*Update 5/7*Project log - Disassembling the Grado RS1 & Modding and Thunderpants Mod(with pics)

[snapple10]

Quote:

Some good news!
 
Found an RS1 set on Audiogon.  Still confirming the deal....but I'm pretty sure they'll be mine.  So yes, at the risk of my wife finding out how much I've spent.... my $900 set of custom and semi-vintage RS1's are almost complete.  Muah-ah-ah-ahhhh.

 
Also, I don't think I'll need to mess with the cups, drivers, screens or button.  They appear to be Vintage B or Classic's in outstanding condition and here's the kicker- they have been recently recabled by  Moon Audio with 15 foot Black Dragon and had visited Grado Labs for a checkup.  I think all I'm going to do is take the cups and stick them in my new housing.  Not going to tempt fate on these ones....especially since they look to be in perfect condition.  

been following your journey, pls post a pic of the new one. Cann't wait to see. 
 

 

[LugBug1]

Nice one! every cloud etc..
 
We never tell our wives.. not ever. (my Rs1i's cost £40 ha ha) 

 

[kite7]

That's good to hear, so what will do with the new cups after moving the drivers into your cups? Another project?

 
@LugBug1 £40? I would tell everyone

 

[schwallman]

the higher up the headphone ladder I go my wife thinks its only another $50. She would be pissed if she knew how much everything actually cost.
Quote:

Nice one! every cloud etc..
 
We never tell our wives.. not ever. (my Rs1i's cost £40 ha ha) 

 

 

[schwallman]

Im glad you found another set.
 
I dropped of my cups yesterday to that guy I told you about locally. He will have them for me this week. He is also going to do another set for me. I want to do something like 6x9s on my head.

 

[mlantinen]

Been working on the T-Pants refurb tonight.  Getting out all the nicks and smudges.... Re-sanded and stained tonight.  Hope to shine everything up tomorrow and recable.   I'll have to post in the T50rp or T-Pants thread.
 
@snapple10- Thanks.  It's good to see another MN head-fier.  And you've got a nice set of gear...if ya know what I mean. 
 
@Luggy- Yeah, you don't need to rub it in our faces....sheesh man.  LUCKY.
 
@kite7- I think I'll be selling the cups and the headband/plastic blocks.  I'll definitely keep the rods though.  Definitely nice to have an extra set for another project and I can maybe salvage a metal headband rod and make a leather headband. 
 
@schwally-looking forward to checking out your guy's work.  Seems like he's got a knack.
 
Word out.
- Mar-Tay

 

[schwallman]

take some pictures. Im curious how they are made. Im a couple of points away from another amazon $25 gift card that should cover a set if they ever get back in stock there.
Quote:

Been working on the T-Pants refurb tonight.  Getting out all the nicks and smudges.... Re-sanded and stained tonight.  Hope to shine everything up tomorrow and recable.   I'll have to post in the T50rp or T-Pants thread.
 
@snapple10- Thanks.  It's good to see another MN head-fier.  And you've got a nice set of gear...if ya know what I mean. 
 
@Luggy- Yeah, you don't need to rub it in our faces....sheesh man.  LUCKY.
 
@kite7- I think I'll be selling the cups and the headband/plastic blocks.  I'll definitely keep the rods though.  Definitely nice to have an extra set for another project and I can maybe salvage a metal headband rod and make a leather headband. 
 
@schwally-looking forward to checking out your guy's work.  Seems like he's got a knack.
 
Word out.
- Mar-Tay

 

 

[LugBug1]

Quote:

Nice one! every cloud etc..
 
We never tell our wives.. not ever. (my Rs1i's cost £40 ha ha) 

I meant £40 is what I told my Missus.... I actually paid £490.

 
Cheers everyone!
 

 

[kite7]

 
Quote:

 
@kite7- I think I'll be selling the cups and the headband/plastic blocks.  I'll definitely keep the rods though.  Definitely nice to have an extra set for another project and I can maybe salvage a metal headband rod and make a leather headband. 

