Scumback Speakers
09-30-2008, 08:02 AM
Ok, I've done these "How-To" type tutorials before but I didn't really do it specifically for Marshall basketweave, aka salt & pepper, cloth before. There are a few simple tricks you need to do to get straight cloth installed on any baffle board.
Tools needed:
1) Good stapler. I use a Stanley sharpshooter, with the 8mm wide, 5/16" deep staples. Get it at any Home Depot for under $30 including a ton of staples.
2) 1/4" wide straight tip screwdriver. You'll need this to pry out any staples which didn't go in straight or only one prong made it in, or some other mistake.
3) Fairly good eyesight, or good glasses (you decide!).
4) Strong hands to pull the cloth. The basketweave cloth is thicker than most others and requires you to pull hard on it to get it flat and tight.
5) Patience... otherwise you'll f**k up a $60 piece of grill cloth and you'll be more pissed than if you were patient and paid attention to this tutorial. I've been there and wasted cloth, so this isn't a slam. Follow my instructions here and you can have great looking cloth on your cab in about 45 minutes. Yep, 45 minutes. I clocked this from start to finish on a 2x12 cab and it took me 35 minutes. Since a 4x12 cab is only 8 inches taller than a 2x12, another 10 minutes is about right to shoot in the extra staples and stretch the cloth.
Ready?
1) First cut the bw cloth about 4-6 inches larger than your baffle board. On a full width Marshall 4x12 cloth that's going to be around 34-36 inches wide. Cut the cloth so that the black & white threads run up & down the long way. Cut it as close to one particular thread as possible without crossing over to other threads. It's important to not waste any extra cloth and it makes step #2 easier as well.
2) Pick out a specific thread that's about 3/4 inch in from the cut cloth edge that's the long thread running vertical. You're going to fold along that one specific thread the entire height of the cloth. This is the thread I'm talking about, it's the right side of the baffle board as you face the cab (looking down from top to bottom). You'll fold it completely over in a 180 degree (U-turn) fold. The establishes the crease you'll want and the flat edge to push into the baffle board edge when stapling.
Cloth folded on right side, top to bottom.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-3.jpg
3) Now you'll want to pick out a thread to go along the top edge of the baffle board. I usually pick the black ones that appear darker/thicker. Since the thread is longer from top to bottom, it looks wider when viewed from left to right.
Here's where I bend it, again in a full 180 degree U-turn, then lay it on the top edge of the cab to check the thread to see if it lays down right. Keep in mind, this cloth is not EXACT. It waves a bit. You'll have to do this crease really well for straight cloth so don't sluff off and get lazy. Here's how I sight it down the top edge, for reference.
Cloth folded on top, right to left orientation.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-0.jpg
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-1.jpg
You'll have a corner that looks like this when ready to staple.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-5.jpg
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-4.jpg
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-6.jpg
4) Staple the cloth to the baffle board. Make sure you keep shoving the folded edge into the baffle board corner to keep it straight. I staple at a 45 degree angle and I try to get the staples spaced evenly from each other, and in the middle of the baffle board side to minimize pull, and distortion of the cloth.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-7.jpg
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-8.jpg
Put extra staples in at the corners to keep them anchored and straight, as you'll be pulling on them at the far corners after picking out a thread to line up and staple.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-9.jpg
5) At this point you should have your top and right sides stapled flat and straight. The real muscle portion starts now. Sight a thread down the left side of your baffle board from the top left corner. You can't fold it, so you'll have to pull it to that thread tight down the entire left side. Staple down 2 inches from the top.
6) Sight a thread on the lower right side of the baffle board bottom (where you should have stapled down to already on the right side in part 4) then pull the cloth from top to bottom on the left side to that exact same thread. This establishes your bottom thread for pulling to all across the bottom. Fun ain't it? Staple 2 inches of cloth, then pull the other corner down tight and staple it two inches. Then pull the middle portions of the cloth on the left side tight and staple, then the middle of the bottom edge and staple.
Your fingers should be aching from using thumb and forefinger leverage to pull this tight. If they're not, then you're going to have some lumpy cloth, and you'll have to pull the staples out and stretch it again.
Here's what your bottom edge should look like when pulled tight and stapled down.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-10.jpg
7) Check your cloth to see how tight it is. You should be able to bounce a quarter off of it about 2-3 inches in the air if dropped on the cloth from a foot up. If not, stretch it again.
