Who is building Scumback Speakers now?

[chrisom]

Jim from Scumback is to Celestion-style speakers what George Metropoulis is to Plexi-style amplifiers.......................... DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH...

[Scumback Speakers]

Tone Slinger and chrisom, thanks for the kind words, although I think "Speaker King" is a bit much. Let's just say I acquired some significant experience after buying around 400 pre rolas and over 100 of the Rola Celestions.

A very large part of my knowledge on all of the construction details/doping/treatments and such came from Duncan Boniface, former lead speaker engineer @ Celestion for over a decade. Significant contributors were Jeff West, and a host of others on the internet.

I first contacted Duncan in 1999 when I went on this pre rola tone speaker quest. He was "Dr. Decibel" at Celestion then. He was hugely instrumental in knowing and telling me about how different treatments were done to the cones to produce different tones. What worked, what failed, so Duncan is the guy I give the most credit to. He's also the guy who spearheaded talking to Celestion for me way back in 1999 about doing a proper pre rola recreation. Celestion didn't think there was a market (at that time) and they told Duncan "Tell Jim he's on his own, go ahead and do it if he wants to."

Celestion just didn't think there was enough potential sales money in the idea to pursue it. So that's when I started on this mad idea of pre rola tonal recreation with modern materials. Around 2003 I was working with Duncan on the 10" Greenback reissue Celestion came out with a year or so back, just to give you an idea of how long it takes to bring a product to market in a corporate environment. So with Duncan's help and Celestion's blessing, that's how this all got going. Duncan also told me how to age the cones with different treatments, ala Matchless, and other ways. You can still find a bunch of his posts on the Celestion history on the Plexi Palace board under the screen name DunxB.

When Celestion gave me the go ahead I contacted Eminence. While they were happy to work with me, their minimum order quantity was 100 speakers per model. I didn't have the money to buy 800 speakers when I started in 2004, so they advised me to contact Ted Weber, which I did. That was back in 2003. I had already been emailing Ted from 1999 as well for other speaker ideas, but the serious groundwork on recreating the old pre rola tone started in 1999 with Duncan, which is when I went on this mad speaker buying spree.

I have a complete timeline of how this all played out via email, but I have to wait for approval from cooler heads than mine on when I can post it online. There will be significant revelations when that happens. Some people I worked with for years are going to have their reputations tarnished, some are going to lose all credibility completely.

I want you all to know that I was really bummed that Weber pulled the plug on our agreement. I flew back to visit Weber VST in late April to meet with TA and the Weber crew to get all the issues resolved/fixed/straightened out and a plan to move forward into the future. While I was promised the world and "we'll make it happen, Jim!" by TA Weber, I didn't feel he was being honest with me. Since I was canceled as a client shortly after the April 28th meeting, and their new "Legacy" line came out five days after I was canceled, I have to figure that I read it right.

When I can post the timeline and associated emails you'll see why a parting of the ways was something I did not plan...or want...but I did see the writing on the wall from numerous email "suggestions" & demands made of me months prior to the 4/28/11 meeting at Weber. IMO, Ted Weber would be rolling over in his grave given the current events, and I'm not alone in that feeling.

Again, a sad end to a long business agreement, but it will only get better very soon. Thanks for all of the kind words and support.

[Scott Rosenberger]

Jim, can i still send my Pre Rola G12h-30 55hz to get reconed with your parts?

[Big Mike]

Good lord. Quit giving that guy love.

You're going to make his already enormous Cranium even larger.



Love ya buddy!

[Scumback Speakers]

Jim, can i still send my Pre Rola G12h-30 55hz to get reconed with your parts?

Scott, you certainly can. I'll be accepting Celestion style G12M and G12H30 frames for Scumback recones starting next week. Cost is $99 each plus shipping, 1 year warranty on the recones (this is assuming your frames are good, obviously).

I cannot rebuild G12M-70's, sorry. Only 1.75" voice coil types (G12T-75, V30, G12H30, G12M, G12-65, G12-80, Classic Lead 80). Email me with your Txxxx numbers and I'll make sure.

If yours are the T1281, T1217, T1534 G12H30 frames, you're good to go. Hope that helps!

[Scumback Speakers]

Here's what a Scumback recone will look like. This is a Scumnico that was bad out of the box that I had to rebuild to fill an order.

[AustinTx]

Hello Jim,
I have a couple Celestion T-652 Alnico H1777s for reconing.
Do you have correct cones and coils for them?

Thanks

[Scumback Speakers]

Hello Jim,
I have a couple Celestion T-652 Alnico H1777s for reconing.
Do you have correct cones and coils for them?

Thanks

Not yet...they're in Philadelphia as of 5:23 am this morning. LOL

Seriously the coils I have will fit/work no problem, and the cones. If your cones are original, I can analize the cone itself for doping/treatment/etc and should be able to get really close. What will be the fine point is the voice coil former material...is it Kapton, Paper, or what?

And the other issue is if it's a late 60's H1777 cone used up to 1973, or an early H1777 cone used before the Pulsonic 102 003 cones came out?

This is the crux of the problem with all the old Celestions...there were so many variations that it basically needs to be seen, and most likely torn apart to find out. I'll be happy to look at them for you, but in all honesty due to the cone/coil variables, I can only state that I have something really close, but EXACT won't happen due those variables.

I'm just trying to keep this real for you. I specialized in the Pulsonic 102 003 and 014 cones, and dead H1777 coned speakers that are original I have not ripped apart. I have seen/heard working ones, but I couldn't convince the owners to let me borrow them for analysis. That's why I bought all those speakers in my quest for the pre rola tone.

If they're