Rebirth of a JBL K120

[edgewound]

Recently, a customer bought a K120 from eBay for for his guitar amp. He had the seller ship it directly to me for a restoration. This K120 was previously reconed with aftermarket parts, which is not surprising. What follows is the transition from corrosive Eastern Seaboard life, to the glorious rebirth in sunny Southern California, awaiting it's new home to the Pacific Northwest.

This was a labor of love. It wasn't free....But it deserved the Jim Lansing Heritage treatment. Hope you like it.
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3228.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3225.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3226.jpg

[edgewound]

Check out the rust on the top plate...
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3229.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3231.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3234.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3235.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3236.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3237-1.jpg

[edgewound]

Aftermarket parts exposed. The K120(C8RE120 is the OEM recone kit) has an edgewound aluminum wire voice coil on a much lighter former. Silly me didn't take a pic of the new C8RE120 before installation....You'll just have to trust me on this.
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3232.jpg

You can see here that the aluminum dome was removed...althought not thoroughly...and replaced with a paper dome.
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3233.jpg

Top plate/motor assembly after rust removal and repaint with wrinkle finish. Magnet was also recharged back to 12,000 gauss. It was down to the mid 9k.
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3337-1.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3338-1.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3336-1.jpg

[edgewound]

12" frame after strip and repaint.
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3340-1.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3339-1.jpg

[edgewound]

The finished reincarnation...Ready to rock again for another couple of decades+ with proper use...This went to a very good home to be enjoyed by a great guitar player.
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3824-1.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3829-1.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3830.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3832-1.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3827.jpg
http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/Rebirth%20of%20JBL%20K120/DSCN3825.jpg

[timc]

Superior work!........ As usual :applaud:

[1audiohack]

Well that couldn't look any nicer my friend. You're indeed an artist.

All the best.

[edgewound]

Thanks, Gentlemen...

Some things just NEED to preserved.
I found a photo of an OEM C8RE120 from a previous job:

http://i439.photobucket.com/albums/qq119/edgewound/KennysA530camera028.jpg

[grumpy]

Nice storyboard :) would be great if more "basket cases"
were treated so well.

[SMKSoundPro]

Great job! and thank you for posting it!!!

I reconed 4 EV-18B's and 2 2241s yesterday. And I gotta tell you, after holding both in my hands, I just wondered WHY anyone would use the EV drivers in subs!
Oh well, a job is a job. Just recone it and let the end user listen to it!
Your work ethic is obviously top notch Ken, and I am glad to call you friend!

Great Job!!!

Scotty.

ps. What amp or cabinet is it going into? Pro Reverb? Mesa?... Help me to understand what GTR players like, besides employment. (Pizza...family of four...you know the joke!)

[pula58]

Ken did a great job on my speaker! Cool to see that its re-birth is now immortalized!
This speaker sounds so great! People say JBLs sound bad with overdrive pedals. No way, it sounds killer...A Fender Blackface /Silverface style amplifier, with, perhaps, a tube screamer and a speaker like this: OMG !!!

[jcrobso]

It is easy to see that you love JBL speakers and each you do is a work of art!:applaud:

[JeffW]

Ken did a great job on my speaker! Cool to see that its re-birth is now immortalized!
This speaker sounds so great! People say JBLs sound bad with overdrive pedals. No way, it sounds killer...A Fender Blackface /Silverface style amplifier, with, perhaps, a tube screamer and a speaker like this: OMG !!!

He's done a couple for me, and they are simply beautiful.

When you see some of the hack jobs that guys post pics of compared to the real deal, it's just amazing.

[richluvsound]

Beautiful work Ken , the customer got a real bargain in the final result !

Rich

[edgewound]

Beautiful work Ken , the customer got a real bargain in the final result !

Rich

Thanks very much, Rich. Coming from a craftsman like yourself, that's pretty high praise.

I appreciate all the appreciation, everyone. I hope our society turns back around into a domestic manufacturing powerhouse for the masses again.

There are many businesses that really care about what they do, and most are small shops. If the Corporate American bean counters would wake up to that fact we'd all have a decent income to grease the wheels of commerce and roads without wheel-breaking potholes.

Thanks again!!

[Eaulive]

Awesome work.

Unfortunately most people don't appreciate this anymore. :(

[yggdrasil]

Outstanding work.:applaud:

[boputnam]

Beautiful. True craftsman.

JBL is lucky to have you sustaining their legacy. And we, out here, would be lucky to work with your work!

[maxwedge]

Bump for a Fantastic restore!

I have a trunk load of basket cases that need some tlc.
Hmmm....5hr one way trip. I could plan a week mini vac in so-cal.:dont-know:

[Lee in Montreal]

Nice work. Thanks for sharing.

One question though. The basket is glued and screwed to the spacer plate. How do you split them?

[Eaulive]

Nice work. Thanks for sharing.

One question though. The basket is glued and screwed to the spacer plate. How do you split them?

It's demagnetized, disassembled and cleaned then re-assembled and re-magnetized.

[edgewound]

Nice work. Thanks for sharing.

One question though. The basket is glued and screwed to the spacer plate. How do you split them?

Thanks, Lee.

The basket isn't glued to the top-plate...it's held in place by the six fillister head screws.

Also, the basket is cast aluminum, so magnetic force has no pull on it.

[Eaulive]

Argh, I read too fast, I though he meant "top plate glued to the magnet pot"