Serial Number registry?

[glen]

D130 serial number 24799
075 serial number 7242
N2500 serial number 6739

three different auctions of components claimed to be from a single corner system :

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1950s-JB...QQcmdZViewItem

from auction description:
Up for auction is an original JBL Signature Series model D130 15 inch speaker. The unit is an early version dating from the 1950's and is serial number 24799. It is 16 ohm impedance and has the number code 130202 on the rear of the cone. The speaker is in mint original condition. It works perfect and sounds awesome. The speakers original cone is in mint condition and the outer cork pad is perfect. The surface paint is in mint condition also. This speaker is very hard to find from this era in this nice of condition. The speaker was pulled out of an original JBL corner speaker and was in-tombed until I pulled them out. The components are in mint shape! This was found at a recent 80 year estate safely stored away for years. Please see my other auctions for the other speakers, crossover and corner cabinet I will be listing. Good luck and please email me with any questions. This is by far the nicest one I have ever seen or had. I will combine shipping! I also will be adding a charge to pack this speaker or I can take it to a professional packing company

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Early-JB...QQcmdZViewItem

from auction description:
Up for auction is an original JBL Signature Speaker model 075 Driver with mounting ring radiator(WITH ALL ORIGINAL HARDWARE). The speaker is an early version dating from the late 1950's. This model is more commonly known as a "Bullet" Tweeter. It is serial number 7242 and is 16 ohm impedance. The tweeter is in mint original condition. It works perfect and sounds awesome. The tweeter also has the factory original wax over the bolt heads. The magnet and foilcal are in perfect original shape. This tweeter is very powerful and very hard to find from this era. The speaker was pulled out of an original JBL corner speaker and was intombed until I pulled them out. The components are in mint shape! This was found at a recent 80 year estate safely stored away for years. Please see my other auctions for the other speakers, crossover and corner caminet I will be listing. Good luck and please email me with any questions. I will combine shipping!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Early-JB...QQcmdZViewItem

from auction description:
Up for auction is an original JBL Signature Sound model N2500 Crossover and volume control. The unit is an early version dating from the 1950's and has the early water decal oval logo. It is serial number 6739 and is 16 ohm impedance. The crossover and volume control are in mint original condition. It works perfect and the volume control has a metal dial. The unit has all the original hardware. The paint and power wire are in perfect original shape. This crossover is very powerful and very hard to find from this era. The crossover was pulled out of an original JBL corner speaker and was in-tombed until I pulled them out. The components are in mint shape! This was found at a recent 80 year estate safely stored away for years. Please see my other auctions for the other speakers and corner cabinet I will be listing. Good luck and please email me with any questions. I will combine shipping

[glen]

D130 serial number 44321
075 serial number 17864
N2600 serial number 7544

stereo pair of 030 systems in nice furniture cabinets, one system opened to show components. "Audionics" hand-written inside cabinet:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-VINTAGE-JBL...QQcmdZViewItem

from auction description:
This is a great set of vintage jbl's in walnut cabinets. Fresh from a local estate and boy do they thump. Tested throught a period macintosh system they sounded great. Speaker stystem is in excellent condition, cabinets have some stains and a little veneer loss to a back corner (see photo). These cabinets measure 37" wide x 20" deep x 31" tall including feet. This is the information I can give you on the one I photoed internally. I took the back off both and photoed the inside of one...they are both perfect inside. The woofer is a Signature Series model D130 is a 16 ohm and serial # 44321 and is12" diameter. The tweeter is a model 075 is 16 ohm and has a serial # 17864. The control is a model N2600 is 16-32 ohm and is serial # 7544. All is excellent with this set.

[Harvey Gerst]

Quote:
Originally Posted by glen
That's great info Harvey, thanks for weighing in.
Do you know if Miller would also have made the earlier engraved plastic nameplates used on the 175 and 375 drivers before those used foilcals?


Hi Harvey,

Since you weren't 100% sure, and I was striking out at Miller Dial, I did a little investigation and found that a company named Nelson Nameplate was located at 3191 Casitas Ave, just down the block from JBL and thought they might've done some of the nameplate work too, possibly including the engraved plastic versions that came and went.