I might be interested in your cups depending on the price. I would really like to somehow find a way to put my SR125 drivers into a RS1 housing. Liberation sounds risky, I definitely do not want to risk killing my vintage SR125 drivers so I might have to try it for a SR60i first.
 

 

[WhiteCrow]

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I might be interested in your cups depending on the price. I would really like to somehow find a way to put my SR125 drivers into a RS1 housing. Liberation sounds risky, I definitely do not want to risk killing my vintage SR125 drivers so I might have to try it for a SR60i first.
 

liberate them with a sander, form what I have herd you can sand down the outer walls of the plastic and then chip it away.
 
 

 

[mlantinen]

@kite7- schwally has dibs on the cups and headband/rodblocks.  I'll keep ya posted if he passes on them.  Soon I'll be turning a pair of cups from scratch, so I'll let you know if I want to sell a a pair....for a reasonable price.  Yeah, jailbreaking those drivers would be a bit challenging but could be well worth it for a wooden housing.

 

[mlantinen]

 
Quote:

 
take some pictures. Im curious how they are made. Im a couple of points away from another amazon $25 gift card that should cover a set if they ever get back in stock there.

You talking about the T-Pants housing or the driver of the T50rp?  I've got some pics that I'll post of the refurb, so you can see the innerds. 

 

[schwallman]

Quote:

 
You talking about the T-Pants housing or the driver of the T50rp?  I've got some pics that I'll post of the refurb, so you can see the innerds. 

Yeah just pics of what it all looks like. Ive read through alot of the pages in the thunderpants thread and they sound interesting.
 
 

 

[Donnyhifi]

 
Quote:

Nice one! every cloud etc..
 
We never tell our wives.. not ever. (my Rs1i's cost £40 ha ha) 

Haha! Yeah, I tried that trick for my recent Camera purchases(Canon 60D + Canon 17-55mm F2.8 + Canon 10-22mm and flash gear) and told her it cost about $800.
She believed me at first but then she started paying attention to prices at stores

and figured its worth more than $2000, now she scrutinizes all my purchases.

 
 

 

[mlantinen]

Ok. Here's a bunch of random pics.  Includes some of the T-Pants refurb project and some of the RS1 accent rings and the vintage B RS1 cups.  The 3rd, 4th and 5th pics from the end are accent rings that I'm going to sell to help fund the replacement RS1s.  They were my first set that I turned and will fit any cups that are similar to the RS1's like the Alessandro Pros, etc.  Lemme know if you're interested.
 
You can see that I sanded the nasty chip out of the T-Pants rod clamps.  Sorry I didn't get a pic of the inside of the T-Pants cups.  Underneath that insulation is a circular cutout of leather.  I took out the insulation.  I thought it absorbed way too much.  With just the leather they sound better, but I'm going to mess with different materials to see what I can get.  I re-sprayed the rods since I had a copper spray paint on hand and I also sprayed the screens for the RS1 cups.  I love that color....so warm and inviting.   That foam around the edges of the cups was a b***h to get off.  Smeggy glued it pretty tight-like.  
 
For those who might want to know....I wanted to refurb the cups and rod clamps because they're pretty beat up with small dings and smudges.  And the cable sleeving obviously needed to be redone and it was terminated in a mini-plug...yucky.  Who listens to orthos from an ipod?  
 
I used poly for the shiny coat.  I've been messing with woodworking super glue for the final shiny coats, but I really wanted to try this stuff and so far it seems to work better.  The super glue needs to be applied on a lathe.  The poly is just applied with a cloth so the parts...like rod clamps, etc. don't need to be turning on a lathe, which would obviously be impossible.  I should be able to sand lightly tomorrow and put another coat on.  Then Wed should be able to recable.
 
Oh, and I rounded the edges of the rod clamps.  I like the newer look.
 
Enjoy.