How to repair the cone of a guitar speaker?

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burn
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How to repair the cone of a guitar speaker?

Post by burn » Wed Jan 05, 2005 9:22 am

I just bought a old fender bassman 10 but there's a speaker with a crack in the cone, it play well but I don't want it to get worse . Do you have somes tricks to fix it? i heard that gasket silicone would do the job, any advices?

thanks

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Re: How to repair the cone of a guitar speaker?

Post by Poppatwang » Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:19 am

In the olden days we'd repair ala fiberglass, but use tissue paper & fingernail polish.
Kinda McGyver, but it seemed to work. I'm sure there's a more space age trick today.

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Re: How to repair the cone of a guitar speaker?

Post by ataraxia » Wed Jan 05, 2005 11:27 am

heard a rumour about hair grease

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Scodiddly
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Re: How to repair the cone of a guitar speaker?

Post by Scodiddly » Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:05 pm

Get it reconed.

No, I'm not joking.

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b3groover
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Re: How to repair the cone of a guitar speaker?

Post by b3groover » Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:08 pm

1. Get some lighter fluid.
2. Get a lighter.
3. Spread lighter fluid on the speaker.
4. Lite the fluid with the lighter.


Oh wait, you wanted to fix the speaker, my bad. I learned this from a fellow who restores old speakers. If it's a paper cone (which I assume it is) find another old speaker with a paper cone that you can destroy and not worry about. Take some of the cone and grind it up with a little water so that it's pulpy. Get some hide glue (hobby shops usually have it) and mix in a little of that until the stuff is sticky. Use your fingers to mold the newly created sticky compound into the tear/rip. Make it thin, but not too thin. Use enough to fill the hole/tear and smooth it out. Let it dry and voila!

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Re: How to repair the cone of a guitar speaker?

Post by chetatkinsdiet » Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:38 pm

Or, I've got not one, but two 1974 Fender alnico 10" speakers that I'd sell as a pair. I pulled them from a basketcase SuperReverb I had. This way, you'll be able to replace one and have another for a backup.
Or you could just get that one reconed. It's usually about $40 or so to do this. A lot cheaper than the two, matching, 31 year old vintage, killer sounding speakers I've got.... ;-)
later,
m
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Re: How to repair the cone of a guitar speaker?

Post by Coco » Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:46 pm

Poppatwang wrote:In the olden days we'd repair ala fiberglass, but use tissue paper & fingernail polish.
Kinda McGyver, but it seemed to work. I'm sure there's a more space age trick today.
A small piece of paper towel soaked with white glue will work. Got that right off the Kendrik amplifiers tube amp repair video.
I know enough to know that I don't know what I am doing.

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Re: How to repair the cone of a guitar speaker?

Post by blunderfonics » Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:54 pm

If this is an old original speaker with an alnico magnet you probably should just get it reconed to restore it to it's original spec and value.

If it's newer, if you dont care about the way it looks and if the tear is just in the cone (not the flexable surround) you can use this quick and dirty method:

Carefully unfold any creases in the cone and rejoin the tear as best as possible. Pay attention to which part the cone was overlapped on top and vice versa as when the heavy paper tears it's not a perfect razor-like cut. Use painters tape over the tear on the back of the cone to hold everything in place.

Once the tear is reassembled, get some clear 5 minute epoxy (go for the kind that has the 2 parts in a kind of dual syringe) . Mix the epoxy as per the instructions on the box. Using a plasic knife, spread the epoxy over the seams of the tear. Be generous but dont slop it on too thick, you just want to cover the seams about 1/4 to 3/8" on each side with enough epoxy to that it holds together once dry.

Let the epoxy dry making sure to position it so that the cone is sitting level. Do not lay the speaker flat on its magnet or upside down on the basket as the epoxy will run and you dont want the epoxy getting any where near the coil or the surround.

I first saw this method performed at my local speaker repair place when I went in to get a speaker reconed. The reconing cost nearly as much as a new speaker so the tech suggested this. Since then, I've done this myself on a couple of orphaned speakers that I've found here and there and they are all still working well.

Good luck.

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Re: How to repair the cone of a guitar speaker?

Post by blunderfonics » Wed Jan 05, 2005 12:59 pm

Oh, I forgot to add that you can remove the painters tape once the Epoxy has fully set.

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