My tolex is falling off.

robgilmo

Has anyone recovered their amp in cloth? I was looking for twill like on fender amps but unless its actual fender guitar price tag special amp covering cloth it seems to be quite illusive, anyone used anything else?

chickenbonejohn

I've used Fender style tweed (Chinese made) to cover a combo. I bought the cloth off eBay and took a lot of care with prepping it. I pre-lacquered the cloth with shellac (I reckoned this would help prevent the glue bleeding through the fabric and staining it), glued it with Titebond and finished with a coat of shellac. A lot of faffing about but it turned out great.

Modulus_Amps

Lots of guys have used tartan or other cloth, you have to treat it first to stop the material fraying, Unless you plan to hide corners with hardware. That will be the faff and experiment side of it.

I think Chris Uff used to use the Chinese cloth and soak in in a water + PVA glue solution first???

If it is thin you may need to only apply the glue to the wood to stop it soaking through the cloth.

The Fender stuff is treated and does not fray, for the extra cost of the material it is fine to work with.

robgilmo

Thanks guys, Ive been looking at different cloth and just cant find anything that I think would suit a vox amp, I'm not even sure Fender twill would suit it. The grille cloth is still perfect and I wouldnt want to change it.
I considered painting it, I quite like the idea of a painted amp, I'm fearfull though that once I remove the tolex I will be faced with a rabbit hole and a ton of work on a wonky rough cab. Of course there is the option to repair the tolex on there at present. I might ponder this over a beer this evening, most of my best and poorest decisions have been pondered over a beer.
My last beer pondered amp tolex decision didnt turn out so bad, 
Stripped pine cab on Peavey Deuce? And perhaps dodgy repair found? And Beer! - Amps Discussions on theFretBoard

Modulus_Amps

You could just use black basketweave and restore it to original.

You won't know what the cab is like till you strip it 

robgilmo

Thanks guys, I have been looking at amps online, different tolex options etc, I always liked the look of the cream Vox amps but I'm not a huge fan of tolex, then I spotted this gorgeous old WEM Watkins amp.




Its a canvas twill from what I have lerned, they called it 'luggage linen' on the old Fender amps, its not actually tweed.
So, I am thinking my wee Vox might look nice in a natural canvas twill, so I am off to the material shop in the next village tomorrow to see what they have.