Amp Refurbishment

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Hey All,

I recently procured a newer model used keyboard combo amp. The electronics and speakers are all in good working order, but it looks it's been physically abused quite a bit.

The cabinet edges are bending and seperating from each other. It makes a very audible rattle when I run some of my super-low frequency oscillators through it with considerable volume. I think this is just the result of cheap Chinese glue and carpentry more than anything. I can hold the sides of the cabinet steady and the rattle goes away.

So... although I'm not that great woodworking, I'm the son of a carpenter and I've got enough skill to fix it up. However, this means removing all the tolex to rework the cabinet and then refinishing it.

I'm thinking of replacing the tolex with carpet. It looks like it will handle abuse better and it's cheaper on top of that. But some of the replacement tolex samples I've seen sure do look nice. Anyone have any opinions on this? Any suggestions on good places to buy tolex/carpet in the US?

― Polysix Bad Battery (cprek), Friday, 17 February 2006 11:32 (nineteen years ago)

You might try http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Friday, 17 February 2006 16:49 (nineteen years ago)

Oh lots of good stuff there. Thanks.

― Polysix Bad Battery (cprek), Friday, 17 February 2006 17:19 (nineteen years ago)

De nada. The only downside is that every time I visit I think, "oh, I should really roll my own amp..."

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Friday, 17 February 2006 18:03 (nineteen years ago)

you should, it's a lot of fun :)

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 17 February 2006 18:39 (nineteen years ago)

is it really? it sounds like the kind of thing you cant really do well until you're like 80 and have been doing it all your life. i would probably just get electrocuted and cut myself on a broken tube.

― b mulvey, Saturday, 18 February 2006 04:06 (nineteen years ago)

It's fun. Also, I have been electrocuted doing it. In fact it made me piss in my pants. I'm not kidding.

― martin m. (mushrush), Saturday, 18 February 2006 06:39 (nineteen years ago)

shit. i got electrocuted only once doing something really really stupid (reaching in where i couldnt see). it wasn't too bad, just made my whole body wriggle around a whole lot. i dont know what i was thinking though.

it really isnt too difficult, a lot of really great sounding amps are insanely simple inside.

― AaronK (AaronK), Saturday, 18 February 2006 17:00 (nineteen years ago)

Speaking of... http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1167677.

I'm duly impressed and envious.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Monday, 20 February 2006 07:13 (nineteen years ago)

Just an update and word of warning. This Alesis amp has some of the cheapest carpentry I've ever seen. It's an alright sounding amp, but it looks like it was hammered together by a four year old.

Sides popping out with loose nails.. Tongue and groove joints barely glued together.. I'm begining to think the whole thing was held together BY the tolex. The cheap cabinet construction was just not meant to stand up to any abuse it might incur from, you know, playing shows.

That said, it wasn't that big of a deal to repair. I peeled off all the tolex, used some GOOD wood glue and some good cabinet nails to keep it all together. Initially the tolex peeled off so easily (again cheap glue) that I figured I could peel back a little bit are the joints are simply lay it back with some more glue. That's when I realized that every single corner of that thing needed some reinforcement and decided not to bother.

Now I'm thinking I might indulge in some snakeskin tolex. I'm probably going to replace the cheap plastic knobs with some aluminum ones. It doesn't feel right when I need to crank it up. I might even reinforce the cabinet edges with some sturdy metal angled brackets that run up the edges. It looks like I'll be having a pretty punishing coast to coast tour this summer, so this seems like a good idea.

Anyway.. snakeskin tolex?

― Polysix Bad Battery (cprek), Tuesday, 28 February 2006 13:56 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/cgi-bin/mojotone/7310210.html

― AaronK (AaronK), Tuesday, 28 February 2006 14:05 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, exactly. I saw that earlier, but I was kind of looking more for aesthetic feedback.

― Polysix Bad Battery (cprek), Tuesday, 28 February 2006 15:21 (nineteen years ago)

Snakeskin will effectively symbolize your individuality, and your belief in personal freedom, but isn't alligator just soooo much classier?

http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/cgi-bin/mojotone/7310220.html

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Tuesday, 28 February 2006 20:16 (nineteen years ago)

Haha I was also thinking of alligator. But the detail work on the amp front panel is silvery aluminum...

http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/mojotone/images/items/7310210.jpg

http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/mojotone/images/items/7310220.jpg

― Polysix Bad Battery (cprek), Tuesday, 28 February 2006 20:21 (nineteen years ago)

You need TEH TOOLED STUFF!

http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL326/682310/2949318/37284472.jpg

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Tuesday, 28 February 2006 22:39 (nineteen years ago)

jesus christ. that would look awesome in an old west burnt brown color.

― AaronK (AaronK), Wednesday, 1 March 2006 02:20 (nineteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

Well, no luck tracking down the old Reverend cowboy tolex, but if you haven't already gone with the snakeskin there's some great stuff here: http://www.tone-tools.com/extcovers.html.

Fig Cobra's pretty sweet, but I find myself oddly drawn to the burlap. With the right grille clothgrille cloth it could be really righteous...

But probably not for metal.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 01:25 (nineteen years ago)

I already went with the snakeskin and it's finished. I did a pretty damn good job. There was only a little bit of non-visible rippage when I forced the amp head back into the cabinet. The tilt wheels on the bottom aren't that secure because the rubber screw caps holding them in place disappeared somehow. But I think I'm just going to get some casters for it anyway.

My bandmate did a good job replacing bad grillcloth on his amp with some fabric printed with tea pot pattern. It always gets lots of compliments at gigs. My 'looks like a python swallowed your amp' look got compliments gigging this weekend as well. I'll try to get some photos.

― Polysix Bad Battery (cprek), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 14:18 (nineteen years ago)

Congrats, man! Looking forward to those pics.

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Tuesday, 21 March 2006 18:28 (nineteen years ago)

jesus christ. that would look awesome in an old west burnt brown color.

Done.

http://www.siegmundguitars.com/images/msfront.jpg http://www.siegmundguitars.com/images/msback.jpg

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Saturday, 25 March 2006 04:06 (nineteen years ago)

That's unfuckingbelieveably good looking. We just got in a strat case in western tooled "leather", and I think I'm just going to buy it for myself. Because I can.

― John Justen (johnjusten), Saturday, 25 March 2006 04:28 (nineteen years ago)

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