Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Been working on this over the past few days...
My trusty A cab, getting a little beat up. The attenuator fell off the head and punched a hole in the grill cloth.
Not really related, but this is a MUST for any stereo Marshall cab - get rid of the shitty PCB stereo switch assembly and wire it mono with parallel jacks. Do it. Do it now.
Take the back panel and handles off, and we gotta get the whole baffle out.
Greenbacks and WGS Green Berets. The Green Berets are okay, but they're not my favorites. More on that later.
Speakers out
Baffle out...and joy to the world, the piping stays with the cab.
Gotta get the old logo off. An automotive door panel puller does the trick.
New logo, 70s sized, more on that later.
Gotta remove the old cloth off the baffle. And OMG the fucking staples....
Gotta drill new holes for the slightly smaller logo. Getting this centered and in the right spot was a real pain. I made a template.
Had to fill some of the old holes with golf tees because the new holes are too close to the old holes. I discovered that the locator peg on the "M" is the key to the whole thing. On both size logos, it is what everything else is referenced from, so as long as the M peg is the same, I just needed to mark and drill the rest. Looks shitty but it's good.
Now it's just a matter of stapling on the new grill cloth. Marshall 70s style checker. Not too hard. The trick is to get the corners right first. I bought one "yard" of cloth - perfectly fine to cover one 4x12 with a little trimming. Use the pattern in the grill cloth to line up the edges and staple the corners. Don't pull too tight yet, just get it a little taught and staple the corners securely. Then walk down the sides pulling and stapling. This is where you get the tightness. Use the threads in the pattern to keep yourself lined up. This grill cloth came out perfectly straight and square and a little tighter than the stock Marshall cloth. I think it came out great. And I used even more staples than I took out!
Now it's just time to put it all back together. I'm replacing the WGS Green Berets with some old stock early 90s G12T75s to X-pattern with the Greenbacks. I really like this combination. I've used it before and it's a great combo for rock and roll tones.
And it's done! A 90s cab turned into a 70s-looking cab. Early/mid 70s-era Marshall cabs are by far the best looking 4x12s. No debate. I will fight you over it. And with the rips and dinginess of my existing tolex, it looks fairly legit. I just need some beer and smoke damage now.
My trusty A cab, getting a little beat up. The attenuator fell off the head and punched a hole in the grill cloth.
Not really related, but this is a MUST for any stereo Marshall cab - get rid of the shitty PCB stereo switch assembly and wire it mono with parallel jacks. Do it. Do it now.
Take the back panel and handles off, and we gotta get the whole baffle out.
Greenbacks and WGS Green Berets. The Green Berets are okay, but they're not my favorites. More on that later.
Speakers out
Baffle out...and joy to the world, the piping stays with the cab.
Gotta get the old logo off. An automotive door panel puller does the trick.
New logo, 70s sized, more on that later.
Gotta remove the old cloth off the baffle. And OMG the fucking staples....
Gotta drill new holes for the slightly smaller logo. Getting this centered and in the right spot was a real pain. I made a template.
Had to fill some of the old holes with golf tees because the new holes are too close to the old holes. I discovered that the locator peg on the "M" is the key to the whole thing. On both size logos, it is what everything else is referenced from, so as long as the M peg is the same, I just needed to mark and drill the rest. Looks shitty but it's good.
Now it's just a matter of stapling on the new grill cloth. Marshall 70s style checker. Not too hard. The trick is to get the corners right first. I bought one "yard" of cloth - perfectly fine to cover one 4x12 with a little trimming. Use the pattern in the grill cloth to line up the edges and staple the corners. Don't pull too tight yet, just get it a little taught and staple the corners securely. Then walk down the sides pulling and stapling. This is where you get the tightness. Use the threads in the pattern to keep yourself lined up. This grill cloth came out perfectly straight and square and a little tighter than the stock Marshall cloth. I think it came out great. And I used even more staples than I took out!
Now it's just time to put it all back together. I'm replacing the WGS Green Berets with some old stock early 90s G12T75s to X-pattern with the Greenbacks. I really like this combination. I've used it before and it's a great combo for rock and roll tones.
And it's done! A 90s cab turned into a 70s-looking cab. Early/mid 70s-era Marshall cabs are by far the best looking 4x12s. No debate. I will fight you over it. And with the rips and dinginess of my existing tolex, it looks fairly legit. I just need some beer and smoke damage now.
Rebel Yell
- WhiskeyJack
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Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
I am disappointed with all the finger smudges on the baffle. This will affect tone. B+ For you Greg. I expected way more of you.
JK. That looks pretty god dammed awesome man. I had no idea the Marshall scroll writing logo changed over time. Good jerb.
JK. That looks pretty god dammed awesome man. I had no idea the Marshall scroll writing logo changed over time. Good jerb.
