a Black Blonde...some advice please.

vic · 2011-06-30T13:10:28+00:00

After quite some searching I found this vintage Fender cab (2*12 Oxfords) as a partner to my '64 Bandmaster head. Tiltback legs and mounting screws for the head all still intact... Perfect!..... It pre-dates '64 by the looks of the older style Fender logo (no clear date codes on the speakers unfortunately except for a cone code P4643). Bad thing is that this was a blonde cab with wheat coloured grille cloth...painted black all over. I want to restore this if at all possible by stripping the paint from the cab at least. Question....any advice on a mild stripping agent that will do the job ? bearing in mind there's a valuable piece of historic tolex underneath. The paint isn't too thick as the original tolex is showing in places

vic

Thanks Singe....sure....most of that gunk is now on my hands ! ? The cab looks much better already, but there's still a lot of work ahead. Can't wait to get it re-grilled ?

vic

JeremyE wrote
vic wrote
JeremyE wrote Beautiful!!! I would love a cab like that for my bassman head!
Thanks Jeremy...what year is your BM ?
I have a 68 silverface with the AB165 circuit. Very nice tone but modding will happen at some stage! Need to get a speaker cab now as well as I got rid of the old one (was not a matching cab but a cheaper make do). Will probably load the cab with greenbacks ?

Great...I hear the blackface mod is not too expensive. I think your amp also needs a 4 ohm cab....not that readily available unless you find a vintage one or rewire a 16ohm cab to 4 ohm.

DonovanB

if anything it's going to have a killer aged look....

AlanRatcliffe

vic wrote or rewire a 16ohm cab to 4 ohm.

I've known guys who have had their speakers reconed to a different impedance when chopping down a cab to a smaller size. Cheaper than replacing the speakers.

vic

Baffle board removed to re-grille (looking for wheat or oxblood cloth...) showing a pair of Oxfords 12M6's. Cleaning of the cab will now continue

vic

So it has been a while......I received the period correct wheat grill cloth from the UK some time ago and had the baffle board dressed up (Gene vd Meulen)

The old style logo and old grill cloth (also wheat but painted black...see p1 of this thread) dates this cab to '62/63

Once I have put the cab together I will post some pics of the finished blond product

Norman86

Awesome Vic, i cant wait to see the finished amp ?

makepeace

looking super cool! quite jels. the blonde's styling has been growing on me for a while.. looking forward to seeing the finished product!

vic

makepeace wrote looking super cool! quite jels. the blonde's styling has been growing on me for a while.. looking forward to seeing the finished product!

Thanks. Hopefully by next weekend it should be finished.

vic

As a reminder....BEFORE

and.....NOW

It was a bit of a journey.....the cleaning of the cab took many hours (using meths,acetone and ethylacetate, and elbow grease ) but I think it was worth it all. ?

shaunf

Well done Vic! That's a great result!

vic

Thanks Shaun.
I left the metalware as is showing its 45 years' age. The now blonde tolex of the cab also looks aged, but in a sort of natural way.....
(Unfortunately).... this painting of cabs in black was often done when the "new look" black tolex arrived in the early 60's. I had a fawn (blonde) '62 AC30 which was so badly damaged by paint that the tolex could not be saved...had to recover the cab...what a waste !

AlanRatcliffe

It was a bit of a journey.....the cleaning of the cab took many hours (using meths,acetone and ethylacetate, and elbow grease ) but I think it was worth it all.

I'll say! Well done - it's looking so much better (and of course mostly still original).

vic

Alan Ratcliffe wrote
It was a bit of a journey.....the cleaning of the cab took many hours (using meths,acetone and ethylacetate, and elbow grease ) but I think it was worth it all.
I'll say! Well done - it's looking so much better (and of course mostly still original).

Thank you Alan.

aubs1

That amp is looking awesome Vic. It's gonna be even more so when you finish the cab. Well done my friend........and if you ever decide (this is wishful thinking), to get rid of her, I will be 1st in that queue ....... :applause:

vic

Aubs1 wrote That amp is looking awesome Vic. It's gonna be even more so when you finish the cab. Well done my friend........and if you ever decide (this is wishful thinking), to get rid of her, I will be 1st in that queue ....... :applause:

Thanks Aubs....I'll keep that in mind. ?

DonovanB

This is one seeexy amp. I love those old Fenders with the legs to prop it at an angle.

What does she look like now?

vic

Donovan Banks wrote This is one seeexy amp. I love those old Fenders with the legs to prop it at an angle.

What does she look like now?

Hi Don, I've posted 2 pics of amp and the once-black blonde cab ....see above.

DonovanB

Oh, haha. Sorry Vic I thought those were still in progress.

Well done! She must sound incredible!

vic

Donovan Banks wrote Oh, haha. Sorry Vic I thought those were still in progress. Well done! She must sound incredible!

No problem ? Must add it looks better in the flesh than in those cr@%^py pics.
Sounds great.... with those Oxfords in there.

« Previous Page Next Page »