Grille cloth - pretty close
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2018 8:08 pm
For those that have searched in vain for grille cloth that matches vintage Hiwatt "salt & pepper", here's some info that may be useful.
I have an original SE4122 from 1973. And I have a 1980's SE4123F that I acquired back in the 90's. I don't remember if the 4123 had any grille cloth when I got it, but I believe I grilled it with some black-and-tan cane weave cloth way back then.
It sat in storage for quite a few years but is now back out and I wanted to find grille cloth that matches my 4122. I bought a yard of the Mojotone "salt & pepper" cloth but the light color is too yellow. I also saw the "salt & pepper" cloth on the German "Tube Amp Doctor" site that looked more black-and-white but when I asked them about it they said it was also more of a "black-and-pale-yellow" color scheme.
At this point, I thought the 4123 would look better if I just used black grille cloth, but I went back to Mojotone and they sent me a sample of their "Mojo Silver" cloth. The light color of their Mojo Silver is actually a more neutral gray than the light color on my '73 4122 and I thought it might look good with the very black-and-white "tuxedo" esthetics of Hiwatt. So I ordered some, and installed it today.
I think it looks great. The overall tone is a bit darker than the original Hiwatt cloth, but I would venture to say that it looks just as good if not better than the original because the original does have a very slight warm cast to it because the lighter color in the basket weave is a tad warm/tan (this is pretty hard to discern in the attached photos because they are iPhone shots).
The only other difference is that the weave on the Mojotone cloth is a little smaller.
The two cabs together look pretty good.
In summary, I'd say if you need to re-grille a Hiwatt cab, the Mojotone Silver is a good way to go. Not an exact match to the original, but a very nice match to the colors of a Hiwatt cab or a Hiwatt amp.
1973 SE4122:
SE4122 detail:
80's SE4123:
SE4123 detail:
I have an original SE4122 from 1973. And I have a 1980's SE4123F that I acquired back in the 90's. I don't remember if the 4123 had any grille cloth when I got it, but I believe I grilled it with some black-and-tan cane weave cloth way back then.
It sat in storage for quite a few years but is now back out and I wanted to find grille cloth that matches my 4122. I bought a yard of the Mojotone "salt & pepper" cloth but the light color is too yellow. I also saw the "salt & pepper" cloth on the German "Tube Amp Doctor" site that looked more black-and-white but when I asked them about it they said it was also more of a "black-and-pale-yellow" color scheme.
At this point, I thought the 4123 would look better if I just used black grille cloth, but I went back to Mojotone and they sent me a sample of their "Mojo Silver" cloth. The light color of their Mojo Silver is actually a more neutral gray than the light color on my '73 4122 and I thought it might look good with the very black-and-white "tuxedo" esthetics of Hiwatt. So I ordered some, and installed it today.
I think it looks great. The overall tone is a bit darker than the original Hiwatt cloth, but I would venture to say that it looks just as good if not better than the original because the original does have a very slight warm cast to it because the lighter color in the basket weave is a tad warm/tan (this is pretty hard to discern in the attached photos because they are iPhone shots).
The only other difference is that the weave on the Mojotone cloth is a little smaller.
The two cabs together look pretty good.
In summary, I'd say if you need to re-grille a Hiwatt cab, the Mojotone Silver is a good way to go. Not an exact match to the original, but a very nice match to the colors of a Hiwatt cab or a Hiwatt amp.
1973 SE4122:
- SE4122 - IMG_0628.jpg (387.58 KiB) Viewed 1858 times
- SE4122 - detail - IMG_0630.jpg (411.54 KiB) Viewed 1858 times
- SE4123 - IMG_0627.jpg (352.61 KiB) Viewed 1858 times
- SE4123 - detail - IMG_0629.jpg (394.87 KiB) Viewed 1858 times
.