Wanted to get some advice about starting reconing at my amp shop. Good idea?

[AudioWorks]

Hey guys well basically i run an amplifier and proaudio repair shop down in the Houston area. Ive been lurching on here for a long time and its a great forum for sure.
My shop is my day job its not a side thing or hobby. Ive got a few guys working for me but i still do lots of the repairs. First of all id like to say before i ventured out on my own i read lots of postings from other people about starting a repair shop and in short they scared the crap out of me lol. It was like they were saying it was the worst idea possible. Im glad i did not listen to any of that and i followed my dreams and believed that there was a large market in my area for it. Now i am making a good living at being my own boss and have a couple techs under me and its always growing.
Sorry I’m not trying to brag i just want other guys that have dreams of working in the electronic and technical side of the music industry to go through with it. There’s a HUGE shortage of good techs and shops in guitar and amp repair. So i wanted to show my example of a positive effect of starting an amp/pa repair shop had on a career.
What I’m curious about though is some opinions on the speaker reconing business and market demand. I’ve done reconing before and have the knowledge and skill to do it. Im a very hands on shop owner, frankly you have to be at least to get started. I’ve started setting up an area in my shop for speaker repair. I’ve invested a little bit in glues, materials, clamps, chemicals etc etc.. Nothing too much as of yet. Now im thinking about advertising a speaker reconing service to all my customers and the businesses I do work for. Maybe I’ll start looking for a skilled reconer or start training an enthusiastic tech
I want to do recones for vintage guitar amps the most, but i also want to be well rounded and offer reconing for PA gear and HIFI speakers as well. But my question is, do you guys think that speaker reconing can be as good as the electronics repair has been for me or better or worse? What has been the case with any of your experiences or for people you know that have tried reconing in their shop or exclusively. Any information would be extremely helpful. Also I am always trying to learn more and better myself at what I do. Do any of you know of any books that discuss the materials and makeup of speakers, maybe even a book with at least a chapter on reconing would be great. Or any other resources on it out there? I think I’ve made a couple meg document on all the info I could find online and on forums and books I’ve downloaded when I was first learning reconing. Then it was difficult to find lots of good info but maybe there is more now. Thanks for any info or advice.

[J M Fahey]

Guitar speakers are very similar and generic. If you can recone a standard Eminence, you can recone most, if not all, plus Celestions and Jensens and of course, many others .
I do recone speakers , can tell you that the problem is
a) Getting parts. Speakers with nominally the same dimensions can be unusably different.
Example: a nominally 2" voice coil speaker can be made made to fit a center lug of 50 mm , 50.4mm , 50.6mm , 50.8mm, 51mm, 51.2mm or 51.4 mm *or* the voice coil former itself can have any of those measurements which is a very different thing *or* the voice coil may be made to fit (without scratching) into a 54 to 56 mm plate hole, to avoid repeating a long list of hole sizes.
I repeat all those different speakers would still be called "2 inch voice coil" in the literature, you'll only know the exact dimensions when you try to fit there any of those voice coils you have sitting on the shelf.
Of course Murphy's Law rules: you'll have all sizes, except the exact one you need that day.
Voice coils can also be 4; 8; or 16 ohms, be wound from 6mm tracks (light vintage speakers) to 14mm (heavy EV types).
It may also be made of round copper wire (the most common one) or flatwound aluminum ribbon.
Base/former material: kapton is the most popular, but you'll also find Kraft paper (old "alnico" speakers), Nomex (old Celestions) or aluminum (70's and 80's generic speakers).
b) Parts/labor cost Vs. replacement cost.
Most musicians won't pay you what you'll charge, but go a little further and replace the whole speaker, unless it's an expensive one (EV, JBL, Altec, etc.) or a "Vintage" type which by the way will sound different , even with original OEM NOS parts, because it will lack aging.
It scratches me the wrong way, being a natural born recycler, but that's what I see.
That said, most speakers *are* Eminences, no matter what the label says, and the most popular voice coil is their version of 1.5" /kapton/ 8 ohm one, which will also fit the popular Celestion G12T75; the second most important size being Celestion's 1 3/4" , similar specs, but on 8 and 16 ohms, so you might stock a few, plus some 12" generic cones (a light "American" heavily ribbed one, up to 22 ribs; and a heavier "British" one, typically with 8 ribs) plus assorted spares (dust caps, a couple suspensions, flexible wires, etc.)
With these two sets you'll be able to repair 60% of what gets into your shop.
Question remains whether musicians prefer paying you rather than straight replacement.
Eminences are dirt cheap.
Yet you should try, without getting neck deep into that business, who knows?
Good luck.

