# new tolex seafoam green Quinn Derby



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

i have 5 yards of seafoam green tolex from nextgen and i am planning on recovering this Quinn Derby head and cab.
I have not done this before aside from crazy glueing loose flaps and all suggestions appreciated.


----------



## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

note where the tolex is a bit short (eg the seems).
carefully remove the old tolex KEEPING IT INTACT (rips /holes don't matter, just don't remove it in sections other than as originally cut). Note how the corners are mitred.
use old tolex as a pattern to cut out the new, but add yerself a little extra length in the places you noted before. Do not trim corners out like on the original but straight line through (trim corners to fit as you apply)
there are a lot of options for glue, from run of the mill contact cement to that 3M spray stuff; pick yer poison. I like something spray for general application to the tolex and then some brush on CC for touching up the seems/edges/corners.
get the tolex loaded with your adhesive and apply it to the cab. It can help to clamp or (temporarily) staple the edge you start on so you can keep it tight as you go. Heat gun or a blow dryer to warm up the tolex for corners and other tricky spots. Might dry out the glue (even if heat from other side) so be aware and ready to reapply to these areas as you go. If using spray you might need to reapply a burst as you go to re-tack-ify it (yes that's a word I swear). Have a utility knife ready for the corners. Cut one edge of the mitre fairly proud, just so you can round the corner letting it overlap a bit and then recut through both layers. Unround the corner, remove the offcuts, touch up adhessive and re-round the corner keeping shit toit. Don't worry if corners aren't perfect unless they're not 90 deg, because you're throwing a corner protector on top of those anyway. Take yer time on the non 90s, if any.
overlap the seems and then then use a straight edge and a fresh utility knife blade to cut through both layers at once for a perfect seem. Remove offcuts form both ends and clap or staple while the glue dries
remove the staples/clamps when dry (eg next day)
sometimes I leave the staples in if they are in areas that are not seen (e.g. the part going over the front/back edge to the inside of the headbox, where the amp chassis goes, or when you gotta stretch it tight through a round space like the headbox back you have)


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

Thank you Granny...I will follow all those rules!
searching for adhesives now...non smelly stuff is needed here in a dining/living space.


----------



## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

I sometimes use Lepage water base contact cement , more easy to work than regular contact cement wich is too fast.

Or yellow Lepage Carpenter glue. Easy to work , but slower.
I use it as a contact ciment ; Paint glue on both surface, tolex and wood cab. Wait 45 minutes average before glue together.

Cabs with no chrome corners ; not a easy job
Best is to practice on rough home made cab


----------



## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I would hate to attempt this...

GLWTT


----------



## ga20t (Jul 22, 2010)

This is a nice tutorial. Good luck with removing the old stuff and its adhesive though (I've never done it personally).


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

thank you very much.

i will practice some because there are no caps on corners


----------



## Latole (Aug 11, 2020)

It need lot of practice and more with no corner.

I do recovering on many amps. Some are on the picture ;
The two red one heads. I built cab and do recovering
Same for the small light yellow combo close to the Strat .
And the green combo at bottom right 


My last job, a '63 Basman , head and cab


----------



## Markus 1 (Feb 1, 2019)

I really like 3M spray adhesive. Let it dry well before joining tolex to wood.
Overlap joints, cut a single clear line through both layers, remove the offcut and lay parts next to each other. 
Do not stretch.


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)




----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

thanks Latole...glad i purchased 5 meters of material to practice


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

thanks mark...i will be sure to not stretch...lots of new razor blades on hand


----------



## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Another tip about the low odor contact cement. Look for an expiry date. It will have one


----------



## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

Uncle Doug does a few tutorials on tolex and they are where I would start


----------



## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

Latole said:


> I sometimes use Lepage water base contact cement , more easy to work than regular contact cement wich is too fast.


