Classic Kustom Covering

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Alan Peterson
Posts: 127
Joined: Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:32 pm
Location: Washington DC USA

Classic Kustom Covering

Post by Alan Peterson »

There are dozens of sites that promote and educate folks on how to do upholstery for hot rods, mid-century sofas, etc., and I think I've visited them all. What I'd like to find is a tutorial - or at least some DIY info - on how to do the tuck-and-roll look of classic '70s Kustom amplifiers (http://www.guitarweasel.com/images/kustom_amp.jpg).

Anyone got one?
Alan Peterson
Name in Anagram Form: "Resonant Peal"
Rodger Knox
Posts: 497
Joined: Mon Jan 09, 2012 2:02 pm
Location: Baltimore, Maryland

Re: Classic Kustom Covering

Post by Rodger Knox »

Alan, I did a couple of cabinets with tuck & roll back in the early '70s. The rolls were wider than Kuston used, but the technique should be the same. Now if I could just remember how I did it... :roll:
A man hears what he wants to hear, and disreguards the rest. Paul Simon
RD Yazidi
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Aug 31, 2012 1:46 pm

Re: Classic Kustom Covering

Post by RD Yazidi »

I would think a start would be to use the sparkle vinyl fabric that Kustom used for many of their amps and cabs. I don't know if this will be helpful as it seems to be the easy part. Mojo seems to have recently started carrying this when I looked through their tolex section. A great US supplier is Mendel's... I recently bought a couple linear yards of their pistachio sparkle for a drum recovering project, along with a bunch of samples of other colors. May or may not be more cost effective than Mojo, but I like their selection and sample policy. The stuff I got from Mendel's would be plenty durable as Tolex substitute.

My guess is that Kustom also did some kind of trick involving stapling down the foam at predictable intervals along the cabinet walls. But I ain't no upholstery whiz.
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