Mojo and Marshall tolex compared
Posted: Fri Dec 04, 2009 3:25 pm
Here's a photo which shows the difference between the generic tolex used by Mojo on their Marshall repro headcabs, and the genuine Marshall black levant. The bottom cab is a Mojo cab I got from Metro, which I just finished re-tolexing with genuine Marshall levant, and a Music Ground repro logo to top it off.
As you can see, there are subtle, but distinct differences between the two. The Mojo tolex is a little thinner, the "pebbles" are slightly smaller and not as elevated, and there's less space between them compared to the Marshall levant. More importantly, there's a distinct colour difference. The Mojo appears very black, almost shiny. The Marshall is more mattè, and has a charcoal tone, maybe some hint of green in it. I know some people disagree that there's any green in it, but that's what I see.
Here's another up-close photo which shows a patch of the Marshall levant next to a Mojo headcab (top) and a Swanson-made BB cabinet with real Marshall levant (bottom). Not the difference in grain between the two.
Anyway, I thought it was worth to show you the difference. Enough that I thought it worthwhile to re-tolex the cab. Doing that work made me appreciate just how nicely those Mojo cabs are tolexed though...they must have some kind of upholstery wizard working for them - all the corners are super-tight and sharp, and somehow they manage to tolex the corners of the chassis front cutout without adding extra wedges of tolex, it's all done with one piece. A shame though that they don't go the extra mile and just use the Marshall tolex right from the start.
As you can see, there are subtle, but distinct differences between the two. The Mojo tolex is a little thinner, the "pebbles" are slightly smaller and not as elevated, and there's less space between them compared to the Marshall levant. More importantly, there's a distinct colour difference. The Mojo appears very black, almost shiny. The Marshall is more mattè, and has a charcoal tone, maybe some hint of green in it. I know some people disagree that there's any green in it, but that's what I see.
Here's another up-close photo which shows a patch of the Marshall levant next to a Mojo headcab (top) and a Swanson-made BB cabinet with real Marshall levant (bottom). Not the difference in grain between the two.
Anyway, I thought it was worth to show you the difference. Enough that I thought it worthwhile to re-tolex the cab. Doing that work made me appreciate just how nicely those Mojo cabs are tolexed though...they must have some kind of upholstery wizard working for them - all the corners are super-tight and sharp, and somehow they manage to tolex the corners of the chassis front cutout without adding extra wedges of tolex, it's all done with one piece. A shame though that they don't go the extra mile and just use the Marshall tolex right from the start.