Fender Rumble 60 "TV-Style" Project

[M.R. Ogle]

Thank you!

I over-ordered on the tweed, got some oxblood grille cloth and tan "piping", along with a quart of contact cement, altogether, probably 60 bucks.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

I hadn't seen Swart Amps!!! Yeah, that's the same "look" allright!

 

[thunderstation]

A very fine recondition. - Fender should copy it.

 

[AndyPanda]

Awesome looking amp now! Ya done good!

 

[M.R. Ogle]

I guess this is my new phase of the hobby... small unique amps! It started when I got a Marshall Master Lead guitar amp, re-did the grille cloth and cleaned it up... it's sooo pretty now.
I have a "big rig" amp setup (GK) but 99% of the places I play just require a small amp, so I may as well collect a few cool ones. Or make 'em!

 

[Clutchcargo]

M.R., very good work sir....... Thanks for sharing that upgrade......

 

[BlacknWhite]

I got this Fender Rumble 60 in a trade, and I thought it sounded pretty good, but I wasn't thrilled with its generic, black rat-fur and stack-corners appearance. So, I ripped off the black covering, built an old-school TV-style front panel, and re-covered the little amp in Tweed pattern tolex to look similar to one of those Fender TV series amps. Added some white knobs (may do chicken-heads later) and while I was at it, I upgraded to a Genz-Benz Neo 12" speaker.
I think it looks MUCH cooler now!View attachment 1005869

That looks awesome man! I just bought two Yorkville cabs for a back up rig and they are both rat fur with the plastic corners. Amazing cabs but I hate the look. I'm tempted to get creative after seeing this lol

 

[M.R. Ogle]

Honestly, what made the job "do-able" for me (with no previous experience in covering an amp) was finding tweed-pattern TOLEX. Not fabric tweed, though it looks the same from five feet. A can of contact cement and a throwaway brush! I stretched the tolex a tiny bit to snug it around the edges and used a staple gun to hold the covering in place for a day, then carefully removed the staples after the cement dried.
Not rocket science, and there were a few helpful videos on YouTube on doing it, too.

 

[jimdgreat1]

That looks great!

 

[M.R. Ogle]

Well, I'll be darned. The stock speaker actually sounds better than the GB Neo "upgraded" speaker in this little amp.

Well, I gotta nice spare 12" bass speaker now.

 

[Linnin]

Keep the Fender TV treatment going! Someone grab a V2 Rumble 150 1x15 combo and give it the Tweed 'TV' treatment! YES!

 

[RedVee]

Setting up a search in eBay & gumtree tonight...

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Well, I took home Rumble #4 yesterday. It is a 40. GC had the Memorial Day 15% sale going on and I want it to put it in the store room at the Union Gospel Mission where I play every Thursday so I don't have to carry stuff back and forth. The guitar player has been doing that for a couple of years. This is a new project I've been doing for about a month that he talked me in to, so I know it's safe. The 40 will be plenty, because I've played it twice with my 25 with the volume at 12.
So now, I have 25, 40, 100, 500 head, 2x10 cab. I think I pretty well have every eventuality covered.

 

[Nolan Robertson]

Sorry to awaken an ancient thread, but I'm presently also reconditioning a Rumble 60 that has fallen into my lap. I disassembled mine today, and now I'm curious: did you end up having to keep the same handle? I was surprised to see it fits into the amp chassis.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

The top strap/handle? Yes. I think it DOES screw into the amp chassis, correct.

 

[2saddleslab]

@M.R. Ogle, glad this thread came back cause you're rat fur eradication program influenced my little Ampeg project.
A Little Back To The Future, Ampeg Style.........

 

[AlexanderB]

I got this Fender Rumble 60 in a trade, and I thought it sounded pretty good, but I wasn't thrilled with its generic, black rat-fur and stack-corners appearance. So, I ripped off the black covering, built an old-school TV-style front panel, and re-covered the little amp in Tweed pattern tolex to look similar to one of those Fender TV series amps. Added some white knobs (may do chicken-heads later) and while I was at it, I upgraded to a Genz-Benz Neo 12" speaker.
I think it looks MUCH cooler now!View attachment 1005869

Being swedish, I tend to save the superlatives for the odd exception when rating things, but here I really must say; WOW! Great job! I would love to hear and see it in action!

 

[Nolan Robertson]

The top strap/handle? Yes. I think it DOES screw into the amp chassis, correct.

Right, I was just curious whether this design feature might prevent me from replacing the handle. Did you replace the handle on your refit or did you retain the original?

 

[M.R. Ogle]

I used the original. Would have LIKED to have used a brown one, though, lol....

 

[Lane100]

I got this Fender Rumble 60 in a trade, and I thought it sounded pretty good, but I wasn't thrilled with its generic, black rat-fur and stack-corners appearance. So, I ripped off the black covering, built an old-school TV-style front panel, and re-covered the little amp in Tweed pattern tolex to look similar to one of those Fender TV series amps. Added some white knobs (may do chicken-heads later) and while I was at it, I upgraded to a Genz-Benz Neo 12" speaker.
I think it looks MUCH cooler now!View attachment 1005869

I don't know how many TBers remember this project, but I am going to bring it up once again. I recently acquired a Rickenbacker 4003 and needed an amp for home use. I did some research and decided that a minimum 12" speaker was needed but didn't want anything too heavy. Anyway, I bought a cheap Rumble 60....old but functional. I googled pictures of Rumble 60's and this photo of an amazing TV Rumble 60 popped up. I thought, "I gotta do that!" So I did....and here is the result. Thanks M.R. Ogle for the inspiration!!!!