The 1.2tl's have arrived!!

Gerres26

So today was the day for me to finally snag a pair of 1.2tls that I've been dreaming about for a long while now. I just got back a little bit ago from an 8 hour round trip from MD to CT to pick these beasts up.

It was a forum member from another site that contacted me about buying these and i jumped at the chance. He is from MA but was nice enough to drive 2 hours into CT to save me 4 hours total of my trip which i greatly appreciated. As i was driving through NYC though i received a call from him saying that he left his house 15 minutes ago and just blew a shock on his truck so i would have to drive to his place to pick them up.(Not the end of the world but i wasn't necessarily prepared for the extra 4 hours worth of travel today). Luckily he called me back shortly aftet that, saying he was able to swipe his wifes suv so he could still meet in CT. Unfortunately since he switched vehicles he forgot the interconnect cable in his truck so i have to wait for him to mail me that this week. The meetup went smooth and i loaded them up and headed back to MD.

They are functionally in nice shape but cosmetically they need some help. I will replace the grill fabric and clean up the tops some for sure since one of them has water stains. Since im awaiting the cable and a functioning preamp i will have a few days to fix these up a little cosmetically.

So are these oiled or lacquered oak and what is the best/easiest way to make these decent for now regarding the water stains? Eventually i will probably reveneer with walnut so it doesn't have to be perfect for now.
Also, any tips on replacing the fabric? Do i need to glue and staple and if so what kind of glue so i use? I've read alot on here about parts express fabric and joann fabric being good to go so hopefully either will work....sorry for the long post, just a little excited lol

honestaquarian

This stuff took out some water stains on the vaps of my SDA-1C's. That or refinish them.

Gerres26

Would a little lacquer thinner with steel wool followed by some watco danish oil be a viable option here?

michaeljhsda2

Congrats! You can make a temporary ic, just run speaker wire, pin to pin. The blade portion does need not be connected. Others have trimmed the petals off of an rca jack and used that.

Gerres26

michaeljhsda2 wrote: »

Congrats! You can make a temporary ic, just run speaker wire, pin to pin. The blade portion does need not be connected. Others have trimmed the petals off of an rca jack and used that.

I was going to do that until i realized my "back up" preamp that was supposed to hold me over until i find a new pre, is out of commission . Oh well though, it'll give me some time to get the cabs cleaned up a little instead of wanting to jump right into listening.

adb3da

So jealous! Have fun with this!

EndersShadow

@F1nut on the refinishing question...

motorstereo

Congrats to you on landing a great pair of speakers and not settling for anything less than what you wanted. Once you get them dialed in I'm betting you're going to be very pleased. Soooo........ what is your first mod is going to be?

leftwinger57

Great pick up. I had very deep water stains on my 2Bs with light white oak tops. With F-1s help I used oxalic acid which is a wood bleach. The instructions for the package was for a deck so I had to adjust the mixture to a tooth paste like consistency. After removing all with a mask and gloves (a must) I did some light sanding w/ the grain and then tack clothed them clean. Because I think light oak belongs on floors and not speaker furniture I stained mine a deep cherry finish w/ Minwax clear poly using 5 coats.


.

[Deleted User]

Do not use Lacquer thinner.

Gerres26

leftwinger57 wrote: »

Great pick up. I had very deep water stains on my 2Bs with light white oak tops. With F-1s help I used oxalic acid which is a wood bleach. The instructions for the package was for a deck so I had to adjust the mixture to a tooth paste like consistency. After removing all with a mask and gloves (a must) I did some light sanding w/ the grain and then tack clothed them clean. Because I think light oak belongs on floors and not speaker furniture I stained mine a deep cherry finish w/ Minwax clear poly using 5 coats.


.

ok, ive never used oxalic acid before so that could get interesting lol. But i do prefer an oiled finish as opposed to poly. It's just what ive used before on other vintage speakers amd i like the way it really btings out tge grain....I'll wait for others to chime in to see if the oxalic acid is the way to go.

Gerres26

TForan wrote: »

Do not use Lacquer thinner.

What do you recommend?

[Deleted User]

I would follow leftwinger57s advice.

leftwinger57

Gerres,The acid used to bleach out the water stain so you have a blank canvas so to speak. After that you can use what ever stain or leave the bleached ends and use some tung-oil then maybe some wax so it does not dry out. I just do not care for light oak so I went with a medium cherry stain and clear poly finisher. It's very important after the bleaching if you go that route you do have to use some sort of finish or the wood even at 3/4th" can warp and or crack while drying out. I chose the stain and loved the look as F-1 advised I had to finish it with some sort of clear, either satin or poly. I was amazed how the bleached wood soaked up the clear even after multiple coats. I'll tell you one thing, the prep work is most important and your end result will be very rewarding w/ whatever medium you choose..
Stern warning here!!!. It is acid your working with. When it dries it becomes these flaky crystals
and w/ sanding creates toxic dust. Again you must use mask, gloves,tack cloth, vacuum the dried crystals up and when using stains and the poly the ventilate well rule also applies. Good luck w/ what ever finish you choose and show before and afters when done. I had a bit of a laugh to myself saying those things are so high nobody will see the tops anyway....Lew

gmcman

Nice...congrats!

