How to Build a Guitar Amp Cabinet (DIY with minimal tools)

See how to build a guitar amp cabinet from start to finish with minimal tools.
In this video, I walk through my build of a 1x12 cabinet covered in Tolex.
Check out the full guide with wiring diagrams, advice on tools and parts, and detailed steps here:
guitargearfinder.com/guides/g...
Timestamps:
0:00 Important Info
0:54 Step 1: Cut Panels
1:37 Step 2: Build Outside Frame
2:49 Step 3: Build Inside Frame
3:59 Step 4: Cut Baffles
5:45 Step 5: Prepare Cabinet Surface
6:35 Step 6: Paint Inside of Cabinet
7:02 Step 7: Apply Tolex
8:42 Step 8: Speaker Cloth
9:08 Step 9: Final Assembly
10:29 Step 10: Speaker Wiring
11:24 Sound Demo

[@AaronMatthies]

Check out the full step-by-step build guide with advice on tools, parts, and wiring diagrams: guitargearfinder.com/guides/guitar-cabinet-build/

[@steveclark9934]

Was that a Vai riff? It sounds like it but I can't remember what one.

[@ginogenero7972]

Ironically, I watched this video specifically for tips on installing the piping 😄 but still enjoyed it.👍

[@willholt100]

Nice project, cab looks great. A couple of suggestions from me. 1. Drill the screw holes out and add dowels to increase the strength of butt joints so it is not just relying on glue. (As others have suggested) 2. More importantly and along with the above point. ALWAYS have the sides of the cab over lapping the top and bottom, this is a fundamental practise when building kitchen cabinets. This way the sides are supporting the weight of everything within the cabinet with the speakers. The force when picking the cab up is then acting on the dowels drilled through rather than just on glue joints which over time could fail. Hope that makes sense

[@AaronMatthies]

Great suggestions! Thanks for sharing.

[@ginogenero7972]

Glueing and screwing a 3/4" square stock to the 4 inside corners of the butt joints reinforces well. Going on 25yrs of heavy gigging with this design and still perfect. Eliminates the need for external screws that may interfere with the router.

[@JRandallS]

Having built a few kitchen cabs and amp cabs, I would say that the forces are different in the two types of cabinets. A kitchen cabinet typically has shelves with heavy plates etc on them. Those loads are distributed to the strong sides and backs to support the vertical load. On the other hand, amp cabinets have an eccentric load where all the weight is hanging off the front of the cabinet. In addition amp cabinets may have an amp head, or even a person sitting on the top. If the top is inside the side walls, then it can be pushed down and even break the connection point if the weight exceeds the glue or dowel/screws capacity. But having the top sitting on top of the sides prevents that from ever being a problem. I would avoid relying on the glue or screws to prevent what could be avoided by lapping the top and or bottom over the sides. Overlapping the bottom is good for the same reasons, as the bottom may have feet or even wheels. If the bottom is inside the side walls the same problem occurs as at the top.

[@InfernoPhilM]

It’s so satisfying to build speakers. Looks and sounds great!

[@TheWizeOldMan]

I’m currently trying to build a amp out of a old 50 cal ammunition box I have laying around.

[@Billy-yu8sk]

Sweet and thanks for reminding me that I have a Russian, mossan nagant, 20 rifle crate that I was saving for a coffee table but this sounds way cooler, especially with the Russian writings on it & the olive drab paint. I'm stoked AF!

[@mykneeshurt8393]

Great job with both the cabinet build and the video. I really enjoyed this one.

[@SimonMacFarlane]

Fantastic video! Most videos I've found only show a slideshow of pictures - I love your video and commentary, very helpful, thank you!

[@alexlynn7219]

Mate, exceptional video. Thanks heaps for putting in all the time to put it and your guide together.

[@IFDH777]

The recessed jack is such an awesome simple idea! Great job!

[@dressedtosmellgood]

a pancake plug would have accomplished the same thing without the fuss.

[@Ruggles_Like_Snuggles]

Awesome video 🤙, thank you. Ill be building some cabinets soon. This is really helpful

[@DaLawn]

Very nice work. Thanks 4 posting.

