Celestion 44 - Restoration Thread

[Wakefield Turntables]

I got given another pair of these. My mate said that they were a little busted but that was a little understatement. I find that one of the cabs is cracked and the front grilles are knackered. There are more scratches on the cabs than a self harmer could generate. But now most of my kit is restored its time for a new challenge. So i have bought a couple of G clamps, some teak restorer, and some wood glue. Keep posted. :cool:

[Rare Bird]

Andy:
I'd take that bottom unit out, glue & screw a block behind the busted baffleboard strengthen it.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Andy:
I'd take that bottom unit out, glue & screw a block behind the busted baffleboard strengthen it.

Good idea, I just cut one, you must be reading my mind :eek:!

[Rare Bird]

:exactly: :D

[Reid Malenfant]

They don't look that bad in reality, at least it doesn't look like a beaver has been gnawing on them, unlike my 66s :eyebrows:


You don't need a clamp. What you need a a couple of bits of rope which you wrap around the enclosure & tie them. You then either insert a piece of wood & wind the thing tight, or make them fairly tight & insert wood blocks by levering the rope etc...


Good luck & have fun :)

[Rare Bird]

i use those picture frame band clamps with the ratchet for split cabs

[Reid Malenfant]

Nice one Andr'e, that is the kind of thing I was attempting to get across :) Good one with the picture, explains it perfectly :D

[Wakefield Turntables]

Thanks guys, but the clamps appear to have done the job :cool: These are quite early mark one 44's. I'll probably be getting the multimeter out and testing the caps! I wondered about mounting them externally to get them away from the bass magnet, it cant be doing them much good :doh: Any suggestions for cap replacements ??

[Macca]

They have seen better days haven't they? Look at the rust on the drivers! If the drivers are okay I think I would build (well, have built for me) whole new cabs. I do wonder if that bass driver would not benefit from a bigger enclosure?

[Wakefield Turntables]

They have seen better days haven't they? Look at the rust on the drivers! If the drivers are okay I think I would build (well, have built for me) whole new cabs. I do wonder if that bass driver would not benefit from a bigger enclosure?

Rust is easy to remove, just a bit of elbow grease or new parts! The drivers are all ok, I have listened to them and they do sound superb. A rebuild is out of the question. I like the cabs and cant really be bothered making new ones when these only need to be glued up. My listening room isnt big so a whilst the bass unit probably would benefit from a bigger cab I dont think my room would :lol:

[Macca]

Fair points Andy - have to say I wish mine were not so mint as I would be tempted to do a re-design of the cabs. They are infinite baffle so very tight in the bass - I don't think a larger (sealed) cab would ever make it overpowering, it would just breathe a bit easier, I suspect.

[Rare Bird]

Thanks guys, but the clamps appear to have done the job :cool: These are quite early mark one 44's. I'll probably be getting the multimeter out and testing the caps! I wondered about mounting them externally to get them away from the bass magnet, it cant be doing them much good :doh: Any suggestions for cap replacements ??

Ansar polyprops, super caps look simular to the originals being plain black millitary type look......I think people get a bit obsessed about X Overs being in the same box as the units, if it's that much of a concern to people why not mount a thick copper plate infront of the board! Tie each cap down or hot glue em..

[Wakefield Turntables]

Andre,

Your correct I could mount copper over the x-o, but i already have the materials in to make a nice wooden box which I'll probably mount on the rear of the speaker. This saves the expense of copper. I'm only really going to be spending money on where it's needed! I'll be posting some more picks tonight when I get time.

A

[Wakefield Turntables]

The restoration is slow work! I'm taking my time over these! Just a quick photo showing the cab being repaired, and another showing the effects of teak oil. This stuff is amazing. My crap camera work does not do the speaker cabs justice. A couple of layers of oil and they are like new. A little more work on the rear of the cab to seal it up and then the cross overs are coming out and rewiring begins!!

[Rare Bird]

Oil :eek: oil on wood one of my pet hates.

[walpurgis]

Be careful, some veneer adhesives can be weakened by teak oil. I use white french polish or satin varnish myself.