When you're done, install your baffle board to your cab. Here's how mine came out on a full width (29.5 inches wide, 20 inch tall) 2x12 cab.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-11.jpg
Tools needed:
1) Good stapler. I use a Stanley sharpshooter, with the 8mm wide, 5/16" deep staples. Get it at any Home Depot for under $30 including a ton of staples.
2) 1/4" wide straight tip screwdriver. You'll need this to pry out any staples which didn't go in straight or only one prong made it in, or some other mistake.
3) Fairly good eyesight, or good glasses (you decide!).
4) Strong hands to pull the cloth. The basketweave cloth is thicker than most others and requires you to pull hard on it to get it flat and tight.
5) Patience... otherwise you'll f**k up a $60 piece of grill cloth and you'll be more pissed than if you were patient and paid attention to this tutorial. I've been there and wasted cloth, so this isn't a slam. Follow my instructions here and you can have great looking cloth on your cab in about 45 minutes. Yep, 45 minutes. I clocked this from start to finish on a 2x12 cab and it took me 35 minutes. Since a 4x12 cab is only 8 inches taller than a 2x12, another 10 minutes is about right to shoot in the extra staples and stretch the cloth.
Ready?
1) First cut the bw cloth about 4-6 inches larger than your baffle board. On a full width Marshall 4x12 cloth that's going to be around 34-36 inches wide. Cut the cloth so that the black & white threads run up & down the long way. Cut it as close to one particular thread as possible without crossing over to other threads. It's important to not waste any extra cloth and it makes step #2 easier as well.
2) Pick out a specific thread that's about 3/4 inch in from the cut cloth edge that's the long thread running vertical. You're going to fold along that one specific thread the entire height of the cloth. This is the thread I'm talking about, it's the right side of the baffle board as you face the cab (looking down from top to bottom). You'll fold it completely over in a 180 degree (U-turn) fold. The establishes the crease you'll want and the flat edge to push into the baffle board edge when stapling.
Cloth folded on right side, top to bottom.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-3.jpg
3) Now you'll want to pick out a thread to go along the top edge of the baffle board. I usually pick the black ones that appear darker/thicker. Since the thread is longer from top to bottom, it looks wider when viewed from left to right.
Here's where I bend it, again in a full 180 degree U-turn, then lay it on the top edge of the cab to check the thread to see if it lays down right. Keep in mind, this cloth is not EXACT. It waves a bit. You'll have to do this crease really well for straight cloth so don't sluff off and get lazy. Here's how I sight it down the top edge, for reference.
Cloth folded on top, right to left orientation.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-0.jpg
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-1.jpg
You'll have a corner that looks like this when ready to staple.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-5.jpg
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-4.jpg
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-6.jpg
4) Staple the cloth to the baffle board. Make sure you keep shoving the folded edge into the baffle board corner to keep it straight. I staple at a 45 degree angle and I try to get the staples spaced evenly from each other, and in the middle of the baffle board side to minimize pull, and distortion of the cloth.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-7.jpg
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-8.jpg
Put extra staples in at the corners to keep them anchored and straight, as you'll be pulling on them at the far corners after picking out a thread to line up and staple.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-9.jpg
5) At this point you should have your top and right sides stapled flat and straight. The real muscle portion starts now. Sight a thread down the left side of your baffle board from the top left corner. You can't fold it, so you'll have to pull it to that thread tight down the entire left side. Staple down 2 inches from the top.
6) Sight a thread on the lower right side of the baffle board bottom (where you should have stapled down to already on the right side in part 4) then pull the cloth from top to bottom on the left side to that exact same thread. This establishes your bottom thread for pulling to all across the bottom. Fun ain't it? Staple 2 inches of cloth, then pull the other corner down tight and staple it two inches. Then pull the middle portions of the cloth on the left side tight and staple, then the middle of the bottom edge and staple.
Your fingers should be aching from using thumb and forefinger leverage to pull this tight. If they're not, then you're going to have some lumpy cloth, and you'll have to pull the staples out and stretch it again.
Here's what your bottom edge should look like when pulled tight and stapled down.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-10.jpg
7) Check your cloth to see how tight it is. You should be able to bounce a quarter off of it about 2-3 inches in the air if dropped on the cloth from a foot up. If not, stretch it again.
When you're done, install your baffle board to your cab. Here's how mine came out on a full width (29.5 inches wide, 20 inch tall) 2x12 cab.
http://scumbackspeakers.com/tutpics/bwclothinstall-11.jpg