re-tolexing opinions and advice

[jzerza]

I recently picked up another DC-3 combo pretty cheap. The tolex looked like crap, so after reading some threads on here about re-tolexing, I decided to give it a shot.
So far I ripped off the old tolex, scraped the glue off with a bit of laquer thinner (what a pain that was) and I have sanded it down with a course grit sandpaper. Looks pretty good right now. Here's my questions...

I ran across a website that talked about doing a "poormans hardwood Boogie" Basically sanding smooth and just finishing the birch plywood like you would do a hardwood cab. Here's the link http://homepage.mac.com/mesaboogie/resto.html

1. Should I try this or is it just plain cheesy?

2. When I applied the laquer thinner and wrapped in saran wrap to soften the glue the wrap got stuck to the alluminum shield and I ended up peeling the whole thing off.... what should I do to replace it? Foil??

3. If I do re-tolex it, how fine do I need to sand the cabinet? will the glue stick better to it if it more rough or extremely smooth?

4. Is there anywhere I can but new leather corners? the old ones are pretty bad.

5. Lastly, taking the advice of others here, if I go the tolex route,I plan on getting my glue and tolex from mojo. I don't think I want to go with black since The other options look pretty exciting (maybe a cafe western tolex) I would love to see anyone else's amps with different color tolex to help me choose something interesting...any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Bobby Marshall]

I recently picked up another DC-3 combo pretty cheap. The tolex looked like crap, so after reading some threads on here about re-tolexing, I decided to give it a shot.
So far I ripped off the old tolex, scraped the glue off with a bit of laquer thinner (what a pain that was) and I have sanded it down with a course grit sandpaper. Looks pretty good right now. Here's my questions...

I ran across a website that talked about doing a "poormans hardwood Boogie" Basically sanding smooth and just finishing the birch plywood like you would do a hardwood cab. Here's the link http://homepage.mac.com/mesaboogie/resto.html

1. Should I try this or is it just plain cheesy?

2. When I applied the laquer thinner and wrapped in saran wrap to soften the glue the wrap got stuck to the alluminum shield and I ended up peeling the whole thing off.... what should I do to replace it? Foil??

3. If I do re-tolex it, how fine do I need to sand the cabinet? will the glue stick better to it if it more rough or extremely smooth?

4. Is there anywhere I can but new leather corners? the old ones are pretty bad.

5. Lastly, taking the advice of others here, if I go the tolex route,I plan on getting my glue and tolex from mojo. I don't think I want to go with black since The other options look pretty exciting (maybe a cafe western tolex) I would love to see anyone else's amps with different color tolex to help me choose something interesting...any suggestions?

Thanks

Look at all of the posts by GTS of his work. He is the man when it comes to this stuff.

 

[acorkos]

mesa will sell you the corners

 

[jutsin]

as stated, the poor man's wood finish is up to personal taste- as you will see that it is plywood and recognize it as not original. I would suggest using tolex. if you have a little patience and are careful with your cuts and gluing, you'll be fine. i've recovered lots of cabs/amps and have yet to mess one up real bad here's a pic of the Boogie 1x12 (with EVM-12L) that i just finished building last night:

 

[jutsin]

well thank you! this is the first 'boogie' i've tried to make, and was pretty pleased with it. I also searched everywhere for that grill cloth! i finally found some on ebay, but i no longer have the record of who it was i bought it from unfortunately! i know it was a fabric store though. i'll look around and see if i can't find it again and get back to you

 

[jzerza]

Great... thanks for the help.
I'm gonna go ahead and re-tolex this thing. Got a few questions for you George as I'm a bit nervous to start...... Awesome pics by the way.

I have read alot of posts here and think I have an overall idea of what to do, First what do you think of the glue and tolex from mojo?

I plan on starting by covering around the amp like a lot of the pics, Iv'e seen some notes about shrinkage though. Do I need to layer the end where the tolex will meet and cut both pieces to get an even match or wait for it to dry before putting that seam together?

Should I let the initial tolex around the amp dry before beginning to cut my corners and wrap around the inside?

could you tell me where you get that wicker grillcloth? I have been looking, but can't find it?

Lastly, since I now have (2) dc-3's, I want to put one in a headshell. could you give me an idea of what you would charge to build me a headshell? Tolex, not hardwood. not sure of the color or grillcloth yet, so a ballpark $ would be cool. I am probably going to want black (bronco I think) to match my thiele, but I may change the grillcloth on my thiele to wicker if I can get hold of some.
I think my fav pic of yours is the red wine / wicker head. so many cool choices..maybe I need a bigger Boogie collection??? would somebody please explain that to my wife?

 

[jzerza]

awesome...Thanks George. Like everyone has been saying, your the man!
I actually have a woodcraft store right here in Jacksonville! I'm gonna pick up some wicker and set up my grill's. Still need to decide on the tolex, I'm stuck between the wine taurus and the western..don't know why, but I'm really drawn to the western for a different look. My strat case has the same tolex covering, and I kinda like it.

Has anyone ever seen a western / wicker combo?

I'll post some pics as get the work done. Thanks again for all advice.

 

[Mellowtronic]

Are you looking at that tooled western tolex? If so, I figured that same tolex with a wicker grill would be HOT.

 

[jzerza]

Yeah, that's the stuff I'm thinking about. I think Mesa calls it Cafe Western.