Classic Jbl find!

[jimhannon]

Yeah I was lucky . I stumbled upon a gentleman who has been collecting anything music related for over 50 years and wants to sell. He took me to his "warehouse " and I couldn't believe my eyes ! This place is absolutely full of equipment and Lp's. Dusty but dry... I've been picking in there twice now and bought 12 receivers and the Jbl's . The Jbl L26's were underneath albums and a turntable . The 36'second were in a corner just buried . I got everything for $525! Next trip I'm looking for turntables . He said there is an upstairs that is full also . He apparently has at least 20 Benjamin Miracord turntables up there but won't go up there till spring. He sold all the tube equipment a couple of years ago .
I will upload a better picture of the L36's. They were taped and spray painted .

Here you go...

 

[KingBubba]

I refoamed my L35s with the tone method and had no troubles. These speakers will stun you with how good they sound.

 

[jimhannon]

I refoamed my L35s with the tone method and had no troubles. These speakers will stun you with how good they sound.

What is the tone method?

 

[KingBubba]

Instead of cutting back the dustcap and shimming the voice coil to keep the coil from rubbing, you send a tone, often 30hz, to the speaker while the glue dries. As the glue dries, you are able to slowly and carefully adjust the position of the cone to keep any rubbing from happening to the voice coil. I use a slower drying glue like Aleene's Tacky Glue to make this method work. You cannot use contact cement and expect this method to work. Do some reading in AK about the various methods of refoaming. You might also consider getting another old pair of speakers to practice on before you move to the JBLs.

 

[turboyam]

Nice score I wonder if you guys in US know how good you have it when it comes to used audio gear. We pay much more for "deals" up here.

Yep i agree . Never seen JBL's on the curb either. Maybe White Van stuff sometimes

 

[jimhannon]

Congrats, great score!

Check out my L36 Decade restoration thread here.

I used Ace InstantDrying Lacquer - Flat Black from my local Ace Hardware store to repaint the front baffles on my L36 Decades. Great results and easy to work with. Here's a photo:

More details in the thread I linked above.

What is the best method of cleaning the drivers from all the dust accumulated over the years?

 

[janikphoto]

Sound so like a great place to dig! I love Miracord tables. That should be a good reason to look forward to springtime. I'd dig for albums, too. You may get find some real gems.

 

[jimhannon]

That's quite a haul .

Yes my 72 VW Bus was full! The tail end was dragging more than usual.

 

[mech986]

Usually recommend a 1-2" wide paint brush with soft bristles and a can of compressed air.

 

[MCM_Fan]

What is the best method of cleaning the drivers from all the dust accumulated over the years?

I certainly don't claim to be any sort of an expert here, but in my limited experience a gentle approach is best. For larger drivers, like woofers, I use either a swiffer type dust cloth or a VERY lightly moistened (not wet, not even damp) cotton cloth to wipe away the dust. For smaller drivers, a small brush, or q-tips and canned air. For some tweeters, you even need to go easy with the canned air. Never hold it too close to the tweeter. Start with it several inches away and slowly move it closer. Always hold the can upright, or you will get frost on the surface of the tweeter than will leave a residue that is hard to remove without physically damaging the tweeter.

It's tempting to rush through through cleaning, but I prefer to go slow and proceed with caution. It doesn't take much longer and damaging a driver can take the fun out of a DIY project, and add considerably to the cost.

 

[jimhannon]

The new foam repair kits are here from Simply Speakers... I'm hoping to start the process this weekend.
thanks to everybody for your advice.

 

[jimhannon]

OK, I removed the Tape that was on the L36 125a's. Why did they do that? The tape sure didn't come off easy! The woofers, due to the tape aren't that good looking now. I'm not sure if I can paint the edges black to make them look OK or not. Any suggestions would be welcome. Here are some pictures. I put a surround on
the better of the woofers, not glued.

 

[Johnny_Law]

You can paint the whole woofer with some flat or matte black spray paint to make it even again. I did that with my L26 125a's and it came out great.

 

[mech986]

You can paint the whole woofer with some flat or matte black spray paint to make it even again. I did that with my L26 125a's and it came out great.

Agree, although I'd choose a light gray instead. Too bad the original tape adhesive left so much residue. However, a tech at Orange County Speaker said not to use solvents to try to take stuff off as that can weaken the paper fiber cone at the edge bands, just where you need strength.

 

[jimhannon]

Agree, although I'd choose a light gray instead. Too bad the original tape adhesive left so much residue. However, a tech at Orange County Speaker said not to use solvents to try to take stuff off as that can weaken the paper fiber cone at the edge bands, just where you need strength.

I like the Gray suggestion but I think it might not be an even color with the existing black and lighter gray areas on the woofers.

 

[turboyam]

How about printer black ink? someone tried this?. It would add absolutely no weight to the cones.
Of course, this should be tried on a cheap speaker or the back of the cone first.

 

[mech986]

I like the Gray suggestion but I think it might not be an even color with the existing black and lighter gray areas on the woofers.

Well, the color choice is up to you depending on what you'd like to match - centercap, cone, glue line, etc. The main thing is you can either try to match the current color, or lighten to gray which was mostly normal OE paper, or change to black or other color. You could always mask off the center cap and then spray paint / mist the rest of the cone an even color, or paint the entire cone and dust cap, your choice.

Regarding the tape residue, it was likely masking tape or maybe painters tape (hopefully not duct tape). If so, you might be able to use a stiff nylon bristle brush to rough brush it mostly off if the adhesive is dry and powdery without taking much of the cone surface. Walmart and maybe others has a small inexpensive set of three brushes (the others are brass wire and steel wire brushes). Here you might be able to get most of the residue off, even up the color more, and even provide a rougher surface for the paint to adhere.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/3-Pcs-Blk-Nonslip-Handle-Polishing-Wire-Clean-Brush-Set/45594417
https://www.walmart.com/ip/ABN-3-Piece-Mini-Wire-Detail-Brass-Steel-Nylon-Brush-Set/101263842

Of course, the surrounds mount to the back edge of the cone so all prep should be done prior to the refoam. A light filing of the front frame edge (with a little edge fine file to remove burrs) will brighten up the frame. I've even seen it polished once but that's more work.

 

[westend]

Nice grab on these vintage JBl's. Your intentions are good, i.e. repairing the speakers to as new condition as possible. The tape residue seems to be your main hurdle. If you can place the woofer in a freezer for a short time and then remove it, immediately trying to mechanically remove the tape bits may prove worthy. If they were my woofers I would try removing any remaining residue with acetone. I've removed old glue on all sorts of speaker cones with acetone and there was always a good result.

I restored a pair of studio monitors that had a black face. I used Rustoleum Satin Black for the fronts. I put new surrounds on the woofers and attached them exactly like the originals. Be sure to use the tone method so that the original dust caps are not harmed. The restoration thread is here: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/jbl-4313-restoration.192204/ For the walnut cabs I would now recommend wet sanding them with a polymerized tung oil if scracthes are not too deep.