Nut surface of JBL Studio speaker 4430

Hobbit66

New Member
Hello

I am trying to restore the surface of some JBL 4430 speakers that are in real bad shape. All the nice nut surface has been sprayed black. I try to remove all now by pickling and will sand the nut veneer then.

But what is best to protect the clean surface afterwards?

What was original? Was it waxed? Was it oiled or was it laquered?

How should it look like in original?

One more question:

What kind of black is the real colour for the front. Was it a dark gray or was it black? Was it satin or matt?

Thank you and best regards
Christian
 
Fun project, Christian! The original JBL walnut veneer finish was oil; a combination of boiled linseed oil and turpentine. See here:

http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/reference/general/finish.htm

page02.jpg


and here:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=307452

I use Watco Teak Oil on mine, to good effect. I would use a wax finish over the oil for a little protection, maybe Howard's Feed N Wax. I have also found that Howard's Restor-A-Finish on top of it, adds some depth to the oiled surface.

But before that, in case you feel that the veneer needs staining, I have had success with the method in the first post here, although I didn't locate precisely the same products (the formula numbers were slightly different):

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?16200-JBL-cabinet-staining-finishing-veneer

How to achieve the deep tawnny orange/brown finish on walnut?
NEVER USE "WALNUT STAIN" on new American Black Walnut Veneer/solid wood trim.
(1) use Old Masters WIPING stain MAPLE 11616 first.
(2) use Old masters Penetrating stain MAPLE 40616 second coat
(3) highlight are brought out with combination of half/half
Minwax penetrating 211 Provincial and the Old masters 40616.

***These steps ABOVE are done wet on wet***do not let them dry/wipe only in each step.

I prefer Minwax Antique Oil-hand rubbed. Formby's and such can get away from you..and become sticky FAST.

And use flat black for the baffles, I believe; see here:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?p=7528405#post7528405

(Scroll up on that page to see my alternative approach.)
 
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Hey, I have a pair of JBL's that were painted black too and I'd love to hear your experience/method of removing it. Can you explain more what the "pickling" method you're using is all about?
 
Paint Stripper?

Hey, I have a pair of JBL's that were painted black too and I'd love to hear your experience/method of removing it. Can you explain more what the "pickling" method you're using is all about?

Sounds like paint stripper to me. That's what I did to my L150A's that came with black paint over the walnut veneer. Worked great, I'm still working the oil in before putting them back together.

BTW, the front and back paint is black, I use SEM Trim Black (#39143) from the Auto Body Paint store. It's a good match to the original black.
 
Thank you Zonker for your super fast reply.

Seems I need to decide what to do as some of the edges are broken and I need to restore them with epoxy or some kind of artificial wood kit. When I oil these edges afterwards it won't soak I suppose. Maybe I should paint a nut structure before on it with some die cast colors ;-). I post some pictures here tomorrow. It looks similar to the edges in this thread

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=541841

I have some more technical challenges with the crossovers as they are completely missing. Kenrick Sound does not answer to my english questions for a replacement. L-Pads are missing too. But at least I have an almost NOS active crossover JBL 5234A. These crossovers require at least a working 0,04 mH coil some capacitors and the L-Pads.

I received a mail today that someone I asked one week ago is willing to exchange 2 crossovers for one speaker cabinet as I have 3 cabinets and he only one. I just hope that I have the right cabinet double. This could be a good exchange and I will call him tomorrow.

With pickling I meen putting some kind of clear grease (color remover) on the surface and let it rest and work with the color for about 2 hrs. Afterwards you use any sharp tool to remove the softened paint carefully. It is fast and save and won't hurt the wood much. If all the paint is gone you clean the rest of the grease with water. When the surface is dry you start sanding it.

As soon as the weather outside will be more comfortable I can post here pictures too with the steps. It really works very well and is easier than sanding all the color away as you don't need so much sand paper.

I live in Europe so it will be hard for me to get the same factory black spray cans you use. So I asked for the type of black. I will give it a try with flat back and hope for the best.

Next challenge will be the grills. I found some pdf with the measures. Maybe I ask some carpenter if he can make me some. Kenrick is selling some but they are not cheap. Hopefully I will find the blue acoustic cloth here somewhere in Europe.

How can I remove the grill pegs on the front? Is there an easy way to remove the plastic cap? It will be easier to sand the front without the pegs.
 
Wow; you have some work ahead of you. But fun. :D

Over on Lansing Heritage, Zilch and others laid out how to make reproduction crossovers in his Quick and Dirty 4430 thread (parts 1 and 2).

