reconing a d130f

Dave Campbell · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

i just acquired a jbl d130f. i was so excited that i pulled the trigger too quickly...it has at some point been reconed with a d140f cone.

i'm considering reconing it back to d130f, but i'm also considering a 4 ohm kit, as it will be going into my twin reverb.

here's the kit i'm looking at:

http://www.soundspeakerrepair.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=SSR&Product_Code=JBL-D130F-4-Recone-Kit&Category_Code=KIT

does anybody have any experience with this kit, or general reconing advice?

Jon Light · From: Saugerties, NY

billy tam · From: baton rouge, louisiana

I have used kits from this company before but for an EV15L. It sounded great and was very easy to do. I used to recone speakers for a music store in the 70's and this kit does to me the hardest part which is getting the coil depth correct 1st thing by pre assembling that section. Good luck with your project.
Billy

Dave Campbell · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

well, i did it and it sounds awesome.

it was very simple and straight forward. i had a little issue with the dust cap being a bit loose at first, but i figured it out. all the blown speakers in my basement are about to get new lives!

billy tam · From: baton rouge, louisiana

Dave, I am glad it worked well for you. I too have two or three jbl's needing a recone
Billy

George Piburn · From: The Land of Enchantment New Mexico

The D130 F is one of the older models, This kit appears to be closer to original than most others I've Heard of.

On older JBL's , if the Magnet Plate (Where the Voice coil Gap is) is colored a golden sort of color , it most likely has a narrower gap than later 130 - 140 models.

All this means is to be more careful and vigilant when dropping the cone. Make sure it is the 130F Replacement.

A major factor to reconing is to CLEAN THE GAP. There is dust , metal particles and all sorts of debris in them.

To do this , take a piece of masking tape , turned inside out , and rub the inside of the gap. You should get some nasty dark matter and debris. Repeat this several times.

If you have one of those bench magnifiers with a light , good , you need to look closely into that gap over and over to make certain that it is free of all possible debris.

Once done with the tape cleaning , then go again using a fabric such as a discarded pillow case - sheet , cut into little 1 X strips, soaked in MEK (Home Center). This will get any of the tape residue stuck on the sides of the gap.

IMPORTANT !!!! MEK is carcinogenic -- use a lacquer thinner Respirator and have maximum Ventilation. Also Use Blue Nitrile Gloves to avoid contact with your skin.

MEK will reactivate the Brown Bostic Glue used to assemble around the outside edge (Surround Compliance) and around the base where the spider attaches. You can wet it to reposition the cone , and use it the help the clean up process before the cone reinstall.

I last thing about using paper compliance D130F parts :

The compliance and spider are both of the softest variations, this means they are faster reacting than later model and modern speakers that have stiff compliance and spiders. The more stiff models are designed for greater power handling , and will take more power to get to full volume.

The light weight make your loudspeaker get to full volume with considerable less power. Faster transients , resulting in greater definition.

That's the good part. the bad part is -- they will blow instantly with greater power or squarewave.

Hope this helps in some way.

GeorgeBoards (Factory Trained JBL Warranty Technician in 1998)
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GeorgeBoards S8 Non Pedal Steel Guitar Instruments
Maker of One of a Kind Works of Art that play music too.
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Dave Campbell · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

that's great info, george. i did do the masking tape trick, but i can't remember where i'd learned it.

i do live in fear of blowing a single d130f with the twin. the only consolation is that i'll be able to recone it again, but at $100 a pop i don't imagine it'll make me feel that much better.

i'm going to try the mek next time. the most time consuming part of the whole affair was cleaning the old glue off.

Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Great Dave. If you don't mind me asking, what is your level of experience with speakers and reconing them? Did you find this is something that most mechanically minded diy'ers can reasonably accomplish?

Also, can you compare the sound of the reconed speaker to the original? It would be nice to know that some of our old JBL's and others that we have laying around could be put back into service by ordinary gear owners.

Thanks, JO.

Very generous of you too George posting all that good info in this thread and the earlier one.

Dave Campbell · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

i had never reconed a speaker before. the kit i got from the link above was pretty fool proof as the voice coil and cone came as one unit. it might be trickier with a kit that comes in more pieces.

i'm gonna say if you can change the oil in a vehicle then you can do a recone with one of these kits.

i don't have a d130f with an original cone to compare and it came with a d140f cone. i do have a bit of vintage speaker experience trying to chase down the holy grail of tones. my main speaker in the last year has been an altec 418b 15", which i use for a deluxe reverb and the twin (even though it's 8ohms) and it sounds fantastic. i also have another 418b that had been reconed, and it sounds terrible(!). it is lifeless, mid heavy and lacking any kind of sparkle or dynamic.

my reconed jbl, however, sounds very sweet and musical. it seems to have a warmer, smoother top end than the 418b, and maybe a bit less defined bass, or at least less deep. i expect it to loosen up over the next few days, but as is it's still very nice.

i'll keep using the altec in the deluxe, but i'll be putting the jbl in the twin permanently, or until it blows.

Quentin Hickey · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

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Jerry Overstreet · From: Louisville Ky

Thanks for sharing your recone kit experience Dave. Very informative.

Steve Sycamore · From: Sweden

Thanks for the information about reconing. I can mention that depending on your pickups and amplifier the D140 can actually be a better sounding speaker for pedal steel. If your pickups are vintage single coil models at 12k ohm or less then a 4 ohm D140 may be a perfect match.

The D140 can still deliver most if not all the needed mid and treble, but it will also provide the most solid and musical lows you can imagine - exactly what is needed to give a pedal steel the power and backbone it needs. A re-coned D140 of course may not offer everything the original cone did though.

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

I recently picked up a Fender Vibrosonic Reverb amp from 1973. It didn't have the original speaker in it but I lucked out and bought a D140F, orange frame, speaker off ebay. The only thing wrong with is was that the dust cap was all dented up. I have never done it before but I replaced the dust cap and now the speaker looks like new. I can't wait to get it in the old Vibrosonic Reverb! Very Happy

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