How To Shellac A Tweed Amp
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มี.ค. 2019
- Shellac used in this video
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Behkol Solvent used in this video
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59 Tweed Deluxe DIY kit
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A Bob Ross fro wig and aviator glasses would have been golden for this video.
There are no mistakes, just happy accidents.
Great stuff.
As someone who has done woodworking for almost 4 decades, I have some recommendations on the shellac. First, if a roughly 3lb or lower cut of shellac does not readily dissolve after a few hours in methylated spirits such as alcohol, it may well be too old to use. Shellac has a shelf life where it goes from thermoplastic to thermosetting over time. If you try to “force” it by just adding more spirits, heat or hard agitation, you may think it is still soluble and has dissolved, but it may have just peptized some degree into into a colloidal suspension (i.e. not good, as I will explain).
This typically starts to happen with wax shellac flake or crystals within less than 12 months if left in a plastic baggie or similar container, depending on various environmental and other factors. Dewaxed shellac generally lasts about 30% less time than wax varieties before noticeable aging. While you may get it to seemingly dissolve by adding more alcohol to try to overcome its set, that is NOT a good idea, since the lack of miscibility in standard cuts is letting you something- it’s letting you know that it’s compromised in terms of polymerization in the form of what’s called esterification.
In practical terms, because of water and Oxygen exposure, over time an increasing percentage of the shellac flakes lose the ability to fully dissolve, harden and stay hard in typical environments- and become especially problematic in environments such as warm rooms, high humidity, sunlight and the like. As such, it can remain soft, gummy, easily stained and otherwise problematic. Even worse, unlike good shellac that can be easily redissolved and removed using alcohol and other spirits, compromised old shellac can become increasingly hard to fully dissolve and remove- leaving you with a sticky/gummy surface that, especially on rough or undulated surfaces, can be virtually impossible to fully remove that mess
As such, although I use a wide range of shellac types that I dissolve as needed, I generally just recommend to most hobbyist woodworkers and makers who are less familliar with finishing and how to properly test it for a good level of miscibility, to just buy some good premixed brand at the cut they need, along with some extra alcohol as needed.
Also important to note related to doing your own shellac cut, once mixed with solvent, any oxygen left in the container will start a related process even quicker, if a stabilizer has not been added to the cut. Unlike some of the store brands which often employ some combination of added stabilizers, oxygen depletion via nitrogen and the like, many do not do this for their own homemade cuts. As such, if you want it to be a predictable, good finish, work from a secondary pour of an amount that you’ll use within 15 minutes or so, and close the primary cut’s container and ideally refrigerate it as quickly as possible. You can get upwards of 3-4 months of usable life from you mix that way, if put in an air-tight mason or similar container. Using just a typical metal lid, rather than a mason jar with a good rubber seal will diminish the storage time noticeably. This is another reason why I generally do not recommend doing your own shellac cut from bone flakes, crystal, etc, if you are not really familiar with the process.
There are a few other things that are important to know about hand mixed shellac, which often don’t manifest as problems until a year or two later- but you can reference Flexner on Finishing, or another good finishing resource if you want to mix your own anyway.
One last thing, if you wish to build layers more quickly, but have much of the evaporative / drying time advantages of a very thin cut, you can use naphtha or other EK as a partial substitute for the alcohol. It can save you a lot of time by not having to do many coats, while reducing chance of bubbles, gumminess/stickiness etc.
I’ve ordered a some Shellac flakes & solvent .. I sure hope it works for me 😬. I was wondering if it would help to preserve the unused flakes to store the unused flakes in a food-evacuation bag .. so that it’s stored in a relative vacuum.
well, I’ve received my shellac, but the flakes had hardened into a block. The supplier graciously refunded my money. I broke up the block with a hammer, and am trying to dissolve it now. I’ll need to test it somewhere to see if it’s still good 😬
i guess im randomly asking but does anyone know of a way to get back into an Instagram account?
I was stupid forgot my login password. I would love any tricks you can offer me!
@Royal Onyx instablaster ;)
@Remy Harvey Thanks so much for your reply. I found the site through google and im in the hacking process atm.
