Fancied up my SX-450

[Johnny_Law]

For a little receiver, I really like this SX-450, enough that I wanted to make it pretty.

When I first got it, as anyone with one of these knows, the factory vinyl (and power switch, but fixed that) was in rough condition. Hard to see the peeling vinyl here, but this is how it looked:



So stage 1 was to peel it off and lay down some black PlastiDip I had lying around, for a nice silver-black contrast kind of a look:



But then I decided that looked too bush league - and I learned that plastidip doesn't clean easily and likes to rub off on whatever touches it. And the dents in the wood ends were still there. Time to try again.

So, off to Lowe's for a piece of walnut, off to Napa for some new screws, and after an afternoon of drilling, sanding, buffing, and waxing, here's what happened:





I'm pretty happy with it now! Haven't oiled or stained the end pieces yet, still deciding on it, but I really like how they look raw.

Thanks for reading,
Ryan

 

[Tommy_B]

Nice job! I prefer the silver face/wood panel look, but your black panels looked really good with that receiver. Curious to see what it looks like after you stain the panels.

 

[peerson]

That little 450 is lucky to have you. Most would not care a lot about a 450. Great job on the wood. Nothing looks better than a pioneer all dressed up in walnut!

 

[Johnny_Law]

Thank you both! I'd like to use a light stain if anything - something to keep the wood light, but accent all of its detail.

 

[woofmytweets]

i like a nice teak oil - sand real smooth, rub on, wipe off - impossible to mess up, easy to touch up.....lifts the grain a bit, so you'll have to sand it a bit after oiling, but looks great

 

[Johnny_Law]

Well, I was thinking of using WOCA Worktop Oil in White in order to accomplish the light finish that I saw on some L300 Summits and re-created masterfully on some L36s. I've never used it before but this seems like a good opportunity to do so. (Edit: looked up price, yeesh, dunno if I can justify another $50 spent on this project!)

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....de-restoration-i-need-your-help.710060/page-2

 

[SimplerTimes]

Nice Job! Good to see others appreciate the lower end pioneer sx's also. I too did what you did with my sx-550. It was pretty rough when I got it and had blown output transistors to boot. I made it my first project am I an New to this hobby. Attached are before and after photos:View media item 11255View media item 11254 As you can see, same issue as yours with peeling vinyl. View media item 11253View media item 11247 Here it is after adding oak sides from scrap I had in my garage. I was going to strip and paint the top panel flat black, but it cleaned up really nice so I decided to keep it original.