Alternate Grill Cloth Colors (i.e. not Black or Brown) - Show us what You've Got!
- Thread starter MCM_Fan
- Start date
-
- Tags
- grill cloth
James Hart
Webguy :: Bassist
My Ohm I are fabricless currently. I was thinking something like Fender striped Oxblood might be nice.
MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
A lot of the vintage looking grill cloth from places like Acoustone and Mojotone appear to be made for guitar and bass amplifiers. They look very heavy and dense. Probably not a problem with the frequencies reproduced by a bass or electric guitar, but I'd be concerned about fabrics for that application blocking some of the higher frequencies (say above 8 KHz) reproduced by a full range speaker system. I mean why go to the trouble of recapping my crossovers only to throw a blanket over the tweeters?
Anyone with any first hand experience care to comment? Have you done an A/B comparison with the grills installed and removed?
That's one thing I like about the SpeakerWorks fabric I used for my L36 Decades. It's very thin with an open weave that they claim is "almost 100% acoustically transparent".
I do know that with the vintage cloth on my Rectilinear Highboys, and even the original lightweight linen cloth on a pair of Dynaco A25s, I can see the fabric moving in and out in front of the woofer, in sync with the bass notes. So obviously, there is some blockage from these older fabrics. I don't see any of that with the SpeakerWorks cloth on my L36 Decades.
Anyone with any first hand experience care to comment? Have you done an A/B comparison with the grills installed and removed?
That's one thing I like about the SpeakerWorks fabric I used for my L36 Decades. It's very thin with an open weave that they claim is "almost 100% acoustically transparent".
I do know that with the vintage cloth on my Rectilinear Highboys, and even the original lightweight linen cloth on a pair of Dynaco A25s, I can see the fabric moving in and out in front of the woofer, in sync with the bass notes. So obviously, there is some blockage from these older fabrics. I don't see any of that with the SpeakerWorks cloth on my L36 Decades.
MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
Obviously not an alternate color, but the Heresy "Capitol" models look awesome in blonde but they're $300 extra each
Love the cherry veneer. too. These days, it seems the only way to get decent real wood veneer is to pay a hefty premium for special edition speakers. I continue to be impressed with the quality of the veneers that came as standard equipment on JBL speakers back in the 1970s and into the early 1980s. I couldn't believe how thick and hard the oak veneer was on the L36 Decades I restored. I originally started hand sanding, but after breaking a heavy sweat without hardly scratching the surface, I quickly switched over to the random orbital palm sander with no fear of sanding through that veneer. And, the L36 Decades were considered a low cost, entry level model when they were introduced in 1974.
MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
I should have been more specific in my thread title, but I did mention in my original post: "One pair originally had dark brown grill cloth, the other was originally black. I find both of these options rather unappealing (too dark and plain for me)."
hertzdonut
Press Play and Stand Back
Big fan of blue. My original "replacing the grill cover" thread is post #651 in this thread http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/show-your-jbls-off.62668/page-33#post-9203361 (you might have to scroll down the page a bit)
I redid my JBL L50's in blue. For those who don't wish to click, here's the image I took when done.
- Jeff
I redid my JBL L50's in blue. For those who don't wish to click, here's the image I took when done.
- Jeff
James Hart
Webguy :: Bassist
As a life long rock musician rounding the corner to 50... I've got a built in lowpass filter cutting off a bit north of there already!
I've wondered the same myself but figure I can adjust my Ohm I to compensate
ragtopolds6
Active Member
Zonker92
All shiny and chrome
Redoing my L50s is so tempting (except, I'd do it in orange). But my OEM brown grills are in perfect condition, so it's hard to rationalize.
neevo
Super Member
Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary Edition:
Oh that’s the combo for sure. I have some 80’s AR’s that I’ll be building cabinets for with walnut veneer and grey grill cloth is absolutely the option now!
Your JBL’s are the most tasteful and gorgeous Reno I’ve seen, so I have no doubts you’ll knock this one out of the park too.
MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
I've seen those in another thread and they are the main reason I am considering using bright blue grill cloth for my 4301Bs, instead of the dark blue traditionally used on the JBL Control Monitors.
My Small Advents could use some new cloth, they are not bad but a bit dirty. I want to get as original as possible. My Imperial 6's cloth is almost perfect (thank god they did not have the foam).
I have never liked loud colors on speakers as I prefer warm muted tones. Delta Breeze Records in downtown Sac has a pair of JBL L100s with the bright blue foam and think it is hideous. Cloth may look better but the foam is gross.
