JBL L65 resurrection, or reincarnation? Help me decide.

I was thrilled to get these from the original owner, whose husband had passed, and she just didn't have room for them--that was 30 years ago.
I took awesome care of them, and we had fun together, great parties, wonderful romantic evenings in front of them--they can tell stories. I powered them with an old JVC for awhile, then pretty much my beloved (and still in service) Yamaha M1.
Midlife took it's toll, a move, and a divorce... These babies ended up being disrespectfully stored in a cold dark place, which was good... EXCEPT mice found their way in the port of one of them. And one of the Midrange has a hole in it. Cabinets are sound, but externally beat up.
By far the worst thing is the mouse pee on the crossover of the one cabinet. Everything is functional, however, I'm sad. By the time I got them back, and had a good look at them. I fear the worst?
Anyway, they have tight, happy 122A Woofs, and the blessed Crystal Tweeter.
I have two choices as I see it:
Rebuild two matching cabinets, try to de-mouse-pee the crossover, buying a new midrange, re-foaming the woofs and though not original, I should be able to preserve the magic with a new cabinet. (Anyone had experience doing a different cabinet shaper, like narrower tower vs. the original squat box shape, of the same exact internal volume of course?)
or
Part them out...
Please share your opinions and experiences. I'm a busy dad and business owner--time is my shortest commodity. But I'm a sentimental dude... what to do. I actually DON'T have a place for them in my home. Well, I can FIND a place for them, but don't really need to.
Thanks in advance for the knowledge here. I know they are kind of special...I think they are... but I don't know how special or worth preserving or letting the parts go so they can be reincarnated in someone elses life...

Tony

have a pair of L65's. I would probably try to save them, I doubt the mouse pee will be that hard to remove, and I would bet someone here can help you with the mid. That being said, if you decide to part them out, let me know, I might be interested in a cab or two, and I live close. (In North County.)


Good luck!

Someone PM'd me with an offer on the Mid and xovers! Looks like I'll try to resurrect them (being Easter and all today).

That decided, I may build new cabs, which means I have one cab that is not mouse pee'd... but it is rough, I can't imagine anyone wanting it, unless they are into repair. But if I do not use the cabs, your welcome to them for free--just as part of my contribution towards resurrection.
T

I might be able to use a rough cab to repair my rough cab. Hit me off-list when your ready to get rid of them.

Regards,

Gene

Quote:

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Originally Posted by twistytony

Someone PM'd me with an offer on the Mid and xovers! Looks like I'll try to resurrect them (being Easter and all today).

That decided, I may build new cabs, which means I have one cab that is not mouse pee'd... but it is rough, I can't imagine anyone wanting it, unless they are into repair. But if I do not use the cabs, your welcome to them for free--just as part of my contribution towards resurrection.
T

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Hello all I'm am new here. I saw this thread and could not help my self with a reply. I know it's a bit old but it keeps surfacing on google search with regards to Jubal restoration. I'm about to begin a JBL L65A restoration project my self. My L65 elements are in perfect condition but the cabinets condition, to the untrained eye, seem a little deteriorated. There is a lot you can do on your own. Practically, a full restoration. The good news is, it's not even hard. Since I don't have the L65 in my possession yet, I'd like to refer the OP (and anyone else who is interested) to a very similar project, my JBL 4311 restoration project, which I've documented on AudioKarma and is available here. In these two threads I'm referring to the work required for the restoration project as well as the bill of materials used in the process. In essence, there is not much difference in the type of cabinets work required for any walnut veneered JBL speaker. One thing to keep in mind and that will clear a lot of mystery is that the 'magic' component is 'Lazur'. This wood oil reminding substance is, to the best of my knowledge, not common in the USA. I use a German made brand. This substance share lots of the wood oil characteristics with the exception that it will not ware off with time. It dries and hardens into a glassy like layer which should be sanded lightly. The results are stunningly beautiful, providing you work accurately, spread evenly, and wipe excess drips on time. Here are just some before and after pics: http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachm...0&d=1334193579 ...and the result: http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachm...5&d=1334224165

Hi TnSilver,

Looks like you did a great job, congrats.

I possibly have worse problems. As you probably know, the cabs are made of particle board. One cab is in decent shape, the other is missing the horizonal wood brace on top that the glass goes against.

I'm not sure how to do this kind of work, one of these days, I will strip both cabs down, and take them to a local furniture restorer for an estimate. Have you any experience in this kind of restoration?

Wait... I got to do this first: "tubes and vinyl", "tubes and vinyl"... ;) Now that we're happy... to the point. Sure, this little strip of wood could be easily fabricated by any carpenter. Heck, it could be easily made at home too if you got the tools (sawbench) to cut it straight. Shouldn't be expensive either, if you find an honest guy. I'd suggest some type of hard wood like oak, mahogany, walnut but since it's high up the Jubal tree there are not many chances anyone would bump into it and dent it - so cheap pine is good too. Once you got the strips - Elmer's glue would do the trick to hold it in place. Before you glue it, you might want to give it the wood oil / Lazur treatment to get it lined up in hue with the rest of the speaker. Restoring a complete set of cabinets by a pro - might get a little pricy. After all, it's a time consuming project.

These 'high density particle' boards (a.k.a 'MDF') are a bitch to work with - if they're swollen with moisture. In this case they are doomed. That's your only worry. Other wise, dents could be filled with wood filler and veneer could be sanded (like my 4311 project) and refilled, or at the worst case, totally redone. None of this work requires a professional furniture restorer and it could be accomplished, quite easily, by any eager and passionate handy man. You might want to develop some Lazur / wood oil experience and get diligent about it. I've referred to this process in the original AK thread. It's a very rewarding project. Those are beautiful cabinets. All you need is time and patience.

* One more tip: If you strip down the cabinets take care not to apply pressure on the driver's bolts while unscrewing them loose. Those bolts are held by spiked nuts that are lodged onto the inner side of the baffle board. If you push on the bolts with a screw driver, you are likely to cause one or more nuts to loosen up, un-spike them selves, drop down and cause a 'limbo' situation by which the bolt hangs in mid air, locking the driver in place so it can't be lifted, while nothing is counter resisting the nuts http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...s/banghead.gif. In this case you'll have to access the nuts through another driver mounting hole and it could be tricky or nearly impossible. I suggest using an 'L' shaped screw driver (like an Allen key) that does not require vertical pressure on the bolts.

Check out what you can do at home - by your self:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-t..._RESTORED2.jpg

Cheers

Tom

It took a while but it's finally there. Check my new JBL L65A Restoration thread out...

Here's a sneak preview :D

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-s.../Image1299.jpg

It's looking good, now, will check out your thread!

Gene