There may soon be a U.S. source (not me) for top-quality 4430 reproduction grills. I can't give any details right now, but I'm hopeful that they should be available within the next 90 days or so.

I think I have removed JBL pins before with tape, pliers and careful rotation and pulling, but you have to be very careful not to break the sections up top; apply pressure to the lower shaft only.

Good luck and have fun!!
 
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Excerpts from Zonker's post below. I followed his (Zonk's) recommendation on my 4435s, and the Watco Teak Oil (Dark Walnut) and Howard Restore-A-Finish are superb recommendations. You would do well to use them.



I use Watco Teak Oil on mine, to good effect. I would use a wax finish over the oil for a little protection, maybe Howard's Feed N Wax. I have also found that Howard's Restor-A-Finish on top of it, adds some depth to the oiled surface.
 
Or when you're editing your post, hit the Go Advanced button and then scroll down to the Manage Attachments feature.

:D

attachment.php
 
So this is what I did doday as we had a litte sun

The grease to remove the paint is this one



This is my work for the next days and weeks



applying grease





about 2hrs later you need a lot of patience and feeling






Here comes the sun um nut again



a lot of old paint



still don't know what I will do here...



cleaning with water and cotton





this is how it looks when it is done

 
Hey hey; I bet you get those looking nice soon. Did you see this thread (I mentioned it above) where one member had some 4435s with holes in them, and did a fantastic job restoring them?

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=520579

I hope you've got some padding underneath them!

Just curious: Where are you located?

Yes I do have a wooden plate with 4 wheels under the speaker so that I can move them easy out of the garage and back in when it starts raining here. Between the cabinet and the plate is a rubber mat for protection.

I live in Germany to be exactly in the home town of the Octoberfest :beer:

I checked the thread - very interesting! It really looks like new. How did he do that and how did he fill the holes? I could not find any hints. Too bad. I bought some nut wax but have no experiences yet.

Rainy and cold weather here. No fun to work.

I had a nice call yesterday. I will get two crossovers in exchange for one of my three cabinets. One of his cabinets had a water damage. And he has some blue cloth for the frames and will cut 2 pieces for me. Grills are still missing but I get the measures. He might have a source for getting original L-Pads. This would be really great.

Is there a frame beneath the cabinet or how are the 4430 placed. Directly on the flor? I have seen 4 factory made holes in the lower plate - maybe for putting wheels in?

His is really a challenging project and needs time and a lot of patience. But I am sure it can be done.
 

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Thank you very much. I am new here and it is great to find so many helpful and nice persons here. I can only learn from your experiences.

Yes I am glad that I won't need to build a new crossover now. So for me it is a little easter present.

I think the hardest thing is to make the surface nice looking. Putting new veneer on it is a final solution but it has other challenges I suppose. If you get glue by mistake on the front it could be hard with oiling because the wood won't soak then any more.

Still not sure what to do with the three holes on one side and the missing veneer on the edges. This is where they put 3 hooks to hang them from the ceiling in some strange club :tears:

How can someone paint such a nice looking nut veneer black...
 
Great news on the crossovers! I highly recommend cleaning the biamp switch very well or even bypassing it. See the photos at the end of my thread here:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=537606

And of course clean the L pads and reheostats too.

The factory design had a wood plinth on the bottom with steel mounting eye hooks hidden inside it; it had little small cheap plastic "bump" feet under the wood; my hardware store sells identical ones still.

See here:

http://www.jblproservice.com/pdf/studio monitor series/4430lr.pdf

jbl-4430-387279.jpg


I think it was made of fir. It would be easy to replicate. I made stands for mine; see here:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=561749

And here:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=543234

Maybe you should post in that 4435 restoration thread to ask how he repaired those holes? I thought he described it in there somewhere?
 
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Thank you for the picture of that plinth. Interesting to hear that someting is missing again. Mine seems to be lost then. Strange that there are no holes from screws of the plinth on mine...?

Your self made plinth is really great! Nice with the veneer outside. Sure a good chance to work with veneer and collect experiences.

Is here someone who can assist me with some measures about the size of the fir and the distance from the side walls with the original plinth. I need to recalculate then from inch to centimeter and buy the right wood in our stores.

I wil ask later in that 4435 restoration thread how he repaired those holes.

Not much progress today, just closed some deeper scratches at the front and on the bottom.

Still could not manage to remove the plastic cap of the binding posts. I am a little scared to damage something.

More pictures tomorrow if the weather is fine.
 
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