How to Lacquer Tweed??

[Markusv]

Hi!

Has anyone here lacquered their own tweed? ( sounds kinky I know)
Tips sought please

Markus V

[M Fowler]

Here is an instruction on how to shellac tweed.

[Reeltarded]

Let me be the editor and say that using steel wool is a bad idea and a Scotchbrite pad is a good idea. Before you start roll over the whole thing with one of those sticky tape lint brushes or you find hairs or god knows what all glued into the tweed.

[statorvane]

Wish I knew about the amber shellac, I would have tried that to get some oranging of the tweed.

I wound up just loading the paint cup w/nitro lacquer, thinned 50/50 with lacquer thinner, fired up the compressor and sprayed away. Thin gave ti around 4 heavy coats of lacquer over a period of about 2 hours - the tweed drank in the first coat. This was part of the head cab and speaker cab build, so no hardware was installed at the time. [img768]http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u76/ ... 0_2135.jpg[/img]
[img768]http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u76/ ... 0_2136.jpg[/img]

[Reeltarded]

It looks great! If you want to shoot a couple coats of shellac over it you can without worrying about anything odd, but you probably already know that.

[cbass]

I've never Done tweed but when I'm matching an old finish I will put dissolved Garnet Shellac right in the lacquer.Seems like the striaight shellac is to orange.

[cbass]

That head looks great I wouldn't do a thing to it.

[Markusv]

Thanks for the great replies!!

And yes- that head looks killer. Leave it IMO

[Structo]

The Bullseye amber shellac is too dark to start with so you need to cut it with alcohol.

I know it says 50/50 but, dilute it even further and build it up until you reach the color desired.

Shellac is not alcohol proof so if you want to protect it, I would spray a few coats of nitrocellulose lacquer over it.

[Markusv]

I did some work for a guy on a Gibson Falcon
The amp is old of course, with tons of cigarette burns and marks on the tweed, but the tweed itself was treated with a clear lacquer, so it is still very light in color.
Looks so great. Nice mixture of pristine and abused..

M

[Structo]

Yes the old lacquer yellowed with age.

Another thing you could try is to dye the tweed using color tone or transtint dyes, then lacquer over it.

I make a mixture of Vintage Amber and Medium Brown for my Fender necks, that I wipe on the bare wood for a vintage look.

The brown takes a bit of the yellowness away, I just add a touch to the amber.

You mix it with water or alcohol.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Finishing_s ... tains.html

[statorvane]

Another thing you could try is to dye the tweed using color tone or transtint dyes, then lacquer over it.

Yes, I tried that, but by the time I had the clear on it, the wind had kicked up and I couldn't get it on the cab or head. My son said screw it, and we took it inside to finish drying, mounted the hardware, etc. It's been cranked ever since (ha ha!).

Just seems strange to see a JCM800 clone in tweed with Marshall style grill cloth.

[wyatt]

The Marsh instructions skip some big steps.

1.) You MUST seal the tweed before applying the amber. You can use Bullseye's Sealcoat wax-free shellac, including their aerosol. Or spray nitro. If you do not seal the tweed first, your amber tint will soak into the tweed cotton and create blotches.

2.) This is the time to smooth over any raised threads. I use steel wool.

3.) Clean up from sanding/steel-wooling with a tack cloth before adding any additional coats. Tack cloth is import for removing dust, lint, sanded down shellac/lacquer and steel wool before you seal over it.

4.) Now add you amber coats to taste. Start with a thinned out amber shellac and build to your color. Some people like 50/50 amber Bullseye/alcohol others like 25/25/50 amber Bullseye/clear Bullseye/alcohol If brushing make sure you strokes are even and all in the same direction. I actually don't use shellac, I add a few dye chips to a sprayer of nitro instead, but the shellac is easier, looks great and can be wiped right back off with denatured alcohol if you need to go back a few steps.

5.) Once happy with the color, you need to seal over amber shellac, Bulls Eye amber is NOT wax-free and you want to seal out moisture. I use satin nitro.

[amplifiednation]

Be careful of the edges of the tweed, the cappilary action will soak the shellac and bloche.

I would go more aggressive with the denatured alcohol,maybe 60/40.

If its warm where you live and you can spray outside, stew mac sells an amber nitro guitar lacquer that I have used in the past and had excellent results.

I can wrap a tweed cab like its no ones business but I hate laquering...

[cbass]

I wouldn't even want to try wrap tweed but I spray about 5 gal a month of lacquer