but you can't have everything

[@musicalmiscellany]

Hey. That's a cool coincidence. Thanks for checking out the vid.

[@kurishey08]

I thought the sound will come out both at the same time

[@musicalmiscellany]

It would if you used a standard mono jack. That's the beauty of the shunted jack. It works as a switch of sorts to send signal only when a plug is inserted.

[@charliebabbit4325]

Lol, I have an orange amp, and in their defense (on the coupling) they don’t imagine we will be moding so they make it rattle proof like on the 12s big brothers. However companies like Cadillac totally, intentionally make parts hard to access to persuade you to a dealer mechanic. Very funny though

[@musicalmiscellany]

I still think it seems like overkill but you e got a point. Most people probably never open these small amps.

[@charliebabbit4325]

@@musicalmiscellany 110% overkill

[@williamcolvin3609]

Step drills are really inexpensive,take up less space as multiple bits,and are safer because you are gradually reaching the size you need and they are usually fairly easy to find to purchase.

[@musicalmiscellany]

Ya know... I had one of those years ago and loved it. I let somebody "borrow" it and it never returned. Thanks for reminding me to get another one. Oh, and thanks for checking out the vid.

[@jommarcaparino2402]

Is that for sale?

[@musicalmiscellany]

Is the amp I modded in the video for sale? No. I'm keeping it. But I believe Orange does still sell the Crush 12 and the mod is pretty simple.

[@liamreagan3477]

I was shouting at you through the screen to pop the little tab but I guess you couldn't hear me! 😅

[@musicalmiscellany]

I could not hear you but thanks for trying. Ha ha. That really seems like overkill on this small amp.

[@pauliezx5134]

I mounted to chassis, lot of hum…

[@musicalmiscellany]

Thanks for checking out the video. That hum probably means the jack is not grounded well to the chassis (assuming the chassis is metal). Sometimes you can loosen the jack and slide it around a bit until you get a good ground. Other times you may actually have to sand the paint/coating around the hole to ensure you're getting a good ground. You want to make sure you have solid metal-on-metal contact between the threaded part of the jack and the amp's chassis. If all of that fails, drill a small hole through the chassis and place a small metal bolt/nut in that hole, then add an additional wire going from the bolt to the negative side of the speaker jack. It's usually easiest to use a ring terminal connector on the bolt end to ensure good contact with the nut/washer. That should give you a really solid ground. BTW, most amps already have a grounding screw on the chassis somewhere, so depending on where it is... you may just be able to run a wire to that screw and not have to drill any new holes. The vast majority hum problems are just caused by flaky grounding. Good luck.

[@edwardbalowski6572]

Cant you just use the headphone jack?

[@musicalmiscellany]

That would not work. First of all the headphone jack is stereo not mono and also it is not an amplified signal. It could damage the speaker or even the amp.

[@edwardbalowski6572]

Oh i see,i forgot about having a amp.....Thanks my friend.