Duratex, or something else?

[Chuck King]

My cat's affection for my Bag End Q10X-D has resulted in shredded rat fur, to the point where I'm now embarrassed to take it out on gigs. But I love the cabinet, so, I'm going to strip off the fuzz and cover it in some sort of bed-liner-type material. Duratex is an obvious choice, but before I spend money I thought I would check with the TB brain trust to see if there's some other product that would work better, or perform similarly for less money. Any guidance will be appreciated!

 

[beans-on-toast]

One advantage of Duratex is that they offer a sample pack which is more cost effective than buying a large pail of something else. You'd have to check that there is enough to cover your cab.

 

[gjbassist]

I have often wondered if a person could take a cabinet to one of those places that does the spray on bed liners and have them do it for you? There a places all over that do the Line-X spray on bed liner. I wonder if have extra product left over after a job and what they would charge to do it?

 

[nashvillebill]

Several people have reported that they have had cabs covered professionally with spray-on bedliner. I recall one post complained about the extra weight, they must've applied it half an inch thick!

 

[Gaolee]

I would be surprised if a bedliner shop would spray a cabinet for much less than what it would cost for Duratex. But, I haven't priced it. Duratex is great stuff.

 

[Darknut]

I had 2 cabs done with rhino liner .... never again .... they are way heavier & there is no reasonable way to remove it either.

I would vote Duratex or Tolex

 

[Luvie]

I did 2 home-built cabinets in Duplicolor Truck Bed Coating.

Invalid Link Removed

Rolled it on with a roller. I've gigged with one of the cabinets 8 or 10 times so far and it's been fine so far.

 

[jjk2007]

I just bought the sample pack of Duratex. I have a Goliath II that I stripped, filled and sanded. I'll be applying it tomorrow so we'll see what happens.

 

[mntngrown]

The cool thing about Duratex is that you apply it, and can easily reapply it over dings. I used a high quality latex primer (Zinser).Then two textured roller coats of Duratex. When the load in and load out wars result in dings, all you need to do is clean then roll more duratex. Big dings use a filler product of choice, then prime,(or not). Duratex self primes too. you just use more. If you get a one gallon bucket, and follow their suggestion of spraying a mist of water over what's left in the bucket before sealing, it will last for years.

 

[b-b-b-bass]

I use MinWax PolyShades 1-Step Polyeurethane stain, Black, in either Gloss or Satin. I prefer the gloss look. Other colors are available too.

It is super low cost, easy, looks great (especially if you've got metal corners), is durable, and dings and scratches are a breeze to touch up. Also, it does not add extra pounds to your cabinet like bedliner can.

 

[Mystic Michael]

...I love the cabinet, so, I'm going to strip off the fuzz and cover it in some sort of bed-liner-type material. Duratex is an obvious choice, but before I spend money I thought I would check with the TB brain trust to see if there's some other product that would work better, or perform similarly for less money.

Strictly speaking, Duratex would not be in the same category of material as bedliner/Line-X, as bedliner/Line-X offers far better protection, is virtually impervious to damage, and is permanent. Duratex is a nice alternative to rat fur, that's for sure. But it's similar to bedliner/Line-X only in that each material is smooth, non-porous, and waterproof - and doesn't have the problems of rat fur.

MM

 

[wcriley]

I used Krylon spray paint on my bass cabinets. Makes it easy to change the color as my taste changes.

I've tried PlastiDip and Rubber Flexx (a spray-on leak stopper) on my monitor cabinets. Both were fails. The PlastiDip didn't bond to the primer and the Rubber Flexx was too soft.

A few people have reported good results with products made for coating wood decks.

 

[experimental bassist]

Besides playing bass my hobbies are fixing up and running old Subarus.

The offroad Subaru folks seem to like a product called Herculiner and consider it a budget DIY alternative to the expensive truck liner products.

No experience with it myself, just passing along a possible suggestion.

 

[gearhead1972]

I bought a gallon of Duratex from Leland at Speaker hardware for my fearful builds. It is great stuff, easy to apply, water clean up. I found my self finding other cabs to coat once I was done with the bass cabs. I did a 2x12 guitar cab and my homemade mixer case. The mixer case has been in and out to a few gigs and is holding up just like the day I coated it.

 

[Chuck King]

I just bought the sample pack of Duratex. I have a Goliath II that I stripped, filled and sanded. I'll be applying it tomorrow so we'll see what happens.

Please report back! I am very keen to hear how it works, and whether the sample pack provides enough product for a good coating of the cabinet.

Also, thanks to everyone else for your suggestions and information.

 

[jjk2007]

Please report back! I am very keen to hear how it works, and whether the sample pack provides enough product for a good coating of the cabinet.

Also, thanks to everyone else for your suggestions and information.

I just put the first coat on. So far so good. I'll definitely have enough for a second, maybe even a third.

 

[popgadget]

Duratex is most likely the best choice for all of the reasons. Spray on bed liner is definitely more bullet proof, but also much heavier, more expensive and a huge pain to deal with things like recessed handle cutouts. Duratex is also a no brainer to touch up.

 

[Bardley]

I love duratex. I have used it on my Fearful cab and on a homemade arcade cabinet. It is super easy to use, easy to touch up, and you can do many different textures just by varying the type of roller and the way you roll it. I highly recommend it.
I would say a sample pack would be plenty to do a single cab and costs around $25.

You can buy it direct from acrytech Link Removed.

 

[jjk2007]

Here's the finished version of mine.

Edit: For some reason, the pics make the finish look a lot more 'rough' than it really is. I'll try and get some different ones up later. Overall I'm very impressed with how it turned out.

 

[FanOfAlice]

I have an swr 2x12 I got sprayed with line-x. Its really tough. Light and strong