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Retolex
Aug 31, 2018 3:21:16 GMT -7
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Post by goodez on Aug 31, 2018 3:21:16 GMT -7
Well, I finally got tired of looking at the blonde and decided to order the materials from mojotone to retolex the z28 head in black. If anyone has any tips or pointers for me before I lay this new material down I would appreciate any and all.
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Post by Ridgeback on Aug 31, 2018 3:34:07 GMT -7
There were actually a number of very detailed tutorial videos available online when I was researching doing this a couple of years ago. "Measure twice, cut once" grasshopper!! Good luck, I'm sure it will turn out fine.
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Retolex
Aug 31, 2018 3:35:58 GMT -7
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Post by sharkboy on Aug 31, 2018 3:35:58 GMT -7
The YouTube videos from Amplified Nation seem pretty great to me. I know of a lot of people in the online DIY community that used them as their learning foundation. The thing I like about them is that he’s not so obsessive as to go unreasonably overboard with perfection on cuts and gluing.
There are other videos from others online, as well. Have fun with it. Please do share your stories. I need to re-tolex an amp soon, too.
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Post by daddyelmis (Greg) on Aug 31, 2018 4:16:20 GMT -7
You can also look near you for an upholstery company. These are frequently mom n pop outfits and can do this kind of work for a good price.
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Post by Rockerfeller on Aug 31, 2018 9:39:14 GMT -7
You can also look near you for an upholstery company. These are frequently mom n pop outfits and can do this kind of work for a good price. I have a local friend do the upholstery on my amps of the past. The hard work is stripping the old one and getting it ready. Plus, you already have the tolex. It you are hesitant about doing it yourself, call around a few local upholstery shops.
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Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2018 10:00:15 GMT -7
damn, that was a limited edition pre-2019 blonde head case!
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Post by Maddog on Aug 31, 2018 14:22:02 GMT -7
If I can do it, ANYBODY can:
Before:
AFTER:
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Aug 31, 2018 16:17:56 GMT -7
Dang that looks great!
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Post by walt on Aug 31, 2018 17:20:44 GMT -7
I only did it once,but found with research and pre planning it went smooth-I used one piece,wrapped over the ends about 4 inches,and left the seem on the bottom(uh duh!)
I'd say the best tip I can offer is,do a dry run,then you will be ready for the real thing.
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Retolex
Sept 1, 2018 18:34:39 GMT -7
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Post by goodez on Sept 1, 2018 18:34:39 GMT -7
I only did it once,but found with research and pre planning it went smooth-I used one piece,wrapped over the ends about 4 inches,and left the seem on the bottom(uh duh!) I'd say the best tip I can offer is,do a dry run,then you will be ready for the real thing. Thanks for the advice. I’m going to start with the back panel piece first to gain some confidence in this process. There’s seems to be a lot of different methods so I’ll be sure to watch those videos as well. Some might cringe at the idea of me stripping off the blonde and going to black but it was literally the last z28 head available through Humbucker music. They’ve since been discontinued and Humbucker was kind enough to swap in the z-wreck front grill panel from a Ghia to sweeten the deal since the Black was no longer available.
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Post by goodez on Sept 23, 2018 12:29:55 GMT -7
Little update, it’s taking just as long as I thought it would but I just finished the sanding today. I may do a little more prepping but it’s getting close. This picture was taken after sanding the exterior but I did a lot of the inside corners etc today. Anybody know where I can get one of these black “buttons” that was on the inside? I believe it’s a part that holds the grill in place, over top of the hole inside. There’s 4 total. The heat shield tape inside got a little scraped up while removing the glue with a putty knife and adhesive remover but I may just clean it up with a straight line from an exacto knife and call it good. (Again, button for reference).
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Sept 23, 2018 14:08:45 GMT -7
Those are finishing washers and can be found at most hardware stores. I haven’t seen any black ones but you can spray paint them easily enough. The aluminum tape on the bottom is more for RF shielding than anything else. You can also use metal ducting tape for this, also found at hardware stores. I would get that as close as possible to factory coverage.
