General Electric RP-1590 stereo cabinet restoration

[electra225]

Please do that, Doc!

[William]

Yes, please do, Doc.

Bill

[electra225]

I spent four hours on the Tolex this afternoon. VERY tedious project. No major mistakes. I have the black on the lid, half the black on the bottom. Instead of doing butt joints, I am using overlap joints. This was what the factory did. I am using lightweight black Tolex. Easier to work with, overlap joints don't show, but the back is black, which makes it hard to mark and even harder to see the markings. This is the most intense Tolex project to date for me. Careful measuring is key. Measure three times, write everything down, cut once. Fit, then glue. I won't have enough Tolex glue to finish. I will have to use Elmer's to finish. I have gotten almost three projects out of a quart of glue. No reason at all to buy a larger quantity than that, ever.

I'm using a wet toothbrush to spread the Tolex glue. Keeping the brush wet is key. You have to pick off the dried "buggers" of glue occasionally. I'm getting used to that procedure.

[electra225]

I bought a package of a half-dozen cheap toothbrushes at the store. I find that nylon toothbrushes are easier to keep the glue from drying in than are paint brushes. I place the toothbrush in a small bowl of warm water to keep the glue from setting in the brush between applications of glue. If a ball of dried glue forms on the tip of the brush, it can be peeled off and the brush returned to service. Using a toothbrush to spread the Tolex glue may be a tad more messy than with a paint brush, but I feel the trade-off is beneficial.

I misspoke on my earlier post. I have the black on the top of the lid, and started on the sides. I have it on the front of the cabinet, started on the corners. I was so thrilled to have it as far as I got, I got ahead of myself. At this point, for this particular procedure, I will have to cut and fit each piece before I glue it. The glue sets faster on the wood, so I will cut the Tolex, fit it, then glue it. Fifteen minutes or so later, I will apply glue to the wood. The cabinet will be marked as to where the Tolex pieces will go, hopefully, this will get me started right. Overlap joints require a different discipline than butt joints. I was just getting the hang of butt joints, then I change course.... Overlap joints are more saving with material. Butt joints, I think, look a little neater. The main downside I see to butt joints is that if the glue shrinks the Tolex, you have a "ditch" between the Tolex pieces. The downside to overlap joints is that the result can look bulky or hacked if you overlap more than one layer. That sometimes happens in corners. The upside to butt joints is that it looks neater and more professional, like a custom job. The upside to overlap joints is that is more closely resembles factory practice, and experiencing a bit of shrinkage in the Tolex is not so big of a deal. I am overlapping 1/2" on this GE cabinet. The factory had overlap from 1/4" to almost 5/8". All three record players I have done to this point have had factory overlap joints.

Something else I have learned. A cheap hair dryer is a good investment when you are working with Tolex. Some guys use a heat gun, but I believe those to be too aggressive. A hair dryer on low is all you need. You can heat the Tolex where it comes over an edge of the cabinet to make it fit a little tighter, makes it look neater. Then you heat the area where you are putting decals, roll the decal on, heat again, then peel the top layer off the decal, leaving the die-cut decal in place with no rolled images. Then roll again, making sure there is no glue left on the roller! Don't ask.... I use a 2" wallpaper roller for rolling out Tolex.

If you guys find this redundant and boring, I apologize. I hope Don is following this, although he is not a member of the forum. He has one identical to this, two years older, that could use some TLC. This will give some idea of what I had to do with this one. And it also gives some indication of why nobody does Tolex professionally. The shop couldn't charge for the time they have actually in the project, and the customer wouldn't want to pay for that kind of shop time. At $10 an hour, I'd have over $1000 labor in this project if I was charging to do it. Plus the materials. I'll be almost $500 in this project, plus what the changer needs. Plus at least 100 hours of my time. I may get the grille cloth at Walmart and use white vinyl clothesline cord for piping, in the effort to not get any deeper into the project. This is a $50 stereo all day. It's a labor of love..... I'd have to get $1500 for this thing to break even....

[William]

It sounds like you are doing an excellent job and it should be beautiful when done. I/we can't wait to see the photos. That's a hit by the way.

