Vintage speaker reconing

[Milspec]

I am a sucker for vintage speakers, but find that most need to be rebuilt. I have never had a speaker reconing and really know nothing about the process and pitfalls. I have heard some horror stories about bad results and costs surrounding the JBL speakers, but I am aiming mostly at the Jensen and Altec speakers.

Is this a DIY project or is it better left to a pro?
Who does quality work....any good resources?
Will they sound like the originals or will the new cone impart a different tone?

I have 3 Altec Lansing 417-8C speakers in use right now, but I worry that I will have to work on them at some point and might lose that original tone that I have come to expect. I would also like to pick up a set of Jensens for my Blackface amps, but same concerns apply.

Can you point me in the right direction?

 

[BobbyZ]

I've done a few with Weber parts. Speakers are actually very simple devices, all you have to do is get all the parts in exactly the right places and glue them.
Now you have to keep in mind when I say "simple devices" I'm thinking this.

Compared to this.

So my point of reference might be different.

 

[Milspec]

That actually helped a lot....I spent years rebuilding transmissions so I get the point. I have never seen a diagram of a speaker, so that does help.

 

[BobbyZ]

That's a Laycock de Normanville J type overdrive unit, I rebuilt one a couple years back for my 66 Volvo wagon.
Saw that exploded view on a Volvo forum the other day. Had to wonder how the heck I had that thing scattered all over the work bench and got it together.
And it works ! lol

 

[mherrcat]

i have reconed a JBL K-130 and a K-120 using the pre-assembled cone/voicecoil/spider from Sound Speaker Repair. Didn't have any problems. Don't know if I would have done it if I had to glue up the cone, voicecoil and spider myself though...

There are many Youtube videos demonstrating how to do it; some better than others, but worth taking a look at if you are thinking about doing it.

 

[mabley123]

Great Plains Audio bought all of the Patents, Rights, and Manufacturing Equipment from Altec back in the 90s. They are/were also former Altec Employees, and started out as a Warranty Service for Altec.

They still make the 417H, which is basically the 100 watt version of the 417C. Last time I checked the 417H was $340.

These days for JBLs I would get a Hemp Cone, or send it to A Brown Soun. I had 2 E120 HCd a couple years ago, with great results.

 

[xafinity]

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=speaker+recone


only Uncle Doug would have 'typewriter' paper to use as a shim.

 

[uriah1]

Yikes. run.
I may be a spoil sport here but.
a) reconing on your own is tough
b) reconing by a professional never sounds same. They use wrong dustcap, ridge count, binding, glues, etc. etc.
c) get another vintage speaker

 

[PooTwang]

I have had Dutch at Vin-tone do some work on JBLs with excellent results

 

[powerwagonjohn]

I have a local speaker rebuilder (Midwest Speaker) that I have used with great results. They source the most accurate parts available and charge me about $120.00 a speaker so I figure they make $40.00-50 over and above the cost of parts. So I pay the experts. One mistake and you need a new kit so for me it's worth the extra cost for expert work and a warrantee. They have done JBL D-140s and Altec 418's. The Altec parts they source from GPA. Some 15" Jensen's they tell me the correct cones are not made any longer. I found a local buy that had some older kits on the shelf. I don't know about the smaller Jensen's. I would guess Weber could do the Jensen's if your local shop can not source the correct parts.
By the way I do my own transmissions, transfer cases and engines but sometimes a man must know his own limitations with rebuilding and time.
thanks John

 

[Silverface]

It's NOT a good DIY project. By the time you buy (a) kit(s) and wreck the first one or two you are far better off having it done professionally. Many vintage speakers also could use remaking, which Weber does as part of the normal work. That's one reason I use them even though I have a local place that's less expensive. I've had better results (I've sent them quite a few).

 

[Wally]

for an Altec I would use Great Plains Audio. Jensens....Weber or I have had good luck with Freeman-Tuell in Dallas, Tx. Actually, many years ago Freeman-Tuell did an Altec 417H that sounded great in the Mesa MKIV into which I put the speaker to replace the very blah sounding Celestion 'Black Shadow 90' OEM speakers. That speaker waited for just the right amp to come around before it would let me use it.

 

[charlie chitlin]

I use a guy named Dean Zink who came highly recommended from a trusted collector/player here on tdpri.
Fair prices, fast and my '56 P12R sounds killer.
I knew I had the right guy when he said he went through something like 6 voice coils before he found one that fit to his satisfaction.
I thought about DIYing it, but there's no way I would have seen what he saw.

 

[BobbyZ]

One little detail I do that I didn't see Uncle Doug do. Get the spider and voice coil first, then tape over the magnet and pole piece right away. Otherwise wise you end up with a gap full of crap, expecially when scraping because little bits of metal are bound to come off.

 

[Wally]

Also, with speakers in which the voice coil is not 'open' but is only rubbing, there is are methods of dealing with that rub than can restore the speaker to a healthy condition without a complete recone. Some people prefer this. One of these methods could also be used IF one got some debris down in the coil gap during a recone process.
Removing debris from the voice coil gap can be done ...with the dust cover removed...with a careful utilization of a vacuum.
IF a voice coil is rubbing due to the fact that the spider has fatigued and let the coil get out of proper alignment, there is a method of using acetone to soften the spider. One uses the same alignment process for the coil as one would use during a recone to 'set' the coil in place while the acetone allows the spider to realign. Experienced reconers can provide this service to save original cones. Or....one can try it on their own if they want to risk ruing an original cone and a voice coil that is still intact.

 

[Milspec]

I did it, I asked the question and invited the devil. My new pine 1x12 cabinet arrived today from JDesign (still smells like cash sales) and I installed the last of those 3 Altecs. I was all excited to hear my Brownface Princeton clone through it and rushed right to it.

At first, it sounded exactly like I was hoping, marvelous. I just noodled around for about 5 minutes and then cranked the volume up a little....then it just started to warble. I lowered the volume to room level and it sounded good again, but once taken up a little, just horrible warble and static. This speaker was the bad one of the lot...go figure.

Now I need to decide if I want to get it rebuilt or just replace it with a different speaker....probably cost about the same. Huge disappointment to my day.

 

[Milspec]

It is being shipped for rebuild tomorrow. I was quoted $130 for parts and labor to test and re-cone the speaker with the correct kit. Shipping will screw up the bottom line, but hopefully I end up with an Altec that will serve me for a lot of years.

 

[Wally]

Great Plains??

 

[LooseJack]

Having ruined a few voice coils in my time, I now leave it to the experts. My local ones are happy to put any compatible cone and coil that I ask for if I don't mind waiting for them to source them.