ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
At its height, my collection (small by some standards!) reached over 100 pieces. M wife was very supportive, though when I packed 9/10s of it into a large Transit and took it to Bellac, she did seem quietly happy! There again, her jewellery collection is not insubstantial!!
Peter
Peter,
100 items, well now that IS impressive, by ANY standard I know.
However my significant-other is seriously looking for a two-door Hooper bodied Bentley.
Jeff
Beogram 4000, Beogram 4002, Beogram 4004, Beogram 8000, Beogram 8002, Beogram 1602. Beogram 4500 CD player, B&O CDX player, Beocord 4500, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 5000 T4716, Beocord 8004, Beocord 9000, Beomaster 1000, Beomaster 1600, Beomaster 2400.2, Beomaster 2400.2, Beomaster 4400, Beomaster 4500, Beolab 5000, Beomaster 5000, BeoCenter 9000. BeoSound Century, S-45.2, S-45.2, S-75, S-75, M-75, M-100, MC 120.2 speakers; B&O Illuminated Sign (with crown & red logo). B&O grey & black Illuminated Sign, B&O black Plexiglas dealer sign, B&O ash tray, B&O (Orrefors) dealer award vase, B&O Beotime Clock. Navy blue B&O baseball cap, B&O T-shirt X2, B&O black ball point pen, B&O Retail Management Binder
Hello Peter,
Sometimes the Gods smile on us mere mortals, the counter to my B&O misadventures came in today officially for a Hooper Empress II, based on the Bentley Turbo R, in Silver Sand paint with a Magnolia interior piped in champagne and full burled walnut veneers to the doors.
What are the odds of finding such a vehicle in left-hand drive? I think I may have just dodged a bullet.
Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have such a car, but my bank account would disagree.
Sounds wonderful! I hate to think the cost of that though! And at a guess, being British, it will need more than capacitors changing! The Empress II is clearly quite a car, though it does remind me a little of a slightly bloated Carmargue. I think I prefer the older models, though I can no longer see me troubling the scorers as HM Government have made radical changes to my pension arrangements!!
Hi Peter,
You are quite right; being a British car, changing capacitors would be the least of your worries. First you start with the spheres which require periodic replacement because without their provided pressure the suspension gives up, plus the same system pressurized the breaks, so no breaks.
Everything about British cars reminds me of the old joke, “The British didn’t invent the transistor because they couldn’t find a way to make it leak oil.”
As for the Carmargue, I rather like them, odd car that they were. The rear end looks exactly like the Fiat of the period and should, as it was the same designer. The square front end just doesn’t work, even with the “enhancement” of the wider grille. Finally the air-craft inspired dash…… the whole car looks like it was designed by a committee….. still I’d LOVE to have one!
Considering your pension, with the “adjustments” made by HM’s government, you would be well advised to stick with the older cars that you prefer as they are actually inexpensive to buy, parts are generally available, and you can do the work yourself. The newer cars are impossibly complicated, unbelievably expensive to service, and you need to have the dealer perform the work.
I think we BOTH will be better off playing with our B&O collection!
After hanging pictures and other totally unnecessary things on the newly painted walls, I could go back to the really important work.
2 of the plastic sliders had a broken of guide tap, these taps are very small, 2 x 2 x 1.5 Mm., I took a cassette case and cut of small strip about 20 Mm. long, filed it down to a little oversize, left a bigger piece at one end, to use as kind of handle when positioning the tap, In the pic you can see the handle end at the arrow, I put a little oil on the vice so the crazy glue wouldn't glue to the vice, I then glued the tap to the slider and left it in the vice to dry, when dry and still in the vice I cut of the handle near the slider. (I will use the rest of the cassette case for the FM preset cover)
Here cut of before filing to size
As I had to wait for the glue to dry, I started polishing the sliders perspex pieces, they were a little scratched, but not yellowed. I used a car Head light restore kit to do this, someone had done a "repair" with some funny glue, I had to scrape that of with a knife.
