Recone speaker help

[fett]

Have any of you guys done a recone? I have a pair of 1957 Jensen 12's Alnicos. I would like to try it myself. Any tips on where to get kits? Or a good place to get them done. Thanks [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[MountainDog]

Re: Recone speaker help

Re-coning is part science/part art (I work for a speaker company). Although it appears easy in principle, there are many things that could go wrong. One key is getting the exact replacement kit. The kit will/should come as a cone/coil/spider assembly plus a dome to be glued on last, plus a coil centering sleeve, plus glue. You have to remove the old assembly (making sure not to get foreign material in the motor 'gap' (the part the coil fits into), carefully clean the frame where the the spider mounts and the cone mounts (cover the gap with masking tape so no foreign material gets inside), apply a good even amount of glue (usually CA-crazy glue), center the coil in the gap using the plastic sleeve, drop the assembly in while making sure the spider is centered on the frame at the same time as the cone is centered and push the spider and cone into the glue for good adhesion. Once dry, remove the coil-centering-sleeve and push the cone assy up and down to see if you have the coil centered in the gap. If correct, you won't hear anything, if incorrect, you'll hear a scraping noise and that means the coil is offset and rubbing against the metal parts of the motor and you have to cut everything out and start over with a new kit.

Another thing to be careful is if the glue had a void or missing spot, that area of the spider or cone would not be held down correctly and could 'flap' in that area and make a noise and later on could tear and fail.

The importance of the exact kit must be stressed. You will want the spider and cone surround to be made of the same materials as the original, and the coil needs to be the same and mounted in the assy so that it is centered in the motor gap.

The above isn't meant to scare you away, just letting you know to watch for certain things. There may be forum members that have done this and will say it's a piece of cake!

You'll have to search the internet for people that sell Jensen re-cone kits or offer re-coning service. I did a quick search and found this website: www.loudspeakersplus.com You can email them for a re-cone quote, and they also sell new alnico Jensens.

[fett]

Re: Recone speaker help

Well, you scared the stuff out of me. But, I will get the kits and follow your advise. Thanks for the very complete "How To". I don't know how many of the young pups would even consider reconing a speaker, but you might want to put your advice up top with the rest of the "How To's" . Thanks again. [img]/images/graemlins/notworthy.gif[/img]

[singlehum]

Re: Recone speaker help

I'm interested in this topic too. I bought a 1961 Fender Pro with the original 15" alnico Jensen in it. It was dried out and had one small tear. I replaced it with a reissue Jensen Alnico 15" and hope to have the original reconed at some point. I will say that the reissue does not sound as nice as the original, but has seemed to "open up" a bit as I put more time on it. I'll post any of my research finding here, as I'm sure there are otrhers that would find it helpful.

[fett]

Re: Recone speaker help

Here's a little tip about old speakers. They lose about 5% of their magnetism (sp) in the first year. It then takes 100"s of years to lose the rest. Old speakers were made from way better materials. If I were a way serious player and I had what you have, I would pay anything to get that original speaker rebuilt. Trust me. When it comes to audio, old is good. They don't make them any better. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img]

[OnlineStageGear]

Re: Recone speaker help

I have reconed the rubber/foam surrounds before. If that is all it needs than that is pretty easy and you can get the surround kits for cheap.

Matt

[fett]

Re: Recone speaker help

If were that easy. But NOOOOOOO!! These need a total recone.