Vintage Marshall 4x15 restoration Project

[Subversounds]

I've bought a amazing and rare cabinet, a Marshall 1972 4x15 with four pristine green back beauties inside.

The cabinet itself was really ugly and in bad shape due to 38 years of road and use without case or cover...

After doing some speakers from the ground (one 1x18, one 2x12 and restoring a 4x12 1980 custom i have too) i deceided to make the move to this monster.

More pics will come as more stuff i do.

[Subversounds]

I've used a imitation of leather that is really nice, costs around 5 dollars per 100x140cm. It's similar to the original fabric of marshalls.

The original one is nearly impossible to find here, i had to import and the price would be much higher for a minimum difference in quality or looks.

The grill i'll not change for now because i want some of the vintage look to remain.

This unit had the original small wheels replaced by larger ones which isnt bad, but i think i'll buy four new ones, more similar to the original.

The steel handle will be repainted and maybe replaced by a new one.

The wiring might be replaced by high quality oxygen free so it can last another 38 years. the cables inside are really old, but the soldering still perfect.

[guitarwolle]

Yes, you've got a very rare MArshall cab - and you have DESTOYED it.


Sorry, I bought an 8x10" cab from a guy with a similar attitude, he aswell tried to "restaurate" the cab in a similar, unprofessional way - this was the reason why I got it really cheap.

Your cab has now, after the "restauration", approx. 20 to 25% of the value it had before - well done.

[SAC]

Sometimes it pays to watch Antiques Roadshow on PBS...

[Subversounds]

Originally Posted by guitarwolle

Yes, you've got a very rare MArshall cab - and you have DESTOYED it.


Sorry, I bought an 8x10" cab from a guy with a similar attitude, he aswell tried to "restaurate" the cab in a similar, unprofessional way - this was the reason why I got it really cheap.

Your cab has now, after the "restauration", approx. 20 to 25% of the value it had before - well done.

You could be right but:

a) The marshall was already destroyed before. By the pictures you can see it had no original Tolex, it was removed and painted.
b) It had logos of the previous owner (since the 80s)
c) The cab was completely different from the original, completely. Wheels, tolex, it even had a wooden cover to protect the grill and get it on the road without a case.
d) simply there are no professionals doing this kind of restauration (thanks for correcting me btw) here in Rio.
e) finally, i dont care for the lost of cab value, it was lost anyway, that is why i bought for so cheap. I will not resell it.

If you see the pictures before it had already no value as antique because it was completely different and altered, the only thing original was the speakers (off course) and the grillcloth, which btw i didnt change. Thinking of how it was before, i did not DESTROYED it, but thanks for the comment.

[solo-bration]

Just my opinion of course, but I get a boner for beat-up vintage marshalls. I have a rare 74' marshall 2X12(ported) checkergrille cab & a 68' 8X10 basketweave cab. They're tattered and torn and they should be! It's like you washed all the history/charm/personality off that beatiful old cab :(

[rogerbrain]

probably still sounds great.. but, why not shag carpet or rolled and pleated?

CE distrib has the right stuff. as to several places ..

[Benlittlejohn]

I've got a Marshall 4X15 from the same era. but changed grill cloth.

any idea on the ballpark value on these things?

[therealbigd]

Originally Posted by guitarwolle

Yes, you've got a very rare MArshall cab - and you have DESTOYED it.


Sorry, I bought an 8x10" cab from a guy with a similar attitude, he aswell tried to "restaurate" the cab in a similar, unprofessional way - this was the reason why I got it really cheap.

Your cab has now, after the "restauration", approx. 20 to 25% of the value it had before - well done.

yeah well some people want to make their equipment USABLE rather than SELLABLE.

Tons of my equipment has been modified dropping it's resale value massively. But do I care? No. The equipment is for me to USE, not for me to SELL. If all I wanted to do with it was sell it, I'd just sell it.

This 'you need to keep stuff in gash order else it's worth nothing' theory is utter turd. What you really need to do is keep stuff in a condition where you are able to keep using it night after night without it falling apart. If all you want to do is get a good resale price, why buy it in the first place?

[sameal]

i did the same thing with a lab series k-5. haven't seen another one, ever, in any shape.

mine looked like it was dropped down a flight of stairs. there was about a 2 inch wide by 3 foot long thread of original tolex left. the rest was bare wood. the speakers were replaced with pyle drivers, and the tweeter over the woofer was shot. the reverb tank had one spring left and was free floating in the bottom of the cab and it had one foot left. the front grill material was shredded.

i replaced the tolex with a snakeskin style tolex and the grill material with a fender reverb style that matched the snakeskin nicely, replaced the feet and reverb tank, rewired all the speaker connections and dropped a set of celestion speakers in there, and just re-coned the tweeter. got a reverb tank bag and secured the tank at the bottom of the cabinet.

the best part was getting the tweeter reconed. the repair place thought i was nuts because it was just a round of the day cheapy looking like i pulled it from a pair of realistic speakers. they tried arguing with me it wasn't worth it!



anyway's, i love that amp.it's the cleanest amp i own. i use it as a reference for noise levels generated by equipment. I've left it on for weeks because i forgot it was on it's so damned quiet.

**** resale and just do what you like with it.

nice work by the way.

[muziekschuur]

Just bought a Kustom 4x15 cabinet....

Thanks for the inspiration...