Bill

[electra225]

I got my plans interrupted somewhat today. Plus, the glue was drying really slowly. It took about an hour to cut, fit, glue each piece and wait on the glue to set. I made progress, but not as much as I had hoped. I took some pictures to show each process I have been doing.

I skinned up some of the wood when I used an Exacto knife to cut out the holes. I can touch those places up with flat black paint.

[TC Chris]

Looking good, especially the detail around the speakers.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

That area will look nice with red grille cloth and white piping. An electrical extension cord, split in half, should work for the small piping on the speakers. White vinyl clothesline may work for the larger piping on the front.

[William]

It's looks beautiful, Greg, can't wait to see the finished product.

Bill

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Gonna be "showroom" nice !!!!

And I like your suggestions on what to use for piping.

That kind of creative thinking is really helpful for folks
who might want to do a similar restoration.

[electra225]

I made considerable progress today. I don't have enough black Tolex left to do the speakers. I knew it was going to be close. I have been careful to be as saving with material as I could, and have very little waste. I thought about doing the speakers multi-colored, but I have so much work into it now that I hate to cut corners and make it look silly. I am satisfied with progress to this point. No major faux pas that I couldn't fix. I have the lid yet to finish, and I think I'll have enough black Tolex to finish it. Overlap joints are lots easier than butt joints. I have glue remnants and crayon markings that I'll have to clean off once the glue has set well.

[TC Chris]

Definitely better than new.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

It certainly is more colorful than when it was new. Four colors and right on the edge of being gawdy, just what I wanted. Putting it back gray and white like it was didn't use much imagination. Besides, the model sticker says it should be black. I've never seen another black one. This is not done 100% correct, and I've said that from the jump. I'm having a ball. This is the part about this hobby I like best, turning a ragged old cabinet into something different. I'm not much on repurposing, but giving something a bit of color or contrast never hurts its basic personality. I was a little hesitant about doing four colors, but it's turning out better than I had hoped. All I had to buy was the black Tolex, I had the other colors on hand. I wouldn't have done it in four colors if I had to buy all the material just for this job.

To me, the red detail in the changer compartment is the best part so far.

Why GE used that chrome bezel around the knobs in a fairly mundane-styled stereo is beyond me. That thing makes the interior pop. The foam rubber I used in the Record Saver is what we used around the bracket that held the steering column to the firewall on Buicks and Cadillacs. The trim on the platter looks better in real life than it does in pictures. I intend to leave it as it is. Unless it broke setting on the bench, all I intend to do to the changer is to put a new needle in it. I'll have to pull the control panel and speakers to do the grille cloth and to install the handle, but I was getting tired of seeing stuff setting all over the shop.

There is a 90uf @ 50 volt non-polarized cap that works with the Expanded Stereo feature. I have 47uf at 50 volts electrolytics on hand, so I'll make some 94uf @ 50 volt non-polarized caps to use with that. I need to install a fuse in the primary circuit of the PT yet as well. I have some wiring work on the wing speakers and I need to check speaker phasing yet as well.

[electra225]

Very little progress today on this project. We got up at 2 am this morning. Our 18-year-old male cat was howling, apparently in pain. He is fairly vocal, and "captures" a rag or washcloth during the night, then runs around the house yelling and "protecting" his "prey". This morning was different. We took him to the emergency vet and they wanted $1000 to diagnose the issue, plus told us they thought his time was coming to an end. This "news" did not thrill my wife, as you might imagine. We are on our way to our real vet to see what ails him. He has eaten, is drinking and has visited the litter box, so my guess is he isn't terminal. I think he ate something that upset his stomach, such as Christmas decorations, but I don't know that. We are keeping a good thought, and are encouraged he at least acts more normal than he did in the wee tinies this morning. I took a nap when I should have been working on this project, so now I'm behind where I wanted to be.

[TC Chris]

Why is it that things always seem worse at 3 a.m.?

