Grateful Dead Music Forum

i've seen quite a few different covers that people have done with their amps. how do you guys do it? and is it easy? i would like to make a tye-dye cover for my fender twin reverb. so, someone tell me how to do it.

i don't know where the guys got there's done that you have seen here on this site but I know for a fact that Hard Truckers does custom grill covers. I don't know what they charge but if you head to their site www.hardtruckers.com you can see a couple of amps that they have done. They even did a guys home entertainment center with all custom grills looks awesome. Give it a look and hit them up with an email im sure they can give you a quote over email. The only bummer most likely will be paying the shipping cost to get it to them.

seems like most of thiers are at least 100 bucks or more. i was looking for some info on how to do it myself, i've got a nice tye-dye that would look totally aweseome if i can figure out how to take the cover off and replace it, ya know....

i'm no pro at it, so i was hoping someone had done it before and could give me some tips...

I'd go pro for this one. If the die thickens up between the threads there is a potential to muffle tone.

Each cabinet is different. Some cabs have the face that just pops off. others are screwed inside.

Combos are a totally unique thing. I've known cats who have had to go through taking the thing apart to get to the grille cloth.

Hmmm...(should I get those speaker covers? ).



http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/msg/983886553.html

Pete B. wrote:Hmmm...(should I get those speaker covers? ).



http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/msg/983886553.html

if you're not saving for something useful.

Pete, are you gonna contact this guy?

I haven't contacted him, but I emailed his ad to myself (as I often do when I see stuff on CL, and there is a phone contact).
The only problem is... those speaker covers are so F'n "Bobby!"...
I like 'em, but I mean... how embarrasing.?


fwiw, I have and use that same exact power amp.
I should at least go over and check it out (I do that alot on CL stuff that comes up locally).

Guyute24 wrote:seems like most of thiers are at least 100 bucks or more. i was looking for some info on how to do it myself, i've got a nice tye-dye that would look totally aweseome if i can figure out how to take the cover off and replace it, ya know....

i'm no pro at it, so i was hoping someone had done it before and could give me some tips...

All you're doing is stretching cloth over a frame and tacking or stapling it in place. You could use an old T-shirt or whatever you want. Try it and see.

Pete B. wrote:I haven't contacted him, but I emailed his ad to myself (as I often do when I see stuff on CL, and there is a phone contact).
The only problem is... those speaker covers are so F'n "Bobby!"...
I like 'em, but I mean... how embarrasing.?


fwiw, I have and use that same exact power amp.
I should at least go over and check it out (I do that alot on CL stuff that comes up locally).

I want those speaker covers, actually! Me too, I have 2 tubeworks/mosvalves.
Do you like the covers or the rig? Maybe we can work a deal together?

Sadly, I need to open up my mosvalve since the pots need contact cleaner and one of the jacks too.

I used one of my favorite tie-dye shirts. One got so "holy'' that I had cut it up along the seams and stretched it over the existing grill cloth. (I took the Fender logo badge off first). Then I just tucked it in along the sides with a putty knife.


If you have just a cabinet, build a frame (like a picture frame) out of light wood and stretch your old tie-dye over it. Use velcro to fasten the frame to the cabinet.

I gave it a shot on my bass amp with some nice thin tye-dyed cotton/poly blend fabric from a fabric store - and the fabric muffled the sound just enough to bother me. Anyone have the Hard Truckers fabric? Any idea what it's made of?

Rather than using t-shirt material... why not try using a synthetic? For example, this skirt on ebay looks cool and functional. And if it doesnt work for your grill cover, you can act like you intentionally got it for your wife or girlfriend. Heck, I recall many o' hippie dudes that were 'on the bus' in the parking lots that would have worn this themselves, as well.

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200 ... 0290057482

Rusty the Scoob wrote:I gave it a shot on my bass amp with some nice thin tye-dyed cotton/poly blend fabric from a fabric store - and the fabric muffled the sound just enough to bother me. Anyone have the Hard Truckers fabric? Any idea what it's made of?

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Hey RtS... I am somewhat intrigued by the tie-dye grill cover thing. One of my favorite photos is GD at the Greek in about '81 or '82. They have this whole tie-dye tapestry 'thing' going on. I have always wanted to cover my combo grill in a cool dye.

I did a little research on grill cover cloth to find out what the HardTruckers girls use. It appears they use both muslin and silk. The work they do is very expensive. However, their prices seem to include the frame, as well. This is another site I found that shows their artwork:

http://web.mac.com/playdeadphish/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

I thought about picking up some white speaker grill cloth from eBay and revisiting my old college tie-dying craftiness. I used to do some decent spirals, V's and mottles. Back in those days tye-dying methods were so secretive- no one was willing to give up their tricks. Nowadays, there are tutorials all over the 'net. It just comes down to how much time do I really want to put into something that is totally unnecessary. : )

I'll post some pics if I ever do decide try to do this.

Thanks, Brutus! I don't know if I could live down having a skirt on my amp.

My amp has a removable, flat, rigid steel grill cover, so it would be really easy to wrap with a fabric. It's a really common amp, too, so anything to make it look unique would be a bonus.

http://www.audio-electric-shop.de/shop/ ... edhead.jpg

Also it has it's own front cover for transportation so the tye-dye would be protected from the road.

If you were in an experimenting mood, I'd be more than happy to finance a project where we both got cool covers!