All together
As you see I'm missing the TREBLE aluminum piece and perspex piece, the lower aluminum piece and the back plastic piece, I have. so if anyone in the US has the pieces to go, I would appreciate it, Soren in DK offered me the pieces, but its easier to get it down here from the US, than from DK.
Turned out good
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
Hello Søren,
Absolutely fantastic work, truly first rate!
Oh, and totally off the subject, but you did mention previously that you enjoyed a bit of classical music after a hard days work and I was wondering if you have discovered Il Divo? If not, this is a “band” of sorts made up of four accomplished male opera singers and the music they collectively produce is quite remarkable….. sort of pop-opera served up with a great deal of style. The performance in Rome was staged in the Coliseum with a full orchestra; they sang “Amazing Grace” with a lone bagpiper in the background, along with a firework display.
Thanks for the tip, Il Divo will be one of my next purchases, in that kind of music you should try Celtic Thunder, very good voices and the music behind them just amazing, you will get the full use of your speakers.
Hi Søren,
Thank you for the tip as well. It appears I will enjoy Celtic Thunder very much.
Il Divo is a bit more serious music, a bit less entertainment, but I have little doubt you will enjoy them immensely.
I took this photo two weeks ago in Vancouver, unfortunately half the photo is missing, but you get the idea.
Piaf:unfortunately half the photo is missing, but you get the idea
click on the photo and your browser should open another window with the picture in all its glory
BeoNut since '75
I feel a bit foolish, but wiser. Thank you.
Piaf: I feel a bit foolish, but wiser. Thank you. Jeff
No problem
Doesn't always work ... and I have no idea why !
Now on to the wood works
Before starting
Cleaned with ISP, see the scratches to the right, there are more, not visible in the pic
After sanding and cleaned again with ISP
Soaked with boiled linseed oil
5 min. after soaking, see how the oil gets absorbed in the dry spots
After 2 hours I wipe of the excess and leave to dry for 24 hours
Now 16 hours later, I cleaned lightly with ISP, sanded lightly with a 220 grain 3M fiber pad and soaked again with oil
After 10 min. soaking I got this pic, see how the dry wood absorbs the oil, normally after the 2nd soaking the wood is not absorbing more oil.
I will now continue soaking every 15 min. to see how much it takes
I simply have to tell you, I am seldom, if ever, am at a loss for words, but this maybe the first time.
I just can NOT believe the job that you are doing on your Beomaster 4400. Each step only manages to impress more, if such a thing were possible.
You have taken a tattered, dirty mess and are turning it into a real jewel.
Have you checked out Il Divo yet? I would love to hear your reaction.
I listened to Il Divo on Amazon, and I'm going to look for the CD here in the city, I dont like downloads.
As for my 4400, I just cant get the wood to close up properly, soaked some 5 times yesterday, I will try one more time today, sanding more profoundly, and then Old English, and then maybe oil again, I have never had this problem before, all my woodwork came out perfectly (or to my satisfaction), but we never give up.
I will be without power today from 10 am to 5 pm, the new power company is modernizing the power lines in our area, so its a good time to do some manual works.
Hmm interesting...
Often, owners used to apply beeswax on old hifi boxes, and I have not yet found any solution to remove it completely. Linseed oil can't be soaked by the wood in such cases.
I wonder whether heating the wood would allow old wax to melt and be absorbed by blotting paper.
Trouble is, it would probably also make the thin wood veneer peel off into the bargain.
How are you going to treat the alu trim?
Jacques
There is no beeswax on this one, when I find beeswax I clean with acetone, sand, acetone, sand, clean with acetone and then oil, there are also a lot of items coming in with layers of Pledge, wood polish and floor wax, if I cant get it clean with ISP, I clean with Acetone, carefully as the acetone will disperse most glues.
