Mark's Statements Build Thread

[David_D]

Hey Mark,
The baffles look great! I am jelous.

[DeathMonk]

edit: n/m

btw, great craftsmanship ;x(

[mlammert]

Thank you VERY much David and Death Monk!!!

Ha ha... Actually it changed at the very beginning of the build...

Reference the beginning of Curt's suggestion here:

https://www.htguide.com/forum/showpost.php?p=414717&postcount=8

I originally had areas of sealed off air space at the tops and bottoms of the speakers... The extra hight was just cosmetic at that point... Then, after asking for some input, Curt came back with the suggestion of expanding the volume of my Statements to include the dead space and reconfigure it to a two port enclosure...

Again, I really appreciate everyone's help/curiosity/assistance/support/encouragement over the weeks it has taken me to build these!!!

I am gluing the baffles on tonight!!!

I have asked Curt to double-check my crossover layouts and once that is signed off, I will begin soldering...

Thanks!!!

Mark

[mlammert]

Soldering Question

Hey guys,

I am in the process of soldering the speaker wire together to splice it for the split between the two woofer and the two midrange drivers...

I have never soldered wires together before... Only copper pipe... :P

So, I am practicing on some scrap wire...

How does this splice look???

This is what I did:

1 - Stripped the wire back

2 - Fanned out the individual strands

3 - Twisted them together

4 - Tinned the soldering iron (seemed I had to tin the soldering iron multiple times throughout the entire process - is this normal???)

5 - Set the wire splice on top of the solder iron tip

6 - Waited for the wire to get hot (the wire actually got really hot almost too hot to hold - is this normal???)

7 - Applied solder to the wire on the opposite side of the wire in relation to the soldering iron

8 - Let the solder be sucked into the wire strands

If anybody is reading this at this time and has any knowledge on this subject matter I would really appreciate some tips/tricks or affirmation of what I am doing...

Sorry the pictures are a bit blurry - it is the best my phone will do close up... :roll:

Thanks!!!

Mark

[Hdale85]

Strip more and then wrap them tightly around each other. Lets see if I can find a picture...

Ah found the nicest image



This is how I've always done it.

[mlammert]

Dougie, thanks for the quick photo... I appreciate it...

I am letting this go for tonight... I am getting way too frustrated and don't want to mess anything up...

I understand what the photo is showing but that is really hard to do with two and three strands of 12-gauge wire...

Some of my finger tips are bleeding... 8O

My buddy's Dad is an old school electrical engineer; so he offered to come over tomorrow night and show me how to solder...

I think I might have the hang of it but I have a feeling I am making it way harder than it needs to be... But, maybe not... I don't know...

So so close to the end...

Mark

[Hdale85]

Well you don't have to do it exactly like the picture. Obviously with larger guages it's going to be near impossible to do. Just try and get something close. You want a nice solid connection before you solder. Solder is just meant to hold it all in place.

[mlammert]

Thanks Dougie...

When you have never done something before, just simple tips like that make a world of difference...

I appreciate it!!!

Mark

[Ray Collins]

The primary sequence for a good solder joint is to heat the joint and add the solder to it, i.e. , the hot joint melts the solder. You are on the right procedural track. Do not disturb the joint until it seizes (cools a little) or you will have a cold joint which will appear grainy. It is a very simple skill to acquire. Finally, only add enough solder to flow the joint; if you add too much the excess will roll up on the tip of the iron. I learned to solder when I was 10 years old working(piddeling) in the shop of one of my dad's furniture and appliance stores. Simple, very simple skill...

Ray

[impala454]

Just make sure you have a good physical connection. You should be able to lightly tug on it before you solder it.

[Curt C]

The crossover layouts look correct...
The stuffing looks fine...
The enclosures look great...
You have been given sage soldering advice...
You are cleared for takeoff. :B

C

[mlammert]

Thanks again to everyone for the quick and excellent advice!!!

Knowing that my crossover layout is good and getting all the good advice on soldering helped a whole lot...

I am going to take another shot at soldering tonight and see how it goes...

Thanks!!!

Mark

[Ray Collins]

Chuck makes a valid point on the connection; It does not need to be a "wire splice" but should stay in place on its on. As he said, it should withstand a slight tug. You will laugh when you find how simple it really is.

Ray

[mlammert]

Awesome progress has been made Wednesday night and Thursday morning!!! Happy Turkey Day everybody!!!

