Custom 3D Printed Buckeye Amp Faceplate — No More Boring Black Box

[hikkiDO]

I wanted to share a small custom project I made for my Buckeye amplifier. The amp sounds great, but I always felt the front faceplate looked a little too plain/boring for something sitting in my audio setup.

So I designed and 3D printed my own replacement-style decorative faceplate. This one is printed in brown PETG, with a retro/modern look, horizontal grille lines, a centered power button area, status LED, and a small Buckeye Audio-style logo on the bottom-right corner.

It is not meant to change the performance, just to make the amp look more interesting and more personal. I know a lot of DIY/audio gear is very function-first, but I think there is room to make things look fun too. No one is going to say the stuff we make has to be boring.

I may make a cleaner silver/modern version next, but this brown one gives it a different character.

Curious what everyone thinks — would you prefer this kind of retro custom look, or a cleaner brushed-metal style faceplate?



“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” — Albert Einstein

 

[kemmler3D]

Cool post! I don't know if this faceplate per se would be my personal choice, but I love the approach and I think it is going in the direction you want to go.

As a 3D printing enthusiast myself, I'd suggest this would probably look nicer with a smaller layer height and some good ironing settings?

Plus / or, maybe print with wood PLA and stain it? I've seen some impressive prints on Reddit using that material, seems like it would be a great fit for this.

Alternately, electroplating this and having it in shiny chrome might be pretty compelling. I guess that's one of the most involved post-processing steps you can do, but it would look pretty spiffy... you know, retro.

 

[hikkiDO]

Cool post! I don't know if this faceplate per se would be my personal choice, but I love the approach and I think it is going in the direction you want to go.

As a 3D printing enthusiast myself, I'd suggest this would probably look nicer with a smaller layer height and some good ironing settings?

Plus / or, maybe print with wood PLA and stain it? I've seen some impressive prints on Reddit using that material, seems like it would be a great fit for this.

Alternately, electroplating this and having it in shiny chrome might be pretty compelling. I guess that's one of the most involved post-processing steps you can do, but it would look pretty spiffy... you know, retro.

Thank you! I agree — this one is definitely still a prototype. I printed it more to test the fit, button/LED alignment, and overall visual direction, so I didn’t optimize the surface finish yet.

For the next version I’m planning to drop the layer height, probably around 0.12–0.16 mm, and tune ironing or maybe use monotonic top surfaces to clean up the flat areas. I may also change the orientation or split the faceplate so the visible surface can print cleaner, because PETG loves to show every little extrusion inconsistency.

Wood PLA is a really interesting idea. I’ve seen some of those stained prints too, and for a retro hi-fi faceplate it might actually make more sense than the brown PETG. I may try a wood PLA version with sanding + stain, then maybe a satin clear coat.

Chrome/electroplating would be the dream version. That would probably require a lot more prep: sanding, filler primer, conductive coating, then plating. But I agree, a shiny chrome version would lean hard into the vintage/retro audio look.

Appreciate the detailed suggestions — this is exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping for.

 

[Rick63]

Pretty cool, at first glance it looked like leather. I also like your DAC choice, as I have the same one in silver.

 

[mhardy6647]

I like the appearance of the factory stock amplifiers from Buckeye.

 

[somebodyelse]

Pretty cool, at first glance it looked like leather.

I was thinking brown phenolic/bakelite based on the styling, which sent me wondering whether you could mould that yourself.

 

[MrPotatoHead]

That's some pretty chonky layer thickness.

 

[respice finem]

Curious what everyone thinks — would you prefer this kind of retro custom look, or a cleaner brushed-metal style faceplate?

Brushed metal would be my favorite - OTOH, cheap and minimalistic as I have become, I would probably take the amp out of sight and be done with it, without further ado

 

[Paul7777x]

I wanted to share a small custom project I made for my Buckeye amplifier. The amp sounds great, but I always felt the front faceplate looked a little too plain/boring for something sitting in my audio setup.

So I designed and 3D printed my own replacement-style decorative faceplate. This one is printed in brown PETG, with a retro/modern look, horizontal grille lines, a centered power button area, status LED, and a small Buckeye Audio-style logo on the bottom-right corner.

It is not meant to change the performance, just to make the amp look more interesting and more personal. I know a lot of DIY/audio gear is very function-first, but I think there is room to make things look fun too. No one is going to say the stuff we make has to be boring.
View attachment 530580
I may make a cleaner silver/modern version next, but this brown one gives it a different character.

Curious what everyone thinks — would you prefer this kind of retro custom look, or a cleaner brushed-metal style faceplate?



“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” — Albert Einstein

Never been a fan of timber and certainly not retro.

But a clean lined, brushed metal effect… that would look impressive imo.