[AudioWorks]

Yeah i do know that the parts and labor can add up quick. I’ve found a pretty good source of some generic parts which would make allot of things affordable. But it wouldnt be suitable for alot of things.
Thats good to know about the eminence voice coils. I’m still trying to decide how far to go with it really. I know I’ve seen some businesses become very successful with only reconing. So there must be ways to do it. Ill prob do most of it myself when i start really heavily advertising my services until i can find out where the best affordable parts and best ways of doing everything economically and high quality are. Not to say i dont have the ability to do good proper recones yet but i still think i need to get a good business model for it.
Thanks for your help, you should pm me sometime so we can talk maybe trade info.

[jrfrond]

I'm not buying that there is a huge shortage of MI/Pro Audio techs out there. Yes, they are tough to find, because it seems that everyone wants to be an "engineer" or "producer" nowadays, but at least here in NYC, it's a niche market and there aren't boatloads of opportunities. I know many service center owners across the USA, and most of them are in agreement with this. We have seven techs here in our shop, and that's more than enough. Though we are a major service center, and really the only one left here in town, there are times when work flow does slow down. As the manager and senior tech, I am always looking at other avenues to bring in new business and money.

Which leads me to speaker reconing: if you don't have any close competitors, it can work for you. There were two shops who did it here in NYC, and they both closed down, so I added this to our roster of functions, mostly as a value-added service. The profit margin doesn't match what our normal labor fees are. Like most reconers, speakers are flat-rated, not billed separately as parts and labor.

Another good reason to recone, besides the obvious increase in income, is to keep it all in-house. I learned this with JBL. If you are authorized to repair their cabinets and electronics, but NOT as a reconer, you are sunk. Then you must send the customer elsewhere. NOT good for business. So, I went to JBL in Northridge to become authorized. We also had a situation when a major manufacturer couldn't supply replacement drivers for their cabinets for extended periods, so we struck a deal to recone them under warranty. It saved our collective asses.

One thing DIFFERENT about reconing nowadays is that CA adhesives are generally employed, with accelerator to speed things up. No more waiting overnight for things to dry. The only non-CA adhesive I use is PVA (white glue) used to dope the cloth surrounds of aftermarket cones, which are almost always undoped.

You can purchase OEM kits many times, either direct or from a reseller, but the bulk of speakers you recone will require aftermarket kits. I have a SUPER supplier, and have amassed close to 100 different kits, plus the OEM JBL and Jensen kits I maintain stock of. When you have been doing it a long time, as I have, you then learn how to build kits from different parts taken from kit. Don't be fooled though! Aftermarket kits come completely disassembled, and you need to know how to fit and massage it all together. It is part science, part art form, like assembling a guitar from parts. Stripping the baskets also requires technique, but mostly in how to handle a heavy-duty razor knife.

Here is a good place to start: Loudspeaker Repair - United States PLRA Recone Centers

[g1]

John, he said huge shortage of GOOD techs
As JM mentioned, I think the bulk of stuff now is cheaper to replace than repair. Most of the market will be vintage/obsolete or higher end PA stuff.
When I worked at a big store we farmed it all out to a local reconer. We ended up sending less and less to him as speaker prices became more and more reasonable/labour became more expensive.
The most lucrative at that time was JBL reconing.
Also at that time the chemicals (solvents and glues) were horrendous so we didn't bother getting into it. That may have changed but ventilatation may be an issue.
Being able to recenter magnets is also a big bonus. Big PA stuff can get handled roughly leading to magnets shifting/pinched coils.

[olddawg]

Although I loved doing it and was good at it, I quit the electronics repair business for four main reasons.

1. Disposable technology.
2. Constant exposure to toxic materials.
3. Develping arthritis in my hands.
3. Middle aged vision.

People are no longer entering this field because the level of knowledge and skill set required qualifies you usually for a much better paying job, with benefits. There are fewer and fewer competent and honest shops out there. A few specialty/ vintage shops with the right location and reputation will still do fine. Most will struggle.

