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That JBL Walnut finish

Jayrosc

Jayrosc

Super Member
So I've had several pairs, 4312's, 4313b's, 4311's, etc. and I've always loved that nice finish they all have. Here's the thing. I just got a pair of 4311's. Cabinets are in good shape but they are really dark looking. I don't want to strip the finish off. I'm hoping there is some way to CLEAN these and bring them back to that light looking appearance that they once had. A search shows your basic stripping back to nothing approach, but these don't need that.
Any ideas?
 

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Very light sanding to take off 30-40 years of ???? might also help. I would opt for (natural) Watco Danish Oil finish with just a touch of red stain to get a little bit of color out of them.
 
The OP thinks the cabinets are darker than they should be and thinks cleaning them will somehow lighten the color. Ain't going to happen as that is the color they came in. The only way to lighten the color is to strip the finish, which will remove some, perhaps most of the color. If after stripping they aren't light enough Clorox bleach will remove even more color.

For God's sake, do not use those horrible Howard's products on anything you value.
 
F1nut said:
The OP thinks the cabinets are darker than they should be and thinks cleaning them will somehow lighten the color. Ain't going to happen as that is the color they came in. The only way to lighten the color is to strip the finish, which will remove some, perhaps most of the color. If after stripping they aren't light enough Clorox bleach will remove even more color.

For God's sake, do not use those horrible Howard's products on anything you value.
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Been using Howards for years on hundreds of pairs of speakers, whats wrong with it?
 
F1nut said:
The OP thinks the cabinets are darker than they should be and thinks cleaning them will somehow lighten the color. Ain't going to happen as that is the color they came in. The only way to lighten the color is to strip the finish, which will remove some, perhaps most of the color. If after stripping they aren't light enough Clorox bleach will remove even more color.

For God's sake, do not use those horrible Howard's products on anything you value.
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Yeah, I'm basing it on my memory of some other pairs of 4312's I had that came out of a radio station. They had never seen sunlight. Ever. Those were a shade or lighter then what these 4311's are. Found a pic of them so below is a comparison.
 

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Dazaa said:
Been using Howards for years on hundreds of pairs of speakers, whats wrong with it?
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Don't feed him - he vents his hatred of Howards products in the forums ... ;)
I've had good results with Howard's Orange oil myself - like the scent, like how it looks.
 
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Agreeing that's probably the color they were born with.

Also agree/disagree on Howard's as I've used Feed-n-Wax, Butcher Block Conditioner, and Restor-a-Finish for years with only great results on anything from speakers to Stickley furniture, including my JBL 4345s and my mother's old furniture.
 
I'm doing a test on the bottom of one. Using a spray called "Scott's Liquid Gold Wood Wash" and some super fine steel wool. Removing crud that looks almost black at first. After three cleanings the wood does appear to have more grain detail and is a slightly lighter shade. Looks like lots of work though to do the whole speaker!
 
I had a very dirty pair of JBLs once, cleaned them with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and water, following with a terrycloth towel quickly / as I worked to keep the moisture from getting too deep, ... seemed to work well (even removed sharpie on the wood). Too much moisture will eventually raise the grain and need fine-sanding to get that perfect flat-smooth feel.

After throroughly drying for a day (to be sure I wasn't trapping moisture) I oiled them, looked like new IMO.

I am NOT a woodworker so maybe this was a bad idea that worked out well? When you buy a pair of monitors cheap and there's sharpie on the veneer you don't worry too much about ruining them.
 
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hjames said:
Don't feed him - he vents his hatred of Howards products in the forums ... ;)
I've had good results with Howard's Orange oil myself - like the scent, like how it looks.
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What's your problem, how dare you say what is an outright lie about me. I am a highly respected professional, in business for over 40 years. Howard's products are a rip off, period.
 
F1nut said:
What's your problem, how dare you say what is an outright lie about me. I am a highly respected professional, in business for over 40 years. Howard's products are a rip off, period.
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Okay, so I toned my comment down slightly for you, but
its a fact that when anyone says Howards, you start a flame -
its predictable, like clockwork.
Seen it here a number of times, no need to repeat it now.
The typical poster is not at your professional level and just wants a simple fix -
Maybe just let it go, for once.
 
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No offense meant to anyone regarding opinions on Howards or others, but it really doesn't help me to get a bad review without a reason why, and perhaps a suggestion on a better solution (and why it is better).

There have been some lengthy threads on speaker refinishing in the speaker forum, I have learned a lot there.
 
Jayrosc said:
I'm doing a test on the bottom of one. Using a spray called "Scott's Liquid Gold Wood Wash" and some super fine steel wool. Removing crud that looks almost black at first. After three cleanings the wood does appear to have more grain detail and is a slightly lighter shade. Looks like lots of work though to do the whole speaker!
Click to expand...

I would advise against using steel wool, unless the drivers have been removed. The metal "dust" will be attracted to their magnets and may work its way into the coil gap.

Synthetic steel wool works kust about as well, without the risk.

I have used both mineral spirits and Formbys Furniture Cleaner to successfully remove darkening due to years of wax and dirt build up. But at some point the stain color is what it is.

Formby cleaner seems to dissolve a bit of the finish as well...which gets re-deposited into scratches, etc, helping to hide them. For small damage, very light sanding with 180/220 beforehand seems to work nicely.

Howards Restor-a-Finish will be notably shinier than the original oil finish. Watco oil will be much closer to original.
 
spark1 said:
Howards Restor-a-Finish will be notably shinier than the original oil finish. Watco oil will be much closer to original.
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Restor-A-Finish, I don't believe, is intended to be a final coat. I follow it with Feed-n-Wax. Watco is great when there isn't enough original finish left to restore. I used the natural version successfully on a pair of JBL L80Ts after a light sanding.

49240761741_76afbfeef9_c.jpg
 
Waxed or not, I find it to have quite a bit of sheen. Not a problem, if that's the goal. Just noticeably shinier than an oil finish.
 
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Besides sanding I have found using Purple Power degreaser to be an effecting way of de-ageing darkened cabinets or removing light stains. You must be careful when using it, it is very aggressive and WILL strip the finish completely off if left on or worked into the surface for too long.
I would recommend following JBL's Oiled Finishes maintenance instructions afterwards.
http://www.lansingheritage.org/images/jbl/reference/general/finish/page02.jpg
page02.jpg
 
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