Here's their webpage with a brief history of the company:
http://www.nelsonusa.com/about/

With the kind help of John Beilfuss I received this forwarded email from Ed Simpson who worked at Nelson Nameplate as a salesman in the 50s and worked his way up to become president of the company by the time he retired:

JB,

We moved into 3191 after the fire in 1955. JBL was already there as I recall.

It was a couple of years later that an engineer from JBL came down to visit us. I took him through the plant and looked at some of the work he wanted done. I believe, in those days it was etch work and he also had some small screened or lithographed panels.

We did a quotation for him and a copy to purchasing which was a lady but her name escapes me. They were a big Miller Dial account at that time.

We did get some business and things were going well, they could come down and design parts and we made them quickly.

This all came unglued when the Purchasing Manager whose first name was Red and again the last name escapes me took the business away from us and retooled Miller.

The whole thing only lasted about a year. It is interesting to know that the Purchasing Manager later was let go and went to work for Miller Dial in the same capacity.

There would be no records from any early dealings with JBL that I know of.

Ed

OK, Nelson Nameplate sounds right. (Damn, it's hell getting old; your memory is the second thing to go.) If you faced the front door on Casitas, Nelson was to the right. I thought Nelson was already there when we moved into Casitas from Fletcher Drive.

I guess we used Miller Dial when I was at Acoustic Control and I got them confused.

[glen]

OK, Nelson Nameplate sounds right. (Damn, it's hell getting old; your memory is the second thing to go.) If you faced the front door on Casitas, Nelson was to the right. I thought Nelson was already there when we moved into Casitas from Fletcher Drive.

I guess we used Miller Dial when I was at Acoustic Control and I got them confused.

You're not confused!
Most of JBLs business was with Miller Dial.
It sounds like Nelson got a share of the business for a few years from the mid-late 50s to through the early 1960s, including some of the aluminum nameplates. Ed Simpson recognized the attached images as some of the type of work Nelson Nameplate did for JBL:
They are the same type of foilcal parts that we took from Miller Dial. Foilcal was their name for products made of aluminum under .006 in thickness.

They also had worked on tooling up for some prototype equipment when they had to return the tooling and artwork to JBL who was moving all their business to Miller Dial:
We also worked on products not shown in your lineup that were prototypes that JBL tooled for thousands of dollars. Those tools were later pulled from Nelson and the artwork was also given to JBL to be given to Miller.

Ed recalled the puchasing manager that apparently made the decision:
I remember his name as Red Houghton.

Does that name ring any bells?

[Harvey Gerst]

You're not confused!
Most of JBLs business was with Miller Dial.
It sounds like Nelson got a share of the business for a few years from the mid-late 50s to through the early 1960s, including some of the aluminum nameplates. Ed Simpson recognized the attached images as some of the type of work Nelson Nameplate did for JBL:

Ed recalled the puchasing manager that apparently made the decision:
I remember his name as Red Houghton.

Does that name ring any bells?

Nope, no bells. Arnold Kalland (?sp) was head of purchasing during those days, as I recall.

[GordonW]

This is from an 030 system, that I sold back in 2005. I got this setup from the ORIGINAL owner, who purchased it in the timeframe between late 1959 and mid 1960.

D130 serial numbers: 48084, 48085
075 serial numbers: 23953, 23954
N2400 serial numbers: 14215, 14217

[glen]

From an ebay auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/JBL-SIGNATURE-SO...QQcmdZViewItem

075 serial number 85145 in original box dated March 31, 1973
075 serial number 85148 in original box dated April 1, 1973

[terryblulite]

A couple drivers here.Not sure if this helps much,but here it is.Will edit in photos later.I use the Altec daily!
First post here.Lots of info,lots of history here.Been searching the library and just reading for a couple weeks.Plenty fun toys

JBL model 2240H ser# 15035

out of service-needs reconed-bought this asis cheap.

Altec Lansing 421A ser# 11188

cone has white printed #'s - 21353-3
frame edge has black printed #'s - 391128
Installed as factory upgrade option in my Ampeg B-15S
ser# 104619.Cabinet has brushed aluminum/black paint
metal tag that says"Quigley Music Studios" (Kansas City,I hear) I have dated the amplifier to 1971.Date of man. for the Altec possibly 1970-71?

[Hofmannhp]

[quote=terryblulite]A couple drivers here.Not sure if this helps much,but here it is......quote]

Thanks Terry.......every single driver helps to fill the spreadsheet.

