Cabinet Restoration

Vintage Fender Amplifier Cabinet Restoration by Will Dyke

Armadillo’s Specialty is Fender Amplifier Cabinet Restoration

Fender Amplifier Cabinet Restoration starts around $300, but the total restoration cost is determined by what kind of shape the cabinet is in and what kind of glue it is covered with.  Some adhesives require a chemical strip and add a lot of labor cost.  I use only Hide Glue to apply tweed and tolex.   This is what Fender used in the vintage days and makes the cabinet restoration more authentic.  If you need a new reproduction cabinet please see my Amplifier Cabinets order and pricing page.

 No up charges for new hardware including corners, feet, and nuts and bolts.  Handles,  chassis straps, tilt back hardware, name plates, face plates, back panels, and baffle boards are extra.  There is a lot of work that goes into restoring a cabinet properly and it often times takes longer than building a new cabinet.

 Fender Amplifier Cabinet Restoration of a 1949 Tweed Super

(Heavy Relic Finish)

Fender Amplifier Cabinet Restoration of a Wide Panel Tweed Twin

(Heavy Relic Finish)

Here is a Fender Amplifier Cabinet Restoration of a Tweed Super

Fender Tweed 3*10 Bandmaster Cabinet Restoration

This cabinet was already stripped of tweed when I received it.

It was in not too bad of shape, but did need quite a bit of work.  I built a new baffle and installed the original grill cloth, which had be already re-installed on a sub par baffle.  I had to drill and install another wooden dowel where  the cabinet had cracked next to one of the chassis bolts, this is pretty common with the old tweeds.  It took a bit of bondo work to raise up some corners and patch some places in the cabinet.  I was able to use both original back panels and I installed a new leather handle using the original clips as well as new feet, chassis bolts, and back panel screws.  Here are some pics of the before and after.

Here is an example of a  vintage amp restoration I did.
1962 Fender Brown Concert combo amplifier
1. Stripp and sand/ fill the cabinet
2. Recover
3. Regrille original baffle in wheat grill
4. New dogbone handle
5. Reglue joints

click on this link to download a vintage amp restoration slide show concert_restoration_0002

The pictures below show a Gibson GA-50 Amplifier that has been restored.  The cabinet needed a new bottom and was in really poor shape when I received it.  I had to also re glue all of the joints.  The original material was not available but I found a close match.  As well the original handles are not available so the customer requested a vintage leather handle.  This is a very tough amp to recover.  The customer was very pleased when he got it back.

Here are the “After” pictures of the Restored Gibson GA-50 Amplifier.  The original grill cloth was used.  The original covering material is no longer available and the customer requested a Vintage leather handle.

Next Fender Amplifier Cabinet Restoration is a Tweed Pro that has been Restored to Original.

The Cabinet needed a new top, which had been cracked beyond repair.  This Tweed Pro cabinet was in really bad shape, and need extensive work to get it back to original.  All joints were re-glued, new top, and new front panels.  The customer kept the baffle board so I was unable to install the baffle for the pictures.