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595 PA Columns [message #20777] Tue, 24 June 2014 21:59 Go to next message
DDHH
Messages: 5
Registered: June 2014
Location: Michigan
Junior Member
Hey guys,

I picked up two 595 Columns (with 4, 8" 16ohm speakers in each, dated 46 week of 1970) with a 4-channel, 100 head. Being the child that I was when hearing this thing, I didn't check to see if all the speakers worked. Let's just say it's in great shape and was a steal. I have played through it twice, and today I noticed that the top two speakers in one column aren't working. The solders look ok. My friend is suggesting I burned the coils. I did crank it up pretty high, but man does a guitar scream through these things. Any suggestions on replacement speakers? Or is re-coning a thing a purist would do? I know Iowa Boy just posted about these recently.

-DH (Rookie to the forum)
Re: 595 PA Columns [message #20778 is a reply to message #20777] Tue, 24 June 2014 22:21 Go to previous messageGo to next message
pleat is currently offline  pleat
Messages: 1454
Registered: June 2004
Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
If the speaker wires are soldered to the speaker terminals, then I'd say someone before you has done some work to the columns. The only solder joints would be at the speaker jack from the factory and they used red and black wires with a spade type connector. You might try removing the speaker wires from the speakers that arn't working and using a flashlight battery or a 9V battery to the terminals of each speaker you suspect are blown and see if you get any movement on the cone and popping sound. If so, then I would make sure the cabs are wired correctly. Each pair of speakers are wired in series and the pairs are wired in parallel to make a 16 ohm total for each cabinet. The K100 head is 60 watts into a 8 ohm total load.

The Circuit Shop in Caledonia, MI is a great place for re-coning speakers. I use them when I have a bad speaker.

What color is your system?

pleat
Re: 595 PA Columns [message #20780 is a reply to message #20778] Wed, 25 June 2014 04:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Iowa Boy is currently offline  Iowa Boy
Messages: 767
Registered: June 2014
Senior Member
I was on Craigslist tonight and a guy has (10) 8 inch he claims are new Aztec-Lansing guitar speakers for sale. Wattage and ohms were not listed and I shot him an email asking for specs. I need only 8, so I would be willing to part with the additional two if your interested. I'll let you know what I find out if I hear back from him.
Re: 595 PA Columns [message #20784 is a reply to message #20778] Wed, 25 June 2014 11:28 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DDHH
Messages: 5
Registered: June 2014
Location: Michigan
Junior Member
pleat,

The solders are intact on the speaker jacks (and the wires look original--black and red). Everything looks wired correctly, too. I did notice a weaker solder at the input jack on the positive terminal.

Thanks for the lead to the shop in Caledonia.

The system is black. Also, is there a slang term to describe the sticky black stuff on the inside? I'd like to coin it "Black Death."

-DH
Re: 595 PA Columns [message #20785 is a reply to message #20780] Wed, 25 June 2014 11:29 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DDHH
Messages: 5
Registered: June 2014
Location: Michigan
Junior Member
Iowa Boy wrote on Wed, 25 June 2014 04:59
I was on Craigslist tonight and a guy has (10) 8 inch he claims are new Aztec-Lansing guitar speakers for sale. Wattage and ohms were not listed and I shot him an email asking for specs. I need only 8, so I would be willing to part with the additional two if your interested. I'll let you know what I find out if I hear back from him.


Thanks for looking out! Still not sure if my speakers are toast yet, but I will find out soon hopefully. It's pretty hard to find 8" 16ohms in the meantime...

-DH
Re: 595 PA Columns [message #20786 is a reply to message #20778] Wed, 25 June 2014 11:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DDHH
Messages: 5
Registered: June 2014
Location: Michigan
Junior Member
pleat wrote on Tue, 24 June 2014 22:21
If the speaker wires are soldered to the speaker terminals, then I'd say someone before you has done some work to the columns. The only solder joints would be at the speaker jack from the factory and they used red and black wires with a spade type connector. You might try removing the speaker wires from the speakers that arn't working and using a flashlight battery or a 9V battery to the terminals of each speaker you suspect are blown and see if you get any movement on the cone and popping sound. If so, then I would make sure the cabs are wired correctly. Each pair of speakers are wired in series and the pairs are wired in parallel to make a 16 ohm total for each cabinet. The K100 head is 60 watts into a 8 ohm total load.

The Circuit Shop in Caledonia, MI is a great place for re-coning speakers. I use them when I have a bad speaker.

What color is your system?

pleat


I did the battery test (super clever), and one of the speakers in question does pop, the other does not. So now I'm down one speaker I guess. Still doing some tests.
Re: 595 PA Columns [message #20789 is a reply to message #20777] Wed, 25 June 2014 13:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DDHH
Messages: 5
Registered: June 2014
Location: Michigan
Junior Member
Ok, so I've singled out the speaker that wasn't responding. I took it out and noticed a small tear in between the silver dust cover and the diaphragm. Now, is this the time that I should be sending this to be re-coned? Or is part # 294-2471 from Parts Express the better option?

I have to say it's been exciting learning about Kustom amps, and I have to thank Kustom Dan, and Don Thompson. This forum is great.
Re: 595 PA Columns [message #20791 is a reply to message #20777] Wed, 25 June 2014 15:16 Go to previous message
chicagobill
Messages: 2006
Registered: April 2003
Senior Member
The small tear will probably not be the cause of the speaker not working. It usually is a problem with the voice coil or the wires that connect the voice coil to the speaker terminals.

If you are close enough to Don's reconer, you might want to ask for an estimate to have it redone.

If you have a soldering iron, you could try remelting the solder connections where the two tinsel wires connect to the terminals. Sometimes a cold solder joint will cause the speaker to stop working and can be brought back to life by re-soldering those wires.
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