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Percy is 18, and I'm happy to report that the vet says he is fit as a fiddle, with the exception of a particularly nasty urinary tract infection. The vet, Dr. Pete, did some blood work, with emphasis on kidney function. It seems old cats are likely to expire from kidneys no longer working. All the blood work came back normal. The scan showed no kidney stones or other bladder maladies. The doc gave Percy a shot of antibiotics to take care of the infection. He ate his supper and part of Bentley's. He has been to the litter box and everything came out alright in that regard. He has been on special cat food to guard against bladder stones and to help with weight control for many years. He is your stereotypical fat cat. He weighed 16.8 pounds when the doc weighed him this afternoon. We are relieved that the old boy will be around to annoy the dog for many more years. When he woke us up at 2 in the morning with that blood-curtling howl of his, I wouldn't have bet on that. I see he and Bentley are curled up in a ball in front of the fake fireplace where it is warmer.

[Dr. Radio]

I'm glad to hear your friend is okay!

[electra225]

I'm learning Tolex installation as I go along. I haven't found any comprehensive text or videos on putting Tolex on a record player cabinet. That said, please don't get the impression that I am any kind of an expert. This is a record player/stereo forum and I thought maybe someone else might want to recover a record player cabinet someday. Little tidbits of information or sharing mistakes I have made might stand someone else in good stead. I haven't found any shop that works with Tolex professionally. The issue is time. They simply can't charge for all the time required to do the job. This is a DIY, labor of love type activity.

I have found it critical that the end grain on the cabinet plywood be filled in order for the Tolex to adhere properly. It is also important to consider what type of fasteners will be required to hold the weight of the different components of the cabinet such as the lid and extension speakers. When you remove those nasty wood rivets that were used originally. Sometimes, 3/8 inch, #6 wood screws work well, sometimes you need those fasteners like I buried in the Magnavox cabinet to hold the weight. I will need 20 of those doodads on this cabinet. For the lid, wing speakers, lid prop, the handle on the front. Instead of burying them, I'll polish them, then let them show. Stainless steel ones are 94 cents apiece. I found some aluminum extrusions at Lowe's to replace the gold-painted plastic ones that are broken and falling apart. I can polish the aluminum and they will look great on the red grille cloth and black Tolex on the cabinet. The total cost for fasteners to hold on the hardware will be close to $50. It all adds up. The power cord cleaned up nicely with lacquer thinner. It is gray. The repair I made to the water-damaged plywood on the wing speakers looks good so far. The big test will be when they are assembled with speakers mounted to the cabinet and hang there for a week or so. Butt joint vs. overlap joint is a matter of personal preference. Overlap is definitely less work and is more forgiving. If you need to be saving with the Tolex glue like on this project, use the real Tolex glue on the edges of the cabinet, over the end grain. Elmer's white glue works fine on the flat panels. I really like using it for the big piece on the inside of the lid. You can move it a bit to get it straight if you use Elmer's. You get one shot with the Tolex glue, you can't move it. If you hands are shaky like mine, you might appreciate having a bit of slack. Remember, too, that Elmer's will dry more gradually, so you may have to weight the panel, or roll it frequently, until the glue sets. Tolex glue or contact cement will only require one rolling to get the air bubbles out and get it flat. I think I'm going to use the material I found at Walmart for grille cloth. It is stretchy and will perhaps bail me out if I make a mis-step in installation. The grille cloth on the front of the cabinet will be a bit different than on the wing speakers because it is inset in the Tolex. There will be little margin for error. Stretchy material may give me a bit of "cheat". The next step is to finish the Tolex on the lid, get the decals/silk screening done. Assembly after that, the fun part.....

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Maybe you can get that high priced guy on E pay to
take it to sell on consignment !

I'd love to see you get a grand for the G.E. [ : )

[electra225]

I think the guy you are referring to is Jimmy O. He does amazing work, and, honestly, is an inspiration and example to follow when it comes to putting Tolex on a record player cabinet. I've never seen anybody do it any better than he does. I don't know whether he does the work, or has it done. And, if you ever have noticed, he doesn't do any close-up shots of the items he has for sale. I used to think he was unreasonable in the prices he asked for his stuff. He's not making that much money, even if he gets the item initially for free. I appreciate your encouragement, Mr. Mogul, but I"m a horrible salesman. I'd be lucky to not have to pay somebody to haul it off. I wouldn't make any money if I did get $1000 for it. I'll have over 100 hours in the cabinet, plus time and parts in the electronics and changer. Jimmy O might ask $4000 for it,and, quite honestly, he wouldn't be that far off if he was paying rent on a facility to work in, or paying someone to do the work.