[iHelp]

Wow, good job. Clean looks AND IT'S SHINY!!!!! OOOOH!!!!

nuff said.

 

[fatcat28037]

Nicely done. Would you explain more about the procedure, where the brass stock is from, drilling the holes..etc.

 

[Wiggy Fuzz]

those gs1000's look like they need a new home... with me... can i liberate them from you...?

 

[erd]

Good to hear that people like the mod. And yeah, I too, want to see this on a HF2... unfortunately I don't have one.

The yoke is fairly easy to make and doesn't require expensive tools... those of you with a RS2, SR325 or the brand spanking new HF2 should give it a try. Less crappy cheap plastic on your expensive and otherwise awesome headphones, what are you waiting for! Here's some guide/tips on how I made it:

First, you need to find a metal pipe. I recommend brass or aluminium (for a silver look). If you want a shiny polished look, but don't have the tools to do the polishing yourself, then make sure the pipe is pre-polished. I used polished brass pipe, but I have tried a number of other material before; here are some tips for choosing your new look:

- You can spray paint it black if you want the original Grado look (RS2 will look more like RS1).
- Unpolished brass gives a vintage/steampunk look, if that's your thing.
- Silver look doesn't go that well with wood, but probably good for HF2/SR325
- Don't use stainless steel, way too tough for regular power drill.
- I also tried carbon-fiber... probably cool for HF2/SR325, but doesn't go very well with wood... (duh)


Try to find a pipe with inner-diameter as close to 6 cm (2.36 inches) as possible. Wall thickness should be around 1-2 mm.

I bought my brass pipe pre-polished from here:
MARKSTAAR, The Authority In High-Quality Commercial Products
You can get unpolished pre-cut brass or aluminium pipe here:
Online Metal Store | Small Quantity Metal Orders | Metal Cutting, Sales & Shipping | Buy Steel, Aluminum, Copper, Brass, Stainless | Metal Product Guides at OnlineMetals.com

Then You need to cut the pipe into rings about 7mm wide. This is the hardest part, because depending on what kind of saw you use, it could be difficult to cut it straight. I used a regular hacksaw... not recommended. If you don't have the tools to do a straight cut you might want to cut it a little bigger than 7mm and use a file to remove the excess metal.

After you got the rings, use a drill to drill 2 holes on each ring where the 2 pegs that hold the cup supposed to be. The holes diameter should be about 2.8mm (.112 inch), the size of a 4-40 screw (make sure you buy the right drill bit to drill metal). The size should be pretty close to the plastic pegs on the crappy plastic yoke. Make sure the holes are directly opposite to each other.

If you try to put the ring on the cup right now, you'll notice that you need a "gap" on the ring for the cable. This is why the RS1 metal ring won't fit the RS2. RS1's driver is set deeper in the cup, so cable is not directly where the yoke is. If you look closely, the RS1 metal ring also has a little gap for the cable, we need the same gap, but a lot deeper. Leave about 1-2 mm of metal on the gap, we still want a ring, not a "C".

Use a file, and slowly scrape away the metal to make the gap. Feel free to make the gap a bit larger than the cable thickness, so that if your hole is not perfectly centered, the cable will still fit between the gap.

Now is a good time to remove the crappy plastic yoke, and try on your cool new metal ring on the cup. Remove the foam pads and carefully Pull the plastic yoke apart to remove it. Try not to leave marks on the wooden cups and hopefully they won't break like mine did... stupid crappy plastic yoke... This step might hurt your finger a bit.

If you like the look (or broke the yoke), commence to the next step, otherwise abort! If you choose to continue, there's going back.

Break the crappy plastic yokes and burn them. But keep the metal rods and plastic pegs (you can push the pegs off the yoke). Leave the L/R block on the rods. Although not completely necessary, I also recommend removing the headband from the L/R block as well. To remove the headband, first you should see how the glue holds the metal to the plastic block. Try breaking the glue by pushing the metal away from the glue until you hear a crack, and just pull.

Now you need to make the pegs fit the holes you drilled on your cool new metal rings. You'll most likely need to use a file or a knife to re-shape the pegs a little so that you can push the pegs through the holes from the outside of the ring. Make sure the pegs don't come off easily and don't make the pegs go completely through the hole. Leave one end of the pegs a bit larger than the hole so you have something to grab-on in case you want to remove the pegs. Do this step carefully, if you make a peg too small, or the hole too big... then you'll be forced to find something else for a peg. I also tried using screws, but I found it hard to find screws with the right length.

Try installing the rings on the cups. If you do it right, the pegs should be JUST long enough to reach the hole. But don't push the pegs in too hard just yet, instead, remove the pegs and the ring. Now is a good time to attached the metal rod.

Drill another hole on each ring where the metal rod supposed to be using the same drill bit. Once you got the holes, if you notice that the metal rod is a little too big for the hole. then you need to widen the hole a little. Put the drill in the same hole and use the drill as a file to widen the holes. Be careful not to snap the drill bit, this is probably a good time to put on some safety glasses.

Once you get the metal rod to fit in the hole, you need to find a way to hold it in place. I went with a strong epoxy putty that's normally used to repair holes and cracks in various metal parts. You can probably weld it together like an electronic parts on a circuit board as well. Just make sure you put the rod on a slight angle, otherwise the cups may not sit on your ear properly. If you look at the crappy plastic yoke, you'll see how the metal rod is angled. Make sure you have the L/R block in the rod before you attached the rod to the ring. Otherwise you'll need to remove the rubber tip to insert the L/R block. The rubber tip will come off after using a hair dryer to melt the glue.

And you're done! Just install the new totally awesome metal ring to your cup, this time push the pegs in firmly and re-insert the headband. Don't forget to take pictures and post it on head-fi

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wiggy Fuzz /img/forum/go_quote.gif those gs1000's look like they need a new home... with me... can i liberate them from you...?

Yeah, they look like they need a home. But as of now they'll have to remain in my dark dark (and dirty) dungeon... I'll let you know when they are set free though

 

[fatcat28037]

Thanks for the tutorial. Nicely written.

 

[erd]

No problem.
Please let me know if you ran into any problems with my instructions or have any suggestions you like to add.

 

[shomie911]

The RS-2's really deserve a metal yoke.

Looks great, now I want a brass yoke instead of my plastic one.

 

[willmax]

Quote:

A mod inspired by unfortunate events and a broken 'yoke'...

Good amount of time and money were spent on R&D... in other words, a lot of things I tried didn't really worked out too well. But I think I'm finally onto something...

Hey erd, I think you did an amazing job with the brass gimbals, I loved the looks of it and I IMO it goes really well with the mahogany cups, I always thought the RS2 deserved a better set of gimbals instead of the plastic ones, so well done.

 

 

[weeksy79]

Time for another newbie to reawaken this awesome thread! I plan have a go at your idea, using aluminium pipe as it will be for my SR325is'. But what I'm stuck on are those darn pegs! I rally can't stand the idea of using this awkward pegs that are just a nightmare in every way. I wanted to come up with some sort of sprung pin design that would allow the cups to be removed easily, but without causing any irreparable damage. So no threading the the holes on the cups or welding to the cups etc. So far the only thing I have been ably to come up with is maybe a very small leaf style spring (there isn't enough room for a coil) that is attached to the yoke. What do you guys think? Any ideas? 

 

[dakwan]

Nice tut and guide. Thumbs up!

 

[SAINT PEPSI]

Buld me an aluminum one for the MS1i's and I'll pay you.