New home for Blackstar S1-45

[Rybow]

Picked up a Blackstar series one 45 combo from a pawn shop for $600 last year. Amp sounds awesome, but it had a problem of going microphonic when played loud. A little investigation (smacking it on the top and replacing tubes) revealed the preamp tubes were getting loosened a little from the vibration. Another issue is I’m just too damn old to carry around big heavy combo amps.

I inherited my childhood dresser recently, so that gave me all the raw material I needed. The age of the wood meant mitre joints were going to be difficult. The wood also chips very easily, so I opted for brute force glue and screw butt joints to make it square.

My incredible talent for procrastination means that it is now too cold to lacquer it up. I used aniline dye for the colour, which is very weak & dull without a clear coat. I decided to mount the amp in the new chassis too keep it from getting more messed up than it already has while I wait for spring.

I’ll be moving that cross beam to the bottom back, and installing rails on the sides to support the amp. I’m very undecided on what to do with the front! Perforated steel, etched aluminum, engraved plexi glass or just grill cloth are all on the table. I honestly don’t care if it matches the speaker cabinet. Any other ideas for a unique and striking front for this bad boy?

 

[Gold]

The finish on the cabinet looks natural or rustic. What about some leather? You could tool it or have it tooled for text or images.

 

[Tubetec]

Perforated brass sheet comes in a variety of interesting patterns , reminds me a bit of a confessional box , should also ensure good air flow over the chassis and tubes .
You could also put a curve on the edges of the timber panels as they will tend to get dented in transit otherwise , you could use a router or just sand in the curves by hand easily enough .

 

[Rybow]

The finish on the cabinet looks natural or rustic. What about some leather? You could tool it or have it tooled for text or images.

That’s a very cool idea! Didn’t think about doing a design in leather. I made a wallet in high school once. Turned out not bad.

it does have a rustic appearance. I used a Honeytone Amber aniline dye. Once the lacquer goes on, the red will really come through. I’m considering taking it off, dying the grain black, and then putting the Amber back on.

Perforated brass sheet comes in a variety of interesting patterns , reminds me a bit of a confessional box , should also ensure good air flow over the chassis and tubes .
You could also put a curve on the edges of the timber panels as they will tend to get dented in transit otherwise , you could use a router or just sand in the curves by hand easily enough .

Confess your sins to fuel this rock machine!! I think that perforated brass would compliment the colour very nicely.
I did round the edges very lightly, but you e got me thinking it would look better overall with a much deeper cut. Truth be told I’m not patient enough to sand them, so it’ll be a router for me