littlejackhorner Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Hi kids, I got my first pair of La Scala's (early-ish 80's) the other day...8 square feet subtracted from my already little living room well spent So... One of them has a bottom panel that is 23" x 23 3/4" x 3/4" plywood with screws in from the bottom whose heads are so worn i can't really get a screwdriver into them! Any idea if this panel is original? How can i remove the bottom with the screw heads worn down like that? The other one is plain missing the bottom panel. But there are screws with little metal tabs attached...no idea how those are used. I dont see extra screw holes for how a panel would screw in either. What do the original ones look like and how to they attach? Now Im not advocating everybody to go turn their LaScala's upside down....but if anyone's got a pic of the bottom I'd love to see it! Li'l Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 reverse impact wrench will get the screws out. Bought mine at sears for 20 bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Islander Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 They're also known as an impact driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Alden Grabit works for extraction sold at Lowes etc. It is a bit. Costs about $5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejackhorner Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 Thanks everyone on the worn screw removal advice! Let me work on that and then try to figure out the other one with the missing panel. I assume if I go get a piece of plywood cut 23x23 3/4x3/4 with regular plywood plus some weather stripping or gasket that would be a good start for replacing my missing panel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Thanks everyone on the worn screw removal advice! Let me work on that and then try to figure out the other one with the missing panel. I assume if I go get a piece of plywood cut 23x23 3/4x3/4 with regular plywood plus some weather stripping or gasket that would be a good start for replacing my missing panel? The speakers are madfe from Baltic birch. Not regular birch. You can buy it in 5'X5' sheets for around $75-85 a sheet. I think it is 13 ply... As for the gasket, here is some stuff that will work well: http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=260-542 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejackhorner Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 Thanks Mustang guy. I'm thinking for the bottom panel I could get away without using the Baltic Birch and instead use something cheaper since it won't be seen anyways. Bob Crites told me to get a bottom panel or to seal up the bottom in some way to prevent the woofer from getting overstrained since it was meant to work in a sealed environment. The weather stripping will help that too. Thanks for the part number! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejackhorner Posted February 25, 2012 Author Share Posted February 25, 2012 Oh, one other thing about the Baltic Birch. Were the raw birch La Scalas have just a birch veneer or was it 100% Baltic Birch? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 Look for Baltic birch 3/4 plywood. I think it is 13 ply. It really doesn't have to be good both sides, as it is on the bottom. The best Baltic birch grade is B/BB. B is the front grade, and BB is the highest for the back. You can also find it called Russian birch. It can be purchased in 4'X8' sheets, BTW. 5X5 is more common, and will suit your needs. Raw Birch is Baltic birch that hasn't been finished. edit: I just read your post over and see you are planning to use cheaper plywood on the bottom. That is up to you, but there are many reasons Baltic birch is used in speaker building. I honestly can't tell you if changing to some other plywood would sound very different as a trap door. If they were my speakers, BB would go on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Klipsch did not use Baltic Birch for the LaScalas. Just about anything should do for the loading doors, just buy a handi-panel (2x2 or 2x4) of whatever your yard has. Klipsch used Birch veneered plywood with seven cores plus the two finished faces, so you see nine layers (the faces being very thin). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejackhorner Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 thanks for the info, djk! i do see the 7 cores from the side although the two thin veneers are too thin for me to see. But yeah, it seemed to make sense to me that I could use regular plywood for the bottoms. Now I'm wondering if these are also sort of decorator la scalas because there are no grills, the edges of sides are flush with the face, and the logo is mounted on the face (vs the grill). Then again, I read that there were no real decorator la scalas to speak of since they were all essentially plywood. Best, li'l jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 The LaScala could be ordered in any wood you liked, as long as that was birch! They were butt-jointed and had visible nail holes (filled). You could order them : raw stained (maple or walnut) painted (black) laquered black fiberglass with aluminm trim (either one piece or two piece) no grill, top grill, or full grill K33 woofer or K43 high power Anything else you could think of (red, white, and blue for Buck Owens) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desron65 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Old post I know but can you use basic plywood screws? 1 1/4” ? 4 per side? I just picked up a pair of Original La Scalas ($1200) because the owner upgraded to K-Horns due to lack of bass in the LSs. Both bottom panels were missing. Just picked up the Baltic birch 3/4” panels. Thanks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 1 minute ago, Desron65 said: I just picked up a pair of Original La Scalas ($1200) because the owner upgraded to K-Horns due to lack of bass in the LSs. Both bottom panels were missing. No wonder there was no bass. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desron65 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 No kidding! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 22 minutes ago, Desron65 said: Old post I know but can you use basic plywood screws? 1 1/4” ? 4 per side? I just picked up a pair of Original La Scalas ($1200) because the owner upgraded to K-Horns due to lack of bass in the LSs. Both bottom panels were missing. Just picked up the Baltic birch 3/4” panels. Thanks. they must have removed the panels to check the woofers ------and they still have them , call them first , before they throw them out ------and save yourself the trouble of Cutting the BB- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billybob Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Just now, RandyH 000 said: they must have removed the panels to check the woofers ------and still have them , call them first ------save yourself the trouble - Maybe that's why they sold them. No bass... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Just now, billybob said: Maybe that's why they sold them. No bass... one can see the screw holes and the lack of paint at the bottom -and the price was 1200$ ------he didn't steal them - 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desron65 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 Since these were the first and only LSs I have ever seen I didn’t think to ask about bottom panels. Now I know. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted July 7, 2020 Share Posted July 7, 2020 42 minutes ago, billybob said: Maybe that's why they sold them. No bass... IF i buy speakers missing the lower panels , and I know they have no bass ,and possibly in need of woofers , 1200$ would have been too high for me -- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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