As everyone said, soldering is a piece of cake... To quote Ray above, yes I did laugh out loud... :lol: My buddy's Dad came over Wednesday night and gave me a soldering 101 lesson and it was awesome... After a few test joints I was soldering like a champ... :B

The following pictures show the steps I took to solder the speaker wires together... I figured I would document this for other solder nubies such as myself...

Picture one shows the speaker wire ends coming out of the cabinets...

Picture two shows trimming back the cover and then I stripped about 3/4"-1" of insulation off the wires...

Picture three shows how I fanned out the individual braids of the wire...

Picture four shows the end result of laying the fanned out braids on top of each other and then twisting them all together... This was easy to do with my fingers for joining two wires... When I had to join three I used a pair of needle nose pliers to aid in the twisting...

Picture five shows a completed and successful solder connection... Their should be no copper wire showing and all the strands of wire should have a nice coating of solder on them... You should still be able to see the individual strands but all should have a nice coat on them...

Continued...

[mlammert]

The first two pictures show me in action soldering...

When doing this, unwrap about 2 feet of solder from the spool and let it just hang over the side of your bench or table so you are not fighting to unwind it while soldering the joints...

I was using a 140w soldering gun and it took about 10-15 seconds for it to heat the twisted wire enough to start melting the solder... THIS WAS THE KEY... I was getting frustrated at my first attempts the other day primarily due to the fact that I was using a 45w soldering iron... The 140w soldering gun made all the difference in the world...

I took the approach of placing the tip of the soldering gun under the twisted wire and then touched the solder to the top of the twisted wire... When everything is hot enough the solder will literally be sucked into the strands of the wire... It is actually quite cool and amazing if this is your first time doing this... 8)

You will need about 1 1/2 feet of the solder to thoroughly saturate the twisted wire... Especially on the three wire bundles...

Let the connection cool and check the under side of it to be sure the solder flowed all the way through it... If not, just flip it over and repeat the process on the other side... Obviously you will not need as much solder this time around...

The last three pictures show the process I used to heat shrink and then tie wrap the connections...

My buddy's dad showed me the trick of taking the normal size heat shrink and covering the solder connection... Cut it long and then folder over the end and then place a short piece of the next size up of heat shrink over the fold... This produces a nice tidy package...

I then used three tie wraps to bundle everything together... This made the wire extremely stiff and there is no tension or tugging on the wire or connections...

Nice...

[mlammert]

Once all the wires were soldered together I then started routing and securing the wires to the inside of the cabinets...

Pictures one and two show how I routed the tweeter and upper midrange and upper woofer wires through the small cavities on the sides of the midrange enclosures... Probably not necessary but I used wrap hold downs to secure the wires to the walls...

Picture three shows all the wires routed and the end terminals connected...

Picture four shows how I used a large zip tie to secure all the soldered bundles to one of the vented braces... This worked really good in securing and eliminating any tugging on any of the wires...

Finally, I used my meter to check the continuity of each wire... I touched one probe to one of the binding posts and the other probe to one of the speaker connectors and made sure the meter read zero... I did this for the positive and negative of each speaker terminal...

Remember, the midrange speakers are wired in reverse... Positive input goes to negative speaker terminal... Negative input goes to positive speaker terminal...

Next - glue up!!! :B

[mlammert]

With both cabinets correctly wired, I went ahead and glued the baffle to the first speaker...

I only have enough clamps for one glue up at a time...

The first three pictures show various shots of the baffle being glued...

I used two generous beads of liquid nail around the perimeter of the speaker body and the perimeter of the midrange cabinets... I put a generous single bead along all the other bracing...

I clamped them down and also used some various computer equipment to weigh down the other areas of the speaker...

There was plenty of liquid nail squeeze out on the outside and inside... I wiped up on the outside and also used a small flat head screw driver to scrape the squeeze out out of the 1/8" rabbet...

Oh, I also wrapped the speaker connectors with tin foil just in case so that no liquid nail squeeze out would gum them up...

I threw in the last picture to show how before taking off the connectors for the tweeters I marked on the label which terminal was positive and negative...

A wonderful wonderful start to Thanksgiving!!! :B

Enjoy it and be safe in your travels everyone!!!

