# Printing a New Control Plate



## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

Hey guys... looking at grabbing a used Peavey Bandit 112, silver stripe. Had one before, good amp but was way too loud... but been debating grabbing one again because quite cheap.

What I recall was that the pots had some weird shaft size and knobs were impossible to find. Saw many threads about it. I ended up getting Red Stripe style knobs and using 2 layers of heat shrink tubing on the shafts to make them fit. 4.7mm vs 6mm if I recall.

I was thinking of de-soldering the pots and replacing with normal new ones. Strip the amp down and go vintage tweed and tolex etc... 

The control plate looks fine, but I'd love to re-design it in Illustrator and have it printed black/gold like a Marshall amp.

I sent off to MojoTone for a quote, but wondered if you guys ever made your own?

I thought about waterslide decals but would need a long sheet and those things sucks for large areas. Plus sometimes the backs dry and separate from the surface so even if you spray a few layers of clear over top, rubbing the area or hitting it will cause it to break and flake off. Maybe a chemical way of printing, like they do circuit boards?


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

"What I recall was that the pots had some weird shaft size and knobs were impossible to find"
-THRobinson

Sure of that ? Why new pots ? You can't fix them ? Show pots you are looking for.

Did you look there ? Two sellers for pots

Search | Amplified Parts









Results for peavey pots | Full Compass Systems


Shop for peavey pots at FullCompass.com. Shop and save with Free Shipping on thousands of items!




www.fullcompass.com


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

THRobinson said:


> The control plate looks fine, but I'd love to re-design it in Illustrator and have it printed black/gold like a Marshall amp.


Many years ago, I used to use Letraset to label control panels. It was a dry transfer that was burnished and sealed with a protective coating. Probably with today's technology, letrasetting is a dead art.


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

Latole said:


> "What I recall was that the pots had some weird shaft size and knobs were impossible to find"
> -THRobinson
> 
> Sure of that ? Why new pots ? You can't fix them ? Show pots you are looking for.
> ...


Well, problem was that the pots had 4.7mm shafts (3/16) which are non-standard and no one makes knobs to fit anymore. Found many people on forums with the same issue. Finding new pots the same is easy, amprepairparts.com carries them... but not really the point. If replacing the tolex and grill cloth and looking to possibly get a new control plate printed up, replacing pots with non-originals will probably be the easiest and fastest part of the endeavour. Bourns pro-audio series seems to make all the values I need and they're $1.75-$4.00 each off digikey. I just need to measure the size of the Peavey's when I pick up the amp tomorrow and double check. 

Managed to get the Bandit 112 Silver Stripe, for $80. Cheap enough that I don't feel bad taking it apart to play with.


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## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

I understand you want more "standard" knobs, not only pots


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

@Paul Running , letraset... used that back in highschool. Handy, but don't miss it.

MOJOTONE replied back saying they no longer do control plates unless 20 or more... probably should update their site.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

Have a look around at printing shops or places that do trophies etc. and see if any of them do dye-sublimation printing on to aluminum .Thats what I have been using on my chassis plates and logos.Do your own layouts using your favourite cad ....durable and very cost effective.


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## Hammerhands (Dec 19, 2016)

Look at @Granny Gremlin’s Ultimate Dirt Machine build thread, acid etch. 4th page.








Build Thread - Granny's ultimate dirt machine


nice work on the chassis especially the tranny cutout. that can be a real pain in the ass to get done cleanly. Good luck with the rest of the build




www.guitarscanada.com





Also, screen printing.


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

loudtubeamps said:


> Have a look around at printing shops or places that do trophies etc. and see if any of them do dye-sublimation printing.Thats what I have been using on my chassis plates and logos.Do you own layouts....durable and very cost effective.


Disublimation... knew there was a term but couldn't remember what. 

Ended up getting the Bandit today, in really good shape actually, but I only buy stuff with the plans to modify. Buying stuff that's done and needs nothing changed is boring.

I might even go as far as to redesign the Peavey logo with my little cnc. Absolutely hate the old Peavey logo... I'd have gotten an F if I handed that design in for a project. 😀


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

Hammerhands said:


> Look at @Granny Gremlin’s Ultimate Dirt Machine build thread, acid etch. 4th page.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I often debated getting into that as a hobby. Tshirts and posters etc. Silk Screening looks like fun, but I also image spending hours setting up, ruining a few few shirts to get 1 good tshirt, then clean the screen because I only wanted the 1 shirt. 

