The Amp Garage

Nice RP!

BTW I have no idea what I'm doing, this was a first attempt at two colors, and it came out pretty sweet, so go for it.

Note: I wouldn't use Weldwood spirit solvent based laminated adhesive here, or any glue that could soften the tolex and cause creep. You can hide corners under bumpers but not butted seems like this.

I found a bucket of vinyl floor adhesive at work. I've used it before installing flooring. In some of the videos I've seen on you tube it appears only the tolex has adhesive applied to it as opposed to the traditional methods of contact cement and that is how I've previously used this. I'm going to try a back panel today. I've had trouble removing vinyl flooring with a walk behind floor scraper when this stuff was used so it has good stickhesiveness!
Oh, yeah, it's water based to boot.

Well I've managed to get the top and bottom back panels done so I thought I'd post an update with a picture. I'm going for a vintage kind of vibe. I really enjoy the challenge of this kind of stuff. The adhesive I'm using is a vinyl flooring adhesive from a company called Karndean. I just apply it to the back of the tolex and let it skim. I've used it on flooring before just using a 1/16" trowel to apply to the subfloor and those floors don't move. I did find I need a pretty thick coat on the tolex. It is water base so clean up is minimal. Thanks again everyone who has helped guide me here. I'll post more pics when I get this thing done.

Looking really good. The style sort of reminds me of a George Jetson radio.

Nice job on the Red/ White cab seams RP.

I'm sure it is an acquired skill

I may give it a try on a Tweedle amp head.

That looks cool Elk.

Love the retro-ness!

Well here it is in all its glory, LOL. I can see myself doing more of this. I just learned a ton of stuff on this one.

Thanks again for your input, this is a pretty cool place, I'm pretty sure at some point I'd like to try soldering something to put in a cab.

The back of the cab...

Awesome sauce

Is that Gold/White or Black/blue ?

Just kidding.

Really looks great !!

Just make sure you keep a good supply of sharp razor blades, or utility knife blades on hand. If one starts getting draggy and dull, discard it, ASAP. A lot of the older vinyl amp coverings were not actually vinyl, or Tolex. I don't even think actual General Tire & Rubber Tolex is still being made. I have real black, brown, and blonde Tolex amps, and cases, from the early-mid 1960s. It is not like the stuff I have bought lately. Budget amps, like Valco, used something called "Manufactured Oil Cloth". Good luck with finding oil cloth, that does not look like it belongs on a table cloth. When it comes to black vinyl, there is a company that makes custom stair & step covers for boats and RVs. They sell me black Chinese made vinyl really cheap, and it is as good as anything anyone else has, if not better. The more they buy, the cheaper they get it, so they were happy to sell me some. Since they only use it on the bottoms of the step covers, my color options are, any color, so long as it is black. They put grommets in the vinyl to bind the carpeted covers to, so it is really tough stuff.