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Regis
02-18-2005, 07:48 AM
Hi all,
I was at my friends house last night working on his L-150's. The surrounds are rotted of course on both woofers and PR's. I have a pair of 128H's in good shape that I was going to pop in, until we get Rick's kit (just so we can test them out).

JBL must've installed all these speakers in the 70's with the paint still wet/sticky on the cabs, because they ain't coming out for nothing. It's like they're super-glued. I ended up using my fingers behind the cone on the P/R's to pry it out with brute force. This allowed me to access the back of the woofers. Beating on them with my fist does nothing. So I ended up using a short 2x4, braced internally against the back of the bottom, angling upwards and them taking another piece of wood and used the 2x4 as a fulcrum for the lever. I aligned it with the frame and pushed and they popped out.

What other methods to the rest of you use to remove 25 year old speakers out without using a screwdriver to the front and marring the wood?

Steve Gonzales
02-18-2005, 10:16 AM
Those WERE really stuck ! What I do is to set the speaker on it's back, then put tape around a small portion of the outer lip of the speaker and baffle, then use a small piece of wood (or large) held against the outer edge and hit it with a hammer to try and shock the speaker to move it sideways. It wouldn't be a bad idea to take your 2X4 and lay it across the face of the frame and give it a solid blow too. I'm not talking about getting a running start and a 20lb sledge. Just enough to put a shockwave through it to upset and break the bond. Worked for me ;)

Regis
02-18-2005, 12:08 PM
Appreciate the great advice!

Sincerely,


Regis

John
02-18-2005, 12:34 PM
Just me maybe but I try not to shock my drivers except with voltage:D

Royd
02-18-2005, 09:15 PM
This tip was taught to me by another JBL collector, Tom in Redondo Beach, CA. Insert a flat tip or philips screwdriver into one of the screw holes of the speaker. The diameter of the shaft of the screwdriver should be slightly less than the diameter of the screw hole. Once you insert the screwdriver into the hole, tilt it towards the center of the speaker so that it grabs/wedges against the metal frame. Slowly lift up, keeping the screwdriver angled/wedged against the frame and it will release. On stubbon drivers, repeat this procedure on the other holes until the speaker releases. I've never had this fail for me. :)

GordonW
02-18-2005, 09:39 PM
This may sound brutal, but it has always worked for me.

Take the screws out of the driver, and then lay the cabinet FACE DOWN on an un-padded carpeted floor (or, preferably, a rubber mat on a hard floor)... taking care to ELEVATE the end of the cabinet AWAY from the speaker enough that the tweeter and mid DO NOT touch the carpet/mat (a 2x4 wrapped with a beach towel is ideal for this).

Then, elevate the other end, nearest to the driver, no more than 6 inches off the floor (maximum! Usually 3 inches will do it...) and DROP it onto the floor. The inertia of the driver, accelerated over that 6 inches, will make it pop free from the cabinet.

What sticks on these, is the white "O-ring" rubber gasket, IME. It's got enough "spring" that oftentimes, pushing it sideways just makes it "bounce back". But, bumping it against the floor, will usually make it shear free from the cabinet.

The other good thing, is that you don't run the risk of shocking the magnet loose and making it shift, this way. Unlike shocking the speaker SIDEWAYS, which could "slide" the magnet, this only pushes the magnet ONTO THE BASKET HARDER... the force is at RIGHT ANGLES to the magnet glue shear line, so it can't cause failure there...

Regards,
Gordon.