[FrankWong]

Indeed strange. I wouldn't say, must be nuts, as RS1, MS Pro & alike all run without sound chambers. Maybe it works with a small Grado, but definetely not with a MS1.

 

[Danthrax]

Quote:

Quote:

I love this thread!! James was here a short time ago a bit timid about modding his Grados and he i now coming up with wild ideas that will eventually yield some excellent sounds, you never know so I put some old with older quarter modded ones to see...haven't listened yet but let me ask you guys if we put it to a super secret vote I bet more than half of you guys already tried it...right!!!    I took a day off to be miserable and moan, then I got Crysis 2 and fragged a bunch of folks...all better now!!!

Don't mess with the old guy!!!!!

How is crysis? I'm getting a little tired of having my ass handed to me in FIFA lately.

It's like CoD4 in the future with special abilities. So, AWESOME!

 

[Danthrax]

Quote:

Quote:

I love this thread!! James was here a short time ago a bit timid about modding his Grados and he i now coming up with wild ideas that will eventually yield some excellent sounds, you never know so I put some old with older quarter modded ones to see...haven't listened yet but let me ask you guys if we put it to a super secret vote I bet more than half of you guys already tried it...right!!!    I took a day off to be miserable and moan, then I got Crysis 2 and fragged a bunch of folks...all better now!!!

Don't mess with the old guy!!!!!

How is crysis? I'm getting a little tired of having my ass handed to me in FIFA lately.

It's like CoD4 in the future with special abilities. So, AWESOME!

 

[Bilavideo]

I finally figured out how to do this with a drill press.
 




 
Can you see why the slip-on is only half the shell?

 

[Big Bill]

Quote:

I finally figured out how to do this with a drill press.

 
 
Please tell us how you did it?

 

[schwallman]

They look nice with the lacquer also. Did you try them out with a driver yet?
Quote:

I finally figured out how to do this with a drill press.
 




 
Can you see why the slip-on is only half the shell?

 

 

[hi-fiber]

ahhh... the advantages of having a drill press... hahaha
 
when was the last time you shaved, mr bilavideo?

 

[JamesMcProgger]

 
 
Quote:

 
the thing above your head "Bless our ... Bilavideo" 

 

[hi-fiber]

^
i like it!

 

[sharkz]

Those shells for liberated drivers? What are those aluminum housings from? Did you use multiple hole saws to the same depth then just saw (or dremel) the material? God I can't wait to listen to my phones again, I am jealous. I just listened to my Fostexes tonight, not the same, I am seriously considering selling them. Or I will keep them around to Thunderpants them when I get a lathe....

 

 

[Bilavideo]

 

Please tell us how you did it?

Big Bill, I was thinking about your setup and the need for reliable inners.  I've been meaning to send you some decent inners, but I wanted to make sure I sent you something worth having.  Anyway, I got this cool challenge from another friend who really took me to school on it.  The experience forced me to focus on what I have.  I almost broke out the lathe, but I wanted to see what I could do with a simple drill press, the sander and maybe the dremel for a little touch here and there.
 
1. Drill your first cut at 2 1/2".  If your drill saws are like mine, they've got character, the little scars from past service.  Use what you've got to set a depth you want.  Grado cuts the lip to 1/8".  It's elegant.  I'll give him that.  But it's also the most delicate and vulnerable part of the shell.  For that reason, I went a little deeper, to about 1/4".  It creates a more durable lip and one that grips the pad a little harder to produce a tighter and better (in my opinion) fit for better sound.  You're not going to drill any deeper than you need to in order to set the depth you're going for.
 
2. Drill the I.D. with at 1 2/3".  Unlike the first cut, which only went a little into the wood, this cut will take you to the very edge.  Now, to make it work, you have to tap into your inner artisan/zen master/hippie/dude.  You're going to want to drill down almost until you've cut through the board - but not all the way.  What you want to produce is the center hole out the other side without actually cutting through.  You can do this if you combine your intellect with a little sensory acuity.  "Feel" the drill bit cut through before the hole saw finishes going through.  You've got a clearance of probably 3/8" - sufficient to stop short if you're careful.
 
3. Flip the board over.  The center hole now provides you with a guide for the 2 1/4" cut you're going to make going the other way.  Before you start drilling for oil, get to know your drill press's method for measuring the vertical drop of the spindle and drill chuck.  I have a wheel on mine with a depth marker.  I also have a lock that lets me set the maximum vertical drop.  It took me a little practice to figure out how to set it to my satisfaction but once I did, I was able to set the maximum vertical drop so that my 2 1/4" stopped short about 1/4" from the "bottom" of this piece of wood.  I then cut to that point.
 
