Refurbishing an old cab?

[wshines1892]

I recently acquired an Ampeg SVT 215e cab from the mid 80s. The speakers in it were replaced two years ago, so they have plenty of life left in them, but it' seen better days aesthetically. The tolex has several tears, the piping is discolored in some areas and even the grill cloth has a small tear in it. As a whole it sounds great, but it's a bit of an eye sore and I'd like to spruce it up.

I'm currently making plans on retolexing it, but am unsure about replacing the cloth or piping. The tolex seems easy enough, just some contact cement and careful measuring, but I'd like to know how hard this would be to take on by oneself.

If anyone can lend some pointers, give me a site to order supplies from, what kind of glue to use, etc. I would appreciate it. I wouldn't want to throw a whole lot of money at this thing to get it professionally done, just make it look better and maybe learn a new skill on the process.

[Oren Hudson]

You should find several articles and tutorials on here under the search function. Unless you're just a dork, you should be able to follow the instructions and get a good result.

[beans-on-toast]

Google tolex tutorial both at this site and on the internet to find some good pointers. I'm not aware of any detailed Ampeg re-tolexing tutorials that are available. Here is a good Marshall one.

I have found that Marshall Black Levant tolex works well on Ampeg cabinets and is close to the original vinyl that was used. Another good source is fliptops. Their vintage metal corners are the closest replacements that I've found.

Proper preparation of your cabinet is very important. Take lots of pics so you'll remember how the tolex was applied originally. Keep the old tolex as a reference. The old tolex can be carefully peeled off with the aid of some heat or a warm wet rag. All the glue needs to be removed. Warm water and a scraper works if your vinyl was applied with hide glue. The wood will need to be filled and sanded till it is perfect. When sanding, be careful not to change the roundover of the edges or your corners will not fit. This is really important.

A local upholstery shop can help with the vinyl application if you aren't comfortable applying the tolex yourself. There are different ways of applying the tolex in terms of layout. You can apply it as it was originally or use larger pieces to wrap the cabinet and have less seams. For instance you can use one piece for the top, back, and bottom, and then have a piece on each side. You can use one piece for the top and sides and have seams on the back and bottom. This takes a lot of planning. The latter approaches are more expensive because they use more tolex but using less seams looks better. Seams can be overlaid which leaves a bump out on the surface or they can meet at a butt joint where the two pieces of vinyl meet flush. Example as to how to do this are available in the tutorials. Looking at cabinets in a store can help you see how cabinets are done.

There are a lot of options. Take the time to do your homework and think things through.

[wshines1892]

What about the piping and the grill cloth? Any ideas?

[Crater]

Originally Posted by wshines1892

What about the piping and the grill cloth? Any ideas?

Grill cloth is easy. I've redone a couple of guitar amps' grill cloth, I just used a staple gun to fix the grill cloth to the frame. Much much easier than tolexing, which I have also done.

... The wood will need to be filled and sanded till it is perfect.

I wouldn't say "perfect", but just smooth. I recently re-tolexed a combo amp, and some of the old glue residue just wouldn't come off. Long story short, I applied the new tolex over the old glue residue, it holds just fine and doesn't show any ripples or irregularities through the tolex. Part of the reason tolex is used in the first place is to cover up less than perfect woods and joinery.

If you're serious about getting all the old glue off, use a BELT sander, and not a rotary or orbital type.

Grill cloth, tolex and piping is available from mojotoneDOTcom.

[wshines1892]

I have a belt sander, so that shouldn't be an issue. What about glue? Should I use contact cement, or something less unforgiving?

[Crater]

I used contact cement from my local home-improvement store, I used Weldwood brand and it worked fine. Just read and follow the instructions, you apply the glue and let it dry first, THEN stick it together. Heed the warnings about ventilation too!

[Stumbo]

Originally Posted by Crater

If you're serious about getting all the old glue off, use a BELT sander, and not a rotary or orbital type.

IME, any sander will do as long as you don't hit the corners with it and keep it moving.

The lightest grit paper that removes the glue should be used.

A block of wood,with some light duty sand paper attached should do fine as well. Here's a workable solution:

A heat gun should be able to soften any big pieces and be removed with a scraper.

+1 on working in a well ventilated area.

[beans-on-toast]

Originally Posted by wshines1892

What about the piping and the grill cloth? Any ideas?

Antique Electronics has that as well.

By getting the wood prep perfect I mean good enough so that there are no bumps, gouges, holes, and nail heads protruding from the wood. Any flaws will show up once the tolex is applied.

Water based glues come off very easily. When sanding, I usually start at 60 grit go up to about 250 grit. I use a random orbital sander and a hand sanding block. You don't have to sand a lot, just enough to provide a clean surface. If the old glue won't come off in areas, you can try solvents. You want to be careful not to take too much wood off, the less the better.

Some roughness in the wood surface is good and necessary for the glue to adhere to. I use water based contact cement, the type from the hardware store, when tolexing. It cleans up with water and is non toxic. This type is more than good enough for this type of work. This is the same as the tolex glue that is available from places that sell tolex. If you want a stronger bond, you can also use the regular yellow contact cement. Other people use other types of spray glue. Manufacturers tend to use something else, like hot melt glues, that allows them to work faster.

[will33]

Search up a web picture of a roll of new piping, it's more than just a pipe. There is an additional flat part on it you simply just staple around the grillcloth frame. It's easy and that extra part is hidden when it's all together.

Depending on what kinda shape the current grillcloth is in, you may be able to just clean it provided there are no holes. Otherwise that's not difficult either. You want to stretch it fairly tight so it doesn't get loose and flappy, just watch the pattern lines and stretch it evenly as you go so there aren't any squiggles in it when you're done.

As for the tolex, chemical strippers and stuff may help but I find it just makes a mess. I find heavy 40-60 grit sandpaper works fine, just be careful along the edges. Having the surface a little rough helps the new adnesive grab and stick good too. The important thing is to have the surface clean after you've done all the prep. Brush it or blow it off with compressed air, then wipe it down one or two more times than you think you need to with a damp rag or tack cloth so there's absolutely no sawdust left on it and the adhesive can stick to solid wood.

Plenty of good tutorials on the web. Make sure you have several new/sharp razorblades and a good straightedge, I use a 4ft. level. If doing butt joints, lay both sides down so they overlap, lay the straightedge down and cut through both pieces simultaneously for a seam that matches up perfectly.

[punkrockmike]

this is kind of off topic, but can you tell me what kind of speakers are in it? im about to pick up a 215e and the previous owner has replaced the original speakers with eminence kilomax 15's, which im pretty sure are pa speakers. i plan on pairing this cab with my 810, so i was hoping to find a direct replacement for the original ones. i believe the one im buying is from the 70's or 80's? (one input, no skidrails)