Mark

[David_D]

Very well documented Mark. Your off to a roaring start to your Turkey Day!
Have a Happy Thanksgiving. Time to pull up the couch & crack a beer.

[mlammert]

Hey guys,

Hope everyone had an excellent and safe Thanksgiving!!!

The first speaker glued up perfect... :B

I also have my crossover boards laid out and am ready to start soldering as soon as I run out and get some supplies...

Quick question on possibly mounting a "foot" to the bottom of the speakers...

The attached picture shows the outline of the bottom of my speakers... You can see how the back, front, and sides are all butt jointed to the bottom panel of the speaker...

The dotted line is the proposed area where I was thinking of attaching some sort of foot or feet to the bottom of the speakers...

My question is -- since the bottom panel is simply butt joined to the sides and rear and front -- if I secure the feet to the bottom panel won't all the weight of the entire speaker be relying on the those few butt joints??? Or, am I not seeing the big picture???

I have a vision of the weight of the speaker "popping" the bottom butt joints and crashing down around the bottom panel and feet... 8O

Thanks guys!!!

Next speaker glue up on its way...

Mark

[Curt C]

The first two pictures show me in action soldering...

A lefty, huh? No wonder your cab design is so aesthetically pleasing. :T
-Right brain dominant and all that... :B

A well glued butt joint (at least with conventional wood glue) will be stronger than the surrounding MDF, so I wouldn't sweat it. I'd also be tempted to use 3 spikes pushed to the outside edges so it will be self centering...

C

[Dennis H]

Did you use liquid nails on those joints? If so, I wouldn't trust it. That stuff's really weak compared to yellow glue which should be fine. You could use some screws to beef it up if necessary.

[David_D]

Hi Mark,
I do like the idea of a foot to encompass the side edges. Also, if gives you yet another oportunity for some artistic freedom.

[mlammert]

Thanks for all the feedback guys...

Yeah, I am going to have to think about the speaker's foot...

The second speaker has had its baffle glued on today... It is drying now...

The first speaker is standing upright and is oh so cool looking...

I bit of Durham's and sanding and it will be ready...

I stopped at Lowe's today and got some oil based primer, oil based flat black paint, and oil based poly...

I will begin working on the crossovers as I apply Durham's and sand down the speakers...

More progress and pictures tomorrow!!!

Mark

[mlammert]

Starting to work on the crossovers and finishing the speakers...

First pictures shows the paint I bought... KILZ oil-based primer that has been tinted dark gray for black paint... Rust-oleum oil-based flat black... And, Minwax oil-based gloss polyurethane...

Second picture shows the two bases I cut to mount the crossover components to... These are currently being primed and will eventually be gloss black just like the speakers...

Unfortunately, I have to wait till these parts are dry and finished before I can actually begin work on the crossovers...

Picture three shows a close up of the holes I drilled through the base... These holes mirror each other... I originally laid out all the components in an eye-pleasing fashion... Then, I aligned all of them and made sure everything was equidistant and all that good stuff... Each hole I drilled is approximately 1/4" from the end of the component... So, I will bend the component wires so that they go down through the holes... I will hot glue the components to the top of the board and then solder all the connections to the back...

More to come...

EDIT: FROM MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE DO NOT FOLLOW THESE STEPS WITH THESE PRODUCTS! YOU WILL GET BAD RESULTS! REFER TO POSTS 342 AND 343 FOR PRODUCTS AND STEPS THAT PRODUCE EXCELLENT RESULTS! - MARK 11/30/08

Mark

[mlammert]

Since I am going to have a little while to work on the crossovers while I literally wait for paint to dry, I am going to work on the prep work of the speakers for finishing...

These pictures show the first completely glued up speaker... It turned out very very nice!!!

You can see the areas where I have applied Durham's wood putty on some of the areas that needed a little help...

Now I am literally waiting for paint AND wood putty to dry... Ha ha...

I should have painted the crossover board long ago... But, oh well... Live and learn, right...

The last pictures is a shot down the mid tunnel... It is so simple but also oh so gratifying to see the midrange cutout perfectly centered in the mid tunnel...

I've got some feet ideas for the speakers as well... Gotta make a few calls on Monday...

I unwrapped the Emotiva XPA-2 yesterday... So cool... I gotta figure out exactly what I am going to do with it though... I am thinking of maybe building a "platform" for it to sit on and the crossover boxes will flank it on either side... Don't know... Just talking off the top of my head right now...