Just curious and pardon my ignorance as I'm not well versed in all the vintage speakers. ...but why are the tweeter domes shiny?

F1nut

Oxalic acid is a very mild acid, it's not like sulfuric acid. The only real issue is that breathing the dried crystals will result in a crazy sneezing fit. I recommend wiping up with a wet cloth as much of the dried crystals as possible. If you use a vacuum wear a good respirator.

Remove the end caps to do this work and cover the entire surface for a uniform result. Do the bottom end caps as well.

Oiled finishes are easy, hence the reason so many amateurs use them. If you really want the grain to pop use dyes and lacquer. I know you're not equipped to do that, but wanted to mention it. In your case a wiping poly is a much better choice verses an oil. An oiled finish offers next to nothing in protection as evidenced by the current condition of your speakers.

F1nut

gmcman wrote: »

Nice...congrats!

Just curious and pardon my ignorance as I'm not well versed in all the vintage speakers. ...but why are the tweeter domes shiny?

Those are SL3000's, they came that way.

Gerres26

Well, now that im going to remove the end caps anyway i may just end up reveneering these guys. A sheet of 4x8(should be plenty?) paper backed will between 50 and 80 bucks for cherry, maple, or walnut depending which i go with. Which is pretty cheap and ive done a little veneer work in the past with pretty good results. What do you guys think between those 3 wood types? And where do you recommend buying from?
Thanks again

Faustin

For the last couple of projects I have done, I bought material from veneersupplies.com. Great selection and fair with their pricing. And I would agree with F1 in regards to using a hand rubbed poly instead of an oil finish. Easy to use and great results.

Gerres26

If i go hand rubbed poly on new veneer, is there any stain or oil i would use before the poly? Normally i would use watco danish oil to bring iut the color followed by wax to protect it so what would be comparable as far as bringing out the wood color/grain?

Gerres26

Alrighty...ive been a little busy so im taking my time fixing the cosmetics on these speakers. I just finished all of the grill cloth yesterday and removed the top and bottom wood caps so i can reveneer them.

Since i had to remove some drivers to do that im going to remove the rest of them and glue the magnets for a little preventative maintenance. In the past i have used jb weld but I've been reading a lot about the power grab on here recently. I have a couple tubes laying around but i want to make sure its the correct stuff.

Here's a pic...is this the right power grab to use?

F1nut

That's the stuff.

Gerres26

F1nut wrote: »

That's the stuff.

Awesome, going to try to get that done tomorrow after work.

honestaquarian

Did you ever get the crossfeed cable?

F1nut

Crossfeed cable? That's a new one. It's commonly referred to as the SDA cable or interconnect.

Gerres26

Yes i received the interconnect last week so I'm good to go there.

[Deleted User]

man, those are going to be great. Good luck w/ your project!

Gerres26

Im going to start veneering these bad boys anyday now. I plan on using contact cement as thats what I've used in the past so im waiting on a day thatll be warm enough in the garage(product says it needs to be at least 65 degrees out and im not a fan of stinking up the house with this stuff lol). Im not sure how you would use this product much in the colder months since its pretty flammable for inside work but can't be used at colder temps.

Do you guys all use contact cement or do you recommend a different glue for paperback veneer?

Gerres26

Alright fellas, i just finished putting the speakers back together and was in the process of cleaning the front baffles and drivers when i noticed one of my driver surrounds has a small tear in it . Total bummer as i was looking forward to finally hooking these things up tonight.
Is there anyway to repair a small tear or do i need to replace the driver?(MW6503)

Well, anyways here are some pics of the finished product. I replaced all of the grill fabric, applied power grab to the driver magnets, and veneered the wood with Sapele. I followed @F1nut 's advice and used Minwax wipe on poly for the finish. I'm used to using danish oil for speaker cabs but this really turned out nice
if i may say so myself.

The pictures dont show the exact color or how well the grain pops but they are great in person... atleast to me lol. I tried with the flash on and off, but im no camera man.

BlueBirdMusic

They look BRAND NEW!! Great work.

westmassguy

Very Nice job on the veneer!