Mark V: what's underneath the tolex coverings?

[andretoscano]

Hi!

I recently purchased a second-hand Mark V.
It's got a red vinyl finish which looks nice, although I'm not emotionally attached to it. Just came that way.

In the past couple of days I realized there's a bit of vinyl peeling off here and there. Nothing much, but of course it will only get worse with time.

I am not really in the mood to send the Mark V to my local distributor and having to wait a few months for the Mark V to come back with new vinyl reapplied. So I was thinking I could just carefully take out the amp chassis and have some local craftsman work on a new cab covering.

That got me thinking, maybe someone knows the answer to this.

*If* (a big IF) I were to peel the red vinyl off the cabinet and lightly sand it to get rid of glue residues, what kind of wood finish should I expect to find?

Would it be a wood like appearance, with all those organic veins and grains, that I could simply give a touch of varnish and go for a natural finish?

Or would I find some MDF-look-a-like gray homogenous thing?

In other words, is the wood-work of a "raw" Mark V nice to look at? Or were the ugliest pieces of wood used, since they'd not be in sight anyway?

Thanks!

 

[daverose]

I've never pulled the tolex off but it's highly likely that it's plywood. Some plywood has a veneer coating on it that looks nice but it's unlikely they would use that knowing it would be covered up and on the edges you would see the layers of wood anyway. Best to expect to re-apply the tolex I would think.

 

[Authorized Boogie]

As with all of our cabs, its Baltic Birch. Thanks!

 

[andretoscano]

As with all of our cabs, its Baltic Birch. Thanks!

Thanks!
Would it be too much to ask you to post a picture of a "raw" Mark V - or indeed any amp head model that uses the same wood - so I know what it looks like when stripped of its vinyl?

That would help me decide as to wether I'll have some vinyl reapplied or a simple wood varnish treatment of some kind.

Thanks again.

 

[Authorized Boogie]

 

[andretoscano]

It does look good, but doesn't have that flair (in my opinion) of a purposedly choosen wood finish.
So a new vinyl covering it will have to be.

Thanks!

 

[TRENCHLORD]

Call me ghetto, but I've always liked carpeted amps/cabs, provided it's short and neat instead of shaggy or mangy.
I also like the look of plain birch when it's glossed-over, like on some plain drum shells (pearl visions for example)

 

[andretoscano]

Call me ghetto, but I've always liked carpeted amps/cabs, provided it's short and neat instead of shaggy or mangy.
I also like the look of plain birch when it's glossed-over, like on some plain drum shells (pearl visions for example)

Well, I don't have a problem with that natural birch tone also.
Just not sure about those visible layers of plywood that you can see on the sides.
In my opinion, it would make the cab look somewhat unfinished.
But that's just me.

 

[dodger916]

Beautiful wood, and great pic too!

 

[MusicManJP6]

Yea, baltic birch is not sought after for its figuring... hence why it is covered up with tolex! It's rather boring in comparison to some of the other hardwoods that make up the hardwood heads/cabs you can order custom from Mesa.

 

[jb's 52]

Call me ghetto, but I've always liked carpeted amps/cabs, provided it's short and neat instead of shaggy or mangy.
I also like the look of plain birch when it's glossed-over, like on some plain drum shells (pearl visions for example)

Well, I don't have a problem with that natural birch tone also.
Just not sure about those visible layers of plywood that you can see on the sides.
In my opinion, it would make the cab look somewhat unfinished.
But that's just me.

You could do it like this...which I think looks awesome. This is another member's amp:

 

[knotts]

You could do it like this...which I think looks awesome. This is another member's amp:

Looks awesome. Well done.

 

[andretoscano]

You could do it like this...which I think looks awesome. This is another member's amp:

Wow! This is really cool! Or hot! Not sure which term to use.
Really nice stuff.
Plus, if my house ever gets robbed again, "that heavy old broken thing with knobs on it" will probably be the last thing on the thieves minds... :lol:

Now I wonder how difficult it would be to replicate those tobacco sunburst finishes in a cab like this.
Gotta find someone who knows about woods.

Thanks!

 

[Hypnotoad696]

Plywood lol!!! must be a mesa noob. Its all hard core birch baby.

 

[andretoscano]

Plywood lol!!! must be a mesa noob. Its all hard core birch baby.

FYI, plywood is not a type of wood, it's a way of organizing wood into sheets/layers (or plies).
So, yes, you can have birch plywood boards, just as you can have 'em made out of cedar, pine or spruce.

In fact, if you look at the sides of the unfinished speakers (see picture above), or even the lovely green "butchered" Mark V after it, you can definitely spot the layers, which was what put me off ripping the vinyl covers off my Mark V in the first place. I don't like those layers showing up.
That's just what I meant when I mentioned plywood.

 

[Authorized Boogie]

Plywood lol!!! must be a mesa noob. Its all hard core birch baby.

Baltic Birch is indeed a plywood! We use the finest void-free, Marine grade Baltic Birch for all of our cabs