HP

[glen]

LE15 serial number 1371 and 1372
LE75 serial number 1101 and 1105
LX5 serial number 4358 and 4360

Cabinets may follow

three different auctions of parts claimed to be from a pair of olympus speakers:

http://cgi.ebay.com/MATCHING-Vintage-JBL-Olympus-Speakers-LE15-LE-15-16-OHM_W0QQitemZ9717768183QQcategoryZ50597QQrdZ1QQcmd ZViewItem

from auction description:

THIS AUCTION IS FOR A VINTAGE "MATCHING" PAIR OF JBL OLYMPUS SPEAKERS MODEL LE15'S. THESE ARE ORIGINAL AND THEY CAME OUT OF A RARE PAIR OF JBL OLYMPUS LATTICE GRILLED SPEAKER CABINETS. THESE SPEAKERS SOUND GREAT, AND WORK WELL. THEY WILL HOWEVER NEED TO BE REFOAMED ON THE OUTER EDGES AS THEY ARE DRY AND IN SOME SECTIONS CRACKED AS SHOWN. THE WOOFERS THEMSELVES SHOW NO TEARS OR RIPS WHATSOEVER. THEY ARE A LITTLE SOILED HERE AND THERE, AND WILL LEAVE ANY DESIRED TECHNICAL CLEANING TO YOU. THE BACKSIDES LOOK PERFECT AS SHOWN. THE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN IN VERY BRIGHT LIGHT, THESE SPEAKERS LOOK NICER IN PERSON. THE SERIAL NUMBERS ARE 1371 AND 1372. THE DRIVERS, CROSSOVERS, LENSES, AND CABINETS WILL BE LISTED SOON. WE PONDERED ON HOW TO LIST THIS, AND I KNOW THERE ARE FOLKS OUT THERE NEEDING ONLY CERTAIN COMPONENTS AND WOULD NOT WANT TO PAY EXTRA FOR WHAT THEY DON'T NEED, SO WE'RE SELLING IT ALL SEPARATELY. IF YOU WANT IT ALL, BID ON EACH OF THE AUCTIONS TO WIN IT ALL. WE SELL ALL VINTAGE ELECTRONIC ITEMS AS FOUND AND "AS IS" WE WON'T RISK THE RETURN OF TAMPERED WITH VINTAGE ITEMS.


http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-JBL-Olym...QQcmdZViewItem

from auction description:
THIS AUCTION IS FOR AN EXCELLENT PAIR OF VINTAGE JBL OLYMPUS SPEAKER HORNS AND DRIVERS. THEY ARE MODEL LE75, SERIAL NUMBERS 1101 AND 1105, AND ARE 16 OHMS. AS YOU CAN SEE THEY ARE IN GREAT ORIGINAL PHYSICAL CONDITION; THEY WORK GREAT, AND CAME OUT OF A RARE PAIR OF JBL OLYMPUS LATTICE GRILLED CABINETS. THESE MEASURE APPROXIMATELY 12 1/2" FROM THE TIP OF THE HORN, TO THE TIP OF THE DRIVER. ALL THE ORIGINAL SEALS ARE CLEAN AND TIGHT. THE SPEAKERS, CROSSOVERS, LENSES, AND CABINETS WILL BE LISTED SOON. WE PONDERED ON HOW TO LIST THIS, AND I KNOW THERE ARE FOLKS OUT THERE NEEDING ONLY CERTAIN COMPONENTS AND WOULD NOT WANT TO PAY EXTRA FOR WHAT THEY DON'T NEED, SO WE'RE SELLING IT ALL SEPARATELY. IF YOU WANT IT ALL, BID ON EACH OF THE AUCTIONS TO WIN IT ALL. THESE HORNS AND DRIVERS ARE IN GREAT PHYSICAL AND WORKING CONDITION, BUT WE SELL ALL VINTAGE ELECTRONICS AS FOUND AND "AS IS". WE WON'T RISK THE RETURN OF A TAMPERED WITH VINTAGE ITEM. THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-JBL-Olym...QQcmdZViewItem

