JBL Recone Kits--Who Sells The Best Kits?

For most Musicians/Luthiers/Amp Builders...................Speakers and making the right choices can make or break that which is "Ultimate Tonality" from that which is "Mediocre".  Unfortunately for many...................the wrong Speaker choice or poorly manufactured Speakers (Mass Produced/Low End/Cheap Materials) can make the "Ultimate Guitar"..............the "Ultimate Amp"..................the "Ultimate Guitarist"..............sound just so-so.  And, for many Musicians, Speakers are quite often overlooked in terms of prioritizing one's product purchases in the quest for the "Holy Grail" of "Tonality". 

The purpose of this "Guide" is to help direct some Musicians, (those seeking the 'best") to an eBay Seller, whom in our opinion and experiences, offers the absolute pinnacle of "JBL Recone Kits"--Joel Kennedy Recone Kits

If you are amongst those of us who love the old vintage JBL Speakers, but hate the fear of over-working or pushing a Vintage Speaker into Coil damage or Cone "blow-outs", then Joel Kennedy is your ONLY source for high-quality/high-end/reliable JBL Recone Kits.  Let me introduce myself and share some thoughts and personal experiences with you...........................

My name is Mike Moore and I am the Founding and Managing Partner in Mooretone Music, LLC--soon to be "Mooretone Musical Instruments Corporation".  Mooretone (a play on my name of course) has been around since 1990 and first used in commerce in 1996.  Our mission.............More-Tone--that simple.  Over the years, we've publicly shared our research and developments with Guitarists world-wide with Custom Guitar, Amplifier and Parts Inventions/Innovations and all things Electric Guitar Product-related--all things Hand Crafted by us in our small shop.  Over the years, I have rarely been willing to put my name on much of anything Mass Produced or Hand Crafted by others in our Industry--the fear of losing my credibility with our most valued commodity--our Customers.  The couple of times I was initially impressed with something or someone, has more always come back to haunt me, because either the person or product turned out to be...............well......................not so great, after the thrill of "New" wore off and it was time to get down to durability and lastability--as Consumers, you can probably relate--no?  Anyway..................from Amp Builders to Effects Pedal Mods and Builders to various other products and people.................most I wouldn't recommend to this day--albeit, time has proven (sadly) endorsements usually backfire and cost me and my customers time, money and added frustration.  So now.......................I wring out products and spend loads of time watching, listening and looking for personality glitches before I endorse or recommend ANYTHING OR ANYONE.

Joel Kennedy....................(see the above link) in my opinion as a Luthier, Inventor and Amplifier Builder.................simply earned by respect time and time again.  Here is how I found him and why...............

