Tolex, can it be painted ?

baldy

As thread title.
If so with what type of paint ?

57Deluxe

When I worked for International paints we provided Ford with 'Dashboard' emulsion. Sprayed onto any plastic or hardboard, it  looked like a white/greyish milky watery substance but  then when cured in a warm oven for 20 mins it came out with your black plasticy crinkly finish.

That.

baldy

The reason for my post is that I have just bought a Katana 50 for home use in my living room.
Mrs baldy has just seen an Orange combo amp & commented that that would look much nicer in our living room than an "ugly black box".
I am not picking the Katana up until Wednesday.
So I was wondering if I could paint the black Katana a different colour, like orange as soon as I get it & circumvent any moans from Mrs b.
Could I just use any spray paint that says it can be used on Vinyl or is there a special paint that I need to use ?

ICBM

I've seen a lot of painted amps over the years with a variety of different paints, but never a single one that didn't look like a mess close-up even if it wasn't too bad from a distance.

If you're going to try it, at the very least you'll need to strip the amp down completely - chassis out, grille cloth/frame out, handle and corner protectors off, the lot. You will also definitely void the warranty.

I would go back to the shop and talk to them nicely about changing your purchase to an Orange amp... I'm sure they'll understand if you explain why .

baldy

I am picking up a second hand Katana 50 on Wednesday (private sale) that I have already paid for so no option to change it.
Mrs baldy had said that as we were having a new 3 piece suite, a different colour to what we have now, that a black amp would be OK in the living room as it would colour co-ordinate.
I put my Peavey Vyper  (black) amp in the living room yesterday & it has received some very disdainful glares from Mrs b.
Whilst shopping today we passed a music shop which had an Orange combo in the window & she commented that that would look much better in our room than an ugly black box hence my thread.

martinw

No.

baldy

martinw said:

No.

So if I want to change the colour I would need to re-cover the amp then, with my desired colour tolex ?

martinw

baldy said:

martinw said:

No.

So if I want to change the colour I would need to re-cover the amp then, with my desired colour tolex ?

Yes.
Like @ICBM says, nothing I've ever seen will stick to tolex, for long anyway.

baldy

Great, what adhesive would I need to use ?

mistercharlie

Surely you should buy the Orange combo?

richardhomer

There is no Mrs Homer to placate - but I can’t think of any reason why I’d permanently want an amp in my sitting room....

ICBM

baldy said:

Great, what adhesive would I need to use ?

Re-covering the amp will not be easy either, if you want to make it look good. It can be done, but it's far harder than it might appear to do a *really* neat job.

At this point your two best options are either to convince Mrsbaldy that the Katana looks fine as it is, or sell it and buy an Orange, preferably before you've tried modding the Katana...

further

richardhomer said:

There is no Mrs Homer to placate - but I can’t think of any reason why I’d permanently want an amp in my sitting room....

Where else would you put it,in the kitchen ?

matone

The world`s been trying to get paint OFF tolex for years ,LOL.

clarkefan

All I've ever seen is crap jobs at anything like this, except the innumerable bits that will NOT shift no matter what industrial paint remover you use if/when it's sell time. Just don't go there, knit a tea cosy or something for it.

Corvus

There are vinyl dyes/paints for re-colouring upholstery & suchlike but results seem a bit hit & miss. Some don't offer a prep stage, apparently dark tones to lighter ones are more prone to being patchy or difficult, so black to orange wouldn't be ideal. Some have cleaners & adhesion promoter/primer which slightly eats into the vinyl. Not that I've used them myself but seen results on cars, some look good, but going wrong could be a pain. Looked into it for changing a 60s car interior but chickened out in the face of some guys having bother doing dark to lighter changes.

DJH83004

I do remember having some success back in the early '80s with an industrial product that was used in the trade for re-finishing car vinyl roofs (your remember on your Capri or Cortina!), and it did work pretty well on tolex, it did give off some pretty horrible fumes - like pear drops, so I guess it is probably banned now. May be worth investigating what the classic car boys use these days. But would only be as a last resort I would suggest and not on a perfectly good cab.  

martinw

DJH83004 said:

.....it did give off some pretty horrible fumes - like pear drops.....

Cyanide.
Or in NBC terms, H Type blood agent.

Jonathangus

Could you get a cover made?

Majorscale

Jonathangus said:

Could you get a cover made?

Was just about to type this myself!

Majorscale

Try contacting Roqsolid to see if they can do custom coloured covers.

Alternatively get a roll of orange vinyl wrap (the stuff they put on cars) off ebay, get the hair dryer out and have a go at wrapping. Its reversible if it looks terrible or you need to sell the amp later on...