My JBL speaker needs repairs

[FiestaRed]

Thanks to a wonderful shipping company, I received a JBL D120F that was destroyed during shipping. Check out the pics below. Is there any place that would repair the speaker, re-cone it, or whatever? Any experience with speaker repair companies?

 

[Kitten Cannon]

Actually, given your location, you might want to try A Brown Soun. I hear they're about as good as it gets, and they're not too far from you, all things considered. Also, Upland wouldn't be too bad, though they're in SoCal. Those two shops seem to be the West Coast JBL experts.

Also, I weep for that JBL I hope you can get it worked out -- I've played a few reconed D120s that sounded just as good as the real thing, so it's certainly possible to salvage it, but only if it's done by someone who knows what they're doing. Metro Sound and Light in St. Paul MN is also pretty good, I've played a ton through one they reconed as well.

 

[Lance]

A Broun Sound in San Rafael, CA will take good care of that. I recently had them rebuild a D130F with a 16ohm voice coil, and hemp fiber cone. I could not be happier with well it sounds. Now, this is a fairly expensive process, but you will not find a better sounding speaker once they've remojo'ed it. Now, if you call them don't be shyed away by them seeming like total stoner dunderheads. I was thinking they were smoking some of them there hemp cones, but they really do fantastic work.

 

[pula58]

Hemp cone on a JBL - sacrilege!
No seriously, how does the hemp cone compare to the regular JBL cone? Is the sparkle gone due to the hemp cone? That is what I would worry about.

Orange County speaker repair
Upland loudspeaker service

 

[Lance]

Well, it is tough to tell, as my particular one was just slightly starting to go when I bought it. I can tell you that now it sounds better than any other speaker I've ever had. I am also running the 16 ohm speaker into an 8 ohm tap. This is what Steve Kimock does/suggests. It really does a wonderful thing with the right kind of amps. It chops off the harsh highs, and tames the lows, and brings out a larger midrange. You can have it darn near cranked and stick your face right in front of it, without any ear fatigue! It still isn't even fully broken in yet. I've only put about 50 hours on it, and it still needs to be beat up a bit more. However, as is, right now it sounds fantastic.

 

[Lance]

I forgot that I made a clip or two. Here's the Mark III blue using a Fuch's Tube f/x loop pedal with a Mu-Tron haz into a Sunface nkt. Sorry, I am not a great fusion player!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFl0BA4ZNOQ

 

[SuperReverb2]

Not sure if Weber still does JBL recones, but I had one done there about 6 or 7 years ago. Like previously posted, it sounded better than the original I purchased while the speaker was getting reconed. Might be worth the inquiry.

 

[lon]

Hey Guys,

Ken at Upland is the guy for JBL Guitar speakers in D, E, and K series speakers. He's a guitarist and has rebuilt 100's of these. He can tell which rebuild kit does what sound wise too.

Why would I trust him ? He rebuilt one of the Woofers in our Westlake Audio Mains for our private studio (you know, the Big soffit mount behemoths that cost 5K each ?) Sound just like new.

He also has a small stash of E and K baskets waiting for some who wants a rebuild to NOS. I will probably have him build one for a Port City 112OS cab.

Call him.

 

[pula58]

Ken did a great job completely refurbishing my K-120.

 

[edgewound]

Thanks for the nods, Gentlemen. I always appreciate the chance to give rebirth to a vintage JBL.

I have a feeling that the shipping company is less to blame than the packer is, though.

What a shame!!

 

[FiestaRed]

No, it was packed pretty well. It sat out on the porch in 110 degree weather for an afternoon in the sun.

Any idea what these are worth damaged, if I wanted to sell, or should I just toss it?

 

[bluetweed]

Ken is doing a D120F for me now