damn, that's a shame!

[Diablo]

So what is the going rate for the average 12 inch speaker recone?
Ballpark is fine.
T

Most places charge around $75, but certain speaker models are more expensive.
JBL seems to be the priciest.
Then there is the question, are they using original OEM parts or reproduction (that looks about right) parts?
If the OEM parts are available, then it should sound like a new original speaker after the recone.
Unfortunately, the original parts aren't available anymore for some long dead favorites.

[Diablo]

A couple of Celestion cone/vc/spider kits have recently been made available thru antique/ce.

Thanks for the info. I checked out their prices, and boy are they proud of their parts - $40-90 for a 12" recone kit.
If I order ala carte from Weber, the 12" recone parts add up to $16.
I also appreciate the specifications/dimensions/description listed for the Weber parts.
Check 'em out.

https://taweber.powweb.com/parts.htm

[Jecarroll7]

Reconers can be a good source for used speakers too.

I just scored a (reconed) 15" JBL E-140 for $80 plus a blown 12" Jensen.

[drewl]

Celestion blues, in a Randall?

I'll have to try reconing someday, I've done just about everything else, have fixed voice coils and diaphrams etc.

My friend's music store has a great connection for reconing.
Local guy, does all kinds of speakers, vintage, you name it.
Very good and very reasonable so i've never had to try myself.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Reconers can be a good source of used speakers.

True - our local recone meister sells his fixups on ebay.

Seems anything costs $75 and up. And any hi quality name brand $125 and more. Even with low cost parts from Weber, which may be good as anything you can get, it's still a long hassle cleaning up a frame & gap, even more if you have to demag/remag. The JBL's people want, D120, K120, E120, are reaching for $200 with factory parts. But there are some "cheater cone" choices that can help keep the bill sane for except for those who demand factory-only parts. Similar hi prices for Altec - check Great Plains Audio for their options @ no "second best" Altec parts.

Hi parts prices or low, the quality is in the skill of the person doing the recone, and THEN if it's gotta be shipped .

@ 15-20 years ago a supposedly professional recone shop in Rochester NY sent me a freshly fixed JBL E120 - just crammed into a box full of plastic peanuts. Needless to say, the speaker was wrecked upon arrival. When I called 'em I let 'em know they weren't going to foist this one on poor old UPS - their packing was obviously faulty. "So what" is what came back, "Just send it again and we'll get it right next time." I don't have the time or budget for shipping room follies. Cross 'em off the approved list.

Shipping trick I picked up from Clair Brothers: bolt your speaker to a square of plywood say half to 3/4 inch. Then box it & send it. "When it's gotta work, absolutely, definitely." Leave out the foam beans & crumple-paper.

[Chuck H]

At those prices a reconed speaker from a reconer that had to buy the (now more expensive) parts and do the labor just doesn't make as much sense as it use to. WRT to new alnico models it's only a 25% savings over a new replacement and no savings at all for ceramics. I suppose old EV's, JBL's and vintage Jensen's still deserve the respect, but otherwise I hardly see the point. Especially since it seems like recone parts are so often questionable. So I guess we're back to this being a shame.?.

[Leo_Gnardo]

At those prices a reconed speaker from a reconer that had to buy the (now more expensive) parts and do the labor just doesn't make as much sense as it use to. WRT to new alnico models it's only a 25% savings over a new replacement and no savings at all for ceramics. I suppose old EV's, JBL's and vintage Jensen's still deserve the respect, but otherwise I hardly see the point. Especially since it seems like recone parts are so often questionable. So I guess we're back to this being a shame.?.

Egs-zackaly! The increasing popularity of Eminence with their 31-flavors, Weber, the arrival of ScumBack, Warehouse & ToneTubby plus the re-introduction of the Jensen line, with lots of good choices, all doomed the recone business for the mid and cheap lines of guitar speakers. As did Waldom's demand for each of their "country club members" to buy a greater quota of parts every year.

[bsco]

So what types of glue is suitable for re-coning??

[Chuck H]

So what types of glue is suitable for re-coning??

Well... I've never done this, but if you read the thread it seems that poly vinyl acetate (PVA) is the industry standard. Other more expensive alternatives are made by the Loctite (now Henkel) company and "Black Max" was mentioned. These are superior but prohibitively expensive if I interpreted things right.

[J M Fahey]

It depends on what are you gluing to what.

In the old days, only adhesive available was nitrocellulose based so they used it everywhere.
I still use it for real vintage sounding speakers, it's 80% of what we call "alnico sound".

Fact is that it's light, thin , 80% solvents so since you apply very little and to boot 80% of it evaporates, it ends up being the lightest of them all.
Incredibly fast, sensitive speakers.

Only modern speaker which uses it is Alnico Blue, that's why the 15W rating in an otherwise heavy 12"speaker.

That's the only advantage, all others are problems: it's the weakest of them all, dies easily at boiling water temperatures, bursts into flames if overheated, etc.
After all it's smokeless powder (no kidding) dissolved in acetone!!!!!

Very modern speakers use special Cyanoacrilates (those Loctite/Henkel types) but they are not easily found.

Most others use a mix of standard ones.

Where you have (at least one) porous surface, which allows evaporation, you can use solvent based contact cement (the kind that makes you dizzy) or PVA glue, which is safe , slow, and does not bind rubber very well.

That is used in cone to frame, spider to frame, cardboard/EVA borders to cone or frame, dustcap to cone.

For voice coil to cone and suspension, that's the point where you have the highest pressure, force, acceleration, vibration, flexing in the entire speaker, so you need the strongest of them all.
Usually 2 part epoxy.

[bsco]

OK. Thanks guys..I was just wondering.......

[Diablo]

Here's a source I found for reconing glues.
I have used the A69 (Gorilla Snot) which is MEK base for gluing the spider to the speaker frame and for the cone to the frame.
I use the cyanoacrylate glue for the spider to voice coil and cone junction.
They also have epoxy for the spider to voice coil and cone junction, if you prefer.

Survival Gear

[bsco]

Ok. Thanks so much....

[Chuck H]

Looking into the products mentioned has proved enlightening! The things to consider are just as Juan noted.

What does it adhere?
Does it need to be rigid or flexible?

I expect there are a few different scenarios for speaker assembly that these questions need to be solved for.
After that I suppose it's thermal stability. A glue that eventually gets brittle or soft after too long in a warm to hot environment is unsuitable.

Getting all the glues at new container quantity and price seems prohibitive for a single project though. By the time you tool up, glue up and purchase the speaker parts you'll have spent more than the cost of two speakers. It only makes sense if you plan to do more of this sort of work or of you're trying to restore a vintage collectible (nostalgia isn't always limited by expense).

[gbono]

Nice pdf from Loctite here http://www.henkelna.com/us/content_d...ives_Guide.pdf

Anyone know who sells recone parts for CTS drivers? I'm in the process of buying some weber parts that might fit but I'm not sure they have a VC that will fit the gap on this 12 inch. It came out of a polytone and the driver is pretty much "shoe horned" in there with the amp chassis and reverb pan.