Twin/Pro Reverb Baffle

[TexasTele]

Can anyone tell me the thickness of a blackface baffle board in Fender's 2x12 Pro Reverb? I've got a silverface project on my hands and want to replace the glued-in baffle with cleats and floating baffle, ala blackface.

[TexasTele]

Any help would be appreciated!

[trancedental]

1/2" thick birch ply for the baffle with the plant on edges making it 3/4" total thickness. That's the plans for a BF Twin Reverb I have. I think the cleats are 7/8" from the front cab edge but have seen cabs with baffles further inside. Your choice. Also the total width of any Fender style baffle including the grill cloth is usually around the same width as the chassis.

Fit but don't glue the plant ons all the way around the baffle, mark exactly where they are positioned on both baffle sides & cut the speaker holes up to where the plant ons start an inch from the edge so that the speaker cut outs have straight sides near the baffle edges / plant ons

Also don't cut the middle gap too narrow between the two speakers, the edge of each speaker hole is actually straight near the baffle centre not round similar to the sides around two inches width. So each side of the speaker hole is not cut round like in the smaller speaker amps like the Vibrolux & Deluxe for example. You can't see this from the back side unless the speakers are taken out. THe centre gap between the speakers is 2 9/16" wide on the plans I have!!!

The baffle plant ons are top / bottom 1 1/4" & sides 1 1/8" in width & there's a triangle shaped piece for the logo placement.

It's probably best to mark where the plant ons are fitted, top & bottom on both sides of the baffle to avoid cutting the holes nearer the edge of the plant ons. Then fit the plant ons after the holes are cut.

Clip the grill cloth straight on one side of the baffle & attach the other cloth side to a scrap piece of wood the length of the grill cloth to stretch it straight across towards the opposite edge. Then take your time attaching staples on each baffle side making sure the cloth is straight. Sometimes it can help to spray the cloth with water to tighten the grillcloth it when it dries.

[TexasTele]

Thanks for all that great info trancedental, thats a big help. I'm debating whether to use 'plant ons', or just attach the grill cloth directly to the baffle. Any thoughts?

[trancedental]

Originally Posted by TexasTele

Thanks for all that great info trancedental, thats a big help. I'm debating whether to use 'plant ons', or just attach the grill cloth directly to the baffle. Any thoughts?

The plant ons are needed I reckon to keep the grill cloth from snagging on the speakers / screws / baffle wood. Also the attachment screws from the cleats into the baffle might come through the grillcloth without plant ons!

Plus you would have to move your cleats outwards another 1/4" or so or else your baffle & grillcloth would be further inside your cabinet....!!!

Plant ons are the easiest part of building the baffle.

EDIT I updated some of the measurements in my earlier post.

Here's a picture of one without the speakers fitted

[TexasTele]

Thats great, thanks. And thanks for the picture as well.

[dewey decibel]

I think you'd want the grille off the face of the baffle to avoid any misc noise/flapping issues. The plant ons also make it easier to stretch the cloth across the baffle IMO. Also, if you don't know about it already t-nuts are the way to go for the speaker mounting screws.

[Guitar Dave T]

1/2" Birch ply is a great idea, but in the 60's and 70's blackface and silverface amps, Fender used fiberboard for the baffles.