The alu rack at the rear I will polish to the same color all over, the front has a pair of small dents, I will equalize the dents but not go too deep as this will take off the oxidized layer and give color changes.
I have never had a veneer dry as this one, At a distance, after oiling, it looks OK but when you take a close look you will see the small cracks along the veins in the veneer. Its a new day and we move on with new ideas
I know it a lot of time and effort to use on an item, but I just enjoy when I find a solution to a problem, may be the virus affecting me.
I am by no means a veneer expert, but I did develop a bit of experience when I refinished the dashboard, picnic tables, and capping rails in my 1937 25/30 Hooper bodied Sports Saloon.
Suffice to say the veneers were completely dry and looked terrible, worse than your Beomaster 4400. I used a commercial wood stripper to get everything off the surface and then wet-sanded the veneers until they were completely flat.
The key here is caution, as you already know, because you don’t want to sand through the veneer or cause it to lift.
From what I read it sounds like you are doing everything right, so what is needed is patience and repeated applications. Acetone should do the trick and as you said you relish a challenge.
Best wishes!
Hi Søren
Interesting to read about your 'fight to get it right' with this rosewood version.
As I know you have done a lot of wood-work on those old beomasters, I have a question:How about oak-wood versions. Is there any way to get the wood lighter as it originally was, when it has become darker, and more yellow with age..?
Steffen
Steffen,
Rosewood is comparatively dark as compared to oak. The stripping Søren did with Acetone should remove any stain which was applied, by the factory or after.
The only thing that would darken with age is the color is the sealant used. Certain varnishes do darken a lot with age, but I don’t think the product B&O used would darken. (That is only a guess.)
Oak is a little special, from nature is has some acid in the sap that makes it darker with age, the darker veins (year rings) gets darker than the brighter ones, that gives the impression that it at all is darker, its one of the things I love with oak, If your oak is yellowing it probably because it has been threaded with a varnish, I think, and from feeling, that most B&O wood is has a satin varnish of some sort.
The only thing I can recommend is, clean it, sand it, boiled linseed oil maybe thinned with a little turpentine (10 %), wipe of excess, leave for 24 hours, sand lightly, linseed oil, wipe of excess, leave for 24 hours, polish with microfiber or lint free cotton, (old white T shirt is ideal), your oak will never be same again, but thats the beauty about wood, it changes from year to year. Every 2nd year its a good idea to clean the wood, sand lightly and add linseed oil and then polish, that way you keep your wood alive.
Now do this in the garage or outside, linseed oil stinks when fresh from the bottle.
Now I am confused, is your Beomaster 4400 oak or rosewood?
The veneer on my Beogram 4000 is oak and it is VERY light, almost white.
Roesewood, but someone asked about oak
This is a never ending story, but as no one else is using the workbench, I keep on.
Here is a pic of my last treatment with oil, something comes out of the wood, like small pearls, the pic is very high solution.
I dont like it, where does that come from, so after a cuba and a cig. I cleaned it all with ISP, made a mix of Old English and wood dust from the sanding
I gave the veneer a good rub with this mixture, let dry for 15 min. and then wiped of excess, and applied oil again, left it, now 24 hours, will leave it until tomorrow (48 hours), This veneer must have more oil in it than the state of Texas.
Polished with a dry rag, here the result, compares with a Beovox 3702 rosewood, i did 6 month ago, The 3702 has the shine I like, the 4400 not so.
Looks kind of mate, will leave it like that and maybe find something to liven it up later on.
High resolution, the crack are still there, not as bad as before, but still there.
Whoowee Søren, you really do nice work on the old rosewood veneers. Great job.
-sonavor
Good grief Søren,
You did it! You really did it! Congratulations! You said you like a challenge, and with that veneer you surely had one…. you must feel absolutely victorious. Boy, work will seem dull tomorrow.
