L-96 Restoration

[DMMD]

This is my first JBL cabinet restoration project... and I want to first off thank:

1) Steve Gonzales
2) Wardsweb

Without their e-input, I would have made far more mistakes than I did.

So- this pair of L-96's had been in storage for over 5 years. Neglected, water-damaged, kicked, beat, looked like dogsh*t. Nice name carved in the side, lacking corners, a bit piece chipped out of the top... you get the picture. I though, hmm... I guess the drivers are nice.

I'll spare you the GORY parts... here are the three sides of the BEST looking one. That round water mark has lifted/bubbled- the surface is WAVY...from the MDF swelling underneath. YIKES! I also later discover...there's a patch just under the surface... not the veneer glue, but a putty patch where there was a thin spot...

[DMMD]

Now here is the Hot Iron in action and some fill work in progress, pre-disguise.

Last pic... grain lift pretty successful after 4 passes.

[Audiobeer]

Take your time and follow the advice of those two. Patience is the key. When you get down to hiding blemishes via pencils, Dry or NGR stains you can really fool the folks. But for a simple and beautiful restoration, patience and finesse will give you beautiful results!

[DMMD]

Time for the first bit of finishing. Where did the doobie's graffiti go?

[DMMD]

TO be continued... that's Day 1 (Tues) and Day 2 (Wed)

Interesting when you find a fill patch that was "original" to the JBL OG veneer!

[DMMD]

Soaking.... coat 2 There are 3 major fill areas/patches in this photo.

[DMMD]

By the time you get to finishing, the mask no longer wards off the fumes!



Watco Drying.

Minwax Finishing Wax next.

To Deft or not to Deft? That is the question.... I may leave them open grain and build up the wax a little. Thoughts?

NB: Drivers reinstalled. I rotated the woofers since there was a slight settling from them bring in storage so long.... or so that's what I figured, there was about a mm difference in top surround width and bottom surround width. Same exact difference on both speakers. I think I remember reading that this can happen somewhere in this huge archive of information.

NB #2: Steve.... thanks again for chatting with me. Where else will you find JBL devotees that will call you out of the blue to thank you for a JBL rescue of an L96. Although, for a monitor this size, these little speakers move a LOT of air. The Le10H-1 is pretty steller. You are all right about this one...

Thanks for the tips and.. thanks for looking. This concludes the majority of this project. The rig they are connected to is still top secret!!!!

[hector.murray]

Bravo! Bravo!!

[yggdrasil]

Beautiful restoration!


Keep up the good work.

[spkrman57]

I am envious, me and woodworking don't do well together. So I have to rely on friends who are good at it!
Ron

[takenodisk]

Hi Dave, it's been a long time since,by the way i saw the work you've done on theese l96 let me say 'bravo'!! it's amazing how you get them as new,really unbelievable.
I got a pair of L50 which is in the same condition as yours's(at the beginnning) they sound very sweet and it cause me pain seeing them sitting on the shelves,so i'm intending to do the job myself and need some help,can you please give me some advice? I'll appreciate your help as you have done for my 4350's,without whom it would be impossible,best regards,mevin

[ironman]

Man, they look sweet ! I'm hoping to do the same with
L-112's. The only tool I have is a Sears finishing sander
(and 2 left hands !). Any other "must haves" to get the results you did (got ?) ? Tired here.....

[jay]

DMMD, that's an amazing job on those 96's! The results are truly outstanding....

Now you've given me fresh motivation to get my similar L100's back to what they should be!

BTW, a couple of your pics were a tad dim, at least on my monitor. I hope you don't mind that I turned the lights up in the room.

Jay