Will that actually stick to tolex? Like the mesh/fabric back kind sure, but the regular rubber/plastic stuff? I have some and I think I tried it once but don't remember how good it was for this specifically.




ga20t said:


> This is a nice tutorial. Good luck with removing the old stuff and its adhesive though (I've never done it personally).


Usually comes off pretty easy cuz old and degraded - varies a bit with brand (used different glues), but how many vintage amps have you seen with the seems/edges coming undone all by themselves.


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)




----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

yep date code checked...also have watched youtube stuff for a few days....all hyped up and suppressing the urge to rush


----------



## ga20t (Jul 22, 2010)

Granny Gremlin said:


> Usually comes off pretty easy cuz old and degraded - varies a bit with brand (used different glues), but how many vintage amps have you seen with the seems/edges coming undone all by themselves.


The only _removal_ I've attempted was on the back panel from my YGM-3. I was never going to use that so I figured it was a good piece to experiment with. When I started, it tore large shards of plywood off and so I re-glued and put it back together. I should have tried applying a bit of heat but it was looking like more of a mess/hassle than just building and covering fresh.

I can see it going more smoothly with really old crystallized adhesive. At least that could be sanded smooth with 80 grit etc. But then I remember trying to get an old set of stair runners paintable that had carpet applied previously and there was no sanding that still-tacky adhesive, and the amount of solvent needed to do the job would have been grotesque and required fresh air respirators and some sort of exhaust setup.


----------



## Granny Gremlin (Jun 3, 2016)

ga20t said:


> The only _removal_ I've attempted was on the back panel from my YGM-3. I was never going to use that so I figured it was a good piece to experiment with. When I started, it tore large shards of plywood off and so I re-glued and put it back together. I should have tried applying a bit of heat but it was looking like more of a mess/hassle than just building and covering fresh.
> 
> I can see it going more smoothly with really old crystallized adhesive. At least that could be sanded smooth with 80 grit etc. But then I remember trying to get an old set of stair runners paintable that had carpet applied previously and there was no sanding that still-tacky adhesive, and the amount of solvent needed to do the job would have been grotesque and required fresh air respirators and some sort of exhaust setup.



Weird; I have a Traynor YVM-1 that the tolex won't stay on. Back panel was usually crappier wood so maybe the glue was stronger than the thinner ply used there. I've found Garnet's tolex easy to get off. Sunn wasn't hard either. Never tried a Fender


----------



## Frenchy99 (Oct 15, 2016)

Granny Gremlin said:


> I've found Garnet's tolex easy to get off.



I hope so, still have my 612 cab to do but I need to do mine outside since not allowed in the house... Wifes orders...

Plus, would not see myself sanding inside.

Good luck Alan! 
Following this.


----------



## ga20t (Jul 22, 2010)

Granny Gremlin said:


> Weird; I have a Traynor YVM-1 that the tolex won't stay on. Back panel was usually crappier wood so maybe the glue was stronger than the thinner ply used there. I've found Garnet's tolex easy to get off. Sunn wasn't hard either. Never tried a Fender


Yeah, the Traynor plywood was about as crude and cheap as it gets TBH. I definitely notice the ease of peeling with the old Garnets though. I have one that could use a recover. Might try that one (testing in an inconspicuous place again).


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

thank you. purchased a hair dryer today and extra sanding discs too...
the " uncle doug" video is maybe the best i have seen although he uses the stinky solvent type glue...


----------



## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Alan Small said:


> thank you. purchased a hair dryer today and extra sanding discs too...
> the " uncle doug" video is maybe the best i have seen although he uses the stinky solvent type glue...


Yeah, every video he puts on youtube is well presented...a very good instructor, his choice of words are easy to comprehend...definitely a man with patience.


----------



## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

I believe that the colour-tone of the front panel will go well with the seafoam-green tolex...is it a light, mid or dark shade of seafoam green?


