Help dating my C-38 score, and question on grille removal

[donsof]

Hi all
I scored a really great set of C-38's last week. Ebay purchase for 1000 with pickup required.
They only had a spill issue to the finish, and the crossovers need deoxit treatments.
D130 woofers perfect, 075's seem good, N2600's poor pot action.

So here goes the first question, can anyone date these? The pristine grille labels are smooth faced, and not the cast brass type. Grilles slide out the bottom slots, and these don't have a back panel for the energizer amp.
serial numbers on D130 = 49138 and 49139
serial numbers on 075 = 9787 and 9737
N2600 crossover 9054 and 9055, 16 and 32 ohm switching HF and LF

There is another tallboy C-36 I was looking at buying, but the seller said it had no slot in the bottom, and the back panel would not come off. How did the grille come off the other type with front installed components? Mine are rear installed componenets, and I notice the other type C-series enclosure had front installed drivers.
On the other type, there appears to be a block of wood at 12 oclock high... does that hold the grille in?

I am confused about what they actually call these to. C-36 refers to low boy or high boy enclosures right? So why did they come up with a C-38 name? Can C-38's be low boy and high boy? Is mine called a Baron or Viscount? Or no name other than C-38?

The cabinet is 24W x 19.5T x 16 Deep

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261373679266

see pictures here:

https://www.mediafire.com/folder/tibmhkvcess1c/JBL_C38



thanks Don

[script56]

You have to remove from the inside. First by taking off back cover then you can access the grille. You may have to remove trim boards in the back in order to remove grille sideways. Also they look newer since they have the square emblems on grilles. Also if the backs are solid plywood they're older. If mdf then Newer.

[donsof]

Hi
I was able to get my grilles out, as I have the slot loaded type, from the bottom. It looks like I was the first guy to remove the grilles from the factory, on mine! What a hoot!

I was trying to get a deal going with an east coast guy, on a set of tall boys, but he couldn't figure the grilles out, and neither could I. It seems the energizer type has a fixed back that doesn't come off? Or is that a variation unrelated to the energizer amp?

Don

[donsof]

Added pictures of the grille covers I am puzzled by.
Are these grilles attached with velcro?
Do they use the top block to retain the grille?

thanks for the help... Don

[audiomagnate]

Those look very modern for C-38s.

[sheltiedave]

Odds are these are knockoff enclosures. Wrong driver mounts. Wrong cleat. Velcro tabs for the grille mounts, if I see correctly.

[donsof]

Well I am doing more research and learning more all the time.
The last set of pictures I have posted were illustrations of another sample.
These are not the set I bought. I was curious about different configurations.
The set I bought were linked on the ebay hyper link above, in post 1.

On the sample shown (which I believe are real tallboy C36 models), the top block, is likely to ramp the grille in place, because the grille is slot loaded from the bottom, and it has to be thin to clear the protruding woofer. So my theory is that if the grille is .125 thick to clear the woofer on the top side, then the grille must need support to not cave inward?

I have also seen this later model with and without the energizer amp cutout. Likely this model was always intended to accept a front mounted woofer, as the back panel doesn't come off.

On further reading about how the name C36 and C38, Viscount and Baron came about...
It seems the C36 came in around 1952, from searching the library. They later came out with a C36 lowboy, and then started calling them C38 at some point. In the mid 60s, when the catalogs show nick names for the speakers, they start calling them Viscount and Baron. Catalogs don't show the speaker after the 1970 catalog. That coincides with the L200 being the replacement, or perhaps the L100?

Sound wise, I like the units if you get a S7 type system, and get rid of the piercing 075 bullets. My ear likes the LE-85 compression driver with a LE-15A or 2235 woofer. I ran mine as produced for two weeks before I said enough, put the good stuff in.

From what I can tell, all the grilles load from the bottom slot. Does anyone have a set that attaches otherwise?

Thanks for any help.

[audiomagnate]

The ones in the ebay auction look fabulous.