I think well placed black admin buttons in the speaker panel is a great idea.
Need to come up with some solutions for my current monstrosity.
Thanks - though I often waste a lot of time thinking about these things, usually the simplest solutions are the best.
Many of your cabs are designed around a single game, which means you may not always have the same needs for extra buttons. You really want to think about how each cab will be used, and what you will be running inside it.
I use a wireless keyboard for admin stuff.
This is the way to go for keyboards, I should buy a few - for same reasons, USB ports on this cab would be unnecessary, extravagant.
However, will still need the discrete "admin" and "pause" buttons. Just realised... I haven't given any thought to where the power button should go! Golly gosh, wife will want that.
This cab will be primarily for others to use. My wife, smaller kids. Paying guests (we run a guesthouse). I don't want them to have to deal with a keyboard, even a wireless one. Don't want people calling me, out of my batcave, because they want to change games, ho-hum
Will keep a keyboard inside for use when "servicing" it.
Gutted the cab yesterday and started working on some surface prep today. This plywood is mediocre quality, sometimes has open gaps internally and can be quite flaky in parts, and can come up from the edges easily. Initially I used some PVA wood glue (Titebond II) to seal around the edges and gaps and prevent further flaking. The PVA glue will also help prevent moisture getting in the edges and ruining paintwork (humid climate). Then a tougher acrylic wood putty, designed for large cracks and edges (Agnew's, an Australian brand I had stashed away, powder mix with water).
Made up a couple of small batches of putty to start with. Being acrylic, it dries quickly so you need to work fairly fast. Been a while, years, so my first attempt applying the putty was quite kludgy. More sanding back I guesss
Then I found my plasterer's groove (literally, the T-molding groove!) and the magic started happening.
Worst parts for the flaking are around the T-molding grooves, in particular that top-left curved edge where my bro-in-law's wandering hand kept feeling the unprotected curve, as he walked past several times a day (until I covered it with tape). Can't blame him though, my own fault really for leaving the cab half-done for 2-3 years, I guess.
I admit there is something quite satisfying and almost irresistible about running your fingers along that curve. Maybe I just like curves