‘65 Fender Deluxe Reverb with cracked baffle

[Apexelectric]

I recently acquired an original 1965 Deluxe Reverb and am in the process of fixing some of the issues that need to be addressed to bring it back to its former glory. For the most part it’s all there except the original speaker which was replaced with an EV SRO. Nice speaker but really heavy. I think the speaker weight may have contributed to the damage of the original speaker baffle. There is a crack from top to bottom along the edge of the speaker hole in the baffle. Some one at some point nailed and glued a couple pieces of plywood over the cracks to stabilize it. I removed these pieces and found the crack which is not very obvious unless you look closely. The baffle is the chip board/MDF type and I’m not sure what would be the best way of dealing with this issue. I plan on swapping the speaker to something lighter and closer to original.

My first thought was to add additional mounting cleats on the top and bottom of the baffle to further stabilize the crack. I can’t imagine it would change the sound of the amp to have this MDF baffle a bit more firmly attached to the cabinet. I am trying to keep it as original as possible to maintain its value and I plan on using it and not just putting it away on a shelf. Thoughts?

Otherwise it’s pretty much going to be a typical recap and an easy reversal of two modifications to the tremolo and reverb effects. Tremolo was disabled and reverb was sent to both channels. Then I should have a real keeper.

[sluckey]

Isn't the baffle attached to the cab with screws through some cleats? If so, I'd consider replacing the baffle with some plywood or real MDF, not the cheap particle board available in the '60s.

[Apexelectric]

 Yes the baffle is easily removable but in the interest of maintaining its originality I wondered if it would be better to leave it and reinforce it. I’m sure I could make a duplicate baffle and recover it with new materials and put the original aside to keep with the amp

[tubenit]

+1 on replacing the MDF with good plywood. 

You should be able to even remove the old grill cloth carefully and staple it to the plywood if you wanted to. I typically buy 1/2" birch plywood from Lowes for my baffles and that has worked well for me.

I don't see how cracked "patched" MDF that's original would have more "value" then good plywood that isn't original.

With respect, Tubenit

[Apexelectric]

I don’t see it as holding much value either but I figured it wouldn’t hit to ask before doing something that might either devalue it or drastically change the tonality of it.

[dude]

I've changed the baffle on several amps using the "same vintage" grill cloth. Just take the screws out from the cleats like mention above, remove the baffle. Carefully take the staples out with the proper tool, an upholstery staple remover is idea but a screwdriver with the tip ground down thinner will work. Go slow. Take the old baffle and cut new to match, (half inch plywood). Now the hardest part, cutting the new hole. Trace the the hole using the old baffle for proper location, now there are several ways to cut this hole, if you have a router with guide bit, just use the old baffle as a template. Adjust the bit in the router with the bearing riding on the edge of the old baffle, bearing will be at the top of the bit. Put the old baffle on top of the new and clamp, or tack them together, plunge the router and run the bearing along the old baffle. Go slow.


If the old baffle hole is not a smooth circle you'll get a not smooth hole. So make a jig, not going to explain this here but you can goole how to make a circle router jig. The jig works well, fast and very simple to make and use. Last method is the handyman way, a jigsaw, you won't get a perfect hole but you can't see the hole edges with the speaker attached. I prefer the jig.


If you cut the baffle to exact size and the old baffle was the same thickness, the grill should fit perfectly. If the old baffle was thicker you must make the the new baffle's edges the same thickness or the grill will not fit correctly. Add thin cleats around the inside of the new half inch baffle to make it the same size. I'd spray paint the baffle same color as old, both sides before installing.


Then you have a vintage amp, with the cheap 60's MFD gone, amp is lighter too, tone the same.


al   

[Apexelectric]

 I have a jig for my router that I use specifically for cutting speaker baffle holes. it does perfect cuts in sixteenths of an inch increments anywhere from 5 inches up to about 16 inches in diameter. So I’ve got that covered.  Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing something sacrilegious by replacing the original baffle.

[Willabe]

Agree, I'd change that baffle to plywood in a heart beat! 

You can keep the old baffle if you want but it's not much good as it's cracked/flawed now.

Did you make your speaker cutout jig? Or did you buy 1? If you bought it, what brand?

 

[Apexelectric]

Well I guess it’s pretty much unanimous then. Out with the old and in with the new and recover with the original cloth.

The jig is a Jasper model 200 that I use with my Porter Cable plunge base. It works with many different brand plunge routers. Mates up with a 1/4” straight cut bit. Definitely make sure you get an uncut bit so it pulls the wood shavings out of the groove as your cutting. Otherwise the wood shavings get packed in the groove and create a lot of friction and heat. You wind up going through bits like crazy.

[Willabe]

The jig is a Jasper model 200 that I use with my Porter Cable plunge base. It works with many different brand plunge routers. Mates up with a 1/4” straight cut bit. Definitely make sure you get an uncut bit so it pulls the wood shavings out of the groove as your cutting. Otherwise the wood shavings get packed in the groove and create a lot of friction and heat. You wind up going through bits like crazy.

Thanks.   

Yes, I like using up-cut bits for some things.

[PRR]

Get some OLD plywood. Reeks of old Douglas Fir. Maybe house re-model, maybe old furniture. Whack it like a 1965 woodworker on piecework- neat but not polished. Re-wrap and then blank your mind. "Gee, I never noticed that grain there!"

WHO could say it isn't genuine? Fender never ran like Toyota, clockwork delivery and production. Maybe the chip-board delivery was late, they got cheap plywood from that place down on Sepulveda Boulevard that had everything at low prices, just to cover one day's work.

[Apexelectric]

That’s a great idea but I already built the new one out of baltic birch and I really want to get the cabinet put back together. I’ll have to keep my eyes open on the next remodel for some. I have a coupl coming up. Maybe I’ll do it again in the future when the right stuff comes my way. Fortunately the original was painted flat black so ageing isn’t too hard to reproduce. Just needs to be a tad dingy looking.

One other thing I noticed was an O.C. Electronics reverb tank installed. Anyone know if this was original to this amp. I thought they used Gibbs tanks?  This one is a short 9” tank.

[sluckey]

Accutronics 4AB3C1B was the standard black face Fender reverb unit. Never any short pans.

[Apexelectric]

Thanks Sluckey.

I’ll swap it out for the proper Accutronics.

[uki]

Got some pretty pictures ?! 

[Apexelectric]

Sure do

[Apexelectric]

I'm planning on trying a couple different speakers in this amp to see what sounds best to my ear but Im also curious to know what should sound closest to the original Oxford 12k5-6. I believe this was the original speaker for this amp.  I have a 12K5-2. Does anyone know if there is any significant difference between the two? Does the -2 suffix indicate the year as this speaker came from a 62 Brownface Fender and the -6 speakers seem to typically come from a later year 65-66 blackface.

Im also going to try out two WGS speakers, the ET-65 and the G12Q as well as the Cannabis Rex that's currently in it.

From what I can tell the G12Q should be pretty close to the original Oxford.