I like to see some texture like the Imperials have, without being too bold. The problem with radical colors is that often times one gets really tired of them. I guess it depends on the statement one wished to make. I wish the Advents had real veneer since they are one of the best sounding small speakers I have ever heard but far from the best looking speakers.
I have never liked loud colors on speakers as I prefer warm muted tones. Delta Breeze Records in downtown Sac has a pair of JBL L100s with the bright blue foam and think it is hideous. Cloth may look better but the foam is gross.
I like to see some texture like the Imperials have, without being too bold. The problem with radical colors is that often times one gets really tired of them. I guess it depends on the statement one wished to make. I wish the Advents had real veneer since they are one of the best sounding small speakers I have ever heard but far from the best looking speakers.
Last edited:
MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
Thanks. To let the cat out of the bag, two pairs of the speakers I'm currently restoring are JBLs - the 4301Bs shown earlier in this thread and a pair of L19As (fraternal twins of the 4301Bs).
The grills for the 4301Bs need redone. They are original, but have a few small snags/holes.
And then there are those hideous looking cheap plastic banners across the front of the grill:
I'm convinced those cheap plastic banner ads are the reason you hardly ever see photos of 4301Bs with their grills on. They just make these wonderful speakers look cheap and tacky. I greatly prefer the simple elegance of the original JBL badges on my L36 Decades:
I also like the angled fronts and sharp centerline of the L36 Decade grills. Which is why I'm thinking of making some miniature L36 style grill frames for my 4301Bs.
Other than a couple decades of dust, the L19A grills are in great shape, with no snags or holes. Assuming they clean up well, the only problem is they may be the most boring grills ever. Standard issue flat rectangles with dark brown grill cloth. So very un-JBL like. I mean, the entry level L36 Decades had simple, but distinctive grills. And just look at hertzdonut's L50 grills, or a pair of L112 grills or these royal blue L150A grills from Huntley Audio:
Man, JBL made some great, distinctive looking grills back in the 1970s. I'd LOVE to have the talent and tools to make a pair of miniature L150A style grills for my L19As!
Last edited:
MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
My Small Advents could use some new cloth, they are not bad but a bit dirty. I want to get as original as possible. My Imperial 6's cloth is almost perfect (thank god they did not have the foam).
I have never liked loud colors on speakers as I prefer warm muted tones. Delta Breeze Records in downtown Sac has a pair of JBL L100s with the bright blue foam and think it is hideous. Cloth may look better but the foam is gross.
I like to see some texture like the Imperials have, without being too bold. The problem with radical colors is that often times one gets really tired of them. I guess it depends on the statement one wished to make. The wish the Advents had real veneer since they are one of the best sounding small speakers I have ever heard but far from the best looking speakers.
I'm totally with you on the foam grills. I know they are very distinctive and nostalgic, but not my thing - in any color.
Although I've seen some royal blue grills I like (hertzdonut's L50 grills and the Huntley Audio L150A grills hown above), I think it really requires a special kind of grill, something with a unique shape, to make the royal blue color work.
I'm leaning toward something in the medium to dark gray range, like those beautiful anniversary edition Wharfedale Dentons, or maybe a dark burgundy. Then, the traditionalist pulls me in the direction of navy blue for the 4301Bs...
So many choices. Time to start requesting some sample swatches...
MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
See my above comment about concerns over dense amplifier cloth blocking high frequencies:
"The fundamental frequencies in the playable range of the typical, in-tune electric guitar covers the range from about 80 Hz to about 1200 Hz".
Even if you account for harmonics and distortion, an electric guitar isn't going to produce frequencies above 6KHz.
In addition to not having to pass high frequencies, guitar amps also need to be rugged. They get tossed around a lot. That level of ruggedness (thankfully) isn't a requirement for my home speakers.
Sure, they look great, but if they impact high frequency performance, I'll pass on vintage guitar grill cloth for my full range speakers. I spend time and money recapping my speaker crossovers to open up the highs. It makes no sense to me to then block those high frequencies with a heavy, dense fabric.
MCM_Fan
AK Subscriber
I have a pair of L112s with the beige covers, (the last shown in photograph). All others are black.
That's a similar shade to the SpeakerWorks beige cloth I used on my L36 Decades. I think I still have some left over from that job. I may try mocking up a grill for my L19As to see how it looks. I just moved and am still unpacking. So, it may be a while...
I don't think such a thin, light colored cloth would work well on the 4301Bs with their blue front baffles. In my experience, the more transparent the grill cloth, the blacker you want everything behind it to be. Anything else is going to show through the cloth and give it an unpleasant color cast. If I want to see the beautiful blue baffles on my 4301Bs, I'll just run them with the grills off so I can see them in all their glory.