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Retolex
Sept 23, 2018 14:48:25 GMT -7
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Post by goodez on Sept 23, 2018 14:48:25 GMT -7
Those are finishing washers and can be found at most hardware stores. I haven’t seen any black ones but you can spray paint them easily enough. The aluminum tape on the bottom is more for RF shielding than anything else. You can also use metal ducting tape for this, also found at hardware stores. I would get that as close as possible to factory coverage. Thanks Chilly! I’ve got some aluminum tape lying around and will overly it with the existing to get it back to the factory dimensions of coverage. I’ll have to swing by ace hardware and if need be will spray paint black. I can’t imagine ever needing to take that finishing washer back out after this is all done.
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Post by goodez on Nov 18, 2018 16:13:18 GMT -7
Well, I managed to at least start this thing after dragging my feet for so long. It’s turning out really really well. The hardest part so far was making the cuts for the center oval portion and getting them to the back without leaving any wood showing in the corners. Tough to do and I was scratching my head trying to figure out how Docs guys did it without stretching the Tolex to some degree. I may try to finish the Head tomorrow.
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Retolex
Nov 18, 2018 16:24:21 GMT -7
Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Nov 18, 2018 16:24:21 GMT -7
Well that sure looks nice. Like new! Good going, I’ll be sending a 1x12 cab your way soon! 😀
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Post by goodez on Nov 18, 2018 16:34:42 GMT -7
Well that sure looks nice. Like new! Good going, I’ll be sending a 1x12 cab your way soon! 😀 Absolutely not! #NeverAgain 😂 Honestly though, if I was retired I probably wouldn’t mind doing it at all. There’s a lot of really awesome designes that mojotone has in terms of Tolex.
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Post by goodez on Nov 19, 2018 19:25:53 GMT -7
Finished with the retolex. Will reinstall all the components tomorrow and power it up. Finally
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Post by DRZ on Nov 19, 2018 19:55:16 GMT -7
Nice job. Z
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Retolex
Nov 19, 2018 20:15:43 GMT -7
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Post by goodez on Nov 19, 2018 20:15:43 GMT -7
Thanks Doc. I’m no amp/upholstery tech but I think it turned out pretty good, given it being my first rodeo with Tolex and all.
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Post by zpilot on Nov 19, 2018 20:35:07 GMT -7
Looks like a pro job.
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Post by dcarver on Nov 19, 2018 23:10:27 GMT -7
Sure does.
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Post by Chilly Gibbons (Todd T.) on Nov 20, 2018 2:13:25 GMT -7
+1,000. Very nice!
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Post by Russell B on Nov 20, 2018 7:22:09 GMT -7
Looks very good!
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Post by goodez on Nov 20, 2018 17:29:39 GMT -7
Thanks so much everyone! I don’t think most people understand how much time goes into a project like this. It’s very gratifying to hear all of the positive comments coming from musicians like yourselves who know/understand how time consuming it really is. There’s a couple minor corrections I still need to make but aside from those little flaws, this will be pretty close to the finished product 😎
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Post by walt on Nov 20, 2018 19:05:58 GMT -7
Looks great!I love the black with s/p grill and black corners.Eye catching,and well done!
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Post by sharkboy on Nov 20, 2018 19:17:34 GMT -7
Very impressive! Thank you for posting your progress and results. This is certainly part of what I love about social media. I liked the beige, but your efforts on the black really paid off. You are inspiring me to do some tolexing of my own (my three surf green Zs are probably going to stay that way, however.)
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Post by goodez on Dec 26, 2018 19:46:17 GMT -7
Just wanted to put the finishing touches on this thread as the amp is 100% complete at this point. Thanks for all the support through the project:
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Dec 27, 2018 7:09:42 GMT -7
Great job. I'm a sucker for blondes and redheads but it really does look better with the black cab!
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Post by Ridgeback on Dec 27, 2018 7:34:58 GMT -7
I'm a blonde with brown fan myself but you did a great job matching the cab. Very classy stack. Of course, now you have to do the same thing with a Z-verb.
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Post by GuitarZ on Dec 27, 2018 10:25:01 GMT -7
Looks like it was born that way! Nice Job! And, good looking amp & speaker combo!
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