With how particular (meant as a compliment!) the Ampeg fan community can be about period-correctness, I am struggling to figure out why a simple Google search couldn't resolve my questions here, but either way, here goes nothing...
I have a 1973 Ampeg SVT head that I bought a couple years ago off of a friend who played and toured with it heavily from the early 90s to early 10s. I absolutely adore the "natural relic" mojo and the tone, and have been playing the head more and more often - even sometimes taking it to gigs myself, which I didn't think I would be wanting to do when I first had to lift it. Anyway, I am trying to really adopt it as part of my main kit, alongside a V4B reissue for local gigs where I know the stage volume will be low, and a 212AV cab (looking for a second one to do a modular 412 stack if anyone's selling!)
As such, I am searching for a replacement grille cloth that can bring the shiny new blue sparkle of the V4B/212AV closer in line with the smoke and dirt aged '73 head's look. I know that I won't be able to replicate it exactly, but I am using this as my reference and I am struggling to figure out what current-production cloth type would be the closest match (or even where to reliably procure said cloth...) I have never done a grille replacement before but assuming it's easy as pulling the staples from the old frame and stapling the new cloth after cutting it roughly to size?
In the warm light of our studio the difference is far less pronounced, but here is a close up shot of the old cloth:
And the blue sparkle for comparison:
I definitely want to make sure the thread pattern matches, I feel like that's almost as important as the color. I would even consider dyeing the new cloth but not sure how I could really do that.
Anyway, the other order of business is that I'm looking for a classic ATA road case for the vintage head to keep it from collecting any more bruises now that it is a fragile old man and not a fearless punk rocker. Everything I am seeing is only available for the dimensions of the current-production SVT-CL and VR, and not a 70s "black line" like mine. If anyone has successfully tracked down a road case for one of these old heads, I'd love to hear where it was sourced from. I know that I can just get a custom dimension one made but hoping to avoid that if possible since they seem to cost a hell of a lot more. I can't really imagine spending more than maybe $2-300 on an anvil case when every other one I have was bought used for pennies. Maybe I just need to get over myself though.
I can't believe it took me this long to accept that I needed to go all-Ampeg all the time, but I am really happy now that I finally decided to lean into the tone that has always appealed to me most.
I have a 1973 Ampeg SVT head that I bought a couple years ago off of a friend who played and toured with it heavily from the early 90s to early 10s. I absolutely adore the "natural relic" mojo and the tone, and have been playing the head more and more often - even sometimes taking it to gigs myself, which I didn't think I would be wanting to do when I first had to lift it. Anyway, I am trying to really adopt it as part of my main kit, alongside a V4B reissue for local gigs where I know the stage volume will be low, and a 212AV cab (looking for a second one to do a modular 412 stack if anyone's selling!)
As such, I am searching for a replacement grille cloth that can bring the shiny new blue sparkle of the V4B/212AV closer in line with the smoke and dirt aged '73 head's look. I know that I won't be able to replicate it exactly, but I am using this as my reference and I am struggling to figure out what current-production cloth type would be the closest match (or even where to reliably procure said cloth...) I have never done a grille replacement before but assuming it's easy as pulling the staples from the old frame and stapling the new cloth after cutting it roughly to size?
In the warm light of our studio the difference is far less pronounced, but here is a close up shot of the old cloth:
And the blue sparkle for comparison:
I definitely want to make sure the thread pattern matches, I feel like that's almost as important as the color. I would even consider dyeing the new cloth but not sure how I could really do that.
Anyway, the other order of business is that I'm looking for a classic ATA road case for the vintage head to keep it from collecting any more bruises now that it is a fragile old man and not a fearless punk rocker. Everything I am seeing is only available for the dimensions of the current-production SVT-CL and VR, and not a 70s "black line" like mine. If anyone has successfully tracked down a road case for one of these old heads, I'd love to hear where it was sourced from. I know that I can just get a custom dimension one made but hoping to avoid that if possible since they seem to cost a hell of a lot more. I can't really imagine spending more than maybe $2-300 on an anvil case when every other one I have was bought used for pennies. Maybe I just need to get over myself though.
I can't believe it took me this long to accept that I needed to go all-Ampeg all the time, but I am really happy now that I finally decided to lean into the tone that has always appealed to me most.
The problem is, I cannot find a current source anywhere online no matter how hard I try to reverse image search/use keywords.
