Lacquering tweed cabinet?

[DavidP]

I know I saw this discussed some time ago and I didn't pay much attention to it, but I just got the tweed cab for my 5E3 project and want to seal it with lacquer (or whatever else ones uses). A search turned nothing up. So..., what's the process?? Thanks!!

[BrianF]

The original Fender recipe was to spray the tweed with a couple of coats of Nitro-cellulose lacquer...which yellows with age naturally and over years of exposure to sunlight. The tweed dark thread also bleaches out a little too.

You can replicate that process using clear nitro or tinted very slightly with amber....some people even pre-bleach the tweed slightly to make it look more aged.

Other do-it-youself amp builders have used Zinsser Bullseye amber shellac cut at least 50-50 with denatured alcohol or clear shellac. It works OK but doesn't really look authentic (to me)...YMMV...looks too orange.

Another choice is to use pre-tinted coatings like Minwax Polyshades 'Classic Oak" or 'Honey Pine' satin finish..

If you have some pieces of tweed it's best to experiment first to see what you like before taking the plunge on the whole amp.

Actually theres another choice I've never tried...reranch.com sells cans of spray nitro in clear or pre-tinted with amber....it's what they recommend for coating maple guitar neck to make it look old. I'll bet it would work great on Tweed.

[bluejamul]

I just did my my 59 Bassman RI with Bullseye Amber Shellac. Here's 2 suggestions to think about if you decide to go this route.

1) Use a coat of clear shellac first. Otherwise the seams tend to absorb more color. This kind of seals it. I then used 5 coats of amber, followed by several coats of spray nitro (the salesman said that if the can doesn't say "non-yellowing" lacquer, its nitro).

2) Be VERY careful masking things off. I used the blue easy off masking tape and it still pulled the paint off parts of my control plate. Don't mask painted areas. Bridge them with newspaper, etc.

I did a lot of research on this before I started. I can email it to you if you wish. I am very satisfied with the results.

[Tremo]

dude, you schellac'ed your reissue bassman and didn't pull out the chassis???? Come on. Am I reading that correctly?

[BrianF]

...in a store yesterday that was advertised as 'new'.

It had the most ugly shellac job I've ever seen. It looked like it had about 10 coats of amber shellac...applied right over the tweed. It looked like a big ugly orange pumpkin! If this truly was a Custom Shop job....they better go back to thedrawing board beacuse it looks like they've lost Leo's recipe!

[bluejamul]

I removed the bolts to the chassis, removed the transformer stabilizer arm, and everything dropped down enough where I could mask it off without unhooking anything. It was easy and worked out great.

[m1911]

For the finish, use Zinser Bullseye amber shellac. You can get it at a Lowes hardware store. Mix it 50/50 with denatured alcohol to thin it out, and applly it with a 2" china hair paint brush. Just apply it going the length of the case or cab..... the alcohol will try to melt it! Put on 3 coats of the shellac, and then spray 2 coats of clear gloss lacquer to give it more shine. Don't worry about darks spots when it's done, because the old 50's Fender tweeds look the same way."

[stevedenver]

well heres my first post. tele lover in the making. have been lurking for a while

search for the 5E3 forum these are tips there, as well as caveats about shellac-personally as a one time would be lutiher i dont care for it because its fussy stuff

I too built a 5E3 (from Mission amps)-have had a hard time playing my other amps since that time.


I had great success by using the minwax honey pine in SATIN, both on a tweed amp cab for the deluxe as well as a 'gypsem" (fuzzy's term) LP Case-both came out great-however be aware that the tweeds vary some having more browm and others a kind of olive tint-the latter comes out 'more vintage' IMHO

USE A WELL VENTILATED AREA

1. allow enough time -no kids, dogs, wives saying its time to leave, etc.-the whole paint job if you plan and execute shouldnt take more than 25 minutes, but you have to hang around and keep an eye on it while the poly sets up, about an hour or more (remember i am i a warm dry climate right now-i dont know how high humidity slows things down, but i expect quite a bit)
2. use a bristle brush of high quality (purdy or the like-i used a 1 1/2")
3. take out all the stuff, unscrew the hardware and baffle board so only the tweed cab is present-
4. try to do it early in the day for maximum drying, find a place to hang the cab while drying, outside if dry, CALM, and dust free, sun can help with the curing (if no rial is present you can run a hanger throught one of the holes -like a coat hanger properly configured or relaibel cord, etc.
5. use WELL stirred poly (this will suspend the maximum amount of tint), apply it THINLY (less is more believe me) and quickly all over, avoid accumulation at the seams (you can paint the bottom if you have a rail or something to put through the speaker frame (like a 2x4 across work horses -or the like-just handle the frame from the inside-it tricky practice first but it can be done-an odd finger print will buff out)
keep an eye on it for drips, and if they occur use the brush to correct/smooth /absorb ONLY THE DRIPS
6 do not 'mess' with the poly after application, dont run your brush over it to smooth it, etc.-you will get streaks and lumps
7 let it dry completely (even here in denver this took at least a day) and repeat
THE KEY IS THIN to avoid plastic coated look
8 heres the final 'secret': using 0000 steel wool, only when the cab is DRY and HARD (like two or three days later-more if you live in high humidity perhaps-patience here is a must-otherwise youll get wool lint into the finish) apply min wax paste wax using the steel wool-this smooths out the tweed and poly 'nubs' and gives a beleivable patina / sheen.
note if it gets thick, you may have a rather plastic looking over coat-not bad, just the tweed grain is obliterated-if the satin ends up glossy (which has happened to me once-000 steel wool may help reduce the shine-use sparingly and with care)

you can distress the case /cab using more 000 wool on edges and other wear points down to the tweed and leave pale or dirty up with a darker stain applied only with a fairly 'dry' rag (so as not to get under the poly itself, etc. and can leave a cigarette burning to the edge, fake glass rings by using light tint on the bottom of a glass etc (Havent done the above myself but itll work)

so there!

[Tom P.]

Heres a Pro Junior I did with the Bullseye method.

[stevedenver]

tom that looks very authentic, a beautiful job which i am certain you are proud of

-and i see how the shellac when properly applied is better, it has the look-your amp has a really cool road look to it with the apparent chipping (whatever the spots are) nice job-what color did you use and how did you thin?

the poly gives a uniform look, just toning down the bright tweed-it reminds me a an aunts old tweed suitcase rarely used but slightly browned,

I dont have any photos to post just yet but Ima workin' on it-thanks for the very cool photo

[Tom P.]

The pic is slightly better than the amp in person. There is no relicing, just some reflection in the photo. The tint in the photo is accurate. The tweed was clean when I appiled the shellac and just used a good brush and a 50/50 cut of the amber tint Bullseye and denatured alcohol. I stripped the hardware and did the bottom 1st. I figured if it was a disaster, best it be on the bottom. I have poor skills but this was pretty easy. Did about 5 coats, till the tone looked "about right". The1st 2 did most of the shading. With the alcohol base it dries very fast and you can do several coats in a day. Didn't do any sanding, and any uneven spots just seem to be natural "wear". Sounds like your method is very professional and must look great.