4. Your last step at the drill press is to finish.  I flip the board back up again and continue cutting the 2 1/2".  When I finish, I end up with a piece that has a wafer thin edge wherever the 2 1/2" cut going down meets the 2 1/4" cut going up.  The only place with real stability is the lip, which extends 1/8" or 1/4" along the wall of this wooden cylinder.  The result is a paper-thin coat of wood that's easy to push, pop, rip or snap off.  I use a dremel for this job.  The "wafer wood" strips away like old paint, leaving behind the one good layer of 1/8" to 1/4".  This is the lip.
 
5. The rest is just a matter of sanding and cleaning up your work, then giving the whole thing at least one nice coat of lacquer.  Lacquer brings out the color in the wood.  I love it, though I can see the benefits to limiting oneself to a single coat on something like this that won't be seen by many people.

 

[alphones]

Bill strikes again! Thanks for another lesson on creativity and craftsmanship.

 

[Bilavideo]

 

ahhh... the advantages of having a drill press... hahaha
 
when was the last time you shaved, mr bilavideo?

About a week, I think.  It looks good on Dr. House, but maybe that's because Hugh Laurie can pull it off.  I do get some looks at school.  Today, I was asked if I'd lost my razor.  I told them I was doing my pirate thing.  I may have to shave in the end, however.  My wife doesn't like the bristles.
 

the thing above your head "Bless our ... Bilavideo" 

I hadn't seen that.  Good eye!  That, I guess, is my halo.  I'm Saint Bilavideo, Guardian of All Modders.
 

^
i like it!

Thanks!
 

Those shells for liberated drivers? What are those aluminum housings from? Did you use multiple hole saws to the same depth then just saw (or dremel) the material? God I can't wait to listen to my phones again, I am jealous. I just listened to my Fostexes tonight, not the same, I am seriously considering selling them. Or I will keep them around to Thunderpants them when I get a lathe....

These are shells for partially-liberated drivers.  I think the partial liberation is winning the VHS/Beta debate over whether to do the Full Monty or to simply do what is good but safe.  While I am a booster for full liberation, I acknowledge that it's a royal pain in the ash (which has the fastest velocity of sound of any wood).  Once you pop that can, you have to be careful not to kill the driver, deal with crinkles in the mylar and come up with your own pepper shaker.  Given all that high-maintenance, I'm not surprised that folks are shy about liberation - but with partial liberation, you're not really taking much of a risk.  It's easy to pop out the driver while keeping the cage and staying away from the dead zone down at the bottom (where the white stuff protects the fragile line between the terminals and the voice coil).
 
With the relative ease of partial liberation, nobody should be forced to live with plastic inners.  Now, shells can start at the driver and now wait until the second shell.  Given the speed of sound and the relative distances here, we're not talking about an overwhelming difference, but yes, there are noticeable improvements to be had by letting the shell harvest and vent the full back wave, rather than leave it up to plastic for half the journey.
 
I used the following hole saws:

• 2 1/2" - about 1/4" down, to create the lip.
• 1 7/8" - about the same depth, to create a ridge for the partially-liberated driver.
• 1 3/4" - almost all of the way down, stopping where the guide bit pierces through the wood without allowing the hole saw to complete the cut.
• 2 1/4" - cutting through the other side, but stopping short of the lip, something I was able to do by adjusting the verticle drop limit with the depth marker and the vertical drop lock.
• 2 1/2" - again - to cut from top to bottom.  The result is a shell with a wafer-thin wrap of wood everywhere from the bottom of the lip down.

 
If you take your time and do it right, you can basically set everything up for a wonderfully regular cut so your lip can look perfect (or close enough to fool your mother).  Once you've got the rest of the 2 1/2" cut reduced to wrapping paper, just use the sander bit on the dremel, set to low speed, and gently cut away the wafer wood.  The result will make you pull a Will Smith. ("D@mn!!")  The dremel also lets you clean up scorch marks and otherwise sand up the wood before you lacquer.  Some like their wood "in the rough," but I like how the lacquer brings out its color, even if you stop at one coat so you can retain the feel of the wood grain.
 
Having had Fostexes thrust at me as a must-hear, must-have, Grado killer, I'm happy to hear somebody not pushing Fostex like it's an Amway product.
 

Bill strikes again! Thanks for another lesson on creativity and craftsmanship.

Al, I'm just trying to keep up with you.

 

[schwallman]

I would like to thank bill for the info and inspiration of modding the grados. He probably has John Grado tossing and turning at night thinking of what he should no next.
 
So with his knowledge and some guts on my part, I ripped open my RS1s and decided to play with them a bit. Punched some holes in the drivers, refinished the shells and added the"i" cable to them. I must say these are pretty ridiculous now. They have the bass I have longed for.
 
.

 

[Big Bill]

 
Quote:

Big Bill, I was thinking about your setup and the need for reliable inners.  I've been meaning to send you some decent inners, but I wanted to make sure I sent you something worth having.

Oh my, could that possibly mean that the shells pictured are for me?