I had previously posted problems I was having with the veneers on my S-75 speakers, nothing in comparison to your stubborn issues, but still I would apply Old English Lemon Oil and the veneer would suck it up like a hungry sponge, repeatedly.
Members advised using Danish oil and in retrospect that would have been a good idea. However I got lucky and my determined oiling with Old English Lemon Oil finally won over the veneers without lifting them.
Clever product that Old English, it is basically a petroleum product so it cleans and leaves a nice shin, but it evaporates so the user needs to use it again and again. However there must be more to the product as after many applications my speakers really look nice. No arguing with success.
Speaking of success, Søren you really did yourself proud! If you wife is not looking you might want to take a bow, as you deserve it!
Søren Mexico: High resolution, the crack are still there, not as bad as before, but still there.
I don't think those voids take anything away from the beauty of the piece. On the contrary - gives the Beomaster character!
Søren Mexico: This is a never ending story, but as no one else is using the workbench, I keep on.
I've been on the workbench, just doing things nobody would be interested in. My BG4002 is down again - motor issue. Tried to get it back up myself, but I failed. Just going to ship it up to Benny this week.
But I did get my second BG3404 back up and running. Partially inspired by Evan, partially inspired by Soren, I brought the second BG3404 down out of the attic this weekend. Took it completely apart, cleaned and lubed where necessary, inspected solder joints, didn't see anything wrong. Put it back together and it worked just fine. I think the tonearm just needed some TLC to get the unit back fully functional.
How's the BM4400 looking today?
Piaf: Hi Søren, Now I am confused, is your Beomaster 4400 oak or rosewood? The veneer on my Beogram 4000 is oak and it is VERY light, almost white. Jeff
Don't be confused - It was me asking about the oak...
And Søren -thanks for your advice
I'm looking forward to see if you get the rosewood as you like it. To me it looks fine now - but you're the perfectionist...
Rich:How's the BM4400 looking today?
Spares are ordered from Mouser, I'm waiting, but with all the work I did on the wood I don't think I will need any, and the wood work will make it sound better, at least in my imagination.
I'm polishing the wood a little every day now, I want it to shine just a little.
While waiting for the spares I'm exercising equipment, Thinking about where to install it all, 1 set in the office, 1 set in the bar (bar not finished yet), from the bar set, I will connect a set of speakers to the garage, the 5000 stack stays in the dining room, I will have to think this through, too many speakers, too less BGs or BG CDs, the one thing I'm sure of is that the BM 901, BG 1202 and Beovox 1600 stays together. I consider them my most beautiful pieces, the BM 2400, BG 2404 and S 45s for the workshop.
In the bar I have to have my Jukebox, thinking about skipping the Jukebox amp and run directly to the BM 901, but as the TT in the Jukebox is a record killer, maybe I should find a bad looking radial BG and install the innards in the Jukebox, all the switches in the Jukebox are operated mechanical. so no problem there.
Glad to hear that your BG 3404 is working OK, one more saved for the after Beoworld, keep going, and please tell what happened to your 4002.
Søren Mexico: While waiting for the spares I'm exercising equipment, Thinking about where to install it all, 1 set in the office, 1 set in the bar (bar not finished yet), from the bar set, I will connect a set of speakers to the garage, the 5000 stack stays in the dining room, I will have to think this through, too many speakers, too less BGs or BG CDs, the one thing I'm sure of is that the BM 901, BG 1202 and Beovox 1600 stays together. I consider them my most beautiful pieces, the BM 2400, BG 2404 and S 45s for the workshop. In the bar I have to have my Jukebox, thinking about skipping the Jukebox amp and run directly to the BM 901, but as the TT in the Jukebox is a record killer, maybe I should find a bad looking radial BG and install the innards in the Jukebox, all the switches in the Jukebox are operated mechanical. so no problem there.
Interesting reading about your bar
I'm in the process of rebuilding the first floor of my house, where i'm going to have a bar, banquet facilities -and a little B&O museum. I'll post some pictures later -maybe in a thread about 'my little B&O museum'...
