JBL L20t3 veneer

Rmac587

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Hi Ya'll,
I looked on Lansing Heritage to see what veneers came on the L20, other than the oak or birch, no luck. Is this teak? The wood was pretty dull when I got them, and I’ve been applying fresh oil. Man, they’re gorgeous....
 

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I believe it's an engineered, wood-based product called Braewood; see more here: http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....er-on-jbl-l100t-speakers.732403/#post-9906853 I'm not sure what type of wood yours are considered to be, with those nice stripes, but I like it.

Having redone some L20Ts (nominally walnut maybe?), I find it's best to use an on-the-wood, rather than in-the-wood finish, oil doesn't really soak into them; I kind of basted them in tung oil and they turned out nicely.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/uh-oh-more-jbls-l20ts.497090/

index.php
 
I have a pair that I believe have never been touched as far as the veneer goes.Now that it is mentioned it is a sort of weird finish.Like plastic wood or something like that.
 
Among the Lansing cognoscenti (Zilch, etc), the term for the wood on the T3 series speakers was "Spaghetti wood".
Its not at ALL like the Oak or Walnut of the earlier T series speakers (L20T, L100T, etc) - I had some L20T3s ... much different.
Drivers are basically the same, T3 cabinets and crossover were different/improved.
 
Thanks for the replies ya'll! Heather, I find the term "sphagetti wood" to be quite fetching! It really is beautiful. Good advice on the tung oil. I believe that’s what I used.
 
Among the Lansing cognoscenti (Zilch, etc), the term for the wood on the T3 series speakers was "Spaghetti wood".
Its not at ALL like the Oak or Walnut of the earlier T series speakers (L20T, L100T, etc) - I had some L20T3s ... much different.
Drivers are basically the same, T3 cabinets and crossover were different/improved.
They really are great little speakers. Had them hooked to my Bob Latino ST-70, and wow! Didn’t think they’d do well, but was pleasantly surprised.
 
Hi Ya'll,
I looked on Lansing Heritage to see what veneers came on the L20, other than the oak or birch, no luck. Is this teak? The wood was pretty dull when I got them, and I’ve been applying fresh oil. Man, they’re gorgeous....
They look great! Yours are L20T3 because they are rear-ported where the original L20T was front-ported. Different wood, same drivers, slight change in crossovers.

Here's an old photo from Heather comparing the two:
attachment.php
 
They look great! Yours are L20T3 because they are rear-ported where the original L20T was front-ported. Different wood, same drivers, slight change in crossovers.
Oh Wow! I had no idea of the difference! Thanks!
 
Hi Ya'll,
I looked on Lansing Heritage to see what veneers came on the L20, other than the oak or birch, no luck. Is this teak? The wood was pretty dull when I got them, and I’ve been applying fresh oil. Man, they’re gorgeous....
I agree with what has been said here so far.
You definetely have a fine example of L20T3 in WALNUT circa 1989-1991. I own L20t3, L40T3, L80T3, and 2 pairs L100T3. My L100T3's both are walnut, the rest are oak. The Oak being the most rare being that they were only produced in 1989 in Oak veneer.
It is possible to sand these Braewood veneers with 400 grit paper by hand using a block. The veneer is so thin that any more coarse paper will burn through in a few stokes. Do not try to sand the edges. Only sand if absolutely necessary to remove surface scratches, it will make them feel like glass because there is no real wood grain, and all of the "grain" feel will disappear although appear to remain. The typical "suntan" or "bikini lines" the T3's suffer from is due to 2 factors. 1 is the veneer is not thick enough to hold a sufficient quantity of stain. It is a pigment and not a dye, so the stain sits on the top of the wood product, not inside the cells. The second most important reason is the stain used did not contain UV blocker, so the only T3's without the grill lines showing have been kept in a cave for all these years or never had the grills on. Far from JBL's best cabinet work here. When your oil finish soon becomes dull again, consider using wax to keep the shine and glow longer. I recommend a product called Briwax in walnut color in the OP's case, the cabinets appear to be in such good condition that any light scratches will be filled by the wax, and the color will fill out any existing finish irregularities due to aging. An alternative product that is easier to work with product is Howard's Feed N' Wax which will not correct color or provide as much protection as Briwax. To remove wax use mineral spirits and lots of rags.
 
