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Removing paint from JB Soverign II C61 speakers

Phobosx

Phobosx

Phringe
Hi. I have come into possession of a pair of JBL Sovereign II C61 speakers. From what I can tell they are the S7 version. They sound great and drivers in excellent condition, but the previous owner painted the wood white.

I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how to remove the paint and not damage the finish too much? I suspect I'd need to do some refinishing of the cabinet one the paint is gone but, i want to do as little damage as possible to the original finish.

Thanks
 
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i'm no expert in removing paint, but i don't see how you can remove a coat of paint while saving 60 year old original finish underneath.

maybe it is possible...i don't know. there are many great products out there that restore finish like magic, but i think you should just refinish the cabs. those are awesome speakers for sure.
 
Others that have done it will chime in, but if painted completely, I believe you will want to use a chemical process vs mechanical (sanding). There are several stripping products available that are used to remove various finishes from furniture. Once done, you can then refinish to whatever you like.
 
If the "painter" rattle canned 'em you can get that off with lacquer thinner and I've never seen lacquer thinner damage vinyl or veneer. It will dry veneer out, but you can clean and feed it to get it back where it needs to be. If by chance it's latex paint you may have to sand through it. Which with a random orbital sander and something like 600 grit shouldn't take too long and won't burn through the veneer as long as you're paying attention to what you're doing.
 
You might stop by your hardware store's paint department. I was in this situation last year and I found some products specifically designed for removing paint from fine wood furniture and antiques. I used one of them (I forget which, but it was a foamy spray can) on some JBLs with teak veneer and it worked extremely well. As far as I could tell it left the veneer completely intact.

Some good ideas here:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f57/any-one-know-good-paint-stripper-wont-damage-wood-752943/
 
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Zonker92 said:
You might stop by your hardware store's paint department. I was in this situation last year and I found some products specifically designed for removing paint from fine wood furniture and antiques. I used one of them (I forget which, but it was a foamy spray can) on some JBLs with teak veneer and it worked extremely well. As far as I could tell it left the veneer completely intact.

Some good ideas here:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f57/any-one-know-good-paint-stripper-wont-damage-wood-752943/
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I've used paint strippers on cabinets, doors, shelving, etc. In most cases it works well, but on a home like ours, 80 years old, that's a lot of paint to remove.

Always go with something weak enough not to damage the wood yet strong enough to remove the paint. Plus side to chemicals like Acetone and MEK (which are typically active ingredients in strippers) is they evaporate extremely fast, but really really should be used outdoors. Anything that contains water should be avoided as it will soak into the wood and possibly carry with it the dissolved paint, along with the possibility of raising the grain of the wood in areas.
 
Circa 1851 Paint Stripper. Best I've used. Not as toxic or as brutal on your hands as other strippers and emits comparatively little odour.
 
Just as Sealy says a good paint stripper should remove the white paint.
My experience with using Stripeze paint remover has shown paint coatings always come off in layers, the freshest coat first, probably to a point where any remnants can be carefully sanded away.
The pair of speakers in the pic were once painted completely black:sigh::yes:.
 
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+1 on the Strypeze, the evil nasty burning toxic stuff works well. It does not make for a fun afternoon, however.
 
Also, Do your self a favour and wear gloves.

RUBBER gloves, none of that nitrate or latex crap I've seen at hardware stores; Stripper will eat right through them in a heartbeat, I'd also recommend longer gloves too, cover your forearms, Stripper has a nice burn to it when it's on your skin.
 
Also, when using most paint strippers, make sure you're hands are completely free of it before using the bathroom...
 
Personally, I would start with a less obnoxious solvent like mineral spirits or lighter fluid and work my way up through acetone then lacquer thinner before resorting to methylene chloride or MEK.
 
Zip Strip works great. You may have to repeat the process to get most or all of the paint. Do not sand until you have removed as much as you can chemically and it has had a few days to dry afterward. Then sand. Otherwise you'll just embed paint into the grain.
 
Levitious said:
RUBBER gloves, none of that nitrate or latex crap I've seen at hardware stores; Stripper will eat right through them in a heartbeat, I'd also recommend longer gloves too, cover your forearms, Stripper has a nice burn to it when it's on your skin.
Click to expand...
Assuming you mean nitrile rubber, I think chemistry labs disagree. You can buy long, thick ones. If you're really going to be soaked in whatever stuff is being used, it's good to look for a list of what holds up against it the best, but nitrile is good general purpose.
 
Thanks to everyone for all the input. I did come across a paint remover made for wood, can't remember the name but got it from Home Depot. It changes color when it's ready. Works great. I tried a heat gun too.

The heat gun worked well on some areas where the paint did not seem to adhere to week. Peeled off in large chunks. I saw the original finish underneath. Sort of a darker finish with scattered small dark dots. Not something I really liked. Too much heat and the original finish also came off very easily.

The paint remover does however, not only remove the paint but removes the stain or whatever the finish was. Which is fine since it was not to my liking. Maybe it was put on by the previous owner before they painted it. Not really sure but once the paint and the other darker brown finish came off, the oak finish below is beautiful!

I did some research and found the brochure and found this speaker came in country oak and golden oak. Maybe the country oak was the finish under the paint and the golden oak is the base. In any case, the oak finish underneath everything is in excellent shape... at least from what I have stripped so far.

I guess once I get it all stripped, I'll give it a light sanding (320 grit) and then use some watco oil on it and see how that looks. I refinished a set of 4312's with that watco stuff and man, it was beautiful.

Hope i can get them to look good again because they sound great. I have them on a low end radio shack 15 watt receiver from the mid 90's.. probably the junkiest thing one could find, and the sound is even good from that.
 
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