I see it takes quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Phil, your channel has become my favorite guitar channel. Thank you for all of the content that you provide.
Very educational video Phil. Thanks for addressing all the anticipated questions. The cabinet looks great.👍👍👍👍
What an Excellent Informational Video !
I knew nothing about anything that you did, especially about the tweed itself, and I appreciate learning about all of it !
Thanks, Phil, For All That You Do !
I really like this amp stuff. Looking forward to see the kit build
Me Too!
Thanks for the info. I'll be doing this to my Blues Deluxe this summer. Will be adding a leather handle like yours as well.
Excellent video. Think I’ll try this amp build. Sounds like a fun project.
Thanks Phill great video, and great helpful tips etc, Thank you for your time in doing this for us , Cheers
I never thought of doing shellac on a tweed amp. I have only seen people doing the shellac process to finish acoustic guitars. I love the way those lacquered tweed amps look.
Anybody else find this super relaxing? Lol but seriously I really enjoyed this, and I like the new intro sequence. More videos from the bench please!
Never heard of this. Great video.
Phil always does interesting vids
It did look really nice when it was done.
Looks great Phil!
Mmmmm. Shellac flakes. The breakfast of champions.
THANKS PHILLIP GREAT INFO FOR MY TWEEDYS
Thanks for the bloopers, funny!
Really cool video. I like the bloopers, too.
I just ordered a Mojotone Pro Jr. tweed cabinet to convert my Pro Jr. to a 12 inch combo. I'm going to order some Shelac flakes and denatured alcohol and finish it up. Thanks for doing this vid.
I’m going to do my Bronco I got in ‘95! It’s an awesome amp!
Haha the bloopers at the end was a nice touch too.
Great job, Ive never seen than done before.
Looks really cool! :)
this is sweet, i was just looking at the lacquered ones on reverb, and they're like $150 more than the other ones. Perhaps more too it than just the finish, but i'm getting a blue jr for my dad for father's day and I will put the finish on before i give it to him. thanks for the step by step!
I think those blues juniors are already lacquered. You could shellac on to of the lacquer--probably wouldn't hurt, but probably isn't necessary.
Thanks Stew Mac!!
Great video and Wonderfull work. Got the idea to make a pedalboard that will match my Fender Champ. Now I will do it - thanks to you :-)
Nice work! I hit each coat with a 320 sanding sponge and I seal it with with a final coat of polyurethane.
Nice thing about shellac is you can put anything over it.
Man!!! Nice job Phillip.........amp looks really cool and vintage with the shellac on it!! AND I'M A MARSHALL GUY!!??!!
Very cool
Like to say word shellac🙂Liked👍Bloopers🙂Great project🙂
That is very cool!
looks good
Looks Great!
Boom Shellaca laca
I have a Fender Tweed Gig Bag. If I shellac it will I have a hard case? lol
Great video. More how to videos, please
Now I will shellac my sofa to protect it against my cat
Excellent
Thanks dude
Ta Phil, I kept looking at my sorry looking ratbag tweed covered combo decided to take your advice. I made mine a bit darker by accident and it looks better than those super expensive snobby versions! I think it sounds better cos I believe if it looks cool you use it more than usual which led to better speaker(Jensen P12R) replace valves and an added 2 hrs daily has made it a keeper now. I was going pass it on before I saw your viddy, honestly, thanks!
Hi Phil, love the vids. Was wondering if I should re-coat my vintage champ and vibrolux, they're not pristine, some fraying, a couple burn marks from jazz cigarettes. mostly worried about the fraying.
i love broken in tweed too.
Cool vid phil
Hey Phil, I'm a recent sub and was quickly impressed with your videos. I started out with the "Sharpen My Axe" series and love the quality and style of your stuff (my favorite so far is the black Squier Strat sharpening video). I haven't had an electric in a few years and am looking to get one. I've been eyeing the Hagstrom Fantomen and was wondering what your take on it would be (I've only heard really good things so far). In your "9 Brands Who No Longer Make High End Guitars" video, you mentioned Hagstrom as one of the brands that is different than what it used to be. Like I said, I've heard/seen great stuff about the Fantomen and was wondering if there was any chance you could do a review?
