I built myself a combo

[gearHed289]

About 10 years ago I went combo shopping in an effort to downsize for an upcoming out of state gig and beyond. After trying a few at GC and not loving any of them, the sales guy, my age or older, talked me into trying an Acoustic B200. And that was "the one" and also the cheapest. It could really take a beating, and I even used it as a keyboard amp, pumping massive Taurus and Oberheim sounds (real ones!)  through it. It had two minor breakdowns, but the third time, it went up in a magical cloud of smoke. At sound check. On an island... Anyway... Pulled the chassis out, glued pieces of 1/2'' foam to the top and bottom of the amp area, and slid a Genz Benz Streamliner 900 in there. (I know I've told this story before. I'm getting to the point...). The amp is pretty dark sounding, so I put my old EVM-15L in there for the extended high end. I'm now leaving the tone controls mostly flat and using my VT Bass DI to shape the tone.

This rig has served me well and tends to pack nicely with whatever other gear I'm carrying in whatever vehicle. It has started looking pretty sad though, and I'm kind of embarrassed to wheel it in to some places, so I started thinking about doing something about it. I felt that the best approach was to just build something from scratch based on the same design as the Acoustic. I used 15mm Baltic birch throughout. I re-designed the interior of the speaker area using some TL-606 specs. Not sure how much of a difference that makes, but it was fun. I use CAD every day at work, and we have a CNC router, so it was pretty easy to get what I was after. I had always seen silver Tolex on the Antique Electronics website and thought it would be cool to use on something some day. So I decided on that with black hardware and grill for a Marshall Silver Jubilee look. It did not even occur to me until I brought it home that it's a perfect match to my two vintage reissue Rickenbacker cases. Bonus!  I swapped the EV for an Eminence Neo 15, and the whole thing is now 14 pounds lighter at 52 pounds total. Turned out so nice I had a cover made.

I have named it the THC515 - Tom Heslin Combo, 500 watts into a 15 (900 with extension cab). Here's pics.

[Granny Gremlin]

Pretty cool.  A bud and I are looking into making some transmission line cabs, the problem right now is the CAD.

[morrow]

Looks good ! Andy Field still services GenzBenz amps and does some factory upgrades . 

[Pilgrim]

A very nice approach to the system, and compact! 

[Dave W]

Beautiful. 

[gearHed289]

Thanks guys. I wanted to make it as modular as possible. The pop-out casters allow it to tilt or be placed on another cab, and the removable head let's me carry that around in a little Pelican case if I want to. And I can also run other amps through the speaker.

[Pilgrim]

I noticed the tilt option. Nice photo showing it in action.

How did you secure the head in place?  Or do you just remove it when transporting?

[BTL]

That turned out great...nice work!

[OldManC]

I love that! Beautiful work.

[clankenstein]

Very Col. My Back envies the wheels.

[gearHed289]

I noticed the tilt option. Nice photo showing it in action.

How did you secure the head in place?  Or do you just remove it when transporting?

The head is wedged in foam. Barely moves, and that's really only on a long trip with it riding on end. I usually have it riding face down. It will not slide out the front with the way I did the bottom foam.

[Rob]

Nice work!

[slinkp]

I really like it. Would love to hear it in person!

[gearHed289]

So there's been a little change.  Now powered by an Ampeg PF-500.