Spare Parts Project - Mini Half Stack - DONE

fitz said:
Boredom buy yesterday - should be here Monday.
MG15CF chassis only.
2 channel / no reverb or effects version.
Supposedly functional as the seller posted a vid of it working as is.

View attachment 104917

Dude needs a lesson on how the gain knob works.



I threw a low-ball offer on it and he accepted without a counter...

Got some possible homes for the little fella.

View attachment 104918

On the left is an empty 1x10 Park cabinet from a 15w bass combo chassis that now lives in the home made blue mini stack at my son's house.
On the right is an empty MG 1x8 combo that I bought for the parts - I got some corners and feet to bring it back if we go that way.

I'm thinking about options.
Table saw may be involved. :hmmm:
Perhaps a 12" speaker from the stash?

Open to suggestions...
Click to expand...
Very cool, I have the same Park Cabinet.
Well, it’s the amp but the pots are so bad it’s hard to play. A couple of them the center shaft floats. Unfortunately since zounds bought Marshall, they shut down all parts being sold for them. Now maybe after the Chibson company gets it, parts will be available.

I know you will make it nice!
 
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No amp yesterday, but out for delivery today.

Got started on the MG cab to head shell conversion with a tolex removal.

mgcf09.jpg

One piece peel. :yesway:
Hoping I can reuse the tolex later.

mgcf10.jpg

Waiting on the mailman.
Going to test in the Park cab with the 10", and then try a 12".
The 12" will fit when I take out that divider shelf that's just screwed in.
(and it's perfect material for the baffle extension)

MG cab is about 1/2" wider, so I'll need to shrink the width as well as the height.

mgcf11.jpg
I only have one Marshall logo, so I'm thinking of putting that on the full baffle Park 1x12 cab.
Might make a low-profile head without a logo panel like the old 100w Lead & Bass MOSFET models.
Going to wait on the chassis before I get out the table saw and begin surgery...

Screenshot 2095.jpg
 
Welp, the little fella showed up, so I clamped it in the Park cab for a run through.

mgcf12.jpg

Rigged up some extenders to the really short speaker leads.
Overdrive channel sounds like a cheap pedal, clean channel is decent.
The 10" speaker in the bass cab is lame.

mgcf13.jpg

Time for some thump & growl.

mgcf14.jpg

Much better with the 12. :yesway:
Some chorus and reverb never hurts.
The little MFX gizmo OD or distortion sounds better than the amp red channel.

mgcf15.jpg
 
The tinkering continues.
Gonna have to bin the skinny head idea.

1st. - there's a flange on the bottom of the chassis front panel for attaching to a baffle.
I can't really bring the face panel out onto the frame, or the head would get wider than the cab.

mgcf16.jpg

2nd. - the knobs are too close to the bottom of the chassis.
They'd be difficult to get at next to a face frame.

mgcf17.jpg

So, either I make the head tall enough for a little logo panel or...

mgcf18.jpg

... at least some amount of a spacer for easier access to the controls.

mgcf19.jpg
 
fitz said:
Thanks, I think that one might work.
I can still get a knuckle under the knob, so it seems like a doable solution to the low-profile design.

Also stuck a piece of piping along the frame and you can barely even see the spacer.
Probably going to hack up the MG cab tomorrow and make the head shell.

View attachment 104964
Click to expand...
That’s what it kinda looked like to me…diggin it with the piping!
 
Let the games begin...
Started by chopping a bit off the bottom.

mgcf22.jpg

Then a little off the top.

mgcf23.jpg

The combo case has a taper, so the bottom is a little deeper with the face lined up.
Don't need the depth, so that'll get trimmed off later.

mgcf24.jpg

1st glue up.

mgcf25.jpg

Added that divider shelf to the baffle.
It'll get trimmed to size after it dries a bit.

mgcf26.jpg
 
Next up is making the Park cab look more like a cab than a combo.
Going to add this scrap to the top for a face frame.

mgcf27.jpg

Cut out the drip edge.

mgcf28.jpg

The trim scrap already had a big round over, so just a little shaping to match.

mgcf29.jpg

Glued and clamped in place.
Hope I can re-wrap the tolex...

mgcf30.jpg

Trimmed down the baffle extension and added grill spacers to match the existing.

mgcf132.jpg
 
Chopped a 1/2" out of the middle of the head shell to match the cab width.

mgcf31.jpg

Glued back together - a 2nd time...
Some weak old factory corner seams gave way, and the bugger collapsed into pieces.
Cut some temporary spacers to keep the clamps from crushing it.

mgcf133.jpg

Glued some of the divider scraps together to make a new logo riser.
Gotta let everything set a bit.

mgcf134.jpg
 
DirtySteve said:
How does it sound?
Click to expand...
Um.., well.., ya' know.., I have better amps. :rolleyes:
Honestly, it's not bad on the normal channel with some pedals - the built in OD channel kinda sucks.

Also, not too sure about that speaker.
It had a heinous tear from the rim almost to the dust cap that I fixed myself just to see if it would make noises.
The rim is bent, but it flattens out when you bolt it down.
Might try a different speaker after I get it all together.

This is mostly a use up junk I got laying around project anyway.
I'm not planning on spending a penny on this past what I paid for the MG chassis.
So far, I've stayed on budget...
 
fitz said:
Um.., well.., ya' know.., I have better amps. :rolleyes:
Honestly, it's not bad on the normal channel with some pedals - the built in OD channel kinda sucks.

Also, not too sure about that speaker.
It had a heinous tear from the rim almost to the dust cap that I fixed myself just to see if it would make noises.
The rim is bent, but it flattens out when you bolt it down.
Might try a different speaker after I get it all together.

This is mostly a use up junk I got laying around project anyway.
I'm not planning on spending a penny on this past what I paid for the MG chassis.
So far, I've stayed on budget...
Click to expand...
I was just wondering because it seems like an awful lot of work for something that doesn't sound good. I guess that's probably why I didn't keep mine and turned it into a speaker cab. As a 10" speaker cab it sounds a lot better than it did as an amp, but now I have better cabs so it sits collecting dust. I would turn it into a 112 cab, but it's just not quite big enough.
 
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