If you look in my eBay Feedback and History, you will find several JBL Speaker purchases.  Why?  As a Musician/Luthier/Amp Builder, I am always trying to improve my personal Amplifiers, as well as those we build for our Elite Customers--we don't sell Retail and are sell only to those who we want to work for--we interview and then select those we wish to allow to promote our products and business.  Needless to say.............I take very seriously, anything and everything "Guitar/Amp-related".  Each JBL Speaker purchase I made, found each Speaker arriving with well...............less than adequate Cones or Coils, worthy of a "Mooretone Amp".  As such....................I was out to rebuild those Speakers with the absolute "Best".  But, here's the catch................I had never reconed a Speaker!  As such, I was online and off to learn as much as I could about the "Art" of "Speaker Reconing".  The motor functions, magnetic theory and functions of all integrated parts were simple, but like anything, I knew there would be the physical work and "processes" or "Steps" in terms of actually installing those parts, so that at the end, the Speaker would work as intended.  If you work with your hands, as we Luthiers/Amp Builders work with ours, then you can relate--there is always a proper process or procedure in all things............as well as industry language.  With those processes, comes jigs, templates and other necessary tools needed to complete a project.  As such, for me as an Individual, it is impossible for me to be an "Expert" at everything Guitar and Amplifier-related.  Speaker Reconing, just seemed so bizzare and time-consuming and the jigs and fixtures needed to really do it right, was just not worth the time and money invested--I was only planning to recone a couple of Speakers.  So, the quest then shifted from individual parts purchases to that of a "Drop-In" ready kit.  Now.................there are several on the market, but none, except Joel Kennedy's, who come even close to the quality or Coil Winding Options as well as Impedance choices such as.................DCR=the resistance of the Coil as measured in Ohms.  Not only that, but Joel (when inistially contacted) sounded like me, when a potential Mooretone-Customer first calls......................a rigorous Due-Dilligence of questions and answers phone call, consumed an hour of fact-finding and interviewing--Joel like me, takes the time and care to get to know each customer!  At that point, I was awed and amazed at his base of Speaker knowledge--his knowledge of Industry Language was intense as he offered to recharge my JBL Alnico Magnets to ensure optimal sound production.  As we spoke, I revealed that I had two matching Vibroverb Clone Amps that I'd hand built to SRV's exact specs--for my personal Stage Setup and that, both had JBL D-130 Speakers rather than SRV's preferred EV Speakers.  I was looking for a high dB (103+) kit, but one that would still be "Musical" rather than "P.A" sounding.  I wanted my JBL Speaker, to be capable of efficiency and sensativity, while sounding warm, tight and controlled.  I explained my use of a Twin Reverb Ouput Transformer (4-Ohm Tap) mated to a D-130, 8-Ohm Impedance--the whys, what fors and everything in-between was fully understood immediately by Joel.  And as such, he custom wound, pre-assembled and instructed me (in-full details) the proper procedures for everything needed to tear down and re-build my JBL Speakers!  Not only did he match the kits to each other (remember I have two 1964 Vibroverb Clones Hand Built around SRV's Vibroverbs) but he included Spider and Cone glues along with Coil Cap glue and the Shim for gapping the Coil properly--the Shim possibly being the most important aspect of the kit, as without its exact thickness, and insertion, any kit would become obsolete in a hurry!  Okay, so with instructions in hand, and a shop set up for building Guitars and Amplifiers, I had the basics for getting into the process of reconing--which is to say...................a work bench and some basic hand tools, was more than sufficient--Joel installs the Coil assembly to the Cone for you, and all you have to do, is clean the old crap off the Speaker--a job indeed.  But, once the Basket and Gap are cleaned and ready for reassembly, Joel's kits simply drop right in place.  In fact...................so easy is the installation process, that you would have to actually work at it, to screw it up.  The hardest part of installing Joel's kit, is making sure your Tinsel lead wires are where your Speaker's Terminals are located.  The Shim, Glue and Cone alignment are just unreal perfect--as you slide your kit over the Shim, the pre-applied Glue for the Cone and Spider almost attract each other in a way as to suggest "they know where and what they are supposed to do"--all I had to do was basically guide the assembly down until the Spider sat level which amazingly is where the Cone Edges sat in the Basket!  The hardest part of the whole process, was forcing myself not to overwork the Glue--as Joel said to me..........." Just gently tap the Spider and Cone edges--don't wipe so as to twist or tweak the assembly."  Then..............the Cork Gaskets were so well machined, that they were just impossible to screw up in thier assembly.  The next day, I simply pulled the Shim, and glued the Coil Cap with shot glass to hold it down while it dried.  Once I soldered the Tinsel Wires back onto thier Lead Posts......................I was done. 

So...................now that it has been several months, and I have logged easily, a hundred hours plus on those reconed JBL Speakers, what do I have to say about them--awesome!  No matter what brand or type of 6L6 Output Tubes I run................those JBL Speakers kick the hell out of anything on the market--present and vintage original!  I was so impressed and amazed with Joel's kits..................that I reconed two more speakers--JBL K-110s that I installed into my Vibrolux Clone Amp--which now have D-110 cones, which are so incredible, that even at 35 Watts, with vintage Sylvania 6L6 WGB Short Bottles (1964 Original tubes) that little amp keeps up with my two Vibroverb Clones and two Twin Reverbs (Mooretone Rebuilds)!  Both Twins have generic Eminence Speakers--Swamp Thangs and Texas Heats.  Joel's recone kits are so good, that my Vibroverbs and Vibrolux Clone Amps, easily keeps up with my Twin's Eminence Speakers!  Here is a picture of my stage set up for those "Nay Sayers" or "Doubting Thomas" types--the three amps across the top are those with Joel's JBL Recone kits--the lower middle is a Fender/Aspen Pittman SFX Satellite (wow) and two Mooretone modified and improved Twin Reverbs--one a 1968 and the other a 1972--both brought back to 1964 BlackFace specs with our mods and circuit tweaks--all guitars are Mooretone models:

In conclusion...................I highly recommend Joel Kennedy's recone kits to anyone seeking the "best"!  If you are a "Vintage Nut" and think "original" is the best, then these kits are not for you.  But, if you are like me, and care less about "Collectibility" or the "Investment" factor, and simply seek the absolute best sound for your musical ambitions......................I urge you to contact Joel Kennedy!!