More later!!!

Mark

[impala454]

Mark it's looking great! You're on the home stretch!

Did you use the Kilz on the bare MDF? Did that seal it up pretty well? I'm still trying to figure out how to finish mine.

[mlammert]

Thanks a lot Chuck!!!

For Chuck and all others questioning finishing methods; here are my current and early stages of results:

I had DISASTROUS results with the oil-based KILZ and oil-based black paint... :M Thank God these were on just the crossover bases and some scrap...

From my experience I am not going to use nor would I recommend using them...

The combination of oil-based KILZ and oil-based black paint left very large "ridges" in the paint that would NOT sand out of it... Also, the oil-based black paint has been on the test pieces for well over 24 hours and are still extremely tacky and sticky to the touch...

Also, to me, it seems as though the oil-based KILZ raised the fibers of the MDF and particle board (was going to use scrap particle board for my crossover bases)...

Solution to the problem:

I tried using some latex-based KILZ and some latex-based American Accents black paint that I had left over from some furniture refinishing I did...

It worked AWESOMELY!!! :B

I tested this new combination on three pieces of wood... (1) The flat face of some 1/4" MDF, (2) the end grain of MDF scraps I had left from cutting the port holes out of the rear curves, and (3) some 1/4" particle board...

Flat face 1/4" MDF - the KILZ was barely rough when it dried and I used some 220 grit paper and quickly sanded it to a mirror smooth finish... The American Accents paint did the same on it... Looks fabulous!!!

End grain MDF rear curve scraps - the KILZ was a little more rough than above when it dried and I used some 220 grit paper and quickly sanded it to a near mirror smooth finish... I think a second coat of KILZ will produce mirror smooth results on the end grain as it did on the flat face... I put the second coat on this morning when I woke up and will test later on before lunch...

Particle board - the KILZ major raised fibers and was unsandable and unusable...

Luckily, I only wasted about $15 in supplies... And, I am sure I can use the oil based products for some other home project...

I am going to go back to Lowe's and get some latex-based KILZ and have them dye it gray again and get a full can of the American Accents black paint and some acrylic-based polyurethane...

After I get my new supplies I will once again try and paint the new crossover bases and again post pictures and results...

A "wasted" day but much gained knowledge!!!

Mark

[mlammert]

So far so good on my "new" finishing method...

Picture one shows the new group of products I am using to finish the speakers...

We have (1) latex-based ZINSSER primer that has been dyed dark gray, (2) is Rust-oleum's American Accents latex-based flat black paint and (3) Minwax's water-based semi-gloss Polycrylic...

Note: You will recall in my prior posts I was using KILZ that was tinted... When I went to a different Lowe's today the guy there told me that you are NOT suppose to tint KILZ and said that ZINSSER was tintable... The ZINSSER can did indeed state it was tintable and the KILZ can said nothing of the sort... I don't know if that had anything to do with my prior undesirable results...

I have always been a big fan of Rust-oleum's American Accents paint...

Picture two shows the 1/4" MDF crossover base with all the holes drilled in it...

Picture three shows the crossover base primed... Only a one hour dry/recoat time... Nice...

Picture four shows the crossover base with the first coat of black paint on it...

Between pictures three and four I lightly sanded the dry primer and it came out awesome!!! Again, I used 220 grit sand paper and it was glass smooth after that...

Now, lots of people will tell you that you cannot sand latex-based paints and whatnot... I am by no means an expert painter... I actually hate painting... But, I have sanded latex-based paint hundreds of times in the past...

You (1) have to be sure that it is fully dry according to the product label... And, (2) you have to sand it lightly... When you do it properly the sanded off paint will kind of ball up like when you rub peeling skin from a sun burn... Very small little balls...

Wipe that down with a dry shop towel and it feels like a mirror... Very soft and smooth...

I did this exact same process when I refinished our kitchen cabinets and they turned out beautifully... I really don't know why I just didn't do this from the beginning... Oh well... Who knows... :P

Mark

[mlammert]

Quick update on the speaker bodies...

Both speakers are now completely built!!! :B

Here are just two quick photos I snapped of them...

I am starting to sand down the Durham's and glue/liquid nail squeeze out...

Needed to apply a bit more Durham's in some areas...

