1970's Marshall Basket weave. Pre-Rola. Questions.

[Mikelib]

Hi guys. About 15 years a bought a Marshall cab for £150. Later I was to discover it had pre-rola greenbacks in it. After doing a bit of research it seems to be Model 1935 from 1970. I have a few questions regarding this cab. The previous owner appears to have painted the grill cloth black (as well as going crazy with a black marker). Is there a way to clean this off without destroying it? There are two inputs on the back of the cab. i have not seen this on any other Marshall cabs of this date. Can someone explain these to me? Any info is much appreciated.

Mike.









Speaker cone code- 64 102 014 Speaker type: T1511 Date code: JC24R

[BaronGreenback]

Somebody butchered it to do that crazy ass wiring job. That is the simple answer. Probably the same kid that thought it was a good idea to paint it black. Could be worse. It is not unusual to find those big square stereo jacks fitted to vintage cabs.

It is a right royal pain in the ass to get black paint off. Give it a try. Depends on what paint they have used to do it. I have had some success with paint stripper in the past.

Might be easier just to flip the grill over if there is no paint bleed on the other side.

[Mikelib]

Thanks for the reply. Was the second jack added at a later date date then? Should I rewire it? I'll give paint stripper a go. It's beyond me why someone would paint over the grill when it looked so good originally.

[BaronGreenback]

Some people who own old Marshall cabs just dont value them, so they think nothing about trashing them like that, or burning them, or throwing them away.

The paint does not look too thick, so I would definitely recommend at least looking to see if it is worth flipping over before attempting to clean it. You might ruin both sides by the cleaning attempt.

Second jack is not original in my opinion.

Personally I would have chopped through that wiring the instant I saw it, and I also would have removed the speakers straight away to check them over and test them. Thats just me. Never trust someone elses wiring unless it is the stock marshall wiring, especially if it looks like that! and experience tells me that vintage celestions are rarely gold straight out of the cab.

[VelvetGeorge]

Baron is spot on.

There's a gem hiding underneath all that sludge, if you're willing to work for it. It won't be fun.


george

[Scumback Speakers]

I'm not sure there's a gem underneath all that paint. I've had about six cabs like that I've tried to restore. Usually the cloth isn't good enough reverse and be happy with. Of the ones I had, the guy with the spray can made sure to run a couple of big drips with a large round spluge of paint first. Looks like you have that going on in the upper right portion of the cloth.

You'll want to be careful with those T1511 G12M bass cone speakers. Looks like there is some discoloration on the bottom speaker cones. That could be mold, or just years of dust. But you'll want an old tooth brush and GENTLY apply pressure and a light stroke to see if it comes off easily.

Also, with spray painted cloth, usually the paint gets into the front of the cones, and you may have issues there. There's also the possibility of the paint becoming an extra adhesive to the front, gluing it to the baffle board. If you take the speakers out to reverse the cloth, make sure cab is cloth down, and you use a butter or putty knife (no sharp corners) to separate the cork from the baffle board. They can become stuck, and if you have that paint from the front in there as well, you'll need to be extra careful.

Get rid of all of that crap wiring and the 2nd jack. Jeez, some people are just goofy with vintage cabs. Looks like you'll need to restore or replace that 9" white Marshall logo, too.

Tolex, piping, etc...clean, restore or replace as your patience and money allow.

Good luck!

Jim

[rgorke]

Would some detergent like Dawn possibly work on the grill cloth. Seems like stripper might be rough on the cloth. Maybe even denatured alcohol could get the paint off with a soft brush. Just a couple of thoughts before bringing out the big guns.

[Mikelib]

Thanks for all the tips. I will take a look at reversing the cloth and see if it is workable. I have never done this before so I don't really know how these cabs are put together. Does anyone know of any step by steps online on how to dismantle a cab? I would hate to mess it up. Even though the cab isn't the prettiest It means a lot to me as I haven't heard a cab that sounds as good. I'm not even sure how to remove the Marshall logo without snapping it. First step I think is to take a closer look at the white stuff on the cones and figure out how to wire the speakers.

[neikeel]

Thanks for all the tips. I will take a look at reversing the cloth and see if it is workable. I have never done this before so I don't really know how these cabs are put together. Does anyone know of any step by steps online on how to dismantle a cab? I would hate to mess it up. Even though the cab isn't the prettiest It means a lot to me as I haven't heard a cab that sounds as good. I'm not even sure how to remove the Marshall logo without snapping it. First step I think is to take a closer look at the white stuff on the cones and figure out how to wire the speakers.

1) Original Marshall wiring looks like this:
http://www.amparchives.com/album/Marsha ... nside.html
The gauge of wire is up to you but 16 or 18 swg is fine
2) http://theogre.home.bresnan.net/images/ ... rallel.jpg

3) To remove the baffle, first you remove the back board and the handles (the T nuts can stay if they are well pulled into the wood of the sides).
Remove the speakers for inspection (always lie them face down).
Remove the internal screws that go through the wooden mounting flange using a POZIDRIVE screw driver. You can use a Phillips but don't be surprised if you chew the screws up (they are often very tight) in fact an impact driver can be useful sometimes, do take care to use the right bit!!
The baffle will now move and you can tilt it backwards and then angle it to slide it out through the angled slots in the back board support. You can now inspect through the speaker holes and inspect for paint bleed through. The basketweave is secured to the baffle by hundreds of narrow head staples - a really tedious job but has to be done correctly. If you do flip pyou must rotate the weave through 90 degrees too to get the threads to run correctly (otherwise it will be lined up like a Hiwatt) Alternatively a new S&P cloth might be in order. It is a different material to the original but IMO looks ok - might be a bit odd when the cab levant is tatty. IMO I prefer the old stuff looking tatty and the original cloth but YMMV!
Reassembly is a reverse.
I always try to preserve the original screws as new ones always look out of place (and a sure sign of tampering later). Mpst back screws have been horribly abused and are often missing. George used to sell correct domed Pozi replacements, not sure if there is a more up to date source now?

[Scumback Speakers]

I've done a few cab restoration threads, but the Metro forum software limits the jpeg size. I fixed that, and now a new error message comes up say it was unable to determine the "page size" when I submit the proper/fixed links.

Here's one for a 68 Slant I did back in 2007. Some of the pics work. Need to have George's web guy figure out what this image size determination issue is so I can fix the rest.

http://forum.metroamp.com/viewtopic.php ... 10&p=98732

I have a recover thread on the TGP, too.
http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showth ... ecover+101