Replacing Grille Cloth - DIY or not?

welshboyo

Want to change the Grille Cloth on my Mesa Stiletto - purely for cosmetic reasons to make it look a little less uumm..... black - was thinking a wheat/wicker type cloth together with a brown handle to give it a different look.

I suppose the main "job" is getting the front baffle off but is there a knack to fitting a new cloth - or is it a complete no-no?

Luckily there are no badges or anything to worry about so just a plain cloth.

Stapler is required I would imagine (which I have)

Flanging_Fred

It's harder than it looks.

Getting the pattern of the cloth straight and even across the whole of the baffle can be tricky and rather frustrating. The larger the baffle the harder it is
.
I think it's something you need to practice to get right. When I made my first cab, I used fender silverface type material and although the final result wasn't too bad, you can definitely see it was my first attempt in it!

welshboyo

Flanging_Fred said:

It's harder than it looks.

Getting the pattern of the cloth straight and even across the whole of the baffle can be tricky and rather frustrating. The larger the baffle the harder it is
.
I think it's something you need to practice to get right. When I made my first cab, I used fender silverface type material and although the final result wasn't too bad, you can definitely see it was my first attempt in it!

hmm, ok, that was the only bit I was worrying about is the straightness of the cloth.

There's a guy near to me who builds cabs, might give him a shout and see if he can do something with just the baffle.

Flanging_Fred

From a couple of feet away, it didn't look too bad but up close it was a bit wonky.  If you want it 100% first go, Id consider giving to someone with some experience of doing it.

Just my own 2p of course...

Modulus_Amps

well you need a good staple gun and a bit of savvy

First you have to fold the grill cloth along two lines, one horizontal and one vertical that go on the edges of the baffle, that then means you have two straight lines to work off and should be a good start,
Staple the corner where the two folds meet and then pull the folded lines taught and staple up the two straight edges
then you need to pull it accross the baffle evenly and use loads of staples to keep it pulled evenly always checking the lines

It takes practice to get it perfect, some grill cloth is easier to work with than others.

Good luck

munckee

I've done it a couple of times and its been okay, staple gun is a must as the others have said.  I haven't done it on a Mesa though.

hywelg

Modulus_Amps said:

well you need a good staple gun and a bit of savvy

That's the important bit. One handed operation is a must and powerful enough to drive the staple hard into the wood. And only put in 1 in 3 staples to start with. Only when you know it's square start pulling out the untensioned parts and stapling them. 

John_A

Modulus_Amps said:

well you need a good staple gun and a bit of savvy

First you have to fold the grill cloth along two lines, one horizontal and one vertical that go on the edges of the baffle, that then means you have two straight lines to work off and should be a good start,
Staple the corner where the two folds meet and then pull the folded lines taught and staple up the two straight edges
then you need to pull it accross the baffle evenly and use loads of staples to keep it pulled evenly always checking the lines

It takes practice to get it perfect, some grill cloth is easier to work with than others.

Good luck

Another good tip is once you have one edge stapled to the baffle, staple the other end to a bit of wood so when you tension it up it's even, it wont be if you're just pulling on the cloth.

If you're pretty handy, and take your time it's certainly a DIY job, but if you're not and you rush it it'll look awful