'66 Marshall Pinstripe 'A' cab resto

[emmjaydubya]

Hi guys!!
Made a lot of progress on the cab, just haven't posted anything lately, been really busy.

Peeled off all of the old tolex and what is underneath? Pain and suffering. That's right, the knucklehead that recovered this thing made a b-line for grandpa's old tool shed and gooped on gallons of some rank, long spoiled WWII petroleum glue. This stuff wouldn't stick a booger to the bottom of a chair, but it does smear and make a huge stinky mess on anything it comes in contact with. Nasty!!









I had to use a heat gun to get the worst off, sanding was just smearing the snot. Did I mention how much this stuff stinks?









This stuff soaked into the plywood and was a real workout getting the wood clean. After a few weeks of on and off sanding, finally ready for woodwork:

[emmjaydubya]

Had a change of plans on the handles, found a pair of unobtainium '67/'68 narrow flange handles on ebay. lucked out and won the auction. I figured someone already carved holes in the sides so why not make it match my bottom cab? Rarest of the rare!



The old holes were cut out 1" too high and 1 1/2" too far back. To center them, I needed to fill them with birch plywood patches and route new holes. After routing larger holes, ready for patching:





Trimmed the patches on a table saw till they fit:



Then applied glue and used a rubber mallet to get them flush:









Then marked where the new holes go in factory position:



After routing the proper sized holes, I installed the 2BA tee-nuts that came with the cab:

[shakti]

Beautiful! I love to see this TLC applied to such a worthy object. I fully agree with your choice to use the sidemounted handles. Original or not, the side bar handles are sooo much better to use.

[emmjaydubya]

Thanks Shakti! I went round and round about doing the right thing for the cab, but at the end of the day, the cab was already cut so "original" was out the window anyway. Plus I love the skinny handles! More pics tomorrow!

[neikeel]

Excellent stuff!

BTW both my pinstripe cabs are thin metal handle types with the long thin internal baffle brace and pop-in revvos.

[emmjaydubya]

Thanks Neil, so yours would be '67 cabs?

After the handles, I went to work on the ugly holes that hat been drilled/filed in the bottom for casters. I had a co-worker cut out a 1" hole in my template with a computerized router so I could route fresh holes in the ply and then cut out 1" plugs to glue in the holes:









After routing:



And gluing in the plugs:











After gluing:



And sanded (before filling the screw holes):

[Colossal]

Beautiful work! That is devotion.

[emmjaydubya]

Yes, or maybe masochism, I'm not sure. It's definitely what you would call 'sweat equity'. I could never afford an original pinstripe and IMHO the reissues are junk, so this is my only resort since my lust for a pinstripe stack knows no bounds!

I don't have pics of the wood filling I had to do on the screw holes or the corners, the bottom corners were pretty worn down round so I had to shape them out of filler to look right. Starting on covering the back:



I clamped a straight edge about an 1 1/4" in around the perimeter and sanded in front of it to get a clean surface for the tolex to adhere to, but keep the foam remnants intact, then glued it down:



Then it was time for the jack. Got this nice original from Brian at Bygone Tones, same place as the cab. He included some tacks that were quite convincing:





Back is done:



Then the top:









Next was the bottom:



Here is an example of the corner shaping on the bottom:





Here's the right side done with the crappy Chinese gold piping Marshall sells. Oh well, original-style would be too much to ask for I guess:



Corners turned out pretty well:

[emmjaydubya]

Left side on deck, 2" blue tape works great to keep the tolex glue of of the topside of the tolex!





Here it is finished before the white piping:



When the E.C. Collins pinstripe showed up, it was bundled up all pretty like, with a bow and everything!





I thought about writing the date of restoration inside the cab next to the old one, but I thought the card that came with the grillcloth looked a lot cooler than my scrawl, so I glued it in there!

[shakti]

Stunning work! I thought mine came out pretty nicely, but this is just museum quality restoration going on!

[neikeel]

Yes, very impressive.

My B cab is a late 67 (Brian at Bygone Tones had the Goodmans Bass speakers so he may remember the date). My A cab came with decent Levant but no speakers and someone had gone round the inside of the baffle with a stanley knife (like an art thief) so the original pinstripe was on the edge. I put EC Collins cloth in it and a set of AA (Jan 68) T1221s in it. The B cab has G12H25s in it, two jan 68 and two from a couple of months later.

[emmjaydubya]

Thanks guys, not getting Celestions though, so no museums here. Funny thing about the 'art thief', that's how my '68 cab was when I got it, basketweave all the way around the perimeter!

Have to say, the E.C. Collins pinstripe is expensive but it sure is easy to work with. Can't say enough good things about the quality, top notch!

I removed the broken-off pins from the old logo and measured out where the holes were to find them later. The naked baffle:



The pinstripe:





First row of staples:



Last row:





I installed the baffle using original domehead pozidrive screws that I got from Brian (again!). Like I said, no old Celestions because they are insanely expensive!! Instead I caught the Christmas sale at Scumback and ordered a quad of M75-PVC 20-watters. Probably the closest thing you could find to original 20-watt pre-Rolas:





As you can see, there is no rubber tread on the sound post, in fact it was about 1/4" short of making solid contact with the back board. No bueno!



Decided to cut a piece of hardwood the thickness I needed and use the holes that were already in the soundpost to mount it. Went a little over 1/16" beyond flush with the inside of the back board to make solid contact:







You can see the handle screws sticking out pretty far beyond the inside, I had to use the 2BA cheesehead screws that came with the old handles because sourcing the right screws is pretty expensive. I found the company in the U.K. that I bought from before and they are the only one that sells stainless 2BA domehead pozidrive 3/4" anywhere. $40 for the screws and $30 shipping!!! For 12 screws!!! Not gonna happen!

Cabinet wired to 16 ohms using 18 ga. topcoat:



Tested the load (about 14 ohms) and mounted the back board, nice and snug!

[shakti]

Where's the money shot? And please tell me you're going to put a MG logo on it...
Is it wrong to feel a little aroused when you see a sheet of pinstripe rolled out like that?

[neikeel]

Do you want some pozii domed screws?
The project deserves a set....let me know I have various grades knocking around

[emmjaydubya]

Where's the money shot? And please tell me you're going to put a MG logo on it...
Is it wrong to feel a little aroused when you see a sheet of pinstripe rolled out like that?

Haha, I was stalling on purpose! No it's not wrong, I got pretty excited when it came time to stretch that thing out. Giddy!

Do you want some pozii domed screws?
The project deserves a set....let me know I have various grades knocking around

Yes!! I would love some, be happy to pay for them + shipping! I have a few originals on there with a little of the chrome left on them.

Okay, here's the money shot, with MG logo:



I soaked the white piping in coffee just like I've done before, to get rid of the refrigerator white, but this time did it for much longer. It turned much more yellowy/brown which I really like. More vintage vibe:



And for the bonus, I re-grilled my early/mid '68 cab as well. It was originally a basketweave cab but what the hell, I got my wish!