Brian Richards Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Hi Guys. I was fortunate enough to acquire some great old Cornwall II's at a decent price a week ago. I have some authenticity questions. So these are the "WR" (unfinished walnut) variety. Most of the walnut cornwalls I've seen from the era are the "WO" (factory oiled) variety. Mine are '71 models which have definitely been oiled and perhaps stained along the way. I see a klipsch pricelist posted online from 1969 which describes the unfinished Cornwalls as NOT being furnished with grill cloth. Mine have cane cloths with the PWK pie-slice badges that certainly look as though they were installed way back when at the factory. These old Cornwalls didn't have the easily detachable front grills but rather the permanent install of cloth to the driver mounting board. I'd imagine this would have been a pain for someone to venture to do on their own. Did Klipsch offer to complete raw cabs at the factory with special order instructions perhaps? The crossovers have worked on as well. I'll likely "Crites" them soon. Also there's a "M0249805" inscription on the back of cab 2J071. Any idea what this means if anything? Probably an inscription for a service record I'd say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 I think raw cabinets were fairly common. As for "unfinished", you may be referring to Decorator models that came without grills. Anything is possible, I guess. Big fan of cane! How do they sound? More pictures, please... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 (edited) i had the same year cornwalls and mine were MR for Mahogany Raw and i BLO'ed them and they didn't make removable grills until 1975. correct badges are the pie slice and they are nailed on. the markings on the back are not factory, could be someones drivers licence number. i'm guessing you know these are verticals with the red arrows. Edited January 26, 2014 by Budman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdog Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 i had the same year cornwalls and mine were MR for Mahogany Raw and i BLO'ed them and they didn't make removable grills until 1975. correct badges are the pie slice and they are nailed on. the markings on the back are not factory, could be someones drivers licence number. i'm guessing you know these are verticals with the red arrows. I have some 74 cabinets, serial# letter M that came with removable grills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 (edited) did you get them brand new from the factory. do they look klipsch made or home made. someone could have easily removed the factory grill cloth and put on some later factory grills. i turned my 74 verticals with non removable factory grills into removable grills. Edited January 26, 2014 by Budman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdog Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 did you get them brand new from the factory. do they look klipsch made or home made. someone could have easily removed the factory grill cloth and put on some later factory grills. i turned my 74 verticals with non removable factory grills into removable grills. I got them used but if they had been changed I would be able to tell. there is absolutely no evidence of ever being non removable grills. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 (edited) one way to tell is you could pull out the motorboard and see if their is a million little holes from all the staples. how would you be able to tell. and what do you mean by no evidence Edited January 26, 2014 by Budman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdog Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 one way to tell is you could pull out the motorboard and see if their is a million little holes from all the staples. how would you be able to tell. and what do you mean by no evidence I mean no million little holes from all the staples. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Richards Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 (edited) More pics on the way. I took a bunch but almost all of them are over the MB limit for the forum. I'm starting a restoration blog but it made me want to stick a screwdriver in my eye trying to get pictures loaded. Haha. Mungkiman, I did mean "raw" as you mentioned when I said unfinished. Budman, yes definitely verticals. Maybe that is a driver license number??? I guess the buyer of my cornwalls might have ordered cane and stapled it on the motorboard himself. It looks old and factory to me so the guy did a good job. I just wonder if a customer could order up a pair of "raw" cornwalls and have the factory to do the grill cloth. One other thing, mine have brown paint on the interior edges of the front of the cabinet. I guess the buyer did this too but I see the factory oiled cabs with the same paint. I'm so confused! Haha. Not really. They're gorgeous sounding. My girlfriend loves blues through them--Big Mama Thornton, Buddy Guy and Albert King. Sigh... Thanks guys. Edited January 27, 2014 by Brian Richards 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 (edited) Cornwall verticles... they came with brown paint and un removable grill fabric. To bad about that caine... it was really attractive, but damages easily. It also shrinks a tidbit sometimes. You can order up immitation caine, but it's plastic. Edited January 27, 2014 by Schu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I just wonder if a customer could order up a pair of "raw" cornwalls and have the factory to do the grill cloth. Yes. Your girlfriend has good taste. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 (edited) the word raw has nothing to do with the grill cloth. the word raw means their was no finish on the walnut veneer and yes the factory put on the cane cloth. brown paint is factory also have you ever seen the decorator version. these came with flush fronts and no cloth Edited January 27, 2014 by Budman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Budman Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 (edited) 1974 verticals with stained white cloth. took out the motorboard and made grill boards out of masonite Edited January 27, 2014 by Budman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Richards Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Some more pics guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 I've always found those cross over interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Richards Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 And these pics as well. Here's the url for the 1969 Klipsch pricelist. Note page 3 where is says the unfinished models are not furnished with grillcloth... http://images.klipsch.com/Pricelist_690901_635164928661748000.pdf Thanks for the input guys. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Richards Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 Budman, I'm a big fan of the basic minimalist look of the decorators. They remind me of professional studio monitors. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungkiman Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Here's the url for the 1969 Klipsch pricelist. Note page 3 where is says the unfinished models are not furnished with grillcloth... http://images.klipsch.com/Pricelist_690901_635164928661748000.pdf Thanks for the input guys. Brian Found a '71 dealers price list that says the same thing. http://images.klipsch.com/Pricelist_711001_Dealer_635164928682340000.pdf My understanding was different. Looks factory... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sancho Panza Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 My understanding is when Decorator sales were slow, factory grilles were installed, on some, to help them sell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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