Thanks for the great vids and keep them coming!
Sweet
Thanks for this, Phillip, really great to see this process. Have you ever tried to clean dirty/stained, untreated tweed? I was considering steam and a vacuum but am concerned about weakening the glue. Any thoughts?
Could I use this mixture on a tweed guitar case?👍
I love this. This is the exact kind of CoolWTF info that got me hooked on Phil. Also the stories and histories vids. Definitely gonna do this to my Palomino 32(best. $100 amp. Evr.) Yo! I have the '65 Blackface Twin, right? I got blood all over the front grill one time. Hasn't looked all clean and sparkly since. Is there something I could clean or cover or paint it with to make it POP again? What other mods to make the '65 Twin Reverb look cool? How do you keep cats from sharpening claws on The Fridge (Ampeg 8x10)? AND FINALLY - guitar magazine once had abmod to add a " negative reverb rolloff" kniw to the 65 Twin. Touted as one of the easiest mods you could do to get new spunds out of the amp. Have you ever heard of/ tried/ seen this? Video on all this maybe? ANYWHO: Thanks Mr. McKnight; when it comes to great guitar vids: you are certainly no "SHELLACker" [ ba-dum-tsss
Looks good. Before and after visual?
Hi Phil, what about the grey tweed on the Bender Facebreakers? Worth protecting, but is it worth using real shellac?
Hey, thanks for the video. How do you take the Fender plate off?
Ive done alot of shellac work. Do you also use the same stuff for repairs? I have a floormodel bassbreaker that has some damage to its tweed
OK .. I’m shellacking my home brew Deluxe right now … We’ll see what happens next 😁🎶
Nice! I have a guitar display case I’d like to coat. Can I polyurethane over the shellac? I only want to do this once. How long will shellac coating last on its own?
I just remembered Scotch Guard fabric protector, think I’ll try that first. The display case doesn’t get a lot of abuse, just hangs on a wall. Hopefully the stain protection will be enough. I’ll go light on the seems to avoid the darkening. Thanks for the Idea and information.
Wow thanks for all this help.. building a tweed champ kit from mojo tone or stew Mac soon.. my only question is, how come the fender tweed originals look more orangier and these look more yellow.. ????
Fender uses some tint in their finish. You can get different colors of shellac as well (blonde, amber, etc.)
Are we ever going to see the stewmac diy tweed amp build and sound test?.
Phil this is fun. Buddy Stewmac rocks as you do.
Can you do that on a Fender Bassbreaker ?
Great job, I would go to home depo or Lowe's and get Zinsser Shellac clear and amber , denatured alcohol. Mix and cut with alchohol. Clear coat first coat , second coat use amber or a mix of clear and amber. You can spray it with a little pump sprayer. The film Industry uses amber cut with denatured alcohol at 50% . Call it piss coat
Does EverClear work better than the Solvent for the dissolving the flakes?? :D
Hi Phil, Why can't I find the video you did on building the Stewmac 5E3 kit? I'd really like to watch it.
Can i use rubbing alcohol?
Great vid - I don’t think you need to wait so long between coats (30 minutes works). Keeping those seams from soaking in and turning into dark lines, it’s best to use a drier brush. Things that helped me:
- keep the brush on the drier side;
- wipe down each side with a microfiber cloth after u put a coat on;
- after 2 coats have dried, use straight denatured alcohol on the brush, wiping behind it with microfiber rag. It evens out any pooling of the shellac
Have you tried using nitro lacquer and spray gun ?
i'm wondering if there would be a significant difference in sound if you coated the wood in the interior of the Amp also? sealing that up as well, know what i mean?>
How did you prevent the shellac from wicking through at the seams and leaving dark streaks?
I didn't know about this process prior to getting rubber foot stains on my tweed. Is there anyway to get the stains out, or am I looking at a complete re-cover?
Very thorough and helpful video, but I'm curious, with that much alcohol in the mixture, have you ever seen the alcohol soften the original tolex adhesive used to secure the tweed fabric? In other words, have you ever seen the tweed fabric come unglued and start to peel off because of the added shellacking?
