As noted by much of our little community, nearly every BenBen's Super Woofer grill's fabric seems to end up looking stained and grotty after 30 years of use. I always thought it was the only cosmetic minus to my BigBen and have been working out how to fix up mine for at least a year. I've been on the look out for speaker cloth to use on second hand speakers and never found anything close to the grey of the original. I've had some spare speaker cloth I salvaged off a pair of JVC tower speakers that seem to be endlessly parted out sitting around for a few months and thought I'd give it a try with that gear. As it wasn't a perfect colour replacement (this stuff is almost black) I wanted to attach the new fabric without damaging or removing the original grey material.
After a bit of thinking I decided to use a hot glue gun to glue it over the top of the orginal. The idea being that the new stuff can be removed if necessary at a later date. I don't like doing any cosmetic changes that can't be reversed usually, especially on a grail like the BigBen. Having very little experience doing this kind of thing had me scratching my head as to how I'll attach it and manage to keep it taut. Hot glue dries in a couple of seconds, combine this with the balancing act of holding the grill while ensuring the weave of the fabric was straight became a bit of of an issue.
I worked out the best way was to get one of the shorter edges lined up with the fabric and all nice and even then tack it with 3 spots of hot glue, one in each corner then one in the middle. Soon as the glue hits the frame and the material's lined up I pressed down and run my fingers along the edge with even pressure. This locked the fabric in TIGHT! As the first side was nice and even it just meant doing the opposite side next and then doing the two longer sides. The corners were then trimmed and spot glue to even it all up nicely.
The result? I reckon it looks great!! And to be brutally honest I think I prefer the chracoal/black look a lot more than the grey original. It seems to add more symmetry and balance to the darker coloured tape deck section as well as making the Super Woofer badge POP a bit more on a darker background.
Here she is:
I'll get some better shots outside soon, or when my studio lighting arrives, whichever happens first.
I hope you guys like it! And I hope this encourages others to replace their speaker grill's fabric if it's looking a bit grubby and detracting from the overall aesthetic.
Rock On.
After a bit of thinking I decided to use a hot glue gun to glue it over the top of the orginal. The idea being that the new stuff can be removed if necessary at a later date. I don't like doing any cosmetic changes that can't be reversed usually, especially on a grail like the BigBen. Having very little experience doing this kind of thing had me scratching my head as to how I'll attach it and manage to keep it taut. Hot glue dries in a couple of seconds, combine this with the balancing act of holding the grill while ensuring the weave of the fabric was straight became a bit of of an issue.
I worked out the best way was to get one of the shorter edges lined up with the fabric and all nice and even then tack it with 3 spots of hot glue, one in each corner then one in the middle. Soon as the glue hits the frame and the material's lined up I pressed down and run my fingers along the edge with even pressure. This locked the fabric in TIGHT! As the first side was nice and even it just meant doing the opposite side next and then doing the two longer sides. The corners were then trimmed and spot glue to even it all up nicely.
The result? I reckon it looks great!! And to be brutally honest I think I prefer the chracoal/black look a lot more than the grey original. It seems to add more symmetry and balance to the darker coloured tape deck section as well as making the Super Woofer badge POP a bit more on a darker background.
Here she is:
I'll get some better shots outside soon, or when my studio lighting arrives, whichever happens first.
I hope you guys like it! And I hope this encourages others to replace their speaker grill's fabric if it's looking a bit grubby and detracting from the overall aesthetic.
Rock On.
