American Monitor Model 12 restoration

[insomniac]

So I did these quite a while ago, but I figured I would share with those interested how far a little tlc can go on some poor, neglected thrift shop speakers.

Picked these guys up for the princely sum of $3.99 apiece from the local Goodwill.



Yikes. These things had seen better days. But for such little money, I figured they could be a fun little project.

Cabs had been used as end tables, apparently.



One cabinet fully stripped. Don't mind the cat hair, Hans was shedding something fierce.


Cabs refinished and baffle boards repainted.


Tired old caps replaced with fresh Solens. Not real pretty workmanship, but functional.


Drivers reinstalled.


Grilles were looking pretty ratty, so I mocked up a new one to see how it would look.


Added a pull tab to make the grilles easier to remove.



Voila! I'm nowhere near as good as a lot of guys on this forum, but I think they turned out alright.

 

[moebuster]

Those look great.

 

[Bdbras84]

They look great man! Awesome job, I love the new Color choices too! They really pop. I'm sure they've got to sound as good as they look as well!

 

[gdmoore28]

Awesome job, my friend! They look great.

GeeDeeEmm

 

[insomniac]

Thanks for the kinds words, all. They did sound pretty good- supposedly they were trying to compete with JBL and the like, but they couldn't sell them for a profit considering how much construction cost. They were very well made. They couldn't quite edge out my Klipsch KG 3's, so they were sold almost as soon as they were finished. Turned quite a profit on them too lol. But, half the fun for me is in the restoration anyway, so it wasn't a wasted effort. The profit was put into an amplifier that I lacked the skills to fix myself, and I am still enjoying that one in the main system.

 

[gdmoore28]

That little CTS tweeter design must be the most copied and most employed tweeter of all of loudspeaker history. Back in the 1980s I used them in several builds and you could always count on them to deliver very decent high frequencies.

GeeDeeEmm

 

[djnagle]

Only in Michigan. In the ten years I've been a member here, all the American Monitors where from Michigan. Must have been an Ollie Fretter thing.

 

[insomniac]

Only in Michigan. In the ten years I've been a member here, all the American Monitors where from Michigan. Must have been an Ollie Fretter thing.

I wondered if you would see this. Seems like only a handful of us here on AK know about these.

 

[djnagle]

They were way over built for their price point. I have a pair of 10s, 8s, and 6s that I sent to college with my nephew.

 

[GD70]

So I did these quite a while ago, but I figured I would share with those interested how far a little tlc can go on some poor, neglected thrift shop speakers.

Picked these guys up for the princely sum of $3.99 apiece from the local Goodwill.

View attachment 935104

Yikes. These things had seen better days. But for such little money, I figured they could be a fun little project.
View attachment 935108
Cabs had been used as end tables, apparently.

View attachment 935110

One cabinet fully stripped. Don't mind the cat hair, Hans was shedding something fierce.

View attachment 935113
Cabs refinished and baffle boards repainted.

View attachment 935117
Tired old caps replaced with fresh Solens. Not real pretty workmanship, but functional.

View attachment 935119
Drivers reinstalled.

View attachment 935120
Grilles were looking pretty ratty, so I mocked up a new one to see how it would look.

View attachment 935122
Added a pull tab to make the grilles easier to remove.

View attachment 935124

Voila! I'm nowhere near as good as a lot of guys on this forum, but I think they turned out alright.

Damn nice work! I'd be proud to show those off!
Cheers!

 

[insomniac]

Damn nice work! I'd be proud to show those off!
Cheers!

Thank you! This is high praise coming from you lol. Maybe one day I'll be able to splice veneer.

 

[GD70]

Thank you! This is high praise coming from you lol. Maybe one day I'll be able to splice veneer.

It's not hard to do. Just go slow and have some good vintage veneer handy.