... amplifier recovering.
"Oh, no, Jim - what is your amp recovering from?"
No, the amp in question isn't feeling ill, but it is looking scrufty. Not my new amp - that is gorgeous. This is the Fishman Loudbox Mini that I've had for over a decade. It is an acoustic amp, designed to faithfully reproduce the sound of an acoustic guitar with an electric pickup. And, it does a great job of that...
It doesn't look bad in that photo above, because you can't see the detail in it: the Tolex covering on the outside of the amp is disintegrating. To the point where I am embarrassed to take it anywhere because it will leave flaking debris everywhere along the way. Like Pigpen from the Peanuts cartoons.
Joan volunteered to recover the amp. She ordered Tolex (the heavy vinyl material that covers the outside of the amp) and was waiting for "a good time." There is never a good time. But, she determined that today is the "starting day." I expect that this will be several days in the process - there is going to be a LOT of detail cutting and fitting. I know she will do a fine job with this, but I did tell her "Don't make yourself crazy trying to make it perfect. Anything will be better than it is."
The first part of the process is taking the powerhead apart from the amp, disconnecting wires, and putting that aside...
That was not as straight-forward as I remembered...
I took the powerhead out 5 or 6 years ago to send it in for repair (one channel completely quit working). Fishman had a policy at that time: any repair is $50, the customer gets to pay the shipping both ways. It wound up costing me about $130 for that "$50 repair."
I read (on the internet, so it must be true) that Fishman will replace the Tolex for $100 plus shipping both ways. The problem with that: they are going to use that same flimsy Tolex. I don't want to have to mess with this again. It is a good amp for acoustic sounds. I do use it and will play out with it... once it doesn't leave a mess behind.
There is a wood trim piece on the powerhead - I took that out and Joan used it as a pattern...
Yes, we are working on this on that pretty kitchen counter. It is way too hot to do this outside or even in the garage. So, there will be plenty of clean-up throughout the project. Joan said to give her a week to get through it.
No rush on my part. Also, no pressure. I have another acoustic amp. Plus, I am playing electric more these days.
This amp is Fishman's best selling small amp. There are thousands of them out there. And any amp like this that I've seen that is more than 4 or 5 years old has the same disintegrating covering. Maybe they've improved the Tolex on later builds? But, the Tolex we picked for this recovering seems to be a lot sturdier.
Here's a look at one edge - this isn't the worst of it...
I could live with it looking shabby - I can't live with the mess it leaves behind.
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