I got a little sander happy and made a small divot in one area... I am probably the only person that would have ever known but I have the Durham's and I have the time since I am now once again literally waiting for paint to dry... :P

They look very nice... I am very proud up to this point...

Hopefully, if all goes well with the painting of the crossover base, I should be able to start soldering tomorrow night and prepping the speakers for paint by mid week... :B

More soon!!!

Mark

[impala454]

Thanks a lot for documenting this, I think it will help out a lot of people (myself included!).

[Johnloudb]

Hi Mark,

Excellent build you got going here. I just wanted to add one point about soldering - not sure if this was mentioned or not. But, when soldering the crossovers you want to limit the time you apply heat to the solder joint to less than 8 - 10 seconds. Too much heat can damage the capacitors and resistors. I usually just heat the joint 3 seconds and flow the solder.

I look forward to see these finished. :T

[mlammert]

No problem, Chuck!!! Always glad to help!!!

Thanks for the detailed info, John... I knew you had to be careful but knowing some exact time limits helps me a lot... Thanks!!!

:T

More on the finishing of the crossover bases:

Yesterday I applied a total of 2 coats of primer, 3 coats of black paint, and 3 coats of polyurethane...

I waited the 1 hour indicated dry time between the coats of primer and black paint and the 2 hour indicated dry time between the coats of polyurethane...

Between each coat of primer and black paint I sanded down with 220 grit sponge... I did NOT sand the paint between the first coat of polyurethane...

I also sanded between each coat of polyurethane with 220 grit sponge... I did NOT sand the last coat of poly...

Remember, this is all latex/water-based products (primer, paint, and poly)...

The end result is a super shiny and super smooth finish...

You can see some slight "ridges" if you hold the crossover base just right in just the right light... But, you cannot feel them...

I am not too worried about this since these will be covered in crossover components and they will be in a box covered with plexi...

However, when I go to paint the speakers and apply the poly to the speakers I am going to do a few things different:

1) I am going to apply the paint and poly a little thicker... This goes against normal oil-based painting practices but the thicker the paint the longer it takes to dry... And, the longer it takes to dry the longer it has to level itself out...

2) Don't brush too much... Again, brushing too much puts more brush strokes in the paint and more importantly it thins the paint which quickens the dry time and does not give it enough time to level out before drying...

You can find MANY tips and tricks on the Minwax web site:

http://minwax.com/bbs/

The above two tips are documented NUMEROUS times on the Minwax web site...

I used this web site a lot when refinishing our kitchen cabinets and our dining room furniture (5+ years ago) and now that I am doing the research again it is all flooding back into my brain...

So, tonight starts the building of the crossovers and the sanding/prep of the speakers for the finishing process...

More soon!!!

Mark

[FroDaddy]

Nice job, I'm glad to see someone else using poly over black in lieu of spraying clear coat.

[mlammert]

Well, some family stuff came up last night and possibly tonight so don't know how much crossover progress there will be this week...

Hopefully I can at least get the crossover components hot glued down to the crossover bases tonight...

I have a cool idea for the speaker feet... Need to run to Lowe's and see what kind of square metal tubing they have... :P

More soon!!!

Mark

[mlammert]

Hey guys,

Here are two photos of my current crossover progress...

I have the bases completely painted and poly applied and the components hot glued onto them...

Picture one shows the components attached...

Picture two shows how on the back I labeled each component based off of the original crossover schematic from Curt's web site...

Next, I just got to start soldering!!!

More soon...

Mark

[TacoD]

Wow that's very neat. BTW how do you plan to connect the woofer leads to the x-over? Are you plan to solder them or do you add some terminal block to the x-over panel.

[mlammert]

Thanks Taco!!!

Right now my idea is to add a terminal strip to the back of the base...

Once I build the actual box that the base will sit in, there will be binding posts for each output...

Mark

[mlammert]

Great progress on Saturday...

Well, it took me the better part of the day but I got the first crossover soldered together...

I used solid 14 gauge copper wire for all the crossover wiring... It took a lot more wire than I thought it would have...

I just followed my printout and would mark an "x" next to each end of a component on my sketch until everything was soldered together...

As I went along I would check continuity every once in a while to be sure my solder joints were good... That checked out good...

I quadruple checked my work as I went so I hope to God I did this correctly... :P

Attached are two pictures of the finalized backside of the crossover...

Question:
Are there any tests that I can perform with my meter to check and be sure things are wired correctly???

