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Grill Cloth/piping over tolex?

fdesalvo

fdesalvo

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Hi, all.

I've got a hankerin' to dress up my headshell a bit.  I'm looking to divide the front panel horizontally with grill cloth, but am unsure how to proceed - or if it's posible.  Generally, grill cloth is stretch over cutouts and tucked around the sides of panels - not thrown over an already uphostered panel.  Any advice on hiding the lower margin?  I'd like there to be a little bit of tolex visible just above the chassis cutout.
 
I've done Tolex with piping before, but I'm having trouble picturing what you describe in my head. Are there any examples you could show a picture of?
 
Imagine 3/4 of the way down the front panel being grill cloth and the lower 1/4 or so being tolex. Faceplate should be in any day now.




 
Cut the front panel in half. You may have to trim the top half so it's 3/16" or so shorter to create a gap between the upper/lower half. Cover each with whatever you want. Attach piping to one of the two halves , then make a couple of flat braces you can screw into the back of the panels to join them back together. Reinstall as before, and smile at the sky.
 
Since you have so much room, you could even take it a step further and cut it twice, so as to create a wider horizontal stripe. Have the top and bottom sections be Tolex and the middle strip be fabric, with piping in the lines. Then, you could put your DeSalvo emblem in the fabric stripe.

Might be getting too busy, though. Just a thought.
 
Cagey said:
I've done Tolex with piping before, but I'm having trouble picturing what you describe in my head. Are there any examples you could show a picture of?
Click to expand...

What glue do you use when doing toilex?
I've got an unfinished toilex recovering project in the basement that screached to a halt because of attempting with (I suspect)
the wrong glue and not enough experience in how to get it to stick.
Any helpful hints would be appreciated.
 
3M Super 77 spray adhesive is the best.

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Be sure to shop around - retail prices very widely.
 
Speaking of Super 77 spray adhesive... watch the overspray. Put down some newspaper/dropcloth/tarp/something to put the tolex or whatever you're going to glue on before you start spraying. It may look like you're only spraying what you're aiming at, but some of the dreaded invisible adhesive mist will travel around/beyond your aim. This is some pretty sticky stuff - it's kinda like aerosolized contact cement - so it takes about 100 years to really dry, during which time anything it's on will remain very tacky. It goes beyond annoying - it can be dangerous. On the floor, it becomes a trip hazard, and you could spill your beer. Just a word to the wise.
 
Yes.
I was planning or using a large plastic drop cloth old tennis shoes and jeans and latex gloves through out the whole process.
Found a good price at the local Home Depot.
 
I have been using glue from MojoTone. It's water based and brushes on easily. From what I understand it's relabled Formica countertop glue. I'm sure you've seen some of the glue offerings from the amp part suppliers. It seems as it's all the same stuff. The super 77 doesn't hold very well on compound stretches with traditional tolex. You'll most likely have to use patches anyway on your inner corners at the control panel. I prefer to use a much tighter radius to help eliminate this. It works great on a 4 way stretch vinyl though. There are some really good videos on YouTube and years ago I found a forum with some great info on doing plexi style cabs with the piping. The guy would convert a regular 1960 into a plexi cab. It was good stuff. Good luck. Can't wait for you to get started.  :bananaguitar:
 
A little quick mockup while I wait for the front panel to arrive.  Will have wheat grill cloth - like the cab below - on the upper 3/4 of the panel. The logo plate will look much better against it. 

Man this amp has amazing Overdrive!  Really sings with a smooth and crunchy voice.  Learned what Randall Smith learned eons ago - you can't just add a master to a Fender circuit and call it a day.

Great thing is it gets up to unboosted plexi levels of OD, but with the master set high, it's the sweetest Blackface you ever heard.  Only took a couple of months of tweaking to get it here heh. Now I have my recipe. 

89284056-EBF7-40F8-A1E4-FC492EC1CD4D_zpsdhuvbale.jpg


Tough to capture the color. It's halfway between the two.

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Need to reinstall the piping around the panel; learning how to wrap it so it meets the chassis.  In my sleep deprived state I measured the control panel cutout incorrectly.  It was a bit taller than needed, so there was a small hairline gap that I closed using some piping. Close enough for now.  I'll be transferring the guts into a new chassis and eventually into a new cabinet as, well, but this little not-so-rough mockup is good to go. 

2708E313-F901-48BD-BC90-E511D5B2AAFB_zps74aicyps.jpg




 
Very nice!  Much more professional-looking.  Might want to miter the corners where the piping meets. And don't try to measure - install it too long and trim to match. You'll get closer to exact that way. Also, if you've ever done wallpaper, you probably learned that razors lose their edge remarkably fast. Change to a fresh one often. The cast-offs will still be good for other things, but not for fine trimming.
 
Thanks! 

Yeah, just need to re-pipe the outer edges and it's in biz.  Piping is pretty challenging, but fun.  Have tons of fresh blades to play with, so at least I don't need to come out of pocket any further at this point.  A cool little proff of concept. 
 
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