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Lol. It got cleaned and touch up painted. I just didn't take pics of that part.WhiskeyJack wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 9:50 pm I am disappointed with all the finger smudges on the baffle. This will affect tone. B+ For you Greg. I expected way more of you.
The script didn't really change, just the size.JK. That looks pretty god dammed awesome man. I had no idea the Marshall scroll writing logo changed over time. Good jerb.
60s cabs had basketweave and a little 6" logo
70s...checker cloth and 9" logo....11" logo towards the end of the decade
80s and beyond...black cloth, big 11" logo
Rebel Yell
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
That looks truly bad-ass man! I really like the checker cloth. My little 4x10 from the 80s has the checker and I greatly prefer it to the black cloth. When I was looking at the first photos and saw you were replacing the cloth, I was immediately like "he should really do a checker cloth". Lo and behold, there it is! Nice work!
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Ha thanks. They're all gonna eventually get this treatment. The checker is so much better. My other cabs are straight cabs so they should be even easier to do. It took some time but none of it was especially difficult.Tadpui wrote: ↑Wed Dec 11, 2019 10:06 pm That looks truly bad-ass man! I really like the checker cloth. My little 4x10 from the 80s has the checker and I greatly prefer it to the black cloth. When I was looking at the first photos and saw you were replacing the cloth, I was immediately like "he should really do a checker cloth". Lo and behold, there it is! Nice work!
I didn't know your 2204s cab has checker cloth. That's bad ass.
Rebel Yell
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
holy shit .......... that looks great!!
That's an awesome job you did ..................... as always
That's an awesome job you did ..................... as always
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Excellent - attention to detail brings the detail to my attention.
Cheers
rayc
rayc
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
You've made a really good job of that, looks great. Whenever I attempt jobs like that they always end up looking a little botched.
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Thanks dudes!
Besides pulling the old staples it wasn't too bad a process. I'm gonna do my B cabs next. They look stupid now sitting next to this thing.
Rebel Yell
- vomitHatSteve
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Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Nice.
What'd you do with the old logo?
Ooh! Are you gonna generate some new cab impulses to see how the new grill screen affects the tone? Oh. You replaced some speakers tho, didn't you?
What'd you do with the old logo?
Ooh! Are you gonna generate some new cab impulses to see how the new grill screen affects the tone? Oh. You replaced some speakers tho, didn't you?
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Stuck it on a bass trap.
No and yes. No more impulses. That was a little experiment that I haven't even really thought about since doing it. Besides, too many other variables have changed and been forgotten since then and now to do a grill cloth tone comparison. I personally don't think this particular grill cloth does anything to the sound differently from the stock standard black grill cloth. The checker cloth looks denser to the naked eye, but in reality, it's isn't. You can shine a light through it all the same.Ooh! Are you gonna generate some new cab impulses to see how the new grill screen affects the tone? Oh. You replaced some speakers tho, didn't you?
Yes, two speakers got replaced.
Rebel Yell
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
[mention]Greg_L[/mention]
What size is the old logo you stuck on the basstrap??? My Baby 800 has a small logo, & it looks odd compared to the Baby Jubilee...I think the Mini J has a 9"...Any chance the basstrap logo is the same size??? Lemme know, I'll buy it if you'd wanna part with it & it's the size I want...
The cab makeover looks great man, I much prefer the look you have on it now compared to how it was previous...My cab has some scuffs/scratches, but I really don't give a shit, I took a big fat black marker to hide the color of the wood...From a distance it's not noticeable, but up close you can see a few dings, but meh...LOL...
I paid $300 for this cab almost 6 years ago now with the stock T-75's, money well spent IMHO...One of the first things I did was replace the switch/jacks because you had an issue, so I nipped mine in the bud...I recently made some new mic position marks on the grillcloth with a white paint-pen, just to have a fairly easy & half-ass consistent starting point for my mic(s)...
If I ever get the 2x12's I've been wanting, I'm swapping the speakers from this cab into 'em, then I'll have to find something to put back in the cab...I'm gonna go with a matching quad of something, or maybe an x-pattern next time though, instead of 4 different speakers...maybe...LOL...
Lemme know about that logo dude...
What size is the old logo you stuck on the basstrap??? My Baby 800 has a small logo, & it looks odd compared to the Baby Jubilee...I think the Mini J has a 9"...Any chance the basstrap logo is the same size??? Lemme know, I'll buy it if you'd wanna part with it & it's the size I want...
The cab makeover looks great man, I much prefer the look you have on it now compared to how it was previous...My cab has some scuffs/scratches, but I really don't give a shit, I took a big fat black marker to hide the color of the wood...From a distance it's not noticeable, but up close you can see a few dings, but meh...LOL...
