New grill frames for vintage SVT rig

[JimmyM]

so i'm looking at my vintage svt, and the grill frames are all bowed and have shrunk over the years. like a lot of vintage svt heads, there's about a 1/4" gap between the preamp and grill. and the cab grill frame requires the use of 3 very thick guitar picks to hold it in. since they need new grillcloths anyway, i was considering replacing the entire frames.

bearing in mind that neither are perfect specimens of originality nor a lesson in how to take care of vintage gear, you guys think that's the way to go with new frames or should i keep it real?

[ian_s]

I thought road-worn was all the rage.

[Rip Topaz]

Build new frames for stage use, and put the old ones away for safe-keeping.

[Vincent P]

Originally Posted by Rip Topaz

Build new frames for stage use, and put the old ones away for safe-keeping.

Agreed.

[MAMMOTHvolume]

i think i'd be suprised if you ever sold that amp, so i'd go with whatever is more pleasing to your eye

[Blacksack]

if your anything like me then once you replace the frames and make it "new" again you'll be paranoid about damaging it and wont want to take it out the house

i'd leave it beat up its a testament to your days on the road etc

[chadds]

How much do three really thick guitar picks cost?

[mike ranger]

ck w/ www.fliptops.net for a replacement

[beans-on-toast]

At some point if it looked unprofessional, I'd want to change it.

My first choice would be the Heritage grille cloth. Maybe it is available from Loud. If not, maybe an insider can help you get some.

That cloth is too cool not to try to get it and it would look fantastic on your amp and cab.

[gbazinet]

Mine has the same problem, but it doesn't really bother me. However when i rebuilt my straight back cab i needed a grill so i bought one from fliptops. Fit really tight, almost to the point where i needed a hammer to bump it in on the corners. Otherwise a nice reproduction.

[ampegfuzz]

i like the gap, makes it easy to remove to bias or futs with tubes as i had a bad inverter so some time

[coreyfyfe]

Originally Posted by Rip Topaz

Build new frames for stage use, and put the old ones away for safe-keeping.

This. I did that with my B40 cab up until recently. The original grill was broken at the bottom but I kept it anyways, finally got sick of storing it so I pulled the logo, put it on the new one then trashed the old one. However, I am planning on getting a new grill for at least my 8x10 if not also the SVT soon. My 8x10 has a rip in the cloth and may have been redone at least once (the cloth isn't tight at the top) but still has the original logo and such intact so I think I'm going to save that one and just keep the nice looking one for gigging.

[fu22ba55]

I just did this with my v9 cab. So recently I haven't even had a chance to snap pics.

I was going to "rebuild" the frame with a bunch of strips of wood (like the original Ampeg frame), but when I got my Sunn215s, I saw the frame was a single piece of plywood with two openings cut out of it.

Extremely wasteful, but way more strong.

That's the way I went with the V9. I measured the size of the frame, had the Home Depot do two big rip cuts to the perfect size, then I cut my holes out with a jigsaw.

Rock. Soild.

I say keep the old toothpicks in your garage somewhere, but build a plywood frame and stretch your favorite shiny fabric over it.

[fourstringburn]

Sounds like the Floridian humidity got the best of your grills. I would keep it for the original look. You could use industrial grade double stick tape to keep it on, but if you ever need to remove the grill, better to use that tape to secure more velcro around the frame since that tape is somewhat permanent and very hard to remove. You can find tape like that at auto body paint shops or their suppliers.

[fu22ba55]

One sheet of plywood is the way to go:

OE Sunn 215S grill as inspiration:


Sad busted ol' V9 Grill:


New vs. Old:


Feel My Wrath:


I went with cheapo Home Depot "Pet Fencing" for grillcloth since it was cheap and easy to see through. As soon as anyone realizes I have a 9x10 instead of an 8x10, they want me to yank the grill off to see it, so this way they can see the menacing triad of triplets right through the cloth.

[davelowell2]

Originally Posted by Rip Topaz

Build new frames for stage use, and put the old ones away for safe-keeping.

I did this for my SVT and Berg cab.

[Jim C]

Originally Posted by fu22ba55

I just That's the way I went with the V9. I measured the size of the frame, had the Home Depot do two big rip cuts to the perfect size, then I cut my holes out with a jigsaw.

Rock. Soild.

I say keep the old toothpicks in your garage somewhere, but build a plywood frame and stretch your favorite shiny fabric over it.

Great idea; keep the original untouched and build something of superior quality on the cheap
Suppose you might have to recover the head to match the new cabinet material though

[cripula]

Originally Posted by davelowell2

Very nice!

[theory028]

Originally Posted by davelowell2

I did this for my SVT and Berg cab.

Is that the cloth available from Flip Tops? I've been thinking about doing that to my SVT810E to make it a closer match to my SVT-VR. That's more blue than I was expecting. I was anticipating a more silver/gray cloth. That looks good, regardless! Very nice rig!

[davelowell2]

Originally Posted by theory028

Is that the cloth available from Flip Tops? I've been thinking about doing that to my SVT810E to make it a closer match to my SVT-VR. That's more blue than I was expecting. I was anticipating a more silver/gray cloth. That looks good, regardless! Very nice rig!

I think I bought that from Mojomusicalsupply.com.