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AMPEG CABINET REFINISHING

bstringrandy

bstringrandy

Aug 18, 2004
712
629
67
Jacksonville, FL
#1
I recently bought a US Ampeg 610HLF cabinet (for a GREAT price) that's been around the block a time or two. The speakers are in great shape and the cabinet sounds awesome, but the Tolex needs help. There's lots of quarter-sized tears and holes in the covering. I did a search here and read all of the posts dealing with tolex/vinyl repairs, recovering, refinishing etc.

I thought about just trying to glue down the tears, but there are lots of them and it would be hard to get them to look right. I also considered recovering in tolex but that seemed a little out of my league. That left covering the cabinet is something else. I did some searches on truck bedliner stuff and found kits for around $85 or so. Some more research turned up a special coating just for speaker cabinets called Duratex available at http://acrytech.com I placed an order for a gallon of black ($52.50) and some textured rollers.

While waiting for it to get here, I plan to start stripping the cabinet and getting it ready. I'll post some before and after pics and let everyone know how the refinish job goes.

Wish me luck!! :D
 
#3
Here's some shots of the finished product. Removing the tolex was easy. After that, I filled in a couple of dings and sanded it with 60, then 120 grit sandpaper. The first coat of Duratex went on very easily. The second coat as well. Each coat dried to the touch within 1 hour. I wound up using about of 1/4 of the gallon, so I have enough to do another cabinet or a lifetime supply of ding repair!! Definitely an improvement over the tired looking cabinet I had to begin with!!

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#12
I used about a quart which would be a shade over 2 pounds.

For the texture, I did it with the textured roller that I got on the site and I didn't thin the mix so it's towards the "roller wild" side. The instructions describe that by thinning the mix with water, you can do lesser textures like orange peel etc. I used the 4" roller and loaded it right out of the bucket so I wouldn't waste coating mix and have to clean the roller tray (lazy). I also bought a 9" roller but didn't use it.

I will be interesting to see how it holds up. I can't imagine it being less fragile than the tolex and like I said, I have a lot of repair material if needed :D.

A gallon can goes for about $52.
 
#14
bstringrandy said:
I used about a quart which would be a shade over 2 pounds.

For the texture, I did it with the textured roller that I got on the site and I didn't thin the mix so it's towards the "roller wild" side. The instructions describe that by thinning the mix with water, you can do lesser textures like orange peel etc. I used the 4" roller and loaded it right out of the bucket so I wouldn't waste coating mix and have to clean the roller tray (lazy). I also bought a 9" roller but didn't use it.

I will be interesting to see how it holds up. I can't imagine it being less fragile than the tolex and like I said, I have a lot of repair material if needed :D.

A gallon can goes for about $52.
Click to expand...

It should hold up well. I have two cabs that are Duratexed (I'm surprised that you didn't do a TB search, as there are multiple threads on it and using it, along with it being the favored coating for the fEarful cabs.

I've had one cab that's been used for about a year now and shows no sign of wear to the Duratex. The other is fairly recent and also has no wear. It does dry quickly, but cures for an extended time.

I had mine custom colored by AcrylTec. Anyone who is interested, they'll match from Sherwin Williams paint code numbers.
 
#19
Did you paint around the back handle, and the wheels? Looks like you removed the hardware except the 'roll bar'. Also, how did you wrangle the input jack/plate - just leave it hanging and work around it?

Looks nice - makes me think I should Duratex my 8x10 too - it's pretty chewed up. But I don't really have a good place to work on it.
 
#20
I pulled all of the hardware off before applying the coating. I turned the cabinet over and did the bottom first. I thought it best to figure out the roller process there. :). The pic is after the second coat was dry and I mounted the casters, feet, and handle to facilitate moving it around. After turning the cabinet over and moving it back into the house (way too hot and humid in the garage!), I removed the handle and applied the coats to rest of the cabinet. For the control plate, I removed the screws, turned it sideways through the hole and set it on the baffle inside.

All in all, it was one of the easier jobs I've done!!
 
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