Marshall 4x12 slant cab recover 101

[ronmail65]

Originally Posted by Travst

You make a good point. Tolex work isn't my favorite thing either, but I do it in the context of restoration. It's kind of like taking the old undercoating off my vintage cars with a heatgun and scraper. At times it's unpleasant, but it's part of the job... and done well, the finished product looks great.

I think this thread probably provides an appreciation factor for the guys who do this for a living. Jim, this is a HUGE contribution to the knowledge base.

Don't get me wrong -- I'm not criticizing the process, or the fact that you guys do this. You enjoy it, it's rewarding, and this thread is highly informative. Personally, I just don't have the patience, skills or tools for this kind of job. I respect that you guys possess these qualities and I'm glad that you're sharing your knowledge!

[Dr. Tweedbucket]

Excellent thread !!! Thanks Jim for posting the step by step and instructions! I'd like to try this myself !


I had the same idea a few years back and had this one made out of a JCM800 cab. The handles are fakes, but you can't tell unless you look inside >





Sounds GREAT and was easy on the wallet !



I guess most of this would apply to recoving a headshell as well. The only tricky part as I see it is getting the corners cut right .... if they are not covered with corners, it's pretty critical to the end result.

[Scumback Speakers]

Originally Posted by Gosub10

So: Lay the straight edge at 45 degrees, cut through both top and bottom tolex pieces, masking tape the top piece in position temporarily as a guide, trim the bottom piece until it butts up correctly, then glue the whole thing down? I see some more test corners in my future!

If you're doing this in any kind of quantity, would some kind of traceable template make sense or are there too many slight variations from build to build?

Basically that's the technique. I tried a template, but when you're restoring cabs you find that there were differences in the roundness of the corners after filling dents/dings, etc so I wound up just doing it by hand. PITA, but generally if you take your time and make really thin cuts you can get it dialed in.

As anything else, taking your time and being patient is a virtue here. Using the right tolex glue that doesn't stretch or shrink the vinyl tolex is also paramount to having it look good years later.

[Gosub10]

Originally Posted by Southbay Ampworks

Basically that's the technique. I tried a template, but when you're restoring cabs you find that there were differences in the roundness of the corners after filling dents/dings, etc so I wound up just doing it by hand. PITA, but generally if you take your time and make really thin cuts you can get it dialed in.

I spent several hours on this yesterday and got a little bit of a system going that's highly repeatable. Basically, when you cut the pieces at 45 degrees with the knife, you'll also score the wood beneath. That mark then becomes the guide to which you trim back the two pieces. You can do this to each piece separately, pressing them down with a thumb and trimming off any excess that overshoots the line. These are tiny cuts but they're easy to do because there's no guesswork. When the two sides are then pressed down and glued, they butt up perfectly flat over the rounded edge, along the line of the original cut. Nice!

[Scumback Speakers]

Glad to hear you got that worked out. As many reading this thread are now realizing "over the course of several hours..." doing the restoration of an old cab, or even covering a new one can be tougher than one thinks to produce a professional result.

I know I've f**ked up my share of cabs and then recovered them because of it.

[Gosub10]

Totally -- big time commitment and major focus to produce good results, and even then, the last of the eight corners I did was noticeably better than the first. Props to you guys who do this for a living, and thanks again for the detailed play-by-play!

Originally Posted by Southbay Ampworks

Using the right tolex glue that doesn't stretch or shrink the vinyl tolex is also paramount to having it look good years later.

I just re-scanned the thread, but I may have missed this. What glue do you use again?

Thanks!

[lakehaus]

Thanks to this thread (and Jim's basketweave cloth tutorial), I was able to recover an early 70's B cab. I practiced the techniques on mock corners, then a smaller cab (setting on top the cab below), then finally to the B cab.

Thanks Jim - I truly appreciate all the hard work and skill that go into this profession! It was fun -

[Scumback Speakers]

Originally Posted by Gosub10

Totally -- big time commitment and major focus to produce good results, and even then, the last of the eight corners I did was noticeably better than the first. Props to you guys who do this for a living, and thanks again for the detailed play-by-play!I just re-scanned the thread, but I may have missed this. What glue do you use again? Thanks!

www.tubesandmore.com, look under grillcloth/tolex, FS-316, IIRC. $19.95 per quart.

Originally Posted by lakehaus

Thanks to this thread (and Jim's basketweave cloth tutorial), I was able to recover an early 70's B cab. I practiced the techniques on mock corners, then a smaller cab (setting on top the cab below), then finally to the B cab.

Thanks Jim - I truly appreciate all the hard work and skill that go into this profession! It was fun -

Nice work, you've got the wrong speakers in there, but nice work anyway.

(J/K.. had to take a cheap shot at you with those Heritages in the cab! LOL)

[Ayrton]

Because of Jim and his most excellent thread, I was able to turn this...

(wrong color, and bad job all around)



Stripped...



Sanded and cleaned.



Correct color, piping, and ready to go.



Back in action...

[Travst]

Excellent job, Chris!

[passedout]

bringing this thread back to post my success:

started with:



stripped it down and took the whole thing apart:



new grill, new marshall logo, green glossy paint:

[155]

Im about to do one of these, but damn its alot of work! nice job boyz!

[Travst]

Before (Those things up top are carpet protectors like you'd put under a couch... NO idea what that's about):


After:

[Ayrton]

My latest...

Before



After

[dick wiewy]

Chris, Nice job on your resto! One question, where does one buy those "100" [hundies]?
That's a very nice touch only I never see them in the catalogs. TIA,

DW.