[@jimilee459]

Fantastic guide, I can’t wait to get started.

[@williamking8033]

Great video! I've been wanting to build my own bottom 4X12 cabinet for a long time. Now, I got some practical advice. Thanks!

[@AaronMatthies]

Good luck with your build!

[@damianzelazny5785]

Great step by step guide. Love the details you put into it explaining the whole process, lost of work man and much appreciate your effort 😉

[@yantz8281]

sounds really good!

[@CatGPT_]

nice work man!

[@jadamdavisart]

This was great!

[@georgespencer3973]

Great job!

[@DustyKorpse]

Very cool video, appreciate the effort that went into the cabinet and indeed the video 👍🏻🎸🤘

[@jodiefuerteventura6652]

Thanks for this very informative video

[@bbqemcasa]

amazing!!!!

[@nickbaigent2714]

10/10 great video

[@tubaljohn1]

Very nice. Thank you.

[@matthewwilson3673]

Great video, I want to customize a positive grid spark amp with new tolex so this helps

[@smokinvalves]

Nice job on free hand panel cutting without a track saw.

[@CaptainPantys]

I'm gonna buy a creamback speaker and run it through an origin 50 with the most annoying hi gain distortion pedal. My git fiddle's gonna be a custom gibson V knock off with a single P90. Thanks for the ideas man. looks like a great project.

[@blackie75]

Awesome, thinking of buying a pair of Celestion V30s and having a crack at this. Cheers 😁

[@ydin9]

Not bad at all, really enjoyed the guide as well as your other guides. As a carpenter: Gorilla glue and steel screws will certainly do the trick, yet I personally always opt to add appropriate sized dowels drilled in for added strength for these butt joints. But I digress, this a great guide for a diy project as it is.

[@AaronMatthies]

Thanks for your feedback and for the advice about using dowels. If I build another cab in the future I'll use them - especially if it's a bigger cabinet.

[@ydin9]

@@AaronMatthies Looking forward to your next project, be at cab or something else! To re-phrase the advice a bit: similar materials make better joint supports when heat and moisture change is a factor, which isn't a big deal for amps if you aren't touring with them and even then the strong glue and screws will likely to last a lifetime. For me, an added "poor mans dowel" drilled through the top of the wood where looks aren't a factor, glued and clamped down is one of the simplest ways to absolutely keep things together indoors or outside without breaking the bank or doing measurements. Have a great day!

[@user-dv5yt9yc9x]

Building a guitar cabinet must begin with choosing a speaker of the appropriate quality factor. It is advisable to select a quality factor as close as possible to 0.707. Such a speaker will give the correct balance of low frequencies. In this case, the resonance frequency should be no higher than 85 Hz. Then the clearance of the rear wall of the box can be up to 1/3 of the area. If you stretch the speaker you choose, you can adjust it to meet the stated requirements. This will lower the resonant frequency slightly. Then you design the area of ​​the front panel of the cabinet. The requirements are as follows: the front panel area must be 4 times larger than the total area of ​​the speaker cone. Based on these parameters, you need to choose the design of the cabinet, and then select the material and rigidity of the (final architectural) structure of the future cabinet. You can save on the weight of the cabinet if you provide reinforcement to its structure. The sound quality of a guitar cabinet is assessed differently than in simple acoustic box calculations. But if you comply with these requirements, then such a cabinet will not be limited in use in any style of music and will serve you for many years and will be the envy of other musicians.

[@magnus95]

Whould be Nice to hear the clean tone 🤘

[@raze4555]

not that i cant afford any other option

[@bobt7484]

Good video. What does it weigh with the speaker installed?

[@902Steeler]

Next time you do your tolex frame, incorporate a plywood backer for the name plate. Good job

[@omarshaheen807]

can you try to build a 4x15 cabinet

[@calyx0]

Great video! Do you by any chance still have the stl for the jack plate?

[@AaronMatthies]

I do. Send me a message at guitargearfinder.com/contact/ and I'll send it to you.

