Members Tomm Williams Posted August 11, 2016 Members Share Posted August 11, 2016 Like most of you, I've invested in covers for a number of my amps. As all of mine are from the 60's, I just can't see transporting one unprotected for it to get beat. As my collection has grown, I'm seeing that buying covers for all of them could be a big purchase. Although I do enjoy gigging with most of them (not just looking at them), realistically, I don't take most of them out enough to invest in dedicated covers. Those I call "primary" amps do have their own covers. Does anyone have an effective (and cheap) alternative to custom covers for the occasional transport of a valuable amp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted August 11, 2016 Members Share Posted August 11, 2016 I'd just look on eBay. There are a bunch of them for $20 or less, shipped. Dunno whether any of them would fit a particular amp but it might be worth a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikeo Posted August 11, 2016 Members Share Posted August 11, 2016 I don't feel the prices are not bad for some thing nice. If you got a good amp, you want to take care of it. http://www.studioslips.com/ http://www.tukicovers.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 11, 2016 Members Share Posted August 11, 2016 This is what my old Twin looked like after fifteen years on the road... It had the stock Fender vinyl cover for a while but it didn't last. I suspect it fell off the back of the truck once or twice but the road crew would never admit it. On one occasion it was wider than usual because the cabinet was coming apart at the seams. Great amp though. I put EVM12s in it for that 'heavy' sound - it worked! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 11, 2016 Members Share Posted August 11, 2016 ... I put EVM12s in it for that 'heavy' sound - it worked! Wow, thinking back on it, I can't believe I did that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted August 12, 2016 Members Share Posted August 12, 2016 Ebay has all kinds of covers at different prices. You just have to troll them out for the best deal. Or you could find someone who knows how to sew, buy the vinyl at a cloth store and buy it by the yard and make your own.My mother used to be into sewing and made me a decent set of covers for my V2 Ampeg. The vinyl had backing which was much thicker then the cheap plastic stuff you buy today. I used them for years and it did a good job protecting the amp. They were Bright orange covers though. You knew when that amp was being rolled in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted August 12, 2016 Moderators Share Posted August 12, 2016 cheap and effective? Packing blankets. If you are doing serious road work, invest in a well made road case with casters. It isn't cheap, but your amp won't end up looking like that one ^ up there Vinyl covers really offer zero impact protection...I have them, and I consider them dust covers, because when the amp is in use is when the most risk is involved. Good to avoid scuffs in transit, and that is about all; all my blonde amps have one, and my BF Vibrolux Reverb has one. But I do all the loading/unloading of the amps myself, so I am not at the mercy of a road crew. If I were, I would have road cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted August 12, 2016 Members Share Posted August 12, 2016 . . . Or you could find someone who knows how to sew' date=' buy the vinyl at a cloth store and buy it by the yard and make your own. . . .[/quote'] If you know someone who can sew and has a heavy duty machine, buy some old quilts or blankets at a thrift store and have them made into amp covers. They probably won't be very "manly" but they'll protect your amps better than any flimsy vinyl cover. I still use a strap with my bass that mom made back in the 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tomm Williams Posted August 14, 2016 Author Members Share Posted August 14, 2016 The moving blanket idea did occur to me as one could be used to cover any size amp. I also move my own amps so am not concerned about someone else tossing them around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted August 16, 2016 Members Share Posted August 16, 2016 Nothing short of a road case will keep the wood from getting dented from Gorilla activity. I'd have a hard time moving my 4X12" bottoms in a case plus the cases cost nearly as much as the cabs do. This vinyl imitation leather used for upholstery is pretty durable stuff. It may get rips and tears over time but its pretty thick stuff with a cloth backing that holds up pretty good. I'm surprised someone hasn't been making them out of this stuff like this and selling it on EBay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted August 16, 2016 Moderators Share Posted August 16, 2016 Moving a 4x12 is hard enough...A well made roadcase for a 4X12 would have a 'tray' with locking casters, and a two piece top that you would not have to lift off. I was in the case biz years ago...I do have a case or two laying around, but they were for cables, mic stands, etc, and I use them for storing other stuff since I am not doing road work anymore. There are a couple of people out there making custom soft/padded covers for amps, btw, and they are not brutally expensive, but I've never seen any of their covers in person, so I can't vouch for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Wow, thinking back on it, I can't believe I did that. So you're saying you took an already heavy, silly-loud amp and put even more efficient speakers that also weigh a ton into it, making the amp even heavier and considerably louder.... [video=youtube;FP0-XWHkTdc] Ferris Bueller, you're my hero! Now That's rock n roll! