Peavey 215 refurb - grill cloth? Corners?

[kingforaday]

Hey all,

I finally found a peavey 215 (2x15) vintage cab close enough to collect (i'm in the UK so they aren't everywhere like in the US) and not too expensive... However it’s old and showing it’s age for sure... there are a few things I want to sort:

no logo but I have spares so no drama

grill cloth ripped and tatty - where do you buy such a thing in the uk? Surprisingly not many uk suppliers came up in a google search... Obviously I want something heavy duty but it’s a big cab, so probably going to be expensive. *Edit - I can only seem to find Marshall style cloth... does it matter? probably not

corner protectors - I’ve seen some new old stock peavey ones, which I’ll go for if they’re not too pricey but just wondering if anyone happens to know of any generic ones that fit on the old peavey stuff? *Edit - I bought the NOS ones but they were all front ones and the back are different

I’ll also need to grab some castors as although the ones on there seem pretty good quality, the wheels are really worn down - again, it’s not something i know about, so recommendations welcome!


Any tips on cleaning tolex? Every time I scrub at it with soap and water it looks good, then it dries and looks like it did before! Is there a trick to this? I’ve used boot polish before to good effect but not sure if there’s a better way?


also I’ve read a ton of info on little improvements that can be made and figured, while I’m in there I’d take a look...

So I’m thinking silicone/caulk all the joins on the inside of the cab?
also seen people recommended lining the inside of the cab, if you’ve done it, what did you use and what did you think of the before and after sound difference?

 

[kingforaday]

biggest update on this is after buying this, I posted this on another forum and someone messaged saying they had one in far better condition - so as of today, I now own that one too! I still want to fix this up though

 

[gitfiddl]

I can't comment on a UK source for the grill cloth and corners, but I will offer the following:

Do NOT use silicone to seal the cabinet seams. Silicone caulks "outgas" as they cure and age. Those gases can have detrimental effects. I would instead run a bead in traditional wood glue or polyurethane adhesive along the seams, tilting the cab as necessary to let the glue/adhesive to flow into the seam/crack and dry. Use Popsicle stick to smooth it as necessary.

For cleaning the tolex, try a good whitewall tire cleaner. I use Westley's Bleche-Wite to clean (using a scrub brush and then a clean sponge to rinse), and then use a standard low-gloss auto detailing vinyl protectant (some are available with a black coloring) afterwards.

 

[BogeyBass]

biggest update on this is after buying this, I posted this on another forum and someone messaged saying they had one in far better condition - so as of today, I now own that one too! I still want to fix this up though

Nice
2x15 to a 4x15 in no time at all.

Im stuck over here in the US so probably not much help with suppliers.
Black grill is a black Grill, but sometimes the weave pattern can be different.
So shouldn't be hard to find black, but hopefully a decent picture of the weave.
With the supplier so you can match the weave before buying.
All else fails you could re grill both. to match
Its a art, real trick is to get it tight and not have the square lines pull and stretch
and look funny.
Far as getting the black tolex to be black, unfortunately the boot polish works well.
But its alot of scrubbing a section at a time to at least get most dirt out of the pattern.

This reminds me of my youth when alot of Traynor cabinets were for sale used.
I bought alot cause those old speakers blew easy.
Eventually I had 2 pretty cabinets, and alot of ugly cabinets with the speakers stolen
and put into the pretty ones.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

Don't know if it is still true, but PV used to have the tolex.
It's a little different from what others used.
I think Fender corners work.
Unless they are missing entirely or you just want it to look really good I would get too worked up about them.
They tend to take a beating and rust if you are moving it often.
The grill cloth is pretty generic.
Same weave and pattern as Fender, just a different color.
Likely bought from the same supplier.
Take your time replacing it.
As Boogy said the trick is getting it tight enough, even and straight.

 

[Killing Floor]

I've had good luck by replacing it with better looking Tolex.
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[kingforaday]

That’s better! I finally got around to finishing this off.

I used Marshall grill cloth as it seems to be the closest thing here in the UK.
Put a metal logo on (I already had a stash of these).
Cleaned it thoroughly - turns out soap and water does a very good job providing you use a scrubbing brush and then rinse off the soapy water with clean water afterwards.
Replaced the rickety castors for some smooth black ones.
replaced the dodgy jack socket with a switchcraft one.
Replaced corners with NOS peavey corners from eBay... I could only find the front type, so don’t look around the back yet, it ain’t so pretty.

All in all I’m happy, it works well, it looks cool and still roadworn enough without being gross but best of all it no longer smells of a billion cigarettes!!

 

[gitfiddl]

Looks very gig-worthy!

 

[Oren Hudson]

Excellent job. As I do a good many rehabs myself, I really like the outcome of yours.

 

[kingforaday]

Excellent job. As I do a good many rehabs myself, I really like the outcome of yours.

cheers, yeah I’m constantly fixing things up but this was my first on something so big and so neglected. I think because I’d sourced another that looked great, it killed my enthusiasm initially.

I stripped it all down then ignored it for a couple of weeks. Once I’d put the grill cloth/logo on and cleaned up the aluminium strips I was amazed what a difference it made. So it spurred me on to get it finished.

it’s funny because it’s now made the great condition one I was so thrilled with, look tired and old by comparison! Next project then!

 

[6thplanet]

Have you thought about sending the rear corners off to a chrome plating company?

 

[kingforaday]

Have you thought about sending the rear corners off to a chrome plating company?

I hadn’t even considered that to be an option... is it a costly procedure?

 

[6thplanet]

Can be, prices are all over the place. Depends on how involved with your project you want to be.

 

[Redbrangus]

It's a common, easily sourced part -- probably for about what it would cost to re-plate the old ones, but without the hassle. At least here in the US.

 

[6thplanet]

Merely suggested as he implied he couldn't find them. Maybe you could source a set for him?

 

[Redbrangus]

I'm not a PV guy, but I believe they're the same radius as Fender uses. Once you start calling them "Fender corners", results will come tumbling out of a search engine. If it turns out to be a different radius, I'd go to the Penn catalog (https://www.penn-elcom.com/pdf/catalogue19.pdf) -- they've got about 50 pages of them. But then I'm in the US -- although I don't really consider it "stuck" like our one former member did.

Nice job on the restoration, BTW. Good on ya!

 

[staurosjohn]

Nice! Just had a flashback... coupla pics from my 1st (serious) rig... circa 1979ish

 

[kingforaday]

Nice! Just had a flashback... coupla pics from my 1st (serious) rig... circa 1979ish

View attachment 4053133 View attachment 4053134

now that’s a stack!!!

 

[staurosjohn]

now that’s a stack!!!

Hehe... I actually used the Ric-O-Sound jack (when needed) and ran the neck pu thru *this* stack & ran the bridge pu thru a Sunn head w/2x15 cab! Was a beast... but everything was big in the 70’s . (unfortunately- never got pics... as we used cameras back then...)

 

[Redbrangus]

now that’s a stack!!!

The amp and speaker cabs also look pretty cool.