JBL Blue...

[boputnam]

Dixie Bell!!

Sherwin Williams pigments and using a Martin Senour "Bright Life" Latex Eggshell Enamel, Neutral Base (Qt.):

Black: 22/32
Blue: 1 oz + 16/32
Violet: 16/32
Red Oxide: 1/64

I got one qt., cost $15.63 (plus a discretionary tip for the 1-hr iteration...).

I went to the best paint guy I know on the coast. Used him for >12-yrs matching the most diverse of projects. It took me about 6-mos to coordinate my weekday schedule to meet (plus, I refused to leave baby 4301B overnight - it might have gotten frightened... ). He's that good.

Ken loaths the auto paint readers - the "shooters". IHHO, they just aren't close enough to "eye". Started with a color swatch book, and iterated from there. He admitted this was a tough color to match - a most odd color of dull-slate blue. But, he wouldn't stop until it was "spot on". We even touched-up some nicks on these baby-est of the 43xx series.

Nice.

I'm sure, if we restarted fresh, knowing what he learnt, we could shorten the iteration and use less pigment(s), but this is a great match.

If you're in-need, and haven't a Sherwin Williams local nearby, I'd happily send a qt your way. Lemme know...

[4313B]

Yeah Baby!!!

[Alex Lancaster]

Great!, now my various knock-offs will sound right!.

Alex.

[Audiobeer]

Originally posted by Alex Lancaster
Great!, now my various knock-offs will sound right!.

Alex.

[gyusher]

I work in one of Sherwin Williams National Labs that works only with large buisnesses that paint wood and composite building materials. I will still try to find the color in their data base. . .I might find the actual paint that was used? ? ? ? If so I will pass it on to you. . .Color is part of it as is film properties. . .
BTW I have worked with color matching for over 35 years and for the most part I agree with your friends comment however we have some color computers in our lab that will blow you away. . .Trouble is knowing how to interput the info you get. I was a "Do it by eye" person untill I started using some of these "Shooters" to solve difficult matches. I am not near expert at it but we have those who are and I watch in awe at some of these guys.

[Mr. Widget]

Why was Sammy Hagar so into red anyway?

So now that the paint is figured out we need to work on the grill cloth.

Bo, are you game?

I was discussing this with a friend. If a few of us go in on it we can have a bolt custom dyed.

[Alex Lancaster]

This is getting scarier and scarier, what We need is a friend at JPL (Pasadena), not JBL (Northridge).

Alex.

[boputnam]

Originally posted by Mr. Widget
Bo, are you game?

I was discussing this with a friend. If a few of us go in on it we can have a bolt custom dyed.

Of course!!

It's interesting that these two aspects (JBL Blue baffle and grill cloth blue hue) of the Studio Monitor series are no easier to duplicate than is the engineering, cabinetry and transducers of the lineage. That just makes me nutz. By-design, or merely unintended consequences...?

And, Guy, it'd be great to know what this baffle blue really was. Keep diggin...!

[gyusher]

You know I never thought a lot about the blue faced JBLs. . .I knew they were out there but I always though it to be sacrilage to mess around with the front baffle. . .Now with my own refinishing job comming up. . . .
Hopefully by tomorrow night I will have something on the blue. . .I think I have the black nailed, but doubtful it could be bought as its OEM only. . .There might be a consumer cross over. . .I will check that too. I think the blue could be put in the same system. . .If someone has a standard now from the latest color matching session PM me and if you could mail it to me I will put it in that EAW system. . .Killer paint, tough as nails and water base. .Sticks to anything. . .They paint metal, wood, composite products all Pro gear meant to take a beating. . .Almost as hard as a two componet ststem. . .Nice soft sheen about 10-15 gloss. . .

[Oldmics]

O.K. So maybe I'm dense but is this color the same paint that is used not only on the baffle board and enclosures but is also used on the componets such as speakers and drivers? Oldmics

[gyusher]

I cant speak to what JBL does but the black paint I am talking about is the black paint EAW uses to paint everything but the drivers. . .I intend to use this black to refinish the black on my 112s. . .I will reduce it some to prevent the texture that EAW has. I havnt found exactly what resin system JBL used for their blue. . .I see a inmate here has the formula. . . .I could make a small quanity of JBLs blue in this system if one of you will send me the color sample so I can match it. This would be the same paint only blue not black. . .Its the toughest water base paint I have ever seen. Hard to scratch and hangs on like grim death. . .
This might be more trouble than its worth. I will keep digging to find what system JBL used. . . . . .

[speakerdave]

I'm just reading slackjawed. This has got to be the dandiest forum in the world.

David

[gyusher]

boputnam,
I will take your formula in with me tomorrow and make a Qt. Then I have the color to put in the EAW system. . . .I will let you know. . . .You can actually match the texture with this stuff. . .It will take the rest of the week to make this. . .Actually I will be designing a totally new system. . .Who Knows. . . .

[Oldmics]

O.K. So maybe I'm dense but is this blue color the same paint that is used not only on the baffle board and enclosures but is also used on the blue JBL componets such as speakers and drivers? Oldmics

[Mr. Widget]

Hey Oldmics,

I don't know what JBL is using on their current products. The spatter texture used on the drivers is similar in texture at least to the blue baffle paint. I suspect that it is a completely different paint system than the one used on the wood baffles.

The vintage JBL components were given a wrinkle finish. Wrinkle finishes were used on precision optical equipment and lab equipment. I think JBL used this type of finish to show their attention to detail and precision. I was always astounded and impressed that even though most of the drivers that JBL built were installed in finished cabinets and would never be seen by the end user, JBL took great care to make each driver look beautiful. They started to economize with the Decade series and left the raw aluminum unpainted. Later when they went to ferrite magnets they went to spatter paint which is much easier to apply than the wrinkle finish and eventually even stopped producing proper name plates and serial numbers.

Wrinkle finishes are achieved using paints containing resins that have incompatible drying properties. An example would be a resin containing tung oil and alkyd or a resin containing tung oil and linseed oil. The resin constituents would dry at different rates causing wrinkling of the paint film.

There is a Sherwin Williams product called Polane T (T=texture) it's a polyurethane enamel. This product may be similar to the paint that gyusher is talking about. It allows a variety of textures depending on air/paint mixture and or amount of reducing (viscosity) of the paint. Sherwin William also used to make a product called suede base that was used in the automotive industry to texture certain car interior surfaces. It is basically a fine particulate in a suspension that is added to the paint.

Widget