Thanks for the info about the Mohawk sticks. I'm going to give it a shot this weekend.
Bose 901 series 1 grille re-cover
- Thread starter hrtattckcity
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- bose 901
rupe33
New Member
It's been a while since this thread has been added to, but I'm here to say A VERY HEARTY THANK YOU to all of you who've contributed to it, especially @hrtattckcity for kicking it off in the first place. Your posts gave me the knowledge and courage to go ahead and repair Series IIs that our cats had pretty well torn up, and I've posted some photos of my efforts.
Some details, updates & suggestions:
-This fabric is from Duvaltex.com, called Studio 54 (2966) in the Stayin' Alive (7010) color. While it's not exactly original, it's fairly close, and has a bit of a shininess to it, which is great because they're in a dark basement. Click here for this specific fabric. They do offer free samples and even cards of their fabrics to help make your choice. Honestly, this was the part of the project that took me the longest amount of time - choosing the fabric and color!
-1 yard was enough to do both speakers.
-If you do not have access to laser cutting for your masonite and have to do it by hand... buy yourself a 4" circle saw, and you will be very glad you did! (Note: I reached out to a number of places that do this kind of laser cutting, and not a one ever got back to me. If anyone has suggestions as to how to go about this, I'd love to hear them)
-If you're using your original grills as templates to measure and cut the new pieces, LABEL your original ones thusly.
-BEFORE attaching fabric to masonite or MDF, whatever you're using, dry fit all your pieces to make sure your cuts fit the frame accurately. Too wide or short, you should be able to tell fairly quickly.
-If you like to get extra decorative, you may want to make yourself extra grills to swap out colors. Am not sure what I'll do with them yet, but I made a backup pair. Original thought was to do a pair in red & green for the holiday season, but spouse is rolling her eyes at that idea
-My Series II had cardboard under the grills on the short side panels that I had to staple down. Originally I attached the grills with velcro to the cardboard, but the fabric was so taut it was pulling the cardboard out. Just had to staple it down.
-Velcro works great for attaching; wish it had been around when they were originally made! Removing those staples is no fun.
-Some models seem to have a dark mesh fabric underlying the main acoustic fabric. Mine did not have that (maybe later series added it?), but it could be helpful if you're using bright duct tape - as you'll see in the photos. Tape I had already, it was not bought specifically for this project. Was worried this tape might potentially show through the fabric, so I made sure the taped sides were on the interior of the grill, and not facing outward and right under the fabric.
-Make sure your BOSE badges are stored somewhere safe for when you're ready to put them back on. I'll probably use a hot glue gun to do so, as they just seem to have a flat backing.
These look so good and we're so happy with how they came out that I'm now deliberating on repainting the stands!
Very many thanks to everyone in this thread. This has been a very satisfying endeavor, and I'm very thankful for those who went before me and shared their work.
-Rupe
Some details, updates & suggestions:
-This fabric is from Duvaltex.com, called Studio 54 (2966) in the Stayin' Alive (7010) color. While it's not exactly original, it's fairly close, and has a bit of a shininess to it, which is great because they're in a dark basement. Click here for this specific fabric. They do offer free samples and even cards of their fabrics to help make your choice. Honestly, this was the part of the project that took me the longest amount of time - choosing the fabric and color!
-1 yard was enough to do both speakers.
-If you do not have access to laser cutting for your masonite and have to do it by hand... buy yourself a 4" circle saw, and you will be very glad you did! (Note: I reached out to a number of places that do this kind of laser cutting, and not a one ever got back to me. If anyone has suggestions as to how to go about this, I'd love to hear them)
-If you're using your original grills as templates to measure and cut the new pieces, LABEL your original ones thusly.
-BEFORE attaching fabric to masonite or MDF, whatever you're using, dry fit all your pieces to make sure your cuts fit the frame accurately. Too wide or short, you should be able to tell fairly quickly.
