8x10 grill cloth replacement build thread
 

I'm preparing to dig into my ampeg 810 cab and replace the grill cloth with the 70's silver cloth. A few years back I let a friend talk me into spray painting the grill orange to match his cab :rolleyes:

So this thread is going to be updated as I'm doing the job. I know it's a fairly popular mod, but this is my first time tackling it myself. It's probably going to look like garbage and everyone will get to laugh at me lol:p

Anyone that's done it, feel free to chime in with tips. I'll probably have a few questions.

Here's what I'm starting with:

The most important thing is to make sure you get it on straight. When you start to staple it, be mindful!

This is one of the better articles I found when redoing mine:

http://jam4jmessageboard.websitetool...ost?id=2403012

Awesome read. Very helpful. Good thing I have a can of black spray paint handy, I totally forgot that the wood underneath is going to have orange spray paint on it lol.

That diagram shows the staples on the sides of the baffle, but my ampeg has all it's staples along the back edge. I will not be reinstalling the white piping. Think it'll be an issue?

Staple it where the staples are now. Sometimes there is Velcro that needs a flat surface on the back of the wood frame.

So it begins!

Got the emblems, piping and Velcro dots off the back. Easy.



Now comes the hard part. The staples holding the cloth in are a pain.

Progress. Time to sand and paint the frame.

Painted frame:



Took my time setting this up so I could get it as straight as possible. Ended up doing it on the floor. My knees are killing me.



Had a little trouble with the corners, so they look messy, but they're on there.



Before and after. I should have marked the holes for the Ampeg logo, because I'm having trouble finding them. I also think the edges could have been cleaner, but it's not bad for my first try.



I'm getting my SVT-VR back tomorrow, so I'll try to post a pic of everything set up and matching. Lemme know if anyone has questions. Does it look like junk? Lol

I think you did a really good job, actually. Much better than I did and I'm quite happy with mine.

Thanks! The top middle kind of sags, but you can only really notice it when you're up close. I finally got the emblem on as well.

Looks great! Big improvent IMO. Thanks for posting some pictures.

Looks great! And good tut link.

I used a different method when doing mine, which involved a hair dryer to tighten the cloth up. I think I underestimated how much I needed to stretch it before stapling it. I've got waves all around from it buckling. Eh, from a distance, can't really tell. I'm thinking of using my leftovers to make a new (and matching) grill for a 70's V4B, if for no other reason than to practice/try it again.

Sagging can be fixed. I fixed mine by restapling the top to get the lines straighter, then applied heat to it with a heat gun very carefully to make it draw together and hang tight. Some do it with a high powered hair dryer and it's probably a little safer than a heat gun because you really have to keep the heat gun moving or you'll burn a hole right through it before you know it. Hair dryers can burn through your grill if they get hot enough but aren't usually quite so unforgiving.

Oh, and you'll get buckling and wavy lines if you apply the heat too unevenly....thanks for reminding me, astack ;)

Thanks for the compliments guys. I noticed that the silver cloth was a lot smoother and softer feeling than the black cloth. I would have liked to make the corners more crisp, but it's not so bad. The slack kinda helps fill in the gap from the missing piping.

Here's a pic with the logo back on. Makes it look complete.

Nice job with a touchy job. I've done worse. In a short time, the cloth will shift a bit to conform to where the majority of your staples want it to go. Usually this results in a little straighter appearance (not that you really need that). Isn't it good to be finished and to know you could do another if you had to?

My hands are killing me from yanking on the fabric so much lol. And yes, it's very comforting to know I can do this when I get a second 810 cab :D

Ya, I can see it now...needs some heat on it, eh? And not casting aspersions on your work, but I bet if you pulled up on the middle from the top and restapled just the top part, it would be about dead on perfect. But maybe I shouldn't say anything cause that may be just a camera angle making it look that way.

I was at it for like 20 minutes! No way I was going too fast. OK maybe in a few spots when I was losing patience. :hiding: :scowl: But it's pretty consistent around the edges, so I do think it was just too much to shrink over the whole thing. So there's some middle ground in there I still need to find in terms of how tight is tight enough when stapling.

Oh yeah, and maybe try the "open oven" trick someone else mentioned in a recent similar thread. Can't wait for the gf to ask why I'm pretending the oven's a bull and the grill is a red table cloth...

Well just so I don't bum anyone out here, anything I'm pointing out, I learned the hard way, so it's not like I haven't gotten plenty of wavy lines and sagging on grill cloths I've installed. And I installed new grillcloth on my 810 in October, and burned a hole in it with the heat gun trying to tighten up a wrinkle it developed a couple months later. And it's in no way a professional job. Looks alright but nobody would ever accept paying me for the job I did. So don't think I'm pointing these things out because I know what I'm doing ;)

You're right, it is a little bows down in the top center and it's pretty noticible around the emblem. By the time I finished it my hands and knees were sore and I just wanted to put it all together and be done with it. I need it for gigs over the weekend but I have some free time this week to mess with it a little bit now that I know what I'm doing.