They look great! Yours are L20T3 because they are rear-ported where the original L20T was front-ported. Different wood, same drivers, slight change in crossovers.
Oh Wow! I had no idea of the difference! Thanks!
I agree with what has been said here so far.
You definetely have a fine example of L20T3 in WALNUT circa 1989-1991. I own L20t3, L40T3, L80T3, and 2 pairs L100T3. My L100T3's both are walnut, the rest are oak. The Oak being the most rare being that they were only produced in 1989 in Oak veneer.
It is possible to sand these Braewood veneers with 400 grit paper by hand using a block. The veneer is so thin that any more coarse paper will burn through in a few stokes. Do not try to sand the edges. Only sand if absolutely necessary to remove surface scratches, it will make them feel like glass because there is no real wood grain, and all of the "grain" feel will disappear although appear to remain. The typical "suntan" or "bikini lines" the T3's suffer from is due to 2 factors. 1 is the veneer is not thick enough to hold a sufficient quantity of stain. It is a pigment and not a dye, so the stain sits on the top of the wood product, not inside the cells. The second most important reason is the stain used did not contain UV blocker, so the only T3's without the grill lines showing have been kept in a cave for all these years or never had the grills on. Far from JBL's best cabinet work here. When your oil finish soon becomes dull again, consider using wax to keep the shine and glow longer. I recommend a product called Briwax in walnut color in the OP's case, the cabinets appear to be in such good condition that any light scratches will be filled by the wax, and the color will fill out any existing finish irregularities due to aging. An alternative product that is easier to work with product is Howard's Feed N' Wax which will not correct color or provide as much protection as Briwax. To remove wax use mineral spirits and lots of rags.
Thanks so much 314! The cabinets are in excellent shape, although I am worried now that using oil was a mistake. Should I wipe it down and apply Briwax? Can I do it over the oil I applied?
 
You are fine with the oil, it was what was original anyway. If you choose you can wax over top of an oil finish no problem. 2 days dry time for BLO, 7 days dry time for Watco oil or other non-boiled linseed oils. Then wax. Briwax sets up in 5 minutes, and is very hard wax. Just keep rubbing in small sections.
 
Nice - never heard the L200T3s or the 4425s - always wanted to!
 
Wow. Just wow. What a set-up. The receiver is a monster.

Oops, meant to reply to Snow's photo....
Thanks. The big receiver is a Sansui G-9000 the little Pioneer to the left is a SX-5560 the other speakers are Altec Valencias without the grills.


Regards Snow
 
Valencias! I have heard good things about them- how long have you had them?
And to keep it on topic - I had 6 of the L20T3s at one point - collecting for a 5 ch surround system for a friend ...

Only kept 1 for myself - if I ever needed an 035tia "spare" for my L20T "computer Monitors" in my office upstairs ...
(on top of the MCM shelves behind my back - and yes, there are big eyelet hooks on the side of each,
from when they hung from the ceiling of our TV room, 10 or so years back.

6JBL-L20T3s_4445.jpg
L20T-Office_5841-sm.jpg
 
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Valencias! I have heard good things about them- how long have you had them?
And to keep it on topic - I had 6 of the L20T3s at one point - collecting for a surround system for a friend ...

Only kept 1 for myself - if I ever needed an 035tia "spare" for my L20T "computer Monitors" in my office upstairs ... (on top of the MCM shelves behind my back - and yes, there are big eyelet hooks on the side of each, from when they hung from the ceiling of our TV room, 10 or so years back.

View attachment 1092238
View attachment 1092240
Wow 6 of them. I got the Valencias 6-7 years ago I think, it was sorta by accident. I had a fellow email that he had some large speakers for sale but it went to my spam folder so it was a couple of weeks before I seen it so figured they were long gone but when I replied back he said they were at a garage sale and had not been sold so he gave me the number to the lady that had them I called her she replied that yes they were in her driveway with a tarp on them and if I wanted them leave $50.00 on the windshield of her SUV she was going to be gone for the day so I drove over there and looked under the tarp and seen they were Altecs and loaded them up and left her the money.

I like them better then I do the 200T3's actually.


Regards Snow
 
Thanks guys, I wondered what to use on the " Spaghetti" wood. Snow and I are only one a few people here that have the L200t3's.
 
Thanks guys, I wondered what to use on the " Spaghetti" wood. Snow and I are only one a few people here that have the L200t3's.
Perhaps either you our Snow could be so kind to add a post here to provide your opinions on the L200t3 being part of the t3 "family". Because they are so hard to find,only having had 1 chance myself, I never heard them. Do they belong in the "family" by name only? Having no mid and no 035tia
 
Perhaps either you our Snow could be so kind to add a post here to provide your opinions on the L200t3 being part of the t3 "family". Because they are so hard to find,only having had 1 chance myself, I never heard them. Do they belong in the "family" by name only? Having no mid and no 035tia
Well they suck sound wise if you ask me similar to a Bose 901 in the respect that the woofer is trying to cover part of the mid range and the HF horn does not play very high also trying to do part of the mid range job. I think the woofer in these were only used in these speakers so replacements are next to impossible to find. The 100T3 and 80T3 were both much better speakers sound wise so yes I think your assessment is spot on.

They sold for quite a bit more then the 100T3 so that coupled with the no highs or lows sales were very slow so very few were ever produced in fact they are likely the most rare of any JBL speaker so for a collector they are a must have for a listener they are one to avoid.


Regards Snow
 
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