Brass strip on front of '65 JTM45

Rootz · Post by **Rootz** » Wed May 28, 2008 7:43 pm

You might think: "How far can cloning madness go?", but I want to clone a strip on some original cabinets Marshall made somewhere around 1965. It has a bigger brass (I guess) strip when compared to the normal thin piping.

Now the question: does anybody know how it was made and out which material? What were the dimensions? I want to clone it, make it available to people who want it too, but have never seen it in person so I don't know how it was made.

Good guesses are also welcome as are good hints!

Thanks in advance.

908ssp · Post by **908ssp** » Wed May 28, 2008 10:33 pm

I have a 66 JTM with the gold strip across the front. It measures .175" wide I think there might be a wider one making this a medium, not sure. I think it is made of clear plastic with the gold metal inside. I am not going to pull it out for you sorry. It appears T shaped with the gold running in the top cross.

neikeel · Post by **neikeel** » Thu May 29, 2008 4:37 am

There is a similar gold t-strip on my AC30, but wider than the one one Alex's amp, that may be what you need.

Rootz · Post by **Rootz** » Thu May 29, 2008 7:55 am

Hi Alex and Neil,

Thanks for chiming in! Alex, the strip on front of your amp is exactly the strip I meant! I can find a couple of good sources for T-strips made out of brass with a width of 5 mm (which is about 0.175 inch). The strip I can get is a real T i.e. straight edges everywhere. Now the strip on your amp Alex looks like it's half round at the side you are looking at, or is that just an illusion? Could you also measure how tall it is? I think I will make the plastic coating by spraying the strip with a couple of layers of clear coat. I think that should do the trick.

The strip you mean Neil, is that the Vox fascia strip? That one is quite a bit wider than the strip I meant (the one on front of Alex' amp).

908ssp · Post by **908ssp** » Thu May 29, 2008 10:05 am

It is rounded and .073" high off the Levant surface. Mines pushed in very nicely so that is pretty close to the real measurement of the crossbar. It is plastic with the brass inside.

Rootz · Post by **Rootz** » Thu May 29, 2008 10:11 am

Thanks Alex!!! Now I'm going to clone it (at least I'll try).

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 4:11 pm

i think i found the so called brass strip .....this can be used i think , looks pretty accurate ;

http://www.mojomusicalsupply.com/item.a ... id=1131410

Rootz · Post by **Rootz** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 4:28 pm

Hey Frenchie, thanks for the reaction. That Vox strip looks good. When I first saw, I thought I found what I was looking for. So I ordered a meter. But when I got it home I noticed that it was way to big! It's almost 1 centimeter wide and that's twice the width I need.

My youngest plan for replicating the stip is as follows. I take a half round brass strip (2x4 mm) and solder a round brass strip (2 mm) on the flat side of the half round strip. The 2 mm strip is as big as the normal small piping, so I can pop it in place easily. The half round part of the strip has almost the same dimensions as the original. When everything is soldered and cut to the right size, the strip will be coated clear to avoid stains and give it the look of plastic with brass inside as Alex said in an earlier post. As a nice eztra, the clear coat will make the strip a little wider too, so it will be more like 0.175 inch wide.

The strips I need are ordered and ready for pick up. Now I need to find some time!

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 4:37 pm

Rootz wrote:Hey Frenchie, thanks for the reaction. That Vox strip looks good. When I first saw, I thought I found what I was looking for. So I ordered a meter. But when I got it home I noticed that it was way to big! It's almost 1 centimeter wide and that's twice the width I need.

My youngest plan for replicating the stip is as follows. I take a half round brass strip (2x4 mm) and solder a round brass strip (2 mm) on the flat side of the half round strip. The 2 mm strip is as big as the normal small piping, so I can pop it in place easily. The half round part of the strip has almost the same dimensions as the original. When everything is soldered and cut to the right size, the strip will be coated clear to avoid stains and give it the look of plastic with brass inside as Alex said in an earlier post. As a nice eztra, the clear coat will make the strip a little wider too, so it will be more like 0.175 inch wide.

The strips I need are ordered and ready for pick up. Now I need to find some time!

and you solder brass with what ??? i mean ...i don't catch the process very much ...only the half round is needed ...why soldering a round one ?....can you make us a drawing of the process ?

Rootz · Post by **Rootz** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 5:05 pm

Just made a drawing on paper and made a picture of it. Both drawings are cross section: you're looking from the side.

Take notice that I didnt ever see an original example of the strip as in the picture of the 66 PA amp posted by Alex. But i *think* it should look like the first drawing, the one on top. Essentially a T-profile with a rounded top. The leg of the T-profile will be pushed in the cabinet, just like the normal small piping. The only problem is that I can't find a brass profile with the shape of a rounded T (first drawing): it's not available.

Now the cross section on the bottom drawing is what I'm planning to make. I replace the leg of the T with a round strip with the same size as the normal piping. Pro's of this construction: I don't need to mod the cabinet to acommodate a larger strip and I don't have to glue a half round strip on the case, thus I can always go back when I don't like the look of the strip. Cons: it's quite some work to make.

Hopefully it's more clear what I'm going to do now? Maybe I'm making it to difficult the way I want to replicate the strip as seen in Alex' post, so suggestions are always welcome.

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Sun Jun 08, 2008 6:59 pm

ok now i see ....and how about simply reworking the mojo-vox strip with a reamer and then with gold paint and transluscent laquer ?

Rootz · Post by **Rootz** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 5:46 pm

I might be stubborn (as a matter of fact I AM

), but I couldn't let my initial idea go... So I purchased some brass strips and started soldering. Then I cut the soldered peices to length, sanded and polished it and placed it on the amp. Haven't spayed it clear yet, that's the next step.

The strip seems a little to narrow. It's only 4 mm wide now, so maybe I'll switch to a strip of 5 mm wide.

Now I need some block logo's (and the money for them

)

blueboxer · Post by **blueboxer** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:32 pm

I've had excellent results with this material for making the JTM 45 "brass strip".

frenchie · Post by **frenchie** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:35 am

this mylar material is top ..where did you get that ?

Rootz · Post by **Rootz** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:43 am

frenchie wrote:this mylar material is top ..where did you get that ?

+1