Anyone know how to work with Tolex/vinyl?

[ninja636]

I'm thinking of recovering my Crate XT120, nothings wrong with the Tolex covering it now except it's boring. The 2 places I found some at sell it by the yard ie: 36" x 54". About how much would I need for a 2x12 combo amp? Do you have to peel the old covering off? Whats the best glue to use? Do you try to use just one piece to cover the cab? Meaning do you try to make it "seamless" ? Thanks for any info. BTW here's the links to the sites I found the material at, now I just gotta make up my mind on which color.

http://www.vibroworld.com/parts/tech11.html#fabric2
http://www.lopoline.com/vinyl.html

Edit: I have to add, I am getting a new half stack in the next 3-4 months(sadly not the one I REALLY wanted), and am gonna use this amp as a back up, as well as practice for recovering with vinyl/tolex. The amp I'm getting is a Bugera 333xl, but I'm gonna recover it so it looks like "my" amp.

[MrSandMan]

Tolex is an art of its own... I never did anything intense other than do some basic repairs on rips and tears on head shells and cabs.

My "guess" would to be heat up the glue to peal off the old Tolex. Otherwise you may have to do some sanding.

Where is Vintageheadbox when we need him? You might want to consult with him. He's a master at that stuff.

[ninja636]

Thanks, maybe I'll PM him.

[Redline68]

Wow....it's been a long time, but I used to work in a shop that customized vans. I've covered just about every kind of panel there is with vinyl or fabric. We used industrial glues that looked like sticky horse snot from an animal with a sinus infection. Heavy duty stuff from big drums that we'd spray with paint sprayers adapted with bigger nozzles. Very occasionally, we'd used 3M spay cans for spot work at a dealership. And hog rings. Thousands and thousands of hog rings (don't use those for your project).

I could probably explain how to make a nice neat corner using vinyl if you get stuck at such a spot. FWIW.

Good luck.

[ninja636]

Thanks bro!! I'll let you know if I get stuck. Just getting started is the main problem though. I don't know if it's supposed to go on in one peice, or pieces, and there's some trick to hiding the seams. :confused:

[Redline68]

I'd definitely try to keep seams to a minimum. Maybe just one on the bottom if possible.

If you peel off the old cover, you could use it as a template. I used to do that with seat upholstery.

[ninja636]

Cool, thanks for the tip. :2thumbups:

[fireman257]

Ok not sure if I am to late to add 2 cents or not but here goes . To get the tolex off a bit easier take a damp NOT WET towel and use a house iron dont hold it to long and you will have to re dampen the towel but place towel on where you want to peal it off and then run iron over to get it good and hot and it should peal off easier. before putting tolex on you will need contact cement get the yellow looking type not the bluish kind for counter tops I would do this on a warm day lay your tolex or vinal out side in the sun let it get good and warm always trim it a little larger then you need but pre cut it before you warm it. what will happen after you glue it and it cools it will get nice and tight if you put it on cold it wont get as tight over lap seems and then use a strait edge and a razor and cut through both peaces on your main seam then peal off access it is an art form to do this if you can I would practice a bit with some cheap cloth from like wal-mart on triming and stuff not gluing it. well hope this helps a bit any way .

[Vintageheadbox]

You got some good tips from the guys . How did it turn out?

[MrSandMan]

Show us PICs dammit :bringit:

[ninja636]

Well so far I've got it all peeled off, I used a heat gun for this, but the damp cloth and iron probably would have been cheaper(had to buy the heat gun :frownz:). It's been raining everyday here since hurricane season started so I haven't been able to go outside and start recovering it. I got some stuff in the automotive field known as"Gorilla Snot". It's basically just weather stripping glue for cars. Nice and yellow. Really does look like snot, and sticky as hell. You have to use mineral spirits or some similar solvent(gas works great, although kinda expensive right now) to wash it off your fingers. When I'm finished I'll post some pics(if my wife lets me use her camera again), and then you'll see the color I chose. :biggrin: Oh yeah,... forgot, I'm still using this amp too. After I peeled off all the old tolex, I put it back together to go do a little show for my religious group a couple of weekends ago.

Edit: I have to add these little tales of woe that occured during this project. NEVER use your wifes hair dryer to heat up tolex so you can peel it off. It was only designed to run for more than a few minutes at a time, and will go up in a puff of smoke, nessecitating the purchase of a heat gun, AND new hair dryer for your wife :ohz:. Always remember what resources you have available to you. I got halfway through sanding the excess glue of the cab...by hand...when I remembered I have an 18 volt power sander :datz:. Hope these tips help anyone else thinking of doing a project like this. :gna:

[MrSandMan]

LMAO! :w:

Yeah, just share the heat gun... it'd make a killer hair dryer

[bleachpunk87]

go to youtube and watch the MESA factory tour. they show how cabs are made start to finish. yowards the end it shows how the tolex is cut out and how its glued and smoothed over. check it out

[siddle]

I recently bought some Fender tweed and I sent it to a case builder for some new Stringmaster cases but I’m having a tough time to get him to come up with some cases.