Adventures in tolex!

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MWaldorf
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Adventures in tolex!

Postby MWaldorf » Mon Sep 05, 2011 4:24 pm

I finally got some free time to re-tolex the speaker cabinet for my Fender Showman. The amp is a '63 blonde brownface amp and the tone-ring cabinet is a blackface unit that was torn up some. The job is pretty straightforward, with no special tools needed, though a power drill and power sander speed things up a lot. Beyond the tolex and grille cloth, the project required contact cement, a couple of paint brushes, some wood filler, putty knife, and staple gun. This is my first re-tolexing job, and it's good to start on a speaker cabinet where all the corners are covered so you don't need as much precision as on an amp head or combo cabinet.

So, without further ado, adventures in tolex!

Here's the cabinet as it was. Not bad, just not matching the amp head.
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Here you can see the internal tone-ring porting. The speaker is a '70s JBL K-130, a higher power handling version of the D-130F that would have originally been in the cabinet.
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Markings on the cab "268" and "63"
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Tolex off, sanding begins
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Sanding completed, first round of patching. Besides the usual dents and divots, I plugged the original head bolt holes. The brownface Showman amps are 26", whereas the blackface ones were 24" so I had to move the placement. I glued dowels in the holes and sanded flush.
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Old tolex laid out on new tolex; I used the old pieces to cut the sizes of the new ones.
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Cutting the tolex for the back panel.
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Back panel tolex installed! Thankfully contact cement is very forgiving. You brush it on both surfaces to be glued, and wait for it to get tacky. Then you press the pieces together, but it doesn't fully bond right away so there's time for readjustment.
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This is what forty some odd years of dust/nicotene/beer looks like!
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The baffle was solid but the gunk wouldn't come off, so I removed the speaker and sprayed the baffle and tone ring flat black, then reinstalled the speaker and the felt strips.
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Assembled cabinet. Looks good by itself; looks better with the amp head on top!
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Oy vey - it's MESHUGGA BEACH PARTY - The world's premier Jewish Surf Music Band!

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What? Couldn't tell the logo is a link? So click here, what's the hold up? http://www.meshuggabeachparty.com

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dubtrub
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Re: Adventures in tolex!

Postby dubtrub » Mon Sep 05, 2011 4:55 pm

Great job!
Danny Ellison

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Re: Adventures in tolex!

Postby jtr654 » Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:01 pm

Great job.

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Sarah93003
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Re: Adventures in tolex!

Postby Sarah93003 » Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:16 pm

Excuse me, but the original was black. :lol: Great job! Any idea how much each componant weighs?
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1965 Mosrite Celebrity Prototype with Vibramute
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1977 Gibson MK-53
1982 Fender Bullet
1994 Gretsch Streamliner G3155 Custom
2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
2006 Jude Les Paul 12 String

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Re: Adventures in tolex!

Postby Bob Shade » Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:19 pm

Nice job Mel! I have never tried this before but have a Pro Reverb that needs it. Maybe I will try it one day.

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Dennisthe Menace
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Re: Adventures in tolex!

Postby Dennisthe Menace » Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:08 pm

Mel, that came out really nice!!....... ;)
make the Mos' of it, choose the 'rite stuff.
.........Owner of 9 Mosrites...
.....proud owner and documented:
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http://www.thevintagerockproject.com/

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MWaldorf
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Re: Adventures in tolex!

Postby MWaldorf » Mon Sep 05, 2011 6:46 pm

Thanks everyone!

Sarah, the cabinet is heavy - probably 50 lbs. Besides the overall size, there's all the extra wood for the porting system, plus the JBL itself. Actually, you'll have the chance to try and lift it yourself if you'd like, as I'll be bringing the rig up to the Gretsch Roundup. In fact, it was the deadline of the Roundup that finally got me off my tail to get this done!
Oy vey - it's MESHUGGA BEACH PARTY - The world's premier Jewish Surf Music Band!

Image

What? Couldn't tell the logo is a link? So click here, what's the hold up? http://www.meshuggabeachparty.com

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Re: Adventures in tolex!

Postby Sarah93003 » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:01 pm

MWaldorf wrote:Thanks everyone!

Sarah, the cabinet is heavy - probably 50 lbs. Besides the overall size, there's all the extra wood for the porting system, plus the JBL itself. Actually, you'll have the chance to try and lift it yourself if you'd like, as I'll be bringing the rig up to the Gretsch Roundup. In fact, it was the deadline of the Roundup that finally got me off my tail to get this done!



Yay! :D I won't be able to lift it. It's heavier than my Hot Rod Deluxe that I sold because it was too heavy.
____________________
1965 Mosrite Celebrity Prototype with Vibramute
1972 Mosrite Celebrity-III
1977 Gibson MK-53
1982 Fender Bullet
1994 Gretsch Streamliner G3155 Custom
2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
2006 Jude Les Paul 12 String

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MWaldorf
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Re: Adventures in tolex!

Postby MWaldorf » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:15 pm

Sarah93003 wrote:Yay! :D I won't be able to lift it. It's heavier than my Hot Rod Deluxe that I sold because it was too heavy.


The nice thing about the piggyback designs is that the weight load is split in two. With the head in one hand and the speaker cab in the other, it's a pretty even 100lb load!
Oy vey - it's MESHUGGA BEACH PARTY - The world's premier Jewish Surf Music Band!

Image

What? Couldn't tell the logo is a link? So click here, what's the hold up? http://www.meshuggabeachparty.com

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Sarah93003
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Re: Adventures in tolex!

Postby Sarah93003 » Mon Sep 05, 2011 8:19 pm

MWaldorf wrote:
Sarah93003 wrote:Yay! :D I won't be able to lift it. It's heavier than my Hot Rod Deluxe that I sold because it was too heavy.


The nice thing about the piggyback designs is that the weight load is split in two. With the head in one hand and the speaker cab in the other, it's a pretty even 100lb load!



Yikes! All the more reason I need a big strong, perferrabley young, Roadie. :mrgreen:
____________________
1965 Mosrite Celebrity Prototype with Vibramute
1972 Mosrite Celebrity-III
1977 Gibson MK-53
1982 Fender Bullet
1994 Gretsch Streamliner G3155 Custom
2005 Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus
2006 Jude Les Paul 12 String


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