Fender sf 135 twin reverb cabinet delamination

[nevetslab]

Now restoring the second aged Fender SF 135W Twin Reverb, I found again the top panel which supports the heavier amplifier chassis has, over the years of service (rentals & touring), broken the wood joints where it mates with the side panels. With the chassis removed from the cabinet, and easily seen from the worn-off Tolex covering on the front and rear corners, you can pull on the sides and see it separate, with just the Tolex covering sort of holding it together, along with the baffle glued in.

So, once again, set up the drill, measured off the hole placements and drilled into the top panel thru the sides and drove in # 10 x 1.5" laminating screws to pull the sides back into the top panel.



All of the screws will be hidden under the yet-to-be applied black gaffer's tape that will be running up the front & rear edges from bottom panel (under the corner guards), then up & over the top/side joints. Bottom front and rear edges as well, before re-installing the corner guards, just to dress the cabinet up more than it is with all the road scars from years of use. All of the Tolex covering gets a good scrubbing before applying the tape, which then gets burnished down into place.

[nevetslab]

What are you using to repair tolex covering tears?

This amp's 'partner-in-crime' also had the same wood-joints faliure as the SF 135W Twin Reverb, though only the 100W version. And, as with the other SF Twin, the front & rear cabinet edges were just loaded with Tolex tears, so had to again rely on black gaffer's tape to patch it up. The front baffle's particle board frame cracked in two on one edge, and is still setting up with a glued in strip of aluminum, which will then be drilled & screwed from the inside...that's why there's no grille frame in the one image.



Apart from fully stripping a cabinet of it's original Tolex covering and starting over, or sending it out for re-covering, what have you all been doing to try and keep up with the abuse from the road over the years?

[Leo_Gnardo]

Apart from fully stripping a cabinet of it's original Tolex covering and starting over, or sending it out for re-covering, what have you all been doing to try and keep up with the abuse from the road over the years?

Much like you, shooting some screws thru the sides, into the top plate, bottom too if it's gotten wobbly. It's a shame they went to this half ass style of cab construction, then loaded those boxes with extra heavy amps & speakers. No wonder they break down. Worst case, you could have a new cab made proper-like but that would run $275-350 from most cab shops. One of my customers did that for his Bassman Ten.

I've run out of matte black gaffer tape, gotta restock. Home Despot has shiny black duct tape, I don't like it much.

[nevetslab]

I thought I had depleted the matte black gaffers tape from our inventory, and bought that same shiny 3M black duct tape, but haven't used it. Stopped by our new building on the way in Sunday afternoon, and after going thru our Will Call dept, Keyboard dept, I came upon the man hording the stuff in the drum dept, and continued on with the same tape. Duct tape has a different adhesive backing, and my experience with that stuff is over time, it turns really nasty. Both tapes, though, as they age and have to be pulled off....it's a tedious chore getting all that aged crusty & dusty adhesive off of the Tolex. Thankfully there's a Pacific Radio store in walking distance that caters to the Pro Audio/Video industry which carries the gaffer's tape in all colors and widths.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Thankfully there's a Pacific Radio store in walking distance that caters to the Pro Audio/Video industry which carries the gaffer's tape in all colors and widths.

How lucky you are! For those periods I got to work in the North Hollywood - Burbank area it was so cool, you could find all sorts of stage necessities easily. I needed some lighting gels one day - boom there was a place only a couple blocks away with every possible color happy to sell you a sheet or a crate full, whatever you needed. It was a nice side effect of the movie & TV industry. These days I'd have to order real gaffer tape, doubtless $20 a roll plus shipping from Peachtree City, Georgia. A couple bucks less per roll if I order a case, but it's been a long time since I needed a whole case.

[The Dude]

Glue and screws is the quick easy fix. If you're concern is more than just functionality (if you want it to look nice), I'll usually strip off the old tolex and hardware, clean it up, and run it over to LineX and have them spray it with truck bed liner. IMO, it's more durable than tolex and looks about the same at any distance.