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!)

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

First you'll need to remove the front panel in order to remove the existing fabric so you can then replace it with your newer and better fabric.

Points to watch out for:
You need to first find the points at which the face is connected to the rest of the speaker, and this can be a pain sometimes. The speakers I did this on fortunately were attached with clips that I just pried open and popped. For some speakers there might be screws holding them in place, which would tear the plastic if you just tried to pop it up. Inspect carefully.

Now you'll need to remove the fabric from the panel. No real special technique here, just cut it off.

Now you'll need to cut the fabric to size. Be careful of pulling on any errant threads, as doing so could cause the fabric to pucker.

Make sure that you leave plenty of room around the edges, because in the upcoming steps you will need some room to grab onto, as well as enough fabric to cover the sides and a portion of the reverse side.

To start wrapping your panels, begin first at the top, and make sure it's lined up properly and the way you'd like. After this point, trying to remove the fabric could tear it.

**After you've applied the glue, be careful and DO NOT touch the glue with your hands. It will bond INSTANTLY, like the package says. The glue WILL seep through the fabric, I found this out the hard way**

Begin by applying the glue, then with the slant-tip tweezers (or pliers) pull the fabric up and over the portion with the glue. Then use the end of the other pair of tweezers and slide it along the point it's adhering to. Do this for a few seconds.

To be sure you have good adhesion, take the back of the tweezers or what you have at hand, and tap firmly. The tapping keeps the tweezers from sticking and pulling the fabric up with it.

You want the fabric to be taught on the surface of the panel in order to avoid wrinkles.

To create even tension (examples in the last frame of the results of both uneven and even tension) you can place a little pressure on the panel as you slide it a little across the carpet. Then rock it back onto the edge to hold it while you apply glue and adhere the fabric. Repeat the same process here as you would for the top.

With my speakers it would pull unevenly in the center, so here's how I fixed that.

(Captions explain it.)

Now that the top and bottom are done, move on to the sides of the panel. This is the easiest and fastest portion to work on, since most of the tension is being held by the top and bottom.

All the techniques are the same, just be sure to only do small (1") portions at a time due to the fast drying time and your ability to hold onto the fabric.

Almost done! Just trim the insides with whatever combination of knife/razor and scissors suits your needs best.

Done! Some reinforcing around the corners while pressing down was needed to push the tufts down. Now just re-attach the panels and marvel at what you've created.

Again, comments and ideas are always appreciated, thanks! Hope you've enjoyed it!

Print your own fabric and make fully custom covers.

Use translucent coverings and install LED's.

Use band t-shirts as a salute to your favorite artist.

Use, adhere, and perforate gold and silver (colored) foil for some bling.

Add your ideas!