I didnt know this was a thing to do... I have a perfect condition Fender Blues Deville ... going to be gigging lots, maybe its time to do?
Can this be done on a tweed guitar case? Mine has a few stains but not too bad
Yes you can. I have also done it to tweed with stains. It looks better, but the stains are a sealed in so try and clean them first.
Nice shellac....where is the finished amp project??
Im trying to find the color of tolex and tweed to look like an old tan fender champ.
When do we see the build?????
Can i use the premixed shellac from the hardware store and just thin it down? Rather than ordering shellac chips? Just curious. I have a fender tweed case coming in Friday and I want to get to work on it right away but I will wait and order shellac chips if the premixed shellac is gonna do a bad job.
I want the darker amber look also,,, will amber tinted shellac chips or premixed shellac be too dark?
Thanks
I could hear my wife now, "You're using MY turkey baster, you %$#@#$%"
Is that just denatured alcohol? I've heard that can be used, as well.
Yes, shellac was done for centuries with denatured alcohol.
what about just some good old bullseye shellac with denatured alchohol or spray shellac. ?
Same thing. But stewmac likes to make money by rebranding simple products..
shellac as in the old records shellac? does that mean that old records are soluble in alcohol too? if so, could you do this with broken shellac records?
I missed the part where you mentioned to omit adding the hydrochloric acid. It went on perfectly, but then proceeded to shrivel and shred itself until it completely fell off the amp. It looks amazing! Cheers to happy accidents!
2-3 coats of zinsser amber .done...perfect
.
.
Yup. Cheaper, easier and nearly foolproof. Nearly.
Didn’t fender lightly sand the shellac after it dried? I did read that somewhere
Phil, Should you shellac a tweed guitar case? I have one and wondered if I should.
Lot's of advice on "the gear page" and the "telecaster forum" check them out and decide if you want to make the effort.
Good question, I'm guessing you can it's tweed right? Thanks for the idea I'm going to try it on the case first
It’s like watching Bob Ross at about 7 minutes in 😀
I've seen people do this with old 78 rpm shellac records.
Was the wood sealed? It looked raw and I expected you would add the finish to the wood as well while you were at it to protect it from humidity or spilled bears.
Hi to make it sound just put the material in a glass bottle and make the sun give it some warm from 15 till 30 minutes sometimes more Then you can use it and see it very smelter and clearly try that and feel the difference
You’re gonna make a tweed cab with a Steve Alibi related band?
I know this is unrelated but I really need help. Best single cut guitar for 1500 euro. Im doubting between the prestige heritage premier and the prs s2 singlecut. If any other brands have better bang for buck pleas do tell me so. Have a great day!
Prs all the way
You can use Everclear? The 190 proof alcohol you make everclear punch out of.??
Hunch Punch.
"I've got a hunch that somebody's gonna puke their guts out tonight."
Shellac...I put that shit on EVERYTHING
Maybe do the bottom first, so its inconspicuous if you have a mistake. Also, you can then pick it up and turn it over on its legs to paint the top and rest of the cab.
I know this should never happen, but if someone put an alcoholic drink on your amp isn’t there a risk it will dissolve the shellac and cause a ring?
I just looked on the Fender website and about their amps they say never to add shellac to their proprietary tweed cloth, as it will have adverse results that would be regrettable - PSYCH!!!
No, just kidding it looks like a fun job that looks good when done.
Everclear meaning 100% grain alcohol Phil ?
I want a tweed because they look and sound so cool, but they aren't used for what i play :(
Great builds! Search here for (Sucker For a Pretty Face) by RockCandy, it's a great 80s rock album!!! Enjoy
WHERE IS THE G&L YOU PROMISED??????????
Whats the point of the turkey baster
Ugh I just Googled Shellac and found it's secretion from a bug!
They use it on fruit also
How does it change the sound of the amp? 😂😂😂
Why would you go the trouble of shellac flakes when you’re going to make it liquid anyway. Why not just use the liquid? It would seem that either way you have to be careful around the seams.