Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Amp tinkerers and people who aren't afraid of 700 volts or so in here....

Moderators: Slowy, Capt. Black

User avatar
NippleWrestler
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 2890
meble-kuchenne.warszawa.pl
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:05 pm
Has liked: 78 times
Been liked: 1064 times

Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by NippleWrestler »

This is a 1985 Marshall 1960a. It's from the JCM800 series.

It looked like this:

Image

ruined tolex, water damaged sides, a crumbly back panel, a cab full of dings and scrapes and a big gouge in the top by the skid pan covered in layers of duct tape going back decades judging from how brittle it was.

Image

Let's strip it back:

Image

The tolex just came off in brittle strips. It would flake off in your hands and had lost all pliancy so it was like hard plastic. It all went in the garbage sadly, which felt very irresponsible but there's not much I can do with flaky crap tolex. I sanded it smooth and crap-free with 5 80 grit discs.

Image

Image

That's a broken off drillbit in the cab. Quality British construction.

Image

Maybe Ron is the guy who left the drillbit there?

Image

nice ply though.

Image

That's the date from the speaker codes.

Here's where it gets interesting. I'm not using tolex. I actually hate the stuff and hate dealing with it and don't really see any upsides to using it that aren't rooted in tradition or doing it because it's what everyone else does. I'm using this https://www.livesound.co.nz/collections ... r-cabinets which I bought from Livesound. I've used that for PA cabs and stage gear. Tolex seems to be a holdover for guitar cabs for some reason while the rest of the audio trade moved on.

Anyway. I used the trial kit which is enough for 3 coats of a 4x12 cab this size. The texture comes from the roller and you can soften it or make it more aggressive if you dilute the stuff, or leave it neat. It goes on dark grey/blue but dries black so don't worry if you think you bought the wrong stuff. It cleans up with water while wet and is hard AF when dry. There's no fumes and it's generally very easy to work with and is touch dry within the hour.

First coat:

Image

Image

Image

Second coat:

Image

Image

You can see it's not quite dry in the first pic. The unevenness on the side panel disappeared once it had dried. It's self-adhering and can be touched up with a brush down the line if need be.

I made a new back from 18mm ply, also Duratex coated, and installed a new metal jack plate to replace the plastic funnel thingy that was stock.

Image

The original plan was to replace the grille cloth but I think this looks 100% badass as is so I left it. The hardware is all original, I just touched it up where I could and fixed the dodgy wheel.

Image

Nice level 3 project.

User avatar
sizzlingbadger
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 8241
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2011 7:12 am
Location: Wire Wrapper
Has liked: 1200 times
Been liked: 1398 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by sizzlingbadger »

Looks cool, great work.
Tube amp and guitar tones straight from 1958… amazing how believable the sounds were back then, even without the modellers...

User avatar
jeremyb
Chorus of Organs
Posts: 40878
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:03 am
Has liked: 7685 times
Been liked: 4157 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by jeremyb »

That looks great, nice work!
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

User avatar
Kris
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 4087
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 1:52 pm
Location: Under a bridge,somewhere in chch.
Has liked: 124 times
Been liked: 386 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by Kris »

imma get me some of that duratex,looks fantastic!

User avatar
Dharmajester
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 1587
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2015 8:44 am
Location: Dunedin
Has liked: 273 times
Been liked: 377 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by Dharmajester »

Ah Duratex presumably. I've been looking at that with a view to de tolexing and painting my Redplate which has dirty cream coloured finish on it.
It's not in rough shape just a f'ugly colour and that stuff looks the ticket. I wondered if it was just for speaker cabs though and might not like the heat from a head???
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench - a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
Hunter S. Thompson

User avatar
NippleWrestler
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 2890
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:05 pm
Has liked: 78 times
Been liked: 1064 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by NippleWrestler »

Dharmajester wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:49 pm Ah Duratex presumably. I've been looking at that with a view to de tolexing and painting my Redplate which has dirty cream coloured finish on it.
It's not in rough shape just a f'ugly colour and that stuff looks the ticket. I wondered if it was just for speaker cabs though and might not like the heat from a head???
It can live comfortably under stage lights and it says it's rated to 90c on the packet so I wouldn't think it an issue. The outside of my dual rec doesn't get too hot as is.

User avatar
jeremyb
Chorus of Organs
Posts: 40878
Joined: Sat Dec 06, 2008 9:03 am
Has liked: 7685 times
Been liked: 4157 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by jeremyb »

Kris wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:47 pm imma get me some of that duratex,looks fantastic!
I'm sure theres a disclaimer about using it as a paint on prophylactic!
Slowy wrote: That's the problem; everything rewarding is just such hard work. Regret takes much less effort.

User avatar
Molly
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 24937
Joined: Sat Dec 21, 2013 12:17 pm
Has liked: 2482 times
Been liked: 2794 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by Molly »

Looks tidy. Nice job.

I'd have been tempted to Randy it. :-)

User avatar
Kris
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 4087
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 1:52 pm
Location: Under a bridge,somewhere in chch.
Has liked: 124 times
Been liked: 386 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by Kris »

jeremyb wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 2:05 pm
Kris wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:47 pm imma get me some of that duratex,looks fantastic!
I'm sure theres a disclaimer about using it as a paint on prophylactic!
id let it dry first! it is very close to durex, so i understand your confusion.

User avatar
Cdog
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 4363
Joined: Wed Feb 07, 2007 3:01 pm
Location: Christchurch
Has liked: 3465 times
Been liked: 711 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by Cdog »

Nice job! Looks the biz... Do you think the duratex will be as durable as tolex?

User avatar
NippleWrestler
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 2890
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:05 pm
Has liked: 78 times
Been liked: 1064 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by NippleWrestler »

Cdog wrote: Fri Aug 14, 2020 4:17 pm Nice job! Looks the biz... Do you think the duratex will be as durable as tolex?
More so. You can drop pa cabs down many stairs and the paint will survive. And if you do scratch it off you can fix it with a paint brush and a fresh application. I'm done with tolex.

User avatar
Kris
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 4087
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 1:52 pm
Location: Under a bridge,somewhere in chch.
Has liked: 124 times
Been liked: 386 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by Kris »

did you get one of the duratex trial packs or commit to a bucket?i'm just trying to see wether i can justify a bucket ;) i do have a lot of 15"cabs though...

User avatar
NippleWrestler
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 2890
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:05 pm
Has liked: 78 times
Been liked: 1064 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by NippleWrestler »

Kris wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2020 11:49 am did you get one of the duratex trial packs or commit to a bucket?i'm just trying to see wether i can justify a bucket ;) i do have a lot of 15"cabs though...
Just the trial pack. I don't need it for anything else right now, although I still have about a quarter left.

User avatar
Dharmajester
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 1587
Joined: Sun Apr 05, 2015 8:44 am
Location: Dunedin
Has liked: 273 times
Been liked: 377 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by Dharmajester »

NippleWrestler wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:08 pm
Kris wrote: Sat Aug 15, 2020 11:49 am did you get one of the duratex trial packs or commit to a bucket?i'm just trying to see wether i can justify a bucket ;) i do have a lot of 15"cabs though...
Just the trial pack. I don't need it for anything else right now, although I still have about a quarter left.
Think you bought the last one.
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench - a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side."
Hunter S. Thompson

User avatar
NippleWrestler
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 2890
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2016 5:05 pm
Has liked: 78 times
Been liked: 1064 times

Re: Marshall 4x12 refurbishment.

Post by NippleWrestler »

Good on ya man. See the light. I think you'll be a convert.

Post Reply