from auction description:
THIS AUCTION IS FOR AN EXCELLENT PAIR OF VINTAGE JBL OLYMPUS SPEAKER CROSSOVERS. THEY ARE MODEL LX5 AND ARE 16 OHMS. AS YOU CAN SEE THEY ARE IN GREAT ORIGINAL PHYSICAL CONDITION; THEY WORK GREAT, AND CAME OUT OF A RARE PAIR OF JBL OLYMPUS LATTICE GRILLED CABINETS. THE SPEAKERS, HORNS, DRIVERS, AND CABINETS WILL BE LISTED SOON. WE PONDERED ON HOW TO LIST THIS, AND I KNOW THERE ARE FOLKS OUT THERE NEEDING ONLY CERTAIN COMPONENTS AND WOULD NOT WANT TO PAY EXTRA FOR WHAT THEY DON'T NEED, SO WE'RE SELLING IT ALL SEPARATELY. IF YOU WANT IT ALL, BID ON ALL THE AUCTIONS TO WIN IT ALL. THESE VINTAGE CROSSOVERS ARE INDEED WORKING, AND IN GREAT ORIGINAL CONDITION, BUT WE SELL ALL VINTAGE ELECTRONICS AS FOUND, AND "AS IS". WE WON'T RISK THE RETURN OF A TAMPERED WITH VINTAGE ITEM.

[Hofmannhp]

Hi Glen,

hey ...you do some ebay fishing like an eagle (the American one with the white head).

I had them too....

(Counter is now showing 1163)

regards
HP

[glen]

Detailed description with lots of pictures

Particularly interesting because it includes date-code style and progressive serial numbers. If our interpretation of the date-code numbering system is correct then this cabinet was assembled in December of 1955.

This is the earliest foilcal D130 (10268)
and the second earliest laminate plastic plate 175 (1482) I have seen.
Which would point to the introduction of these styles of nameplates, and the progressive serial numbering for these components in late 1955.

D130 serial number 10268
175 serial number 1482
1217-1290 serial number 512-153
N1200 serial number 512170

from auction description:
Here I am offering a vintage JBL speaker. I believe it is model C38 Cabinet. The components are the 175 Speaker, with 1217 Horn, The D130 15” Speaker, and the N1200 Crossover. This speaker looks great for it's age. The speaker sounds amazing...it is very clear and precise and has a warm bass response without being muddy or dull.

• Auction includes:
  • JBL 175 DRIVER
    • SERIAL NUMBER 1482
    • 16 OHM
    • DCR 7.9 OHMS
  • JBL HORN
    
    • MODEL 1217-1290
    • SERIAL NUMBER 512-153
  • JBL L D130
    
    • SERIAL NUMBER 10268
    • 16 OHMS
    • CODE ON PAPER CONE 130 202
    • DCR 6.5
  • JBL CROSSOVER MODEL N1200
    
    • 16 OHMS
    • SERIAL NUMBER 512170
  • JBL CABINET WITH BRASS LOGO
    
    • not sure which cabinet this is..it is either model 36 or 38. I believe 38. It has the legs and walnut veneer. The cabinet has many scuffs and marks and one piece of veneer is missing on the right front corner. Overall the cabinet looks good for a 50 year old speaker

The sound and performance of all the components is absolutely perfect! These drivers and crossover have been treated well and they sound amazing. Refer to the pictures for detailed close-up pictures of all the drivers. Each component has been tested individually; all components work perfectly and perform to optimal levels. All of the components are original except for the speaker wiring which is new.
This speaker will be shipped with the horn and driver removed , then packed, and then placed inside the cabinet....otherwise the horn assembly is likely to be jarred off of it's mount and damaged. The legs will removed and placed inside the cabinet as well for the safest delivery. All inside will be padded and cushioned, and then the cabinet will be padded and boxed.

[glen]

Hi Glen,
hey ...you do some ebay fishing like an eagle (the American one with the white head).

That would be the American BALD eagle, a trait which I am on the verge of sharing with the eagle, but not ready to admit to yet!

[glen]

Both of these original boxes are dated April 3, 1973:

http://cgi.ebay.com/JBL-SIGNATURE-SO...QQcmdZViewItem

[glen]

LE15A Woofer Serial #10317
LE15A Woofer Serial #10320
LE85 Compression Driver Serial #3922
LE85 Compression Driver Serial #3921
LX5 Crossover Serial #11889
LX5 Crossover Serial #12861

http://cgi.ebay.com/JBL-Custom-ALNIC...QQcmdZViewItem

includes original warranty cards