[@603_greg]

Awesome video. My only question, when you install the frame that has the grill cloth, how do you get it to stay in place? Glue? I'd imagine you have more than just the piping holding it in, but i could always be wrong!

[@AaronMatthies]

If you get your measurements right when building the frame, the piping will firmly hold it in place. As I chose not to use piping, I inserted a few small wedges to help keep it in place.

[@user-qh1gf2gw5t]

Is it possible to install a 8 ohm speaker in a 16 ohm cabinet?

[@jasoncourtright3978]

dang he works fast...

[@mocata559]

Great video? May I ask where you got that 3D logo done? I'm in Adelaide, Australia.

[@AaronMatthies]

I made it myself with a 3D printer using a Marshall font found online.

[@mocata559]

Great. Would you make one for me for a fee?@@AaronMatthies

[@AaronMatthies]

If you send me a message at guitargearfinder.com/contact/ I'll see if I can help out.

[@JRandallS]

Thanks for this. How did you select your size? JBL used to publish optimal sizes for different types of cabinet uses, speakers etc. In rooms a ratio of 1.618 is optimum to avoid standing waves, but I am not sure if that sort of thing applies to speaker cabs. I know stiffer sides make punchier sound.

[@AaronMatthies]

I looked up a few 1x12 cab dimensions from different brands and copied the dimensions of the one I liked the best (Marshall MX112). I did read a few articles explaining the theory behind speaker cabinet dimensions as well as a lot of online debates over whether it really matters with guitar cabs (no surprise that guitarists love to argue about things like this). Rather than try to follow the theory and design it from scratch, I figured it just made sense to use the dimensions of an existing cab that I liked.

[@JRandallS]

@@AaronMatthies Yes it makes sense to use the dimensions of cabinet that you like already. Somehow I ended up with five Fender HRDs, three of which were special issues. All had the same size cab. One of the cabs had much thicker and stiffer sides, top and bottom. It was orange and had a fiberglass coating. That cabinet was identical in all other respects to one of the other cabs with even the same speaker. The orange cabinet was a cannon. It was so much punchier. That made me start thinking about the stiffness of the cabinet. I had already decided that 12" speakers needed a larger cabinet than my old Blues Junior. But was surprised by the effect of a stiffer cabinet.

[@dogger2186]

Orange does not use butt joints, they rabbit all the front edges and the picture frame is recessed in and then the left and right sides have rabbits and the top and bottom sit down into the rabbits and then last but not least the rear cleats are also recessed into dadios. Marshall was the only company that uses weak but joints but these are on their low-end press board cabs. The high end Marshalls and older marshalls that are made from actual baltic birch plywood (13ply) have finger joints

[@InvisibleJiuJitsu]

certainly look like butt joints on orange's own how it's made video

[@dadirtyreddemon9490]

What size round over bit did you use?

[@AaronMatthies]

1/2"

[@Billy-yu8sk]

Nice. How many man hours would u say you have in the actual hands-on, man-hour build?

[@AaronMatthies]

I spread the build out over a few afternoons so maybe 8 hours or so. I work fairly slow so I'm sure it could be done in far less time.

[@willskijza80]

Great video, I'd be interested to know the total cost ($AUD) of materials (assuming one already owns the necessary tools), and where you got the materials? Bunnings and online I assume? I understand a project like this might not be about saving loads of money as much as the fun and satisfaction you'd get out of it :)

[@AaronMatthies]

I sadly didn't keep note of the costs along the way (I should have), but at a guess it'd probably be around the cost of a new cab. I bought all the parts new from Bunnings, The Speaker Factory and Evatco. Finding a second-hand speaker for the build can bring the cost down significantly. You're right in that this project is best if you enjoy building things. If you want to save money, buy a second-hand cabinet.

[@KennyStMarie]

What kind of contact adhesive would you recommend?

[@AaronMatthies]

I just bought the one that happened to be at the store, so I don't know how different brands compare. If you're concerned about how well the adhesive will stick, I would test it out with an offcut of Tolex before you try using it on your build.

[@KennyStMarie]

Cool, that’s good advice, thank you!

