Torn Speaker Maintenance

wwrrss · Post by **wwrrss** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:15 pm

I've noticed a small tear in one of my speakers in my 2x12 cab and was wondering the best way to avoid it getting any worse?

will a piece of gaffer do the trick, or maybe some glue?

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:21 pm

there's a product that's made especially for speaker cone repair.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... e=googleps

This particular one is clear but it's essentially the same black shit that they use to secure the dust cover over the voice coil.
The reason why this is a better solution than any other glue is that it never fully cures, so it retains some precious elasticity which is essential in preventing your speaker from tearing open again.

Will · Post by **Will** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:05 pm

If it's a relatively small tear, you can fix it pretty easily yourself.

Get some regular 2-ply paper towel from your kitchen. Carefully separate the plys so you have a thin, bumpy bit of paper.
What you want to do is tear the paper to make a patch that will cover the tear - you want torn paper because the fuzzy little fibers on the edge will bond better with the speaker. You'll put a patch on each side of the speaker.
Soak the patch in white Elmer's glue (maybe thin the glue with a little water) and gently press it on. It'll tear easy when wet and tend to stick to your fingers, so it's a fidgety process. After the patches on both sides are dry, it should be almost as good as new. You can touch it up with a magic marker or a little flat black spraypaint if the white patch bugs you.

Fran · Post by **Fran** » Mon Sep 06, 2010 11:48 pm

LAL, i thought this was going to be about the E13/Devi Ever pedal

kim · Post by **kim** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 2:34 am

lol how do you maintain it ? it needs looooove.

as for torn speakers, my bandmate ichiko deals with it all the time because she destroys shit all the time, her method is 'use the only guy in the band to replace speakers, cheap speakers' and act as if you know while actually your only purpose is to give people tinnitus and act as if you know how to replace speakers. i love her for that though she's nuts but quinten always has to clean up her mess.

wwrrss · Post by **wwrrss** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:41 am

Paper towel sounds like an easy option. I'll have another look at how bad it is.

LULZ for Devi, I'd like to try some of those pedals one day.

Kim, I'm pretty bad for ragging my amps at full volume, tinnitus is sign of a job well done.

avj · Post by **avj** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:14 am

Dave Davies wrote:Fix it? Fuck that shit.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 5:44 am

That paper towel trick is wicked-crafty!
Don't wanna be calling anyone out here but...

Has anybody actually done this with good results? Doesn't the elmer's glue stiffen up too much?
Is it retarded to think stiffness is even a factor, here?

Again, don't wanna step in anybody's face but if if this does work well, I've got a couple really nice speakers that are about to get TP'd.

Will · Post by **Will** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:00 am

I learned it from the Gerald Weber tube amp repair video. The cone paper is pretty stiff as is, so I doubt it would cause any problems.

laterallateral · Post by **laterallateral** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 3:23 pm

Cool.

So I just went ahead and attempted the paper towel repair on an old Eminence from a 70's twin that had gotten punctured by a bass drum spur.

Unfortunately, the tear was not nearly as clean as I remembered it. I probably shouldn't have kept using it, after the initial accident. It had split into three flaps, about an inch above the dust cover and extending about two inches from the basket rim. A pretty serious affair. I was able to get the paper towel to go on smooth and completely close up the tear. I'll give it a couple days to cure and then I'll give it a whirl.

I'm not expecting it to sound anywhere near the other one (two of these babies in a 2x12), given the extent of the damage but I'll be happy if it sounds like anything other than FLAAAAAAAARRRRPPPP.

Update is imminent.

Post by **Doog** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 4:17 pm

I'm afraid I can't offer any wisdom, but I feel your pain. I once put a small tear in a bass speaker whilst loading it into a car, it'd been taken out of the cab to fix the internal wiring.

I put some gaffa tape over the hole and went on tour- in 2 days I had a BLARGFHFTFTTTTTTTTTTTTT machine and a very quiet one at that. Good luck with a proper fix!