OK, I think building amps is about as fun as building the guitars!! This was my second and it is bigger than the first one I did. This one uses the same ToneMonster MAH5 amp wire set but I used a 100watt speaker a friend gave me. This thing is seriously louder than the MAH5 with 5watt speaker!! The carcass is Maine cherry with a cherry ply face, baltic birch ply back, curly maple control board, 9volt battery door, and the sound hole is a barrel nut from an AR15 rifle I had from a rifle I rebuilt. I got the knobs from Radio Shack as the MAH5 didn't come with knobs when I ordered the kit without the speaker. Poo! Oh well, I like these ones better anyways.
Here is the first one I did...
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Sounds like a plan. The Jensen MOD speakers are good too. Betting that spalted beech will look great. Have fun. Want to see pics when it's done.
If you don't have any documentation, use a voltmeter to check the ohms at the speaker output. You'll need to disconnect the speaker and attach the probes to the output poles and strum your CBG/Guitar.
I actually do have a voltmeter! My electrician fatherinlaw got me one for christmas a few years back. Probably more so he would have one here if he forgot his when over doing electrical work. Lol!! Anyways, my buddy brought me a Jensen 6" 15watt MOD series and a 10" 70watt MOD series speakers yesterday and explained a bit about wattage and resistance and doing multiple speaker builds and all that. My next amp, which will be out of quarter sawn spalted beech, is going to be an amp head style on top of a speaker cab. I am going to try my new found electrical soldering skills and wire in speaker connectors in the back of the amp head and the speaker box so that I can disconnect the speaker below and use the amp wired to another speaker to see what it sounds like. This is all so fun!! Lol!! Good thing I sold that last amp to pay for all this fun. Hahahaha!!
Warehouse Guitar Speakers https://wgs4.com make great speakers and they have good prices. Then there's Eminence too.
I can't figure out how amp wattage relates to speaker wattage and then speaker diameter and wattage relation too!!! That Warehouse place has 20watt 12" speakers and 200watt 12" speakers!!! AAAAAH!!!!
Pyle used to be Utah which made speakers for a lot of Fender amps.
A speakers wattage(how much it can handle from an amp) needs to be the same or a little more that the amp's output wattage. So with your 5watt amp, you don't need the high watt speaker, more like 5 to10. The closer the speaker wattage to the amps output - the better breakup response(distortion) at max volume output. Larger diameter speakers sound better because they are moving more air. Like a 4" thick body acoustic guitar sounds better and louder than a 2" thick body.
So a 20watt 8", 10" or 12" speaker is all you need and will sound great. WGS has a 20watt 8" for 39 dollars on the American speaker page, 10" for 41 dollars and the 12" for 49 dollars. These would make excellent choices for your 5watt amps. Look for lower output wattage speakers if you want more breakup at full volume.
I think your 5watt amp is the largest amp to run on 9 volts. My Ruby amps are 1watt and 2watt on 9 volts. Most of the 9 volt amps will be in that range, but they are single channel mono output. Is yours single or dual output?
Here's a question, the MAH5 amp can handle 4 or 8ohm resistance. SO, that 8" 20watt American speaker has a choice of 4, 8, or 16 ohm. Which do you get? How do you decide?
I was asking whether your amp had output for one speaker or two. Was thinking that if it had two channels, it would most likely be 2.5watts per speaker adding to 5watts total output.
Is there a switch on the board for 4ohm - 8ohm? If you have to switch between the two then get either of the 4ohm - 8ohm speakers. Could be that amp is made to have a 6ohm output so that you could use either 4ohm or 8ohm speakers, if that is the case I would go with the 4ohm speaker cause it would be a little louder. Most of the MAH5 amp kits that I saw online had 8ohm speakers.
If you have any documentation that was supplied with the amp, it may tell you what you need to know. There might be a small dip switch(mini-slide) near the speaker output with 4ohm on one side and 8ohm on the other.
Huh, I don't know about the single or duel output. I am using the Guitar Fuel MAH5 amps. I'll have to check out those 20watt jobs at WGS. I have a friend local who builds tube amps and stuff. I really need to get together with him and have him explain all this but not get too super technical. He has a way about going WAY over my head with all his knowledge!! I need him to explain stuff just like you did above. This is what will work good, this is what will sound great. Period, done. But a lot of this seems to be about playing around too which is great fun! Ripping apart stereo speakers for the speakers, ordering $20 sets of two car speakers, etc etc. My buddy mentioned something about trying a 10" or 12" speaker, but he never mentioned the wattage. We shall see what he comes up with from his stash for me!
So there is nothing BAD about using a 100 watt speaker or whatever size, you just are sort of wasting it's potentional correct?
On the 100 watt speaker being BAD, no, it's not. You repurposed a car audio speaker. That's awesome, not bad. It's just not going to sound like a Vintage 30 or clone of one. :)
At 5 watts, experiment away. I have a ton of cheap used recycled speakers that have really unique sounds, and high wattage Celestion and Eminence loaded cabs for guitar and bass use that sound great with CBG's too. The larger speakers will go through batteries faster, other than that have fun.
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