spray-painting tolex amps?

[Gear_Junky]

i'm getting a bit trigger-happy with spray paint, customizing pickguards, etc.

i love my Fender Super Champ XD, but never really cared for black tolex and the whole look. I also use it with another bass amp taking the simulated "line out" into the bass amp's power section. sounds good, stacks well, doesn't look too good.

i like blonde amps, tweeds, orange, anything that looks either retro or "different".

my current favorite guitar is an orange archtop, so i thought: why not spray-paint the black tolex of my amp? I guess I could do either blonde or orange - tweed wouldn't look right.

i'm wondering if anyone's tried it and how it sticks to the tolex. I'm also concerned that it might wrinkle or otherwise deform it, depending on paint's composition?

i think i'm gonna go for orange, because blonde would look better with gold hardware (like crate palominos).

thoughts? pics?

[Gear_Junky]

here's my mock prototype (done lazily in windows paint):



i know the fender cloth doesn't seem to look right, but it's probably because of the photo flash.

it seems to look good on these:





and i might try that "hot rod" pattern first - i can always "fix" it if i don't like it.

i'll also look into fabric spray paints - mabe a pattern on the grillcloth would look cool too.

[danw]

I don't think I'd paint a grillcloth; seems like it'd be too easy to clog it up and destroy the high end of the sound. Even with the fabric paint on the tolex I think I'd worry about it wearing off in odd places and looking crappy after even a short amount of gigging abuse. Might be worth the effort to recover it in a different color. That first picture is making me want to cover my amp in orange shag carpet.

[Supercreep]

spraypainting tolex works great. You'll need to touch it up occasionally, but it will look nice.

[Daveg62]

I don't know how this will work, you would have to do a sample first. But I know it works great for hard plastic like pickup covers. I used it on my EMG's and you couldn't scratch the paint off if you tried. Looks very, very good. I painted my cream colored EMG's black. It's vinyl auto spray paint in a can. I think they make it for vinyl interiors in cars. It soaks into the material, very toxic stuff though. Make sure you have plenty of ventilation if you try it. I think it would probably work great on tolex since it's made for vinyl. Look in an auto store for it.

[Gear_Junky]

Originally Posted by danw

Even with the fabric paint on the tolex I think I'd worry about it wearing off in odd places and looking crappy after even a short amount of gigging abuse. Might be worth the effort to recover it in a different color. That first picture is making me want to cover my amp in orange shag carpet.

i don't gig, though and i can always touch it up. when it finally wears off (the tolex) i can recover it