Thinking of new tolex & grill cloth

[charliemccarter]

Have a '74 Music Man 210x65. Was considering new cloth and am now thinking of a whole new look. Maybe ivory or blonde tolex with oxblood or brown cloth or maybe white tolex with blue/silver cloth. Don't foresee selling this amp ever as it's the all tube version before they started solid state stuff, so not worried about resale. Anybody know what this should cost? Any color combo suggestions? I will NOT be doing it myself, btw.

 

[Echoplexi]

I would email Mather cabs if it were me

 

[Silent Sound]

Yeah, you're going to have to ask around since you want the price of materials, shipping, and labor. I'd imagine it would be really expensive though. The shipping alone would be enough for me to do it myself. Plus, replacing the tolex and grill cloth is pretty easy and I like weekend projects. I've done it a few times myself, so I can't tell you what other people would charge, but I can say from my own experiences that a lot of the price will come down to exactly which tolex and grill cloth you decide to go for. There are some pretty steep differences in price between various patterns and colors.

 

[charliemccarter]

given that i've never dismantled an amp nor attempted tolex/cloth, how hard is it to figure it out?

 

[charliemccarter]

PS - i'm in Nashville, so i bet i can get it done locally w/o shipping costs - have just sent an email out to inquire but that might make the service by a pro worthwhile

 

[BrokenRomeo]

I like custom tolex...here's my Marshall/Splawn...

 

[charliemccarter]

nice!

 

[Baxtercat]

given that i've never dismantled an amp nor attempted tolex/cloth, how hard is it to figure it out?

EZ, like anything, just dive in, make a few booboos as you learn. Why not? I've done many amps by now. It's fun.

Here's someone's odd color from a Musicman amp FB page, btw.

 

[Silent Sound]

given that i've never dismantled an amp nor attempted tolex/cloth, how hard is it to figure it out?

How good are you at wrapping presents? It's not vastly different from that, but it's not the same either. Just strip, clean, cut a pattern, glue, place, trim, repeat. I'd say if you're good at wrapping presents and have good patience, it's well worth it to do it yourself.

But since you're in Nashville, you probably could find someone locally. It would still be cheaper to do it yourself, even if you include having to buy extra cloth and tolex to account for mistakes you're likely to make, and nothing since you're replacing tolex anyway, you can always strip off the bad tolex and start over if you screw it up too bad. You're not really at risk of ruining the amp (unless you drop it off a table or something). However if you don't have the time or the patience or don't want to learn a new skill, you're in a good city to find someone else to do it for you. I don't know of anyone personally, but I'd bet there would be a few pros and quite a few hobbyists with one or two cabs under their belt who could do it for a nominal fee.

 

[charliemccarter]

sweet - glad to hear that - is it a weekend project or a several weekend project?

 

[Silent Sound]

You could do it in a day. It'd be a long day, especially if it's your first time. You might want to look up some youtube videos or something to familiarize yourself with the process and make sure you have all of the tools you'll need. Actually, I'd do that before I ordered anything. It'll at least give you a better idea of what you're up against before you get too far involved.

 

[tresspassor]

Moijotone does tolexing services. I'd definitely get a quote from them so you get an idea of the going market price.
http://www.mojotone.com/amp-parts/cabinets/Amp-Recovers

Certain amps aren't that difficult to do it yourself. The grill cloth is more difficult to master as it has to be stretched properly. I've done quite a few. But, If I weren't such a cheap-ass I would have them all done by someone else. It's just so time consuming and not very fun at all (at least for me).

 

[charliemccarter]

If I weren't such a cheap-ass I would have them all done by someone else. It's just so time consuming and not very fun at all (at least for me).

this is what i'm afraid of knowing my personality - love the idea of the process more than the process in these cases

 

[charliemccarter]

Fyi, looking like Mojotone for cost. Avg custom wood cab build is $300-600, depending on options, & almost $350 for a re-tolex/re-cloth. $100 for re-cloth. Looks like a weekend project!