A Voice For Jayden at The Anchor Inn Eling Totton 2026

 

A very successful charity gig. Jen organised this Summer Music Festival at The Anchor Inn, Eling Totton for A Voice for Jayden. Loads of acts from DJ Bill to SO Sound Choir, to acoustic acts and full bands. 

I volunteered to handle the sounds. Started assembling the drumkit and then the PA system. Im not a sound guy per se but I got knowledge on how to setup and help out. 

First act was The SO Sound Choir, they got their mini portable PA amp, it's Alto busker I think. It's where their backing track comes out and their Choir Master's mic is plugged in. So, there's not much for me apart from they asked me to put aside our PA speakers because there's loads of them who turned up and they needed the space on our tiny stage. So I just put the speakers down and they did their set. 

Second act were Colleen and Tina doing acoustic act. One guitar, two mics. They got a DI box where Tina's mic and guitar/ukulele were plugged in. So I just need to hook it to our PA. I then just setup one more mic for Colleen and that's it. 

Third Act was Tony, acoustic solo. He's got a pedalboard with everything he needed. I just needed to give him two XLRs for his mic and his acoustic guitar. Pretty much straight forward. 

Oh, I forgot to mention our stage monitor. It's improvised as well. I hooked it up through Aux Send to my Bose S1 Pro and then through Bose's line out to Jen's Samson Expedition XP. Tony said the monitor sounds great. Well it's a solo acoustic act so there's not much loud noise in the way like drums or guitar amps, bass, etc. 

Then next act was Take Cover. Full band. We didnt mic'd up the drums. The guitarist got a Kemper amp and cab. And wants it DI out to our PA. The bassist said initially he's fine but eventually used his DI out from his amp and plugged to our PA. Lead vocals got his effects I think and a wireless mic. So just XLR from us to his mic setup. But I think we had problems with gain staging plus our PA is not that big to handle guitar and bass. But that's what we got and had to make do with it. So the downside was, the vocals was a bit distorted. But it sounded more like effects and the show must go on so yeah. We managed to get by. 

Next act was Regional One, proper rock indie band. Really good and they are already touring band so yeah proper gear, etc. Again downside was our PA plus their guitarist got a massive Marshall tube amp and my guitar cab is an improvised 1x10 Celestion VT-10. I mic'd it up and he still managed to get by. Their bassist got a DI, so from pedalboard, straight to their mixer. They brought their own mixing desk and the vocalist was the one in-charge with their setup. I just had to plug their mixer to our PA. I managed to do justice to their sound. 

Next was acoustic act again, The Jays. Simple setup, just acoustic guitar and then two vocal mics. They brought their own mics for the guitar and backing vocals. I just need to provide the XLRs and the acoustic guitar mic was a condenser mic so I turned on the phantom power. Their lead vocals uses our own mic. They got a drummer but no bassist. So our own bassist, joined in and jam with them. I just plugged his bass straight to the PA.

Last act was us, The Wildcards. We initially decided to use our newly purchased mixer, the Behringer Air XR16. But our drummer decided the setup was already good and said will just use it to save time from swapping stuff. But because it was agreed before hand, as soon as the previous act finished their set, I unplugged the cables so it's ready to be setup for our new mixer. I had to put it back again and good thing there's raffle going on so we got plenty of time to setup. I even setup our singers gear. She's got TC Helicon Voice Live Play. Also I unplugged our floor monitors because we are using in-ears. But then I was too busy setting up that I forgot to set up my own in-ears and focus with the rest of the bands in-ear. My guitar and our bassist got sort of similar setup. Im using a mini amp head which is Vox MV50AC with line out. Then my 1x10 guitar cab. He's using Trace Elliot ELF mini bass amp head which got DI out and then a 2x10 Fender Rumble bass cab. So both of our gear goes to the mixer for our in-ear and just minimal volume for the PA. Drums not mic'd in. Just vocals. We are doing backing vocals so all together we're using three mics. That's our setup. 

I survived my duty as the soundguy and one of the performers as well. So it was a super fun day for me.  

How I Built the "Missing Link" BC110 Winebox Cab

 

If you love the Vox MV50 mini amp heads, you know they sound incredible. But Vox left a glaring hole in their cabinet lineup. [1]

They give us the tiny BC108 (1x8) and the larger BC112 (1x12). But where is the BC110? A 1x10 speaker is the absolute sweet spot for portable gigging punch and British chime.