[Rare Bird]

Sikkens 'TS' Cetol 'Translucent' low build microprous satin finish is the best stoof on earth.. Ive used it for donkies years both at home & when i was cabinet making.. I've always used spray guns but There's a foolproof secret to application by hand :eyebrows:

I underlined Translucent because using finishes with tint of colour is yet another pet hate.

[walpurgis]

Funny you should say that Andre, I detest self coloured finishes/varnishes too. They just never look right.

[Wakefield Turntables]

Looks like i'm in the bad books :(

[The Black Adder]

Your using the proper kit there matey.. Cramps are great. Love them Celestions!

[synsei]

I used Olive Oil to renovate a tatty pine chest of draws I won on ebay for pocket money, they look lovely :)

[Wakefield Turntables]

Your using the proper kit there matey.. Cramps are great. Love them Celestions!

cheers! I'll be rebuilding the x-o, I'm taking inspiration from your prior thread. I'm lucky in that the x-o for the 44 and 66's have been covered on another forum. I'm taking my time with these. The cabinets will get done first, them the x-o.

[sq225917]

I always prefer wax to oil on wood.

[walpurgis]

I used Olive Oil to renovate a tatty pine chest of draws I won on ebay for pocket money, they look lovely :)

Bet some chopped sun dried tomatoes and basil would go well with that.

[Rare Bird]

I always prefer wax to oil on wood.

:steam:

[Wakefield Turntables]

Been a few days since i updated this. Well today I had an hours destress on the cabs. I have now removed the three drivers and dismantled the x-o. It appears there are several version of the x-o, mines an early version, which are supposed to sound better than newer variants. The x-o is huge and a little more complicated than the XR15's :lol: I've sanded down and filled the cracks and have spray painted the exterior mat black. The midrange has had a coat of matt black around its perimeter to get rid of the discolouration. All the screws have had a good clean with brasso and I have re-sprayed the tweeter clamps. The upper left quadrant of the cab is still cracked so this needs repair. I've spent several hours looking at x-o design and looking at caps to replace the current ones on the x-o. It looks like the multimeter is coming out over the weekend if I get time just to see how far the caps have drifted. I'll post some pics over the weekend, must go, taking the GF out to dinner tonight! 7


Regards

A

[Rare Bird]

Enjoy your night out

Brown hard wired boards then?

You should get all the values in Ansar.. there's a couple of expensive caps on those boards to replace 72uF i think!!.. Ansar do 75uF which will be fine they have a 5% tolorance but they are around £30 each :( there big un's around 3.25'' long x 2.25'' diameter

[Wakefield Turntables]

yep bloody big brown boards all hand wired. Thought I might check the inductors as well.

[Rare Bird]

Leave the Inductors they are perfectly alright & good qwality.

[Wakefield Turntables]

I've got a meter spare of 0.5mm silver. Do you think any benefit could be gained from re-wiring the x-o with silver and teflon shielding ??

[walpurgis]

I'd steer clear of silver for wiring and crossover construction inside speakers as a rule, experiment by all means, as it can work, but good quality copper seems to give far more predictably satisfactory results. I've tried both.

[Wakefield Turntables]

TBH i did buy 10 meters of 1mm solid core shielded copper for the job of rewiring the speaker and rebuilding the x-o so to keep costs down I'll stick with that. Additionally I want an all copper setup. My reference system is entirely wire-up in silver, cartridge tags right the way through to the power leads, even the 1210's intrinsic wiring is silver. The valve setup has remained copper, so I think this is the way I shall continue. ;)

[Rare Bird]

For Vintage speeka's Ive always used Kimber 'TCX' for rewire's, Ansar Polpropylene caps, Any power resistors (Isnt in the Mk.1, 44's) Mill's 'MRA 12' wire wounds..

I'd probably replace the old cheap solder tags on that brown board with some Ag plated turret tags, not sure if you can get them in but i find the WBT-0730.12 platinum plated posts excellent value for money (I have some gold '0763's if you want em)..As for solder i switched to Mundorf.