Restoring JBL Fiberglass Horns

[maxwedge]

Reference thread: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?33361-2352-horns-and-brackets
Pictures before and after in order, and beware there's a lot of elbow grease involved. I tried some mild paint removers but it was damaging the fiberglass. Ended up wet sanding with 320, 400, 600 and 1500 and then polishing with some Meguiars polish for plastic headlights. Later I'll fix the corners, sand with finer paper and use a fiberglass specific product (check out boating restoring supply web sites). I happy, so instead of looking like trashed horns they look like taken care of JBL horns!:)

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j7/maxwedge572/Music%20Gear/My%20Sound%20System/DSC03306_zps49703999.jpg

[maxwedge]

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j7/maxwedge572/Music%20Gear/My%20Sound%20System/DSC03307_zpscebfaf42.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j7/maxwedge572/Music%20Gear/My%20Sound%20System/DSC03308_zps28a80819.jpg

[maxwedge]

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j7/maxwedge572/Music%20Gear/My%20Sound%20System/DSC03317_zpseda287e4.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j7/maxwedge572/Music%20Gear/My%20Sound%20System/DSC03323_zps97a01c91.jpg

[maxwedge]

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j7/maxwedge572/Music%20Gear/My%20Sound%20System/DSC03324_zps0d638b71.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j7/maxwedge572/Music%20Gear/My%20Sound%20System/DSC03326_zps7672dc44.jpg

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j7/maxwedge572/Music%20Gear/My%20Sound%20System/DSC03329_zps5f241958.jpg

[JeffW]

Puts a whole new spin on "That'll buff out" :D

Nice job.

[richluvsound]

They have come out really nice ... :D

Rich

[maxwedge]

Thanks.
You know when your past the paint and into the fiberglass when wet sanding because you can smell the resin. For some crazy reason I've always liked that smell! :p

[Mr. Widget]

Thanks.
You know when your past the paint and into the fiberglass when wet sanding because you can smell the resin. For some crazy reason I've always liked that smell! :pMakes me itch just thinking about it. ;)

They did turn out nice... how do they sound? You might want to mass load the rear of the horns to dampen the resonance of the fiberglass.


Widget

[subwoof]

I buffed out a pair of 2352's way back when and made a thin steel bracket across the face and put a 2404 tweeter centered on it. Behind the tweet magnet I added a foam cone ( tapered ) to diminish the mid reflections and *think* the crossover was about 5K but sadly the notes and pics went with the customer...

Each bass cabinet was a quad 15 ( 8" cardboard tube vents! ) with 2225H's powered by a crown delta2000...biamped with a 5235 at 800HZ and a crown PS400 for the HF.

MAN that was fun to listen to...:)

Nice job on the fiberglas - next time I play with those horns I will take them to a corvette body shop....

:cheers:

[Wardsweb]

Great job! Thanks for the picture progress. I never thought of using plastic polish before, good tip.

Now the 2405's need some sprucing up. Here is my post on refurbing mine.

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?30788-DIY-2405-refurb

[maxwedge]

Makes me itch just thinking about it. ;)

They did turn out nice... how do they sound?


Widget
I'm really happy with the sound and comparing to my past horns, the 2352 does a very good job in the vertical plane. My listening position is only about 12 feet away from these and whether I stand up or sit down there's not much difference. With the others there was some loss one way or the other. The 2447's with Be diaphragms helps too:)



You might want to mass load the rear of the horns to dampen the resonance of the fiberglass.
You mean wrap the horns with something? I suppose I could build a box and fill it with sand?:p I'm going to need to redesign and build new boxes anyway coming up, I hope by next year.

[maxwedge]

I buffed out a pair of 2352's way back when and made a thin steel bracket across the face and put a 2404 tweeter centered on it. Behind the tweet magnet I added a foam cone ( tapered ) to diminish the mid reflections and *think* the crossover was about 5K but sadly the notes and pics went with the customer...

Each bass cabinet was a quad 15 ( 8" cardboard tube vents! ) with 2225H's powered by a crown delta2000...biamped with a 5235 at 800HZ and a crown PS400 for the HF.

MAN that was fun to listen to...:)

Nice job on the fiberglas - next time I play with those horns I will take them to a corvette body shop....

:cheers:
I had been toying with the idea of making a cone shaped cover to go on the back of the slots, like a 60's racing mirror. I'm still in ghetto mode so foam or a rag will have to do. I need the slots low because of my nearness to the seating position. Your system sounds like it was killer. I still have 4 2225's from the late 70's that sound really good.

Thanks

[maxwedge]

Great job! Thanks for the picture progress. I never thought of using plastic polish before, good tip.

Now the 2405's need some sprucing up. Here is my post on refurbing mine.

http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?30788-DIY-2405-refurb

Thank you. You know, I think you can use regular auto wax on these fiberglass horns and that's all the boat guys do, although there's marine versions of the wax and I'm not sure what the difference is.
Yeah, my slots need work. I remember your thread and I was very impressed.

[Mr. Widget]

You mean wrap the horns with something? I suppose I could build a box and fill it with sand?:p I'm going to need to redesign and build new boxes anyway coming up, I hope by next year.That would work, but sand can be very messy. I would pack modeling clay or something like that on the rear surfaces.


Widget

[grumpy]

Received a pair today, well packed and in expected condition.
I can only hope these turn out as well as yours.

Thanks again for the pointer (and to the seller), as well as documenting your
refurb choices and steps.

[maxwedge]

Received a pair today, well packed and in expected condition.
I can only hope these turn out as well as yours.

Thanks again for the pointer (and to the seller), as well as documenting your
refurb choices and steps.
You're welcome grumpy. Definitely start with 320 grit to get the paint off and use light pressure. When the paint is off, work your way up with finer grits to remove the scratches from the prior grit. If you can find some finer that 1500, go for it.
Good luck.

[Lee in Montreal]

And two words : "wet" & "block" as in block sanding using water, especially when using anything finer that 320 grit ;)

[wrager]

I used Peel & Seal on the back of my 2384's. You can usually find it at Lowes. I even posted a pic a while ago on AVS.
http://www.cofair.com/peel_seal.aspx