Since Vox wouldn't make one, I had to build my own. Here is the story of how a cheap winebox, a disassembled donor cab, and a disastrous "Rubik’s Cube" phase turned into my ultimate, gig-tested MV50AC companion.

📊 Project Breakdown At-A-Glance

• The Shell: Cheap wooden winebox
• The Reinforcement: Disassembled thick DIY cabinet panels
• Acoustic Type: Front-ported (via a lucky 2.5 cm baffle shortage)
• The Speaker: Celestion VT10 Jr.
• The Amp Companion: Vox MV50AC

🍇 The Skeleton: A Winebox Hybrid Design

I wanted this build to be budget-friendly, so I started with a cheap wooden winebox. While the box had the perfect footprint, standard winebox wood is far too thin to handle the acoustic pressure of a guitar amplifier.

To fix this, I took a dismantled, proper DIY guitar cabinet and used its thick, heavy-duty wood to reinforce the inside of the winebox.

The Accidental Front Port

During assembly, I ran into a classic DIY hitch. The heavy-duty donor baffle fit perfectly into the sides of the winebox, but it was 2.5 cm too short vertically.

Instead of scrapping it, I leaned into the mistake. By leaving that 2.5 cm gap at the bottom, the enclosure naturally became a front-ported cabinet. This accidental design choice actually boosts the low-end bass response, making this small box punch way above its weight class.

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🔊 The Heart: Squeezing in the Ultimate Vox Match

For the speaker, I dropped in a Celestion VT10 Jr.

Pairing this 10-inch driver with the Vox50AC (AC30 voiced) head is absolute tone perfection. The VT10 Jr. retains that classic, gritty British midrange and top-end chime that Vox is famous for, but the 10-inch speaker pushes significantly more air than Vox's stock 8-inch cabinet. [1]

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🎨 The Ugly Phase: From "Rubik's Cube" to Pro Rig

Every great DIY project goes through an awkward prototype phase. Mine just happened to look like a children's toy.

To protect the wood from the bumps and bruises of the road, I wrapped the cabinet in pieces of a multicoloured rubber floor mat. In my head, it was a genius, shock-absorbing armor. In reality? It looked exactly like a giant Rubik's Cube—blue on the back, green on one side, yellow on the other, and red on the bottom.

I actually gigged with it like this! It certainly turned heads, but not necessarily for the right reasons. After watching me play, my brother pulled me aside and gently stages an intervention: "You need to paint that black so it looks professional."

Taking his advice, I stripped the toy mats and gave it a clean, sleek, stealth-black finish. Now, it looks just as professional as it sounds.

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🎸 The Verdict: A Winebox That Can Gig

This cabinet isn't a prototype anymore; it is a proven road warrior. It proves that you don't need expensive boutique tools to fill the gaps left by major gear manufacturers. With a little bit of scrap wood, the right Celestion speaker, and a can of black paint, you can build the exact rig your tone deserves.

The true test was when I used it during our gig at Alderbury Picnic in the hall. 

Why would you use D Addario gauge 9.5

 I bought this D' Addario EXL120plus gauge 9.5 electric guitar strings for my Epiphone SG Special 1. Im super happy with it. My guitar feels tighter and sounds crispier. I mean, fuller. 

I always struggle with the 9s on my SG special because it is soft and I tend to overbend. I also noticed that it's hard to tune. I feel that there's really wrong with gauge 9 on my SG special. Hence I bought and tried this D' Addario gauge 9.5.

Also worth saying that after I fitted the strings, it almost immediately adjusted and stayed in tune. Sometimes with other brands, it takes a while to stretch them and leave them for a day or two then it settles and stays in tune but this one is really good.

What is your favourite brand and gauge of strings for your SG guitar?

Alto TX210 restored and converted it into a passive FRFR speaker

 

You've seen my previous project using this Alto TX210 where I used a guitar speaker and improvised this enclosure into a guitar speaker cab. But I was not very happy with it. So now I decided to convert it into a passive FRFR speaker. 

Again I asked chatGPT for help and I bought most of the stuff on ebay second-hand. I bid and won the Celestion TF1020 woofer. I also bought the Alto HG00428 replacement tweeter. Plus I bought a QTX passive 2-way crossover 3khz 4/8 ohms. And I ordered on Amazon a resistor 4.7 ohms 10 watts to protect the tweeter. 

I had to remove the glued cover for the tweeter horn and subwoofer ports. Replaced the speaker. The QTX passive crossover was a mismatch in terms of size. So I had to drill holes so I can screw it in the enclosure. Soldered the wires with wiring spades. Trouble was that the connectors are very much wider than my female spades so I had to stretch it and just forced it to fit. 