-If you like to get extra decorative, you may want to make yourself extra grills to swap out colors. Am not sure what I'll do with them yet, but I made a backup pair. Original thought was to do a pair in red & green for the holiday season, but spouse is rolling her eyes at that idea
-My Series II had cardboard under the grills on the short side panels that I had to staple down. Originally I attached the grills with velcro to the cardboard, but the fabric was so taut it was pulling the cardboard out. Just had to staple it down.
-Velcro works great for attaching; wish it had been around when they were originally made! Removing those staples is no fun.
-Some models seem to have a dark mesh fabric underlying the main acoustic fabric. Mine did not have that (maybe later series added it?), but it could be helpful if you're using bright duct tape - as you'll see in the photos. Tape I had already, it was not bought specifically for this project. Was worried this tape might potentially show through the fabric, so I made sure the taped sides were on the interior of the grill, and not facing outward and right under the fabric.
-Make sure your BOSE badges are stored somewhere safe for when you're ready to put them back on. I'll probably use a hot glue gun to do so, as they just seem to have a flat backing.
These look so good and we're so happy with how they came out that I'm now deliberating on repainting the stands!
Very many thanks to everyone in this thread. This has been a very satisfying endeavor, and I'm very thankful for those who went before me and shared their work.
-Rupe
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orange260z
New Member
That's an amazing job, and thanks for the info on the grille cloth supplier!! I have two pairs of series IV to repair/restore, and Duvaltex seems to have other fabrics that may suit the later dark brown grilles and have even greater acoustic transparency (like the Intuition and Palette lines).It's been a while since this thread has been added to, but I'm here to say A VERY HEARTY THANK YOU to all of you who've contributed to it, especially @hrtattckcity for kicking it off in the first place. Your posts gave me the knowledge and courage to go ahead and repair Series IIs that our cats had pretty well torn up, and I've posted some photos of my efforts.
Some details, updates & suggestions:
-This fabric is from Duvaltex.com, called Studio 54 (2966) in the Stayin' Alive (7010) color. While it's not exactly original, it's fairly close, and has a bit of a shininess to it, which is great because they're in a dark basement. Click here for this specific fabric. They do offer free samples and even cards of their fabrics to help make your choice. Honestly, this was the part of the project that took me the longest amount of time - choosing the fabric and color!
-1 yard was enough to do both speakers.
-If you do not have access to laser cutting for your masonite and have to do it by hand... buy yourself a 4" circle saw, and you will be very glad you did! (Note: I reached out to a number of places that do this kind of laser cutting, and not a one ever got back to me. If anyone has suggestions as to how to go about this, I'd love to hear them)
-If you're using your original grills as templates to measure and cut the new pieces, LABEL your original ones thusly.
-BEFORE attaching fabric to masonite or MDF, whatever you're using, dry fit all your pieces to make sure your cuts fit the frame accurately. Too wide or short, you should be able to tell fairly quickly.
-If you like to get extra decorative, you may want to make yourself extra grills to swap out colors. Am not sure what I'll do with them yet, but I made a backup pair. Original thought was to do a pair in red & green for the holiday season, but spouse is rolling her eyes at that idea
-My Series II had cardboard under the grills on the short side panels that I had to staple down. Originally I attached the grills with velcro to the cardboard, but the fabric was so taut it was pulling the cardboard out. Just had to staple it down.
-Velcro works great for attaching; wish it had been around when they were originally made! Removing those staples is no fun.
-Some models seem to have a dark mesh fabric underlying the main acoustic fabric. Mine did not have that (maybe later series added it?), but it could be helpful if you're using bright duct tape - as you'll see in the photos. Tape I had already, it was not bought specifically for this project. Was worried this tape might potentially show through the fabric, so I made sure the taped sides were on the interior of the grill, and not facing outward and right under the fabric.
-Make sure your BOSE badges are stored somewhere safe for when you're ready to put them back on. I'll probably use a hot glue gun to do so, as they just seem to have a flat backing.
These look so good and we're so happy with how they came out that I'm now deliberating on repainting the stands!
Very many thanks to everyone in this thread. This has been a very satisfying endeavor, and I'm very thankful for those who went before me and shared their work.
-Rupe
And I echo the thanks to the OP and other contributors, this is a great thread!