Thanks guys!!!

I am also going to put some heat shrink on the big bundle of twisted wires where I joined multiple connections together...

Hopefully tomorrow I can get the second crossover soldered and maybe do a test listen or something... :B

Thanks,
Mark

[mlammert]

Well I got the second crossover soldered up today...

Photo one shows the back side of the second crossover...

Photo two and three show the two crossovers side by side...

And, photo four shows the schematic printouts I used while soldering...

Just to kind of give a play by play of how I soldered everything:

1 - I first laid out a main POSITIVE IN run and connected all the first components for each crossover section (tweeter, mid, and woofer)...

2 - I then soldered all the components for each crossover section... Again, it is kind of hard to see in photo four, but I would mark an "x" next to each connection as I soldered the components together...

3 - When making the final NEGATIVE IN solder joint I would leave a loose pig tail hanging off the NEGATIVE IN of each crossover section (tweeter, mid, and woofer)...

4 - Then when all the components were soldered I joined the loose pig tails and made a final run from the pig tails to the NEGATIVE IN on the terminal block...

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES

1 - I did not reverse the POSITIVE and NEGATIVE of the midrange in the crossover layout since I am doing this at the speaker connection in the cabinet...

2 - I made sure to not hold the soldering gun on any of the connections for longer than 3-5 seconds while soldering to avoid damaging the components...

3 - I made sure there was a strong physical connection between the wire and the component before soldering... I did this by either twisting the wires around each other... Or, if there was not a lot of wire or room I would create two little hooks/loops in each wire and join them like chain and then mash them tight with a needle nose pliers... Worked great...

As I said in my first crossover post, I am 99.999% sure everything is wired correctly...

However, again, if anyone knows of a test I can do with my meter to check anything, that would be greatly appreciated...

NEXT STEPS

I am going to do all the prep work for paint and stain in the shop since that will be quit messy... That should only take me a night or two...

Then, once that is done the speakers will be hauled up stairs for a first listening!!! :B

The speakers will be painted and stained in place... it is warmer up stairs and much less dusty and a more controlled environment...

Thanks guys!!!

Mark

[mlammert]

Sweet... Looks like tonight is free to do some sanding and prep the speakers for migration upstairs to the living room!!!

Will music be produced this week???

I think it is a definite possibility!!! :B

Mark

[impala454]

Looking awesome Mark. Seems like you really have the patience to take it to the next level!

[mlammert]

Thanks Chuck!!!

Well, I got a good deal of sanding done tonight... I am 98% happy with the speaker that had the most Durham's putty on it... Man that stuff is tough to sand smooth... :P

Attached are four pictures showing various angles of the finished speaker...

I used a file to run along the inside of the 1/8" rabbets and that worked really good to clean them up... I used a combination of my orbital sander and various sanding sponges and files to sand down the rest of the Durham's and dried liquid nail that squeezed out...

The only part that I really couldn't sand smooth was where I applied Durham's to the inside of the midrange chambers (you can see it in photo two)... I got it pretty darn smooth; but I figured the foam is going to cover that up anyway... :P

So, if I can get the other speaker sanded tomorrow night (it doesn't have nearly as much Durham's on it) and do a few little touch-ups on the first one, I think I will be bringing them up on Wednesday for a test listen... :B

More to come!!!

Mark

[Hdale85]

Things sure are massive....

[mlammert]

Eh, they are not that massive... I am just glad they don't look like big monkey coffins...

[mlammert]

Hey guys,

I have a couple questions on the foam used for the inside of the midrange tunnels:

1 - It is 1 inch thick open cell foam... Cut the end closest to the driver at a 45 degree angle... Pull the foam a couple inches away from the driver... Just want to confirm those instructions...

2 - In one post Curt describes cutting 5" strips for the top and bottom of the chamber and then 3.5" strips for the sides... 1" + 1" + 3.5" is greater than 5"... Is this extra thickness to "squeeze" the foam in place??? Or, is it just a typo???

3 - Does anybody have any recommendations for "local" companies that would sell this foam??? I called our local Jo Anne's Fabric and Michael's Hobby and the people on the phone were less than helpful...

4 - Anybody have an tips/tricks/recommendations on this step of the process???

I am really trying to get this in black but it seems the people I call only have it in yellow or white or green...

Thanks!!!

Mark