SVT810E Restoration Project

h2blink · #1 06-23-2010, 09:11 PM

Hey guys,

I purchased this cab off craigslist after spending quite some time searching for cabs. It was priced fairly low due to its condition, but I thought it would be a fun project to take on. It only had 4 speakers when I picked it up but in the picks below are Jensen MOD50's that i put in.

Here are some of the 'before' pictures...

You can see the bottom and back angled pieces of wood were very poorly repaired so i took them off to properly repair them...

h2blink · #2 06-23-2010, 09:19 PM

I intended to take more pictures during this process, but we all know how caught up we get when working. I cleaned off the bad edges the best I could and started to 'rebuild' the edges with a body filler.

This was the most tedious part of the restoration. Applying, sanding and applying more, many, many times.

Not pictured is the front and back edges, there were many dings here and there that I leveled out.

h2blink · #3 06-23-2010, 09:23 PM

Finally, all the edges, corners and dings are completely leveled out and sanded. I glued on the new pieces of wood an rasped the edges to fit the contour of the cab. I also installed recessed hinged handles on the bottom to help with moving.

I also installed t-nuts for all the speakers and resprayed the front baffle black.

Here are pictures taken into and throughout the tolex process...

bassman10096 · #4 06-23-2010, 09:28 PM

Nice work. I recently restored a Peavey 1810 that was in pretty similar disrepair. I don't have the patience for tolex, so I patched and smoothed the damage to the cab, redid the grill with proper cloth, put on brand new corners, NOS emblems and then rolled 5 coats of duratex black. The texture is aggressively nubbed much the same as the old, heavy Peavey fabric, but much tougher. The duratex looks the same as brand new tolex otherwise. Now, why was it I wanted a brand-new looking 1810?

h2blink · #5 06-23-2010, 09:29 PM

I installed all the speakers, installed the new rubber feet and hinged handles as well as the new metal corners.

Here are some pictures as of now...

Still need to:
- install the wheels (with t-nuts)
- clean up the tolex on those darn 45 degree corners
- seal all chambers with a sealant
- strip the rusted feet cups and repaint
- rewire the jack panel with a pair of speakon and 1/4" (i just have a single 1/4" for now)
- install new grill cloth
- find a new way to fasten the grill (the stock Velcro pieces do not hold at all)

dlargent · #6 06-23-2010, 09:31 PM

wow, that restoration looks great!

diechris · #7 06-23-2010, 09:35 PM

wow!!! this is EXACTLY what i was looking for... I just picked up a SVT810E practically for free(no joke... lol) one side is missing tolex and I was looking at re-tolexing it.

by any chance do you remember how much tolex did you needed to use?

h2blink · #8 06-23-2010, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diechris

wow!!! this is EXACTLY what i was looking for... I just picked up a SVT810E practically for free(no joke... lol) one side is missing tolex and I was looking at re-tolexing it.

by any chance do you remember how much tolex did you needed to use?

If you use the technique I used you will only need 3 yards (and the tolex i got was 54" wide)

johnk_10 · #9 06-23-2010, 09:56 PM

nice restoraton.
reminds me of the 'beater' 8x10 that i bought locally for $250. mine was mechanically perfect, but looked horrible (i.e. the tolex was half gone & it was previously painted white and then black again with cheap spray paint). i stripped it, filled it, retolexed and regrilled it and put four mod50's up top and now its a great cab.

h2blink · #10 06-23-2010, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnk_10

nice restoraton.
reminds me of the 'beater' 8x10 that i bought locally for $250. mine was mechanically perfect, but looked horrible (i.e. the tolex was half gone & it was previously painted white and then black again with cheap spray paint). i stripped it, filled it, retolexed and regrilled it and put four mod50's up top and now its a great cab.

thanks for the kind words, you're restoration looks great! It's amazing the outcome that some hard work can have. For very little money and patience you can have a great looking piece of gear with a better resell value in the end.

Also, how do you like the mod50's up top? I have 2 up top and 2 on the bottom right now.

christw · #11 06-23-2010, 10:46 PM

Bought my equally ugly 810E for 75 dollars. Patched 4 speakers and added 4 Mod10-50's as well. Still ugly

whoatherechunk · #12 06-23-2010, 10:52 PM

johnk_10 · #13 06-23-2010, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by h2blink

thanks for the kind words, you're restoration looks great! It's amazing the outcome that some hard work can have. For very little money and patience you can have a great looking piece of gear with a better resell value in the end.

Also, how do you like the mod50's up top? I have 2 up top and 2 on the bottom right now.

thanks. i put them all together in the top for a couple of reasons. i figured that since they have more high end, it would be better to have them closer to ear level for projection purposes. grouped together, there would basically be two banks of matched 4x10 systems. and since they weigh a little less, it slightly lowers the cab's center of gravity for transport.

Mr_Dave · #14 06-24-2010, 04:12 AM

Looks great, cool thread

Groover · #15 06-24-2010, 06:12 AM

Great Job. Where is a good place to get decent quality Tolex? Do you use spay on glue, or is the tolex peel and stick deal?

johnk_10 · #16 06-24-2010, 09:17 AM

i used fender tolex and genuine ampeg grill cloth.
and i used 3M Hi-Strength 90 spray adhesive on mine.

oddgrowth · #17 06-24-2010, 09:42 AM

that's exactly what happened to my SVT 8x10 almost 20 years ago. (panel with the wheels came clean off).

I sold it for $200. the guy cut it in half, and played guitar thru the upper 4x10 and put a 15 in the lower half.

nice job btw.

h2blink · #18 06-24-2010, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Groover

Great Job. Where is a good place to get decent quality Tolex? Do you use spay on glue, or is the tolex peel and stick deal?

www.mojotone.com and www.fliptops.net both are good suppliers and great people to work with.

By recommendation, I used DAP Weldwood contact cement to apply the tolex, but many have also used 3M Hi-Strength 90 Spray Adhesive. Mojotone sells tolex glue, but I think its overpriced and good results can be achieved with the prior suggestions for cheaper.

D.M.N. · #19 06-24-2010, 12:30 PM

Hey, how do you like the sound of those MOD50s? I've looked at some of the Mod series before, mostly the Mod15-200 and Mod12-110, but I've never been able to find any reviews of them being used for bass.

h2blink · #20 06-24-2010, 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D.M.N.

Hey, how do you like the sound of those MOD50s? I've looked at some of the Mod series before, mostly the Mod15-200 and Mod12-110, but I've never been able to find any reviews of them being used for bass.

To be honest I havent used the cab enough to give a good review of them. I had a gig the other night and the cab as a whole sounded awesome to me. I also have nothing else to compare them to either. In my opinion, for the price they're hard to beat.