[@davengg8467]

What tools did you use and what glue did you use. I want to build a 2x12 open back cabinet are butt joints a good option since the back is open

[@AaronMatthies]

I go through all the tools and details in the guide on my website, so check that out for more info. The glue was a Gorilla Glue branded wood glue. Butt joints should be fine for an open back cab as a lot of the strength comes from the front and back panels (you'll probably still want to have one or two small back panels).

[@davengg8467]

@@AaronMatthies how thick is the plywood you used

[@AaronMatthies]

18mm

[@davengg8467]

@@AaronMatthiesI am a beginner I’ve never done anything like this before any advice. Also i have a few questions is it better to slip and attach the baffle in from the rear like you did or is it better to attach the baffle from the front by installing the front inside frame 3/4in behind it? Should I use t nuts if I want the speakers to be more interchangeable? Should I use plywood or solid wood?

[@AaronMatthies]

Most cabinets slip in the baffle from the back, but you can build it other ways if you want. I found building the frame first then slipping the baffle in made it easy to round the cabinet edges. If you want to see the wood in your cabinet, it might look better to make the front one solid piece. Have a search for different cabinets to get ideas on what you might prefer the look of. Yes, I recommend using T-nuts. I'd use plywood if you're planning on painting or covering the cabinet and use solid wood if you want to have the wood visible. These questions (except the baffle question) were answered in the guide on my website so I suggest checking it out for more details. Have fun with your build and take your time.

[@ivanravello5687]

/// hello , where can i order the logo ???? greetings

[@J_Un1t]

What material did you use for the grill frame?

[@AaronMatthies]

The grill was just the basic black grill cloth option on a guitar amp parts website. If you search for guitar amp grill cloth, you should be able to find a few sites that sell them.

[@J_Un1t]

@@AaronMatthies thanks, I was meaning the frame material. Is that square dowel?

[@AaronMatthies]

Ah, my mistake. Yes it was basically just square timber I found approx 1inch/25mm wide. You can pretty much use anything, just make sure you plan out the depth of the grill when making the amp so it won't stick out of the front.

[@BadOmenRGV]

what about price for parts?

[@AaronMatthies]

I didn't mention cost because the prices I paid living in Australia are usually very different than other countries. But this build worked out to being just a bit cheaper than buying a new Marshall MX112.

[@jayethompson3414]

I would have thought MDF would be a better choice than plywood.

[@AaronMatthies]

MDF is cheap and easy to work with, but the main downsides is that it'll make the cab far heavier and weaker than one with plywood. If you want a cab for gigging, I wouldn't recommend MDF as it won't hold up to getting knocked around.

[@minkorrh]

I find it hilarious how we, as a species, have TWO ears, yet we consistently produce crap that only uses one of them. I'm presently in the process of building a cabinet that is stereo, and dirt cheap with it's dirt cheap modeller.

[@AaronMatthies]

I love stereo guitar rigs, but there's a reason stereo amps/cabinets aren't very popular. Having two mono cabinets spread out in a room running in stereo can give a far better stereo sound than one stereo cabinet. Unless you're standing right in front of a stereo amp, your ears won't really get the stereo effect. Just something to consider.

[@daspicsman]

You're running the router the wrong way. It should go left to right on an outside corner. If you go the other way you're making a climbing cut and it could get away from you.

[@AaronMatthies]

Thanks for letting me know! I hadn't heard about that before but it makes perfect sense.

[@johanjotun1647]

It would have looked better if you clearcoated it

[@jeremiahmeraz9298]

This guy is using $300 of wood and materials. You could have just bought a cabinet.

[@AaronMatthies]

Some people enjoy building things.

[@nurk_barry]

I build speaker cabinets myself, and this is not $300 worth of wood/materials, maybe $120 or so, but definitely not $300, and you can make any type of custom cab you want, building things is immensely satisfying…. I also sell my cabs, and while the profit margins might be low, and the labor and material cost is high, people make stuff themselves because of the joy of building/making, so it’s not just a cost/benefit analysis when doing stuff like this. This is the mindset that most corporations rely on to extract as much $ as possible from lazy, passive consumers