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members onelife Posted August 17, 2016 Members Share Posted August 17, 2016 So you're saying you took an already heavy, silly-loud amp and put even more efficient speakers that also weigh a ton into it, making the amp even heavier and considerably louder.... Now That's rock n roll! I wanted to get that heavy sound. I played Fender Rhodes in those days too and the EVs helped keep it clean. It was a Master Volume Twin and the overdrive (with a 12 lb Les Paul) was a lot smoother with the premium speakers. The Rhodes was also brutal to carry around but it was a 'portable piano' in those days. I remember when I got the Princeton Reverb and how it was a big deal to be able to carry my guitar and amp at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil O'Keefe Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 I wanted to get that heavy sound. Well you certainly had plenty of "heavy" with that rig! I played Fender Rhodes in those days too and the EVs helped keep it clean. It was a Master Volume Twin and the overdrive (with a 12 lb Les Paul) was a lot smoother with the premium speakers. The Rhodes was also brutal to carry around but it was a 'portable piano' in those days. Yeah, I always felt bad for the drummers, bass players and keyboardists with big rigs. They usually have it even worse than guitarists do. Unless you're using a Boogie and a Super Six reverb together in a dual-amp setup or something... Those E/Vs have pretty smooth mids and highs, and they break up really late, which makes them a good match for the Twin Reverb tonally IMHO (much better than the brighter JBLs that used to be offered as a speaker option in them), but the added efficiency and increased loudness usually is hardly necessary in a Twin because they generally have all the clean volume most people will ever need, and then some. I remember when I got the Princeton Reverb and how it was a big deal to be able to carry my guitar and amp at the same time. I used to carry a Twin and a guitar at the same time for a while, but I also marched with and carried a bari sax home from school when I was a high school freshman, so I already had lots of experience with dealing with moving around heavy gear. I got smarter as I got older and moved to smaller and lighter amps and started focusing far more on studio work than live performances. Now Princetons are some of my favorite amps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted August 18, 2016 Members Share Posted August 18, 2016 I still like a big footprint. Its doesn't have to be loud, it just needs to be bigger them what a small combo cab can produce. Bigger cabs have better bass response and gets those nice acoustic lows playing clean chords that balance with the bass player. I do allot of three piece stuff too and it makes up for not having a second guitar too. Boosting bass on a small combo speaker isn't the same thing because you wind up getting mostly lower mids which mask the other frequencies the speaker produces. I have been thinking about making a single light weight 15" cab that's easy to move. I bought two Celestion 15's for a Traynor bass cab awhile back. The speakers were custom made for Trace Elliot by Celestion and are very good drivers but that Traynor cab is just too shallow for those speakers. They sound killer playing guitar through it however. I believe the speakers are good up to 4500hz so they have enough frequency range for guitar. I may pull one out and build a guitar cab for it. I have a Lower end Eminance I can use in that cab or maybe swap around a JBL I have in a folded Sunn cab. Might give that Traynor cab some better lows. The first guitar amp I owned was a Moserite combo like this one. It had a 15" Jensen and sounded fantastic. I was thinking about taking one of my guitar heads and making a similar combo. The requirement is its got to be able to fit into the trunk of my Mustang. I can get a 4X10 and a 2X12" in there. I just cant make the cabinet too deep front to rear. I can get a 15" in a cab smaller then a 4X10" and get some big sounds out of it. No problem overdriving a 200W speaker with any of the heads I own either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GAS Man Posted February 16, 2019 Members Share Posted February 16, 2019 I don't feel the prices are not bad for some thing nice. If you got a good amp, you want to take care of it. Resurrecting an old thread ~ I generally agree with Mideo's statement since the OP states he wants to transport a "valuable amp". However, in my occasional pursuit to find cheap covers for cheaper amps, I've found that I can't bring myself to pay $45 + tax n shipping for some of my cheaper amps. However, I still like the idea of having a cover for each amp to protect the pots from dust (to avoid scratchy sounding controls) and to protect from direct sun light, etc. Right now I'm still chasing after covers "on the cheap" for the following inexpensive amps that are part of my collection: Cube 20X Marshall 1W Offset head (okay, that one wasn't cheap, but still, all it needs is a dust cover) Vox Pathfinder 15 Marshall MG15MSZW head Cube 80GX Peavey ValveKing Royal 8 All the rest of my amps do have their own covers, I've just balked at paying custom cover prices for the rest of these. In any case, I have two ways (besides looking for eBay deals) for finding more generic covers: The first is to look for shopping bags that look nice and have a close fit on depth and width. I don't really care about height since that can be trimmed; or if too short, I really wouldn't care as long as it's long enough in height to protect the pots. You can cut off the straps and cut a handle opening; or leave it as is to keep dust out from the handle opening and to provide it's own carry handles (assuming it's a small/light). So far I've only found one "shopping bag" fit. I had a Comcast bag that they shipped me with some equipment, and it was a very good fit for a Laney Cub 10. And it's black! I also look on Amazon and they have quite a few shopping bags that look pretty nice, i.e. color choices and no markings. The problem is that when i find one that would fit one of my amps, it's usually an order of 6 or so bags. The second thing I look for is trying to find an inexpensive cover for some other amp (like the Bugera V5 cover that can be had for around $10-$12, and see if that amp's dimensions are close to fitting your amp's dimensions). Anyway, as I search for answers to this "hunt" of mine, this thread keeps popping up in my Google search, so I thought I'd share and see if anyone has any other tales or tips. Happy Saturday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazzer2020 Posted February 16, 2019 Members Share Posted February 16, 2019 I first thought of covers for my amps when I started splitting a couple of Fender combos into head + speaker cab. I bought some vinyl material like shown in some photos above and had a local dry-clean place fellow sew them up as instructed by me. With the cost of the material + labour it wasn't cheap but he did a good job. Fast forward to a couple of years ago. For some strange reason I got into sewing. I actually bought a sewing machine! Long story. Anyway, it opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Since then I have sewn around 7 or 8 amp covers plus a couple of printer covers. Buying the vinyl material is very cheap. Of course the labour now is even cheaper. They actually look quite good if I might say so myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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