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I recently acquired a vintage Gibson amp from out of state. It's currently being looked over and worked on. They had mentioned that the speakers were not functioning well and needed to be re-coned. I emailed them back and told them I would call them tomorrow to discuss further.
Was wondering if anyone has had experience with this repair.....cost/expense, effects on vintage amps. Just want to have an idea what I may be dealing with before I have the conversation.
Thanks in advance, folks!
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10-27-2020 10:10 PM
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Without seeing the speaker or knowing what is wrong with it the question is impossible to answer. The shop that has the speaker would be the best to judge the condition of the speaker and the repairs necessary to achieve the required performance goals.
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I've had recones done (though not in a long while). The cost will depend on the speaker, within a range of about $40 to $125. You can Google recone costs for the specific speaker. In cases where an exact recone kit from the mfr is available, the effect is to restore the speaker to new condition. In cases where the exact kit is no longer made (infamously, JBL D series speakers and some of the ones in Polytones), you can get close enough for musical purposes, but with a hit to value. In a vintage amp, though, the speakers are usually a relatively small component of the amp's value, though so the hit is usually not much of the total value of the amp.
Originally Posted by DMgolf66
Overall, IMO&E it's not a big deal, certainly not as major a thing as modding a vintage guitar. Even with a substitute recone kit a reconed but working speaker is better than an original but dead one. If it needs it, it needs it, just like tubes and caps. For all you know, what's already in there has been reconed (fairly likely on an old amp that had been gigged a lot).
John
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Usually $75-$150 depending what type and where you get it done.
Sometimes it's not worth it and you can just buy a replacement, especially once you factor in shipping both ways which can make the cost over $200.
Other times it's worth it, when I bought a blackface Twin about 20 yrs ago it came w the stock Jensens, my favorite 12" vintage speakers, though 1 was blown.
Since this was going to be my main working amp I had them both reconed immediately, only a matter of time before the 'good' one blew and I didn't want it happening on a gig.
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This is for a (4) 8" speaker Gibson Maestro from the 50s.
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Weber charges $70 ea + shipping for 8" speakers
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Sometimes it is worth it sometimes not.
Stamped frame probably not.
I had a cast aluminum frame Jenson from the 60's done about 20 years ago. Then it was around $150 with shipping. It was well worth it.
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I’d ask the tech for more detail on the problem(s) with the speaker and whether there might be a fix short of reconing.
E.g., I’ve read that sometimes coil rub can be due to debris in the gap, which can be corrected by cleaning. But if the coil former is warped, it’s probably due for a recone.
https://www.audioaffair.co.uk/blog/w...nstruction.jpg
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Cool amp!
FWIW, I like 8" speakers from WGS and Jupiter (actually made by WGS); four new speakers would be about $160, and could be cheaper than reconing the whole set.
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If you are going to hang on to the amp and plan to use it, do as Marc suggested and swap out the speakers. Keep the old ones and at your leisure look for a qualified and reasonable re-coning shop and have them re-coned or or just include them when you sell the amp on.
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I think this may be the way to go. Thank you! Originally Posted by rob taft
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