Thought I'd share with the group since this is the first time I've ordered one of these.
CJ was great to work with and made sure I was getting what I wanted. I did the design and e-mailed him the file and in about 10 days I had it in hand.
It's really quite nice and the price was good. $18 for the plate, with the $30 setup fee. It's 1/16" thick dark brown matte plastic, somewhat flexible, and it reminds me of a Fender Brown Amp faceplate.
Overall I'm pretty impressed.
Take a look:
Last edited by NTBluesGuitar; 09-27-2007 at 08:11 AM.
"...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."
-Edmund Burke
Nice. I haven't seen any of those up close.
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
Yeah, I was apprehensive, too. But it's really pretty nice. The material is pretty flexible, doesn't look like it would break easily, and it looks sharp.
They laser-cut the holes at no extra charge, too.
I recommend the service.
"...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."
-Edmund Burke
Woah, that's nice! Good work man!
Tommy.
That looks great!
Too many knobs for me though!
If Only for some Inexpensive Creme colored Chickenheads.......
Man - That looks great. And Much easier to read than the traditional white on chrome too.
Kenny Belmont
>:^{I)>
Especially since it's right-side-up.Originally Posted by FrankJohnson
Several guitars in different colors
Things to make them fuzzy
Things to make them louder
orange picks
I agree. They'd look really good!
Hmmm......
I didn't catch that.....I forgot the original was upside down....or we just stand on the wrong side usually.......
Kenny Belmont
>:^{I)>
Surely not the accordian amp syndrome!!! (ie backwards writing...)
Very nice - as I plan to go creme and oxblood with the Dv project (which I might add is grinding on - very, very close - just finished another soldering session at 3.30 am!!!) that would finish it beautifully - 'spose I'd better throw them a bone as it's their schematic I pinched!!!
That is really spesh - is that printed or engraved?
Laser engraved plastic. They laser cut the holes, too. A really nice product for projects like this.
"...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."
-Edmund Burke
That problem continues. It would irritate me if the amp didn't sound so damn good.
Now, the "Fezzter" nameplate on the PG is from CJ at Weber and is silk-screened on metal. Seems to me they should consider doing the control plates that way, as it looks fantastic and has no warping issue.
I also worked with C.J. on this. He was very helpful with this one (although I also ordered a WV4 Copper Cap and got a WR4 instead). Then again, he and I were both working from the exact same production software (Adobe Illustrator) and maybe that helps in the end?
There wasn't anything that I noticed. A very slight rise near the input jacks that could have easily been caused by the pressure from the tightened jacks themselves, but that's not noticeable at all unless you have the back panel off and are looking right into the side of the faceplate.
Now, there's two materials they use, this 1/16" thick plastic, and the other is something called "Flexibrass" that's really also a plastic, so I'm not sure what y'all got for that Fezzter kit.
Maybe I got lucky and got a good one? Maybe you were unlucky and got a bad one?
Maybe it has to do with the span of the plate? Mine only tucks under the chassis cutout about 1/4" and doesn't run the full length of the chassis. It stops just shy of each chassis mounting bolt, and I can see if it's a hair too long that it might buckle when trying to fit in there.
I'll know more when I order my second one (got the HRD-tweed in it's final stage, y'all saw the prototype work earlier) and I'll get some better shots for you.
I had to remove some of the photos since it had the full name of a real Fender amp on it and there may have been some touchy feelings towards trademark names and all, regardless if it was for a real Fender amp of the same name.
Just playin' it safe for all.
"...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."
-Edmund Burke
NT, the amp nameplates are made of plastic or of .020" aluminum, which is what I chose. They should offer the amp faceplates in the aluminum, too, 'cause it looks grrrrrreat. I had no issues with the process on the nameplate, so the software didn't enter into it.
Fezz, maybe I'll lose the plastic faceplate when I swap out the cab (should be coming from Wbe soon), but it's not that big a deal. You were sure right about that Red Fang... holy parma. My buddy Gary coudlnt' believe it was fresh from the box... sounds great from the first note, and can only get better, I'm sure.
Will you guys be playing anywhere in the Midwest?
I hear ya'. The chrome control plates that are on the Hot Rods and Blues Fender amps are just that; a chrome plated, metal silk-screened plate. I think Weber sources the metal control plates for their kits that they design (Smokin' Joe, etc.).
I wonder if it's the fact that the production machinery needed for that is something that's out of Weber's reach at the time. After all, there are shops who specialize in just laser-engraving.
I agree. I specifically asked about this making sure it didn't look like plastic, and sure enough it doesn't from the top.
Not sure how it will wear, of course, but for $18 a pop, it's not hard to replace. Also, it was easier to order from Weber on this since i had to for Copper Caps, too.
"...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."
-Edmund Burke
On his blackface kits they are made out of metal. I would imagine that he is trying to find a medium that allows him to create inexpensive custom faceplates for customers.
Fezz, we'll try and catch you in Frisco.
Yeah, but are they made in-house or does he source them out? The plastic ones are made in-house.
I see your point, though. Could be he wants to see how the custom faceplate service goes and he may branch out later.
"...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."
-Edmund Burke
It's just easier and cheaper to pump the vector based drawing straight into a servo controlled laser engraving machine than to produce one off silk screens for a production run of one - there's no actual 'hard' set-up as such - it's all software driven... and for the bucks - looks a treat.
A 'better late than never' update to this one.
Got my faceplate for my rebuilt HRDlx and I got some better pics this time.
There was some slight warping on the input jack side. That was caused by some tension elsewhere, but when the amp was mounted in the cab, it was pulled back down.
I guess now I can say I "Blackfaced" my HRDlx.
Last edited by NTBluesGuitar; 11-03-2007 at 12:02 PM.
"...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."
-Edmund Burke
Nice. Now it looks almost as great on the outside as it does on the inside.
"I haven't slept for ten days...because that would be too long." -- Mitch Hedberg
Thanks, guys!
I hope you can see the faceplate better...I took those pics to illustrate the material on mine to compare with what you go ton the Fezzter PG for Jim.
Does this look like the same stuff or thicker?
Last edited by NTBluesGuitar; 11-03-2007 at 01:41 PM.
"...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."
-Edmund Burke
That is a good idea, Fezz. The plexi would have to be thin, though, as I'm running out of threads on the input jacks. They do make a thinner plastic material that may work well with a plexi cover, though.
Now to start breaking in the Eminence Red White & Blues that this is attached to.
"...pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field;
that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all, they are other than the little,
shriveled, meagre, hopping, though loud and troublesome, insects of the hour."
-Edmund Burke
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
