Picture of our JBL Control Monitors on the Media room floor, with Dolly on the back of the futon!

The end result – my homebuilt grills & JBL Blue cloth – Rich!

The speakers are ancient (circa 1969-72) and many parts are NLA – No Longer Available. That just means I can improve them while I restore them. One thing I have already done is to add the slot tweeter to extend the high frequency range.

Another goal I have while working on these old speakers is to make them look better and fit our home’s style. Thats a tough goal with big dark walnut boxes that are just under 2’x2’x3′. One reason I got them so cheap is because the grills were lost/damaged years ago – exposed speaker faces may excite my inner-geek, but functionally, there’s no reason not to cover them up. But again, these are long out of production – so – If I want grills, I’ll have to build them myself.

Like all true geeks, a new project requires the right tools! And how can I resist a 10″ tablesaw for $99 from Home Despot! But rather than assemble it on the stamped metal erector-set base that came with the saw, I did the saem thing I’ve done with my other powertools and mounted them on a plywood surface with a 2×4 bolted to the bottom. This way I can set up my old Shopmate and drop in whatever tool I need (tablesaw, compound mitresaw or bench grinder).

These photos show the $99 Ryobi tablesaw setup on my Shopmate in our backyard; the
pine lumber I’m using for the grill frames after I made the first cuts; the assembled frames with a light coat of flat black paint; and the final photo of the completed project with the deep navy JBL grill cloth and logo badges.

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