I think the hardest part is finding a printer, that cuts metal as well. 

Amp's in great shape actually, better than the photos indicated, but, I like dumb time wasting projects.


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

THRobinson said:


> Ended up getting the Bandit today, in really good shape actually, but I only buy stuff with the plans to modify. Buying stuff that's done and needs nothing changed is boring.


I understand your motive. Peaveys are great for tinkering projects, usually a low investment with a high potential for modding and experimenting...have fun with the Bandit. I have the docs for the Transtube model if you need any info...it's a 94 version.


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## dtsaudio (Apr 15, 2009)

loudtubeamps said:


> Have a look around at printing shops or places that do trophies etc. and see if any of them do dye-sublimation printing.Thats what I have been using on my chassis plates and logos.Do you own layouts....durable and very cost effective.


How do you transfer the print to a chassis plate?


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

You can transfer almost any laser ink based print to metal with something like gesso. There are a lot of mediums out there for that. I have some but I have not gotten around to trying the method yet.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

dtsaudio said:


> How do you transfer the print to a chassis plate?


The aluminum sheet has a coating which will accept a special ink. Your cad design is transferred to the dye-sub printer which in turn prints the image onto a special paper .The paper transfer is placed on the aluminum and is heated cooking the image into the coating. The aluminum can then be cut to any width or length as it is quite thin but certainly substantial enough to use as panel cover plates.As mentioned ,inexpensive in the scheme of things and the finished product is very durable. I’ll find some pics of one of my projects and upload them here in a bit.









For separating the plates...scoring the aluminum with a utility blade and snapping off...just like cutting drywall.




  








DSC05905.jpg




__
loudtubeamps


__
Feb 27, 2021


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## knight_yyz (Mar 14, 2015)

This is the method I want to try.


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## loudtubeamps (Feb 2, 2012)

Hammerhands said:


> Look at @Granny Gremlin’s Ultimate Dirt Machine build thread, acid etch. 4th page.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That looks pretty slick as well.


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

I was looking this... which for the black type on gold would be no problem, but where the knobs are where it's 95% black, I suspect this to be a bit blotchy


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## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

What about those hobby laser engraving machines. They appear to be versatile. You could write your own programs and engrave most materials...you could probably discover many uses for it.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

Paul Running said:


> What about those hobby laser engraving machines.


I wonder how well a tattoo artist could run an engraving pencil?


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## Moodivarius (Feb 26, 2021)

I designed my Blackface control plate in Front Panel Designer. 

Download for free. 

Took a bit of playing, but ended up nice. Then you can print 100% size on a printer. Laminate, transfer paper, whatever you want.










https://www.frontpanelexpress.com/front-panel-designer#download

Scott


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

@Moodivarius ... Ok... gonna check that app out for sure. I went to school for design so, I have stuff like Illustrator here to use and will probably go that route. Though, some handy looking features going through the website on there like scales.

So, is your example laser print on paper?

I know for mine, half will be black with gold lettering, and half will be gold with black lettering. Though be easier to leave the black panel as is, and spray the silver panels with translucent amber. 

One thing I want to change physically is the power switch and small LED, and replace with a light similar to yours and a toggle switch.

No rush... gathering info now. My workshop was on a roll for a while, but has come to a slow crawl getting it built. Sadly at the in between stage where it's not done enough that I have a spot to work on anything for now. Projects are piling up. 

EDIT - Wow, can even upload direct to the company for cut/print


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## Moodivarius (Feb 26, 2021)

THRobinson said:


> @Moodivarius ... Ok... gonna check that app out for sure. I went to school for design so, I have stuff like Illustrator here to use and will probably go that route. Though, some handy looking features going through the website on there like scales.
> 
> So, is your example laser print on paper?
> 
> ...


Mine was just done on a laser printer. If I had a colour laser, it would be that much nicer.

I think the company is out of Germany. If you design, then go to the “coins” icon in the software, it gives you an idea of cost.


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## THRobinson (Jun 29, 2014)

Looking on eBay at rolls of brushed gold vynil for stuff like cars and such. Can buy rolls 8"x60".... Wondering if will work in a laser printer or melt and destroy it.

Mine's a Samsung colour, which tends to run hotter than most brands but because it's colour I can make black using the 60/40/40/100 CMYK which will be a nice rich solid black.

May be the easiest cheapest way to go, then just overlay the original and spray with some clear finish.


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