Posted by Dave Rat on December 02, 2003 at 21:10:24:
In Reply to: painting my speaker cabinets posted by nrgdjs on November 22, 2003 at 20:09:57:
: My cabinets have the Ozite carpeting on them and they have gotten dirty and stinky. I'm wanting to fix up the cabinets and have been pondering painting them instead of recarpeting them. It seems like it would be nice to be able to just spray them when a touch up is needed. What kind of paint is used on professional touring cabinets? Would a textured spray paint work?
Hmmm, my experience is that once you carpet them they dont transfer well to being painted, here is why:
1) The carpet glue is nasty stuff that is a bummer to get off the box. Chemicals are a bummer and dont work well and the old glue gums up sand paper really fast. Scraping it sucks. So pretty much you have this rough crap all over the box. All this assumes glue was used rather than staples and no glue.
2) The paint does not stick well to the old glue and it looks crappy unless you get all the old glue off.
3) Cabs that are carpeted typically are less "finished" than painted cabs. When a builder knows the cab will be carpeted, there is no reason to spend extra time filling voids or using wood with a "clean" finish as you would when painting. All these imperfections will show up and be unsightly when painted.
While painted boxes can see new life by carpeting them, boxes that are once carpeted will live their life always carpeted.
So I recommend re-carpetting them, it is relatively inexpensive, you can "sturdy them up" when they are stripped with new screws and bracing if needed and they will look new when done.
Dave Rat