Vamp Your Amps

A quick and easy way to change the fabric covering on many speakers and breath some new life into your workspace!

(First instructable, comments and criticisms appreciated!)

Step 1: The Goods (Materials and Tools)

As you'll see in the pictures, this project doesn't require very much, and it can be safely assumed you have most of it already:

The goods:
Instant glue of some sort (Krazy glue, etc.)
Fabric of your choice (an old stained shirt in my case)
Speakers (only one pictured)
Tweezers (I used two, one with a slant-point and another with needle-points)
Scissors
Knife or razor blade


Optional but recommended:
Some funky beats to work with

Comments

[usbdevice]

this is a great idea. +1

[unicycle2993]

i have those!!

[Jawsh]

lol i have those same speakers. (before mod) they are SOOOOOO old. they crackle for like 10 mins when i turn them on

[jeremyfukala]

Thanks for the great idea! I just took a pirate flag I found on the sidewalk (ol' jolly Roger that is) and put it on my practice amp. A great free upgrade.

[ksully994]

I have the same exact speakers

[SillyDaffodilly]

This is so cute! I love it, and I think we should date.

[pappyld04]

I've never done this with PC speakers but all 8 of my home stereo speakers have had the screens popped off as soon as I found some bandannas that I thought would look good on them. With these I just sewed the upper and lower corners together.

[sideways]

Nicely done Instructable. As a seamstress, may I suggest using a woven fabric applied on the bias, instead of with the grain? Bias is a 45-degree angle to the horizontal & vertical threads in woven fabrics like your shirt. When cut on the bias, the diagonal cut gives your woven a little bit of stretch, just enough to let it shape easier around any curves. Not that yours look bad...you did a great job of stretching out any wrinkles. This does not apply to knit fabrics, like t-shirts, which already have stretch. Those usually have enough stretch that it doesn't matter how they would be applied.

[Valche]

Great tips, thanks! When you're talking about the "bias", do you mean to just cut it at that angle or are you saying to situate the fabric in such a way so that rather than form "H"'s with the lines they would form an "X"?

[sideways]

Bingo. For this particular fabric, you would situate it so your stripes form an "X", since the stripes follow the grain. For fabric without those helpful stripes (like solid colors) then you'd need to look closely to identify which way the threads are running to know which way the bias is. You can google "fabric bias" to find more detailed info, altho most of it will probably be aimed towards those who sew clothes or quilts. It's handy to know about bias when recovering all sorts of things; like upholstering a chair and things like that.

[DIY Dave]

I have speakers just like that and my dad has a shirt a lot like that.

[pswayze]

Please tell me that that your speaker stand is a table made out of priority mail boxes.

[TheCheese9921]

Very nice... high five :-)

[thearchitect]

Sweet idea and well performed! Kudos!.. K.

[pocketwatch]

Those look so fancy! I think I will try that when I get my radio and speakers from my parents' house! You probably don't want to use an iron on because of sound dampening, but t shirt fabric is a little stretchy so it should be good to work with.

[Valche]

Thanks! I think you're right about the iron-ons dampening sound, good call. I'd love to see how yours come out, be sure to post some pictures!

[GorillazMiko]

Definitely a smart idea. Was thinking about doing this the other day.. never did do it. Great job!

[zoxx]

awesome! See, this is why I love instructables. So quick and cool and I would have *never* thought of that on my own. yay! +1