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Refinishing JBL C 70's

Thundermud

Thundermud

Active Member
Does anyone have any advice on how to go about refinishing these speaker cabinets? I am in love with sound coming out of these and would like to be as in love with the wood finish. Currently the wood finish seems to have a semi lacquer dark walnut stain. Is it possible to strip the finish down to the wood and just have a nice oiled walnut finish? I am not sure the cabinets are solid walnut or veneer, very hard to tell. I usually can spot the thin edge of the veneer but can't on these. I really want to do a top notch job here and would appreciate any advice on how to proceed, thanks!

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I would not "refinish" them. I would perhaps find some stained oil to darken some of the worn spots, but that would be it. These speakers are rare and (IMHO), valuable. They actually look like they are in great condition from the photos. Nice score BTW.

My 2 cents.

Wayner
 
A Peek Inside

I opened up my C 70's. I inspected the cabinets from the inside and found that the top and sides are in fact solid walnut!! The bottom and back are particle board. So refinishing could be an option. I have also included pics of the crossovers and wanted to get feedback as how to proceed with the recapping of the crossovers. I have not seen crossovers as simplified as these before. Also, the LPads produce a little static/scratch sound when I move the tweeters and mids. Should I spray them with deoxit from the inside? So cool peaking inside. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
 

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I also thought my 846B Valencias were solid wood, based upon a similar inspection of the insides. Eventually I learned that back then, a lot of speaker makers used MDF that was finished on both sides with hardwood veneer.
 
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Most very early JBLs I know were made of plywood, usually 16-ply or better. Later they moved to particle board. I have both. Don't recall ever seeing any in solid wood. I expect that would have presented resonance issues.
 
Yeah, now that you say it, I bet it's plywood. Solid wood of that thickness tends to warp, at least from what I've seen.

Those suckers are really nice!
 
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