Sounds like a great idea to install a BG in your jukebox and run directly to your BM 901.Let's see some pictures when it's finished
BEAUTIFUL!
You must have followed the old advice from Flemming Leth from the Danish DIY program "Det' Leth": "You cant use too much linseed oil!"
Vinyl records, cassettes, open reel, valve amplifiers and film photography.
Steffen: And Søren -thanks for your advice I'm looking forward to see if you get the rosewood as you like it. To me it looks fine now - but you're the perfectionist...
Since your question I have been thinking of nothing else , but what came to mind was back in 2001 when I was building a boat, the deck of this boat was painted with marine grade polyurethane clear lacquer, now as my son is studying in DK and not rowing here anymore, we sold this boat beginning of this year, before selling it I cleaned it with soapy water, dried it of with a rag, and here is the result after 11 years use in the Xochomilco chanals, (very dirty water)
So it came to mind to use a maritime grade of poly paint, not shiny as this one, but satin finish, this will invoke that you have to clean and sand the wood properly, last sanding with 400 grain sandpaper, then one layer of polyurethane, wet sand with 400 grain, 2nd layer, wet sand, 3rd layer and polish with a fine polisher. that should protect against yellowing for years. Now if you want to build a boat look here there you will see how my family an I was 12 years ago, I forgot about my first web page ever until Steffen triggered something, thank you Steffen, I nearly dropped a tear seeing it again after so many years.
Steffen:I'm in the process of rebuilding the first floor of my house, where i'm going to have a bar, banquet facilities -and a little B&O museum.
I have to make my Bar on 9 square meters, so no banquet facilities, we Beoworlders will follow your project, and all of us will come visiting when its finished, if some of the members decide to come visiting Mexico they will have to sit in the garage if more than 12.
Søren Mexico: Steffen:I'm in the process of rebuilding the first floor of my house, where i'm going to have a bar, banquet facilities -and a little B&O museum. I have to make my Bar on 9 square meters, so no banquet facilities, we Beoworlders will follow your project, and all of us will come visiting when its finished, if some of the members decide to come visiting Mexico they will have to sit in the garage if more than 12.
You're welcome I have around 42 square meters for my bar, etc...
Thank you for the link to your boat project. Very interesting - also nice to see your lovely wife and son.
Thank you for sharing that you have stereos in so many rooms, makes me feel a little less odd. I have four stereos in the living room along with my juke box, one I don’t want to think about, perhaps ever again, in the dining room, and one in the bedroom.
Speaking of juke boxes, what brand is yours? I have a Seeberg B-100, which “apparently” was featured in the movie “Beyond the 12-Mile Reef.” I have never seen another B-100 quite like mine and there is was in the 1953 movie. The movie was shot in Tarpon Springs, Florida and I purchase my jukebox in Palm Harbor, Florida, only a few miles away.
My Jukebox, is not that old, its a Wurlitzer, Mexican made copy, Sonata Nostalgia build 1979, plays as jukeboxes does, and kill the records, sorry for the bad pic, its a 12 year old pic. Wurlitzer sold licenses to different countries, Mexico was one of them, the Mexicans call them Sinfonolas. I use only on special occasions. Sometimes I let it play for a party and activate the coin inlet for 10 MXP (0,70 USD). The amount that comes in goes to Niños de la calle, Childrens of the streets.Beside the jukebox I place a basket for paper money, and I get as many bills in the basket as coins in the jukebox, but the box plays continually the whole party, same melodies over and over.
That’s a mighty fine looking juke box you have there, very, very cool. All juke boxes are tough on records, however I still have several 45’s that came with my Seeberg and I have owned it nearly thirty years. Also mine is set up to play for free, so “charity beings at home.” [That was a joke, as I feel your charitable contribution to the children’s fund most commendable!]
Waiting for spares