[jrfrond]

John, he said huge shortage of GOOD techs
As JM mentioned, I think the bulk of stuff now is cheaper to replace than repair. Most of the market will be vintage/obsolete or higher end PA stuff.
When I worked at a big store we farmed it all out to a local reconer. We ended up sending less and less to him as speaker prices became more and more reasonable/labour became more expensive.
The most lucrative at that time was JBL reconing.
Also at that time the chemicals (solvents and glues) were horrendous so we didn't bother getting into it. That may have changed but ventilatation may be an issue.
Being able to recenter magnets is also a big bonus. Big PA stuff can get handled roughly leading to magnets shifting/pinched coils.

Oh yeah, he did!

Even with CA adhesives, ventilation is still required, because the accelerator is acetone-based.

Realigning the polepiece requires a pricey degausser, quite different in size and cost than that required for pickup makers, as I saw one in operation at JBL. Without a degausser, it is impossible to reposition a polepiece. As a result, many shops, including ours, aren't willing to invest in one, because the returns will never be realized. It is best to just tell the customer the driver is unrepairable.

It is true that many speakers are disposable. As a rule, we don't recone anything Chinese (and SO many are nowadays), or stamped-basket speakers, unless they are vintage collectable.

[dan stanton]

Hey Audioworks. Where in Houston are you?

[gbono]

So where do you find tech candidates these days? Manufacturing,in general, is not done in the US these days (try the last 15 years). So who is learning how to trouble shoot electronics?

[Gibsonman63]

I have been using the same guy for reconing for over twently years here in Houston. (Not that I am destroying speakers every week... anymore) He is still pretty reasonable and I get my speakers back in under a week, but he doesn't exactly look like he is getting rich off of it.

[olddawg]

I have been using the same guy for reconing for over twently years here in Houston. (Not that I am destroying speakers every week... anymore) He is still pretty reasonable and I get my speakers back in under a week, but he doesn't exactly look like he is getting rich off of it.

20 years is a long time for a speaker reconing service unless he has had a long sucession of "assistants". IMHE speaker reconers are like hatters from the 19th century or maybe hard core painters from the last. Even with the best precautions time and exposure takes its toll.

[dan stanton]

Who do you use, Gibsonman?

[ReginaldBisquet]

Check with Allen's Speaker Reconing on the north side of the city. They may have some tips/ideas for your venture. Also call the guys at Steamboat Amp Works and Red Star Cabinets on what they're seeing for speaker re-coning. I would imagine those two alone blow several speakers a month testing products.

You're in the Seabrook area, right? Try the local clubs in Kemah/Clear Lake about their needs for speaker repairs.

Hope this helps!

[Enzo]

HOuston is what, fourth largest metro area in the US?, Fifth? If your business thrives, my hat is off to you. How many techs would say El PAso support? Lubbock? Boise, Idaho?

I don;t see a huge shortage of techs. You have several, how many are there total in your area? Most places are not the fourth largest city, so the needs are scaled way down. If one of your guys decides he wants to go off on his own, where would he go? Across the street and take some of your former clients? or is the need in HOuston so great it would just expand? Or is there a hole in Lincoln Nebraska's tech coverage. I don;t mean to sound flippant, I just wonder where all the opportunities lie.

And that brings me to speaker reconing. I guess the question to ask yourself in considering the market is this: how many recones are you farming out now? What is the size of your potential market. And of the ones you send out, are they going to someone in the area or are they shipped to John in NYC or someone like him?

[ReginaldBisquet]

HOuston is what, fourth largest metro area in the US?, Fifth? If your business thrives, my hat is off to you. How many techs would say El PAso support? Lubbock? Boise, Idaho?

I don't see a huge shortage of techs. You have several, how many are there total in your area?

All known amp techs in Houston region:

Mike Fratus: 713-874-1483
Audio Works: 713-893-4948
Houston Amp Repair (Jeff Seal): 281 898-4433
Allen Speaker Reconing: 713-862-2747
Reid Walker Services: 713-789-5296
Steamboat Amp Works (Jake): 713-865-3543
The Tone Doctor (Lance): 281-881-3364
Speaker Surgeon (Christopher): 281-922-5662

If I need to remove the phone numbers due to board policies, please let me know.