KLH Model Thirteen

[JKent]

This is my second Thirteen restoration, and it was a challenge. Before & after shots below. I patched and filled the veneer, cleaned it up, and took it to Bristol Electronics in HoHoKus (yes--that's a real place) NJ. Tim is an ace. He replaced several caps, 1 pot, and the AC outlet. Cleaned the switches and controls, and aligned it. The only thing he could not do is find knobs. The originals were ivory. One was missing, and when the off/on/treble pot was replaced the new one had a solid shaft--not splined like the original. I decided to use some nice expensive solid aluminum knobs that are a good match for the black plastic knobs on the KLH Model Eight. Fifty bucks worth of knobs! But I think the result is quite nice.

Kent

[Guest majdewey]

This is my second Thirteen restoration, and it was a challenge. Before & after shots below. I patched and filled the veneer, cleaned it up, and took it to Bristol Electronics in HoHoKus (yes--that's a real place) NJ. Tim is an ace. He replaced several caps, 1 pot, and the AC outlet. Cleaned the switches and controls, and aligned it. The only thing he could not do is find knobs. The originals were ivory. One was missing, and when the off/on/treble pot was replaced the new one had a solid shaft--not splined like the original. I decided to use some nice expensive solid aluminum knobs that are a good match for the black plastic knobs on the KLH Model Eight. Fifty bucks worth of knobs! But I think the result is quite nice.

Kent

Kent,

Super restoration job on the Thirteen. Hope it sounds as good as it looks, but know it will if Tim fixed it. He does fantastic work on old Hi Fi stuff. The black knobs look just fine on the Thirteen. Keep up the good work on the KLHs.

Dewey

[dynaco_dan]

Kent,

Super restoration job on the Thirteen. Hope it sounds as good as it looks, but know it will if Tim fixed it. He does fantastic work on old Hi Fi stuff. The black knobs look just fine on the Thirteen. Keep up the good work on the KLHs.

Dewey

Hi Kent;

Nice restoration job.

The black knobs look real classy.

[JKent]

Thanks guys. If you're interested, my first Thirteen restoration is a few posts below. Here's the link:

http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Boar...?showtopic=3785

And the "before" shot of that unit:

[Andy]

Just wanted to add that I've seen a model thirteen with black KLH knobs and black feet, but only one. It likely was a customer request, or they were ordered via mail back in the early 60s from KLH to match a model Eights knobs.

The Thirteen looks good with the black knobs.....nice job.

[JKent]

Just wanted to add that I've seen a model thirteen with black KLH knobs and black feet, but only one. It likely was a customer request, or they were ordered via mail back in the early 60s from KLH to match a model Eights knobs.

The Thirteen looks good with the black knobs.....nice job.

Thanks Andy

Interesting.

Now I have a bit of a dilemma. The white (ivory) knobs on the thirteen are not the same as those on the Eight. The Eights had flatted shafts so the knobs had metal inserts. The Thirteens had splined shafts, like the later Eighteen and Twenty-One. Makes me wondered how they put black knobs on that Thirteen you saw. Were there black knobs for splined shafts?

So now this repaired Thirteen has 4 splined shaft and one solid. I have 4 white knobs to fit the spined shafts but I also have a spare white knob from an Eight. I could file a flat on the solid shaft of the on/off/treble pot (odd) and have all white knobs. It would be more authentic (but then $50 worth of machined aluminum black knobs would end up in the spare parts drawer )

Any thoughts/suggestions?

thanx

Kent