My first try, it did not make any sound. I don't know if it was loose wiring or when I was putting it all back together, may be I hit a wire or one of the wirings got disconnected. I opened it again and by accident because of the massive speaker and its weight, it slipped off my hand and the wires got pulled. I reconnected them all except for the tweeter. And it worked. Then, I connected the tweeter again and it was fine. So i closed it up and tested it with my Vox MV50AC. 

It sounded good. Im now waiting or bidding for Harley Benton GPA100 to be my amp for this project. 

Alto TX210 Empty Cab converted to a guitar speaker cab

 I ordered this empty Alto TX210 on ebay. Then I asked ChatGPT to help me convert this into a guitar speaker cabinet. So I used my spare Celestion VT-10 Jr speaker. Then I got an old jack input from my electric guitar. And then I used my alligator clip to test the speaker before soldering. 

It worked. I ended up buying spade connectors. I then covered the tweeter horn hole using an old vitamins cap. I used glue. Then I got leftover rubber play mat that I used for my other DIY speaker cabinet. I cut and put it in the holes. Then I reinforced it with Hobbycraft polyester toy filling. 

It was a straight forward project and it worked. The only problem was it's not what I wanted it to be. I mean it's not that bad but there's something lacking. 

My collection of different speakers and DIY cabs and swaps

 

Celestion G10S-50 speaker cab

Speaker cab comparison direct using vox mv50ac and then with Zoom G1Four

Tone Comparison swapped speakers Celestion VT Jr 10 in bigger cab vs HH Invader 10 in smaller cab

Tone Comparison Between Ready made Cab vs DIY Winebox cab

Celestion VT Junior 10 vs Laney Custom Designed 10 inch 30 watts

DIY wine box speaker cab Tone test

Laney Custom Designed 10 inch speaker DIY cab from Laney HCM30R

Moises AI App gamit sang mga musikero for practise

 

Gin-share ni sa akon sang amon drummer sa banda ko nga The Wildcards.  Amo ni iya gamit pag-gusto nya i-isolate ang drum parts para mapamatian nya gid sakto kng ano ang palo sa drums. Tapos kung kuha nya na, amo ni iya gamit mag-practise as backing track nya. So gin-share nya sa amon nga iya bandmates para ma-try.

At first daw di ko feel pero in the long run, nice man gali especially as a guide like backing track tapos ma-practise mo imo rhythm parts and guitar solos. 

Damo man sya features like key changes, count-in, metronome, pati chords kaya nya ihatag, beats per minute sang song, etc. 

Let me know guys kng na-try nyo na sya or may iban pa kamo nga similar apps nga nagamit. Leave in the comments section. Cheers!

Alto TS408 paired with cheap modelling effects pedal

Can a cheap multieffects processor like Zoom G1xOn and Zoom G1Four pass the test of tone for an FRFR speaker like the Alto TS408?

Watch the videos that I made using Zoom G1Four and Zoom G1xON.

After my failed attempt using Zoom G1xOn, I tried it again and edited my patches. And here's the result in this video: 

In conclusion, the answer is yes. We definitely can use cheap modelling effects processors like Zoom G1xOn and Zoom G1Four. We just need to tweak and dial the right effects like the amp sim, cab sim, mic sim and making sure it on. The stereo headphone jack helped as well with the Zoom G1xOn to smoothen the sound of the pedal. Alto TS408 is a great active PA speaker but also a very good alternative FRFR speaker for our budding guitarists out there. 

Tone Comparison Celestion VT Jr 10 vs HH Invader 10

Here's the video of our gig using this HH Invader 10 inch 30 watts 8 ohms loaded in this Subzero G110 speaker cabinet.

And then, I bought this Celestion VT Jr. 10 inch 50 watts 8 ohms and put it in my DIY wine box speaker cab. Took me awhile because I had to do a lot of upgrade and adjustments with my DIY wine box cab and the grille clothe was covering the speaker so I had to remove it and staple it back. Anyways, I managed to gig with it as well. 

Here's the video of our gig using this Celestion VT Jr. 10 inch 50 watts 8 ohms.

 

So, I swapped the speakers again. I wanted to know the difference so I put the HH Invader 10 inch to the DIY wine box speaker cab and then the Celestion VT Jr 10 inch 50 watts to this Gear4Music Subzero G110 speaker cabinet using same setup; my Epiphone SG Special 1, Zoom G1Four and Vox MV50AC mini amp head.