I paid $300 for this cab almost 6 years ago now with the stock T-75's, money well spent IMHO...One of the first things I did was replace the switch/jacks because you had an issue, so I nipped mine in the bud...I recently made some new mic position marks on the grillcloth with a white paint-pen, just to have a fairly easy & half-ass consistent starting point for my mic(s)...
If I ever get the 2x12's I've been wanting, I'm swapping the speakers from this cab into 'em, then I'll have to find something to put back in the cab...I'm gonna go with a matching quad of something, or maybe an x-pattern next time though, instead of 4 different speakers...maybe...LOL...
Lemme know about that logo dude...
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Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
I'm in the process of resilking an half dozen silk screens.
They aren't big but the density of staple to inch looks about the same as the set up that you pulled out.
I started then balked as quite the job - you make me feel I woosed out. I have six weeks to do these screens - until school returns and if I follow my usual project trajectory I'll get them started and finished the fay before the deadline.
They aren't big but the density of staple to inch looks about the same as the set up that you pulled out.
I started then balked as quite the job - you make me feel I woosed out. I have six weeks to do these screens - until school returns and if I follow my usual project trajectory I'll get them started and finished the fay before the deadline.
Cheers
rayc
rayc
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
My old logo is the big modern standard 11" version. It's the same as what's on your Marshall cab. It would look honkin huge on your mini 800.Minerman wrote: ↑Fri Dec 13, 2019 1:21 am @Greg_L
What size is the old logo you stuck on the basstrap??? My Baby 800 has a small logo, & it looks odd compared to the Baby Jubilee...I think the Mini J has a 9"...Any chance the basstrap logo is the same size??? Lemme know, I'll buy it if you'd wanna part with it & it's the size I want...
The cab makeover looks great man, I much prefer the look you have on it now compared to how it was previous...My cab has some scuffs/scratches, but I really don't give a shit, I took a big fat black marker to hide the color of the wood...From a distance it's not noticeable, but up close you can see a few dings, but meh...LOL...
I paid $300 for this cab almost 6 years ago now with the stock T-75's, money well spent IMHO...One of the first things I did was replace the switch/jacks because you had an issue, so I nipped mine in the bud...I recently made some new mic position marks on the grillcloth with a white paint-pen, just to have a fairly easy & half-ass consistent starting point for my mic(s)...
If I ever get the 2x12's I've been wanting, I'm swapping the speakers from this cab into 'em, then I'll have to find something to put back in the cab...I'm gonna go with a matching quad of something, or maybe an x-pattern next time though, instead of 4 different speakers...maybe...LOL...
Lemme know about that logo dude...
Rebel Yell
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Come on, it's good for your forearms!rayc wrote: ↑Fri Dec 13, 2019 6:01 am I'm in the process of resilking an half dozen silk screens.
They aren't big but the density of staple to inch looks about the same as the set up that you pulled out.
I started then balked as quite the job - you make me feel I woosed out. I have six weeks to do these screens - until school returns and if I follow my usual project trajectory I'll get them started and finished the fay before the deadline.
I used a standard spring-loaded squeeze-and-fire staple gun. I'm sure you can find an electric or pneumatic staple gun though.
Rebel Yell
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
I have an excellent heavy, chromed or stainless steel monster. It's great.
It's the tedious removal of the existing staples that caused me to drag my knuckles: stab n lift, stab n lift ad nauseum. I'll get it done but I bore easily.
Cheers
rayc
rayc
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Oh yeah, the removal sucks!!!! I did it while watching the Irishman.
Rebel Yell
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Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
I think i like the 60's Cabs best aesthetically speaking. I like the basketweave and chunky look to it. The checkerboard is indeed cool as well. I never really took note of it but now that you mention i hadn't realized how popular the checkboard was among bands i like.
I think anything is better than just the basic black material they seem to be using currently.
I think anything is better than just the basic black material they seem to be using currently.
Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
I agree. The basic black is okay, but it has no character. I showed a bunch of my meat-world buddies my new cab facelift and now I'm taking "orders" to do theirs.WhiskeyJack wrote: ↑Sat Dec 14, 2019 12:34 pm I think i like the 60's Cabs best aesthetically speaking. I like the basketweave and chunky look to it. The checkerboard is indeed cool as well. I never really took note of it but now that you mention i hadn't realized how popular the checkboard was among bands i like.
I think anything is better than just the basic black material they seem to be using currently.
They could just do it themselves. It's not hard.
I like the basketweave too, but I think it does have more potential to filter the highs more than the checker or standard black grill cloth. The basketweave is dense. I've tried shining a light through basketweave cabs - it's impossible unless you're using like a WWII era anti-aircraft search light.
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Re: Marshall 1960A 4x12 facelift
Greg, this is a proper job. I doubt that even Marshall constructors could have stretched that grille cloth so perfectly. Take a bow.
Haggard Musician