Regular tweed vs 'amplifier tweed'?

[Teddy]

Hi, I'm thinking of covering my latest project in tweed.

I looked at the prices of tweed on amp making supply sites - about 35GBP per yard!

I then looked at upholstery or clothing tweed - I can buy high quality, heavyweight tweed in nice colours, made in the UK, for about a seventh of the price!

I'm not bothered about it looking 'authentic', however, I am concerned by ease of application and particularly durability. Is amplifier-specific tweed much heavier and stiffer than tweed designed for clothing or furniture? has anyone compared the two, or better still has anyone attempted to cover an amp/cab with regular tweed?

Thanks in advance for any input!

[what_wires]

You will want to be sure to use an adhesive with a very high immuno-supressive content to reduce the likelyhood MTRS (Marshall Tweed Rejection Syndrome).

[dgriff]

Watch it Lad, the moderators might get a bit "shirty" 'bout tweed

[dgriff]

Joking aside, I believe that F****r tweed normally has 3 coats of laquer applied after the cab has been upholstered. you will find plenty of info on the Trinity amps forum or PPWatt.
Dave

[John_A]

I'm sure most suppliers would send you a small sample, you can then see how similar they are.

[paulschnettler]

Joking aside, I believe that F****r tweed normally has 3 coats of laquer applied after the cab has been upholstered. you will find plenty of info on the Trinity amps forum or PPWatt.
Dave

Actually I think it's 1/2 clear and 1/2 amber shellac mixed.
bullseye works well.

[AlunAmpUk]

Tweed - tweed - what are you thinking of man!! Dear oh dear!! You'll be wanting to cover your next one in something orange!

[guitarmike2107]

Joking aside, I believe that F****r tweed normally has 3 coats of laquer applied after the cab has been upholstered. you will find plenty of info on the Trinity amps forum or PPWatt.
Dave

Actually I think it's 1/2 clear and 1/2 amber shellac mixed.
bullseye works well.

OK, don’t quote me on this but my understanding is that the tweed you buy for amps has been pre treated with shellac/lacquer mix before it is glued on.. This makes it stiffer/heavier and less likely to fray when cutting it. I remember reading about some guys on a non 18watt related forum who bought the “raw” untreated stuff and they said it worked well.. so give it a try.

Mike

[Teddy]

Tweed - tweed - what are you thinking of man!! Dear oh dear!! You'll be wanting to cover your next one in something orange!

Erm, actually the tweedy material I found is orange... haha!!!

Seriously though, it is an 18w lite I'm covering, so it is relevant to this board

I'm in the UK, so brands like Bullseye and Minwax aren't actually readily available to me. I was thinking of brushing on a few coats of clear polyurethane or something like this to potect the finish:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/79340/Pai ... lear-Satin

[guitarmike2107]

Bulls Eye Shellac is an alcohol-based solution of pure lac, a natural resin secreted by tiny insects on certain trees, mainly in India.

WOW how can you ignore mojo like that!!! Get the bug poop!

[paulschnettler]

Shellac is bug poop! The nice thing about using it is it's solvent is alcohol based so you can thin it to whatever need with some denatured alcohol. It dries very quickly and while the finished product does have some natural sheen, it dries to something between satin and semi-gloss.
It's been used for eons... just look up "french polish" to get an idea of it's use on wood!

[zaphod_phil]

You will want to be sure to use an adhesive with a very high immuno-supressive content to reduce the likelyhood MTRS (Marshall Tweed Rejection Syndrome).

I like adhesives with lots of solvents in them so I get high. But you can cover Marshall 18W amps in tweed, even if it does sound really wrong somehow.

Watch it Lad, the moderators might get a bit "shirty" 'bout tweed

Ho ho!

Shellac is bug poop! The nice thing about using it is it's solvent is alcohol based ....

Gee those bugs are alcoholics too??

you will find plenty of info on the Trinity amps forum or PPWatt.

Actually I was talking to Stephen at Trinity about a beautiful looking tweed covered cab he had there, and he told me that covering a cab in tweed is much harder than tolex, and is a royal pain in the butt. Apparently it's real hard to get the the pattern to line up at the corners, and if you don't do that it looks very unprofessional (ie c**ppy). So now we know.

[John_A]

Do a Google on Manchester guitar tech, he sells tinted nitro in aerosols but if you contact him he'll sell you some for brush application, just put it on with a stffish brush.

[Pressed_Rat]

I have used tweed to cover a Marshall JCM800 head clone and a 4 x 12" cab (not my idea but my son's ). I found it much easier to apply than tolex. The corners came out much better. Use a sharp utility knife blade, and have several spare - the blades do seem to dull during application - maybe due to glue buildup.

The tweed I used is from Antique Electronics Supply (tubesandmore.com). As previously mentioned it was stiffened - not virgin twill (tweed is actually a twill fabric) - probably with a coat of lacquer or two. I think it helps keep the fabric from fraying after it is cut, but if you use a sharp blade I do not see this as a real problem. The color is not oranged, or aged. I applied several coats of lacquer when finished with a spray gun/compressor.

[paulschnettler]

I gotta agree with Pressed Rat. I've covered a number of F.....R style amps with tweed tolex from AES. Excellent price. The hardest part is layout and corners. I do it all ahead of time before applying the contact cement. Cutting the pieces to "near" finished size is the key. It allows you to fit and trim without alot of excess in the way. Since the tolex is "biased" with a diagonal pattern you need to fit the corners so the diagonals line up in opposition for the correct look (unless you're capping the corners) It takes a few to get the hang of it, so start on the back ones first! There's a great "how to" at:
http://adlibmusic.net/Tolex/index.htm

[zaphod_phil]

So I wonder if Stephen was using natural, untreated tweed/twill. He sure seemed to hate it, and he's very experienced at covering cabs.

I've covered a number of F.....R style amps with tweed tolex....

OK, so it's confession time. Light ten candles and sin no more.

[paulschnettler]

Bless me father for I have sinned... Since my last confession I have had impure thoughts and lusted after my neighbor's 59 Les Paul and Marshal stack!
LOL, Now where's Sister Mary Louise and that sharp edged ruler...

[StarGeezers]

Tweed is a PIA to cover with , just the aspect of getting the lines right... Other than that, it's a Great covering ... We used to work for an amp maker in the late 60's and covered quite a few cabs , with all sort of materials ... We did the tweeds in 2 pieces, one for the bottom , and one continuous piece around the sides and top ... much neater than with that seam on the top .. Takes a little practice and patience , but it's not rocket science... Corners take some of the fuss away ... we used thinned polyurethane to protect the somewhat raw material ... The ones we didn't protect became Vintage looking fairly quickly with dirt, beer stains and cigarette burns ... Tweed seems to look better(vintage MOJO) as it ages whereas Tolex just looks old and ratty ...