----------



## Jimmy_D (Jul 4, 2009)

You really should do a lot of watching videos and practice on more than one test corner before attempting that. White or yellow glue do work well but IMO it'll be more complicated than with contact cement, which I think is your best bet. There's so many tips and tricks to this, so do yourself a favor watch guys who actually do it well and practice.

Good choice on Nextgen's seafoam tolex, that what I used for this one.


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)




----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

the old corners not so good which is why i am making this effort.

the amp is very toneful and worth this effort I think


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

*commited now*


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)




----------



## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Good Luck with it!!


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

*going with light grillcloth*


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

*lots of muscle needed*


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

much better with hairdryer and now as suggested i will use old piece as a cut template


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)




----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)




----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

*DO NOT USE THIS STUFF!!!!

it melted the vynil...labels says safe for vynil, plastic, wood, glass, metal*


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

i used it inside for a panel stud cover..should be able to salvage or start again..i have lots of vynil


----------



## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

Alan Small said:


> it melted the vynil...labels says safe for vynil, plastic, wood, glass, metal


I've never used it, does it have a wicked odour?


----------



## Lincoln (Jun 2, 2008)

Alan Small said:


> View attachment 345599
> *DO NOT USE THIS STUFF!!!!
> 
> it melted the vynil...labels says safe for vynil, plastic, wood, glass, metal*


Thanks for the info! I was planning to buy some of that the next time I was in one of those kind of stores.


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

Paul Running said:


> I've never used it, does it have a wicked odour?


no odour...


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

this stuff is great though....no smell..30 minute tack time then great adhesion


----------



## ga20t (Jul 22, 2010)

Alan Small said:


> this stuff is great though....no smell..30 minute tack time then great adhesion
> View attachment 345608


Can you tack a section of Tolex down, peel it off (to remove a corner cut-off say), and then tack it back down as with the solvent variety? If it works well for Tolex then I'll definitely order some for my project and likely never buy the solvent stuff again.


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

yes it is letting me work it lift and relay several times easily...first two corners successful...


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

home depot 18$ for 1.5 Litre


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

undecided on new handle style and maybe different cloth...suggestions appreciated


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

*took a while to have time to complete this project. thanks to all for the tips.
alan*


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)




----------



## LanceT (Mar 7, 2014)

The amp of the Art Deco movement. Cool.


----------



## RBlakeney (Mar 12, 2017)

I love the seafoam. I had a cab made with the same colour.


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

now that is a lovely cab!!


----------



## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

I like it better with the black cloth. Turned out great!


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

finally complete...not as adventurous a project as RBlakeney beauty yet satisfying all the same.
Thanks for the tips from all!

I have an extra few yards of this colour and will use it on a harvard build project.

Mr RBlakeney, I would like to copy your combo design on a future project; will you please post a few extra runway pics of your model?


----------



## RBlakeney (Mar 12, 2017)

Alan Small said:


> finally complete...not as adventurous a project as RBlakeney beauty yet satisfying all the same.
> Thanks for the tips from all!
> 
> I have an extra few yards of this colour and will use it on a harvard build project.
> ...


Sorry I didn’t see this. 
It’s actually a local cab builders design,not my own.
the business is greenbased design. You can find him on Facebook and Instagram. 









I think I have a thread somewhere on here for the Build.


----------



## Alan Small (Dec 30, 2019)

lovely any way ...thanks, i will look em up for inspiration


----------



## Paul Running (Apr 12, 2020)

RBlakeney said:


> Sorry I didn’t see this.
> It’s actually a local cab builders design,not my own.
> the business is greenbased design. You can find him on Facebook and Instagram.
> View attachment 351217
> ...


That is a neat design. When I look at it for an extended period...my eyes play tricks, like an optical illusion..very cool.


----------



## RBlakeney (Mar 12, 2017)

Paul Running said:


> That is a neat design. When I look at it for an extended period...my eyes play tricks, like an optical illusion..very cool.


It does it in person also. The top is slightly narrower than the bottom.


----------

