Thinking of recovering my DC-10 combo.

[nosajwp]

Anyone try to remove the black Taurus covering from their Mesa amp? How should I go about it?

Also, if anyone has recovered their amps, please describe what you did, so I can get some ideas.

 

[jukesgtr]

As long as the covering does not affect the sound (i.e. never) I would not bother to do it. Same applies to paint jobs on guitars IMHO.

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I recovered a Rectoverb Combo cabinet with Wine Buggy Whip Taurus tolex. It made a huge difference in the appearance of the cabinet.


To remove the old tolex, you will need a heat gun, strong fingers, an orbital sander (120 grit sandpaper) and lots of patience.

Mesa uses hide glue. The older the amp is, the easier it will be to strip it.

The Rectoverb was only about 4 years old and the glue was very strong still.



Find a corner that is a bit looser than the rest. Pull on the tolex. If it won't come off, use the heat gun to loosen the glue.

You will have to experiment a bit. For some parts of the amp (ones with less glue), I was able to pull the tolex and use the heat gun at the same time. I used the heat gun between the tolex and the wood.

Places with more glue needed a bit more attention. I heated the outside of the tolex and then used the heat gun between the tolex and the wood.



It took me about 5 hours of heat gun - pulling to get all of the tolex off.

Then it took me another 2-3 hours of sanding.

You have to sand evenly or you will end up with divots in the wood that will have to be filled in before applying the new tolex.

I hand sanded all of the curves and tight areas.



Recovering the amp was the fastest part of the process. The only thing that takes any time is letting the glue dry.




Here are some MAJOR things to consider before re-covering your amp.

1. Once you start, there is no turning back. If you don't have a few days to spend on it, don't do it. Mojotone will recover most Combos for about $200.

2. If you don't have any technical skills and are either not good with an exacto knife or have very shaky hands, don't do it.

3. Use good glue. Don't get cheap spray on glue and expect great results the 1st time around. Mojotone offers glue that is perfect for the job. It allows for the removal or shifting of the tolex after it's been applied. This means that you can make more mistakes and fix them before the glue is totally set up.

This glue is a bit more expensive, I think it's $20 a quart, but that's enough to cover 2 amps.

4. Get enough tolex to allow you to make mistakes. If you get just enough, you will wish you had more.

5. Cut your pieces a bit bigger than they need to be. This way you can fine tune them and not have gaps.

6. TAKE YOUR TIME, IT'S NOT A RACE. If it looks like ****, you won't have anybody to blame but yourself. If it looks great, your friends will want you to do their amps too.



Good places to get standard tolexes:

www.tubesandmore.com Antique Electronic Supply
www.mojotone.com Mojo Tone


If you want something very different, go to a large fabric warehouse. Most tolexes are actually upholstery material. It's much cheaper to get it from a fabric warehouse, but be careful, you could get something that is hard to glue. If you like the standards, it may be a good idea to get it from an Amp Supply Company.

Hope this helps.

Also, the guys at Mojotone, Tom in particular, are a great source of knowledge. They are very friendly and helpful. My name is Andy Turner, the owner of Mojotone is also named Andy Turner. How can I not trust myself?

 

[nosajwp]

Monsta-Tone,

If I were to send you the amp cab, the tolex (Mesa OEM), and the leather corners, how much would you charge to recover it, and what would be the turnaround time?

Thanks, Jason

 

[Monsta-Tone]

You are just a few miles away from Mojotone. I would have them do it if I were you. www.mojotone.com

Tom is the guy that does the recovering. He only does it on the weekends, so it may take a few weeks.

I had him do a Soldano head cab for me before I started doing them. I was very satisfied, but I think I do a better job. I worked in my Grandfather's Upholstery Shop for many years when I was a kid.



I am very flattered and would love to do it for you, but I live in Hawaii, and shipping alone would run you $150.


I am, however moving to New Mexico in May of this year. I will be open for business repairing & restoring Vintage & Modern tube amps by the end of the summer. I'm also thinking of starting a webpage for amp parts. I think that most places mark things up way too much. I could mark things up 1/2 as much as most places and still make a very nice living.

Let me know what you decide to do.

 

[nosajwp]

One other idea. The tolex isn't nicked up or anything like that, it's just the color has been worn off of it, and it doesn't look too good. The Mesa tolex that's on there is very thin, much more so than most other amp covering's I've seen. It's pretty much smooth too. Do you think I could just put new tolex over what is already there?

 

[Monsta-Tone]

I don't think that it would stick very well.

You would almost have to remove the old tolex.


Another thing that lots of guys do is paint the old tolex, but you would have to remove everything from the cabinet.

I don't really think it's a good idea, it's more of a temporary fix.



Mojotone should only run you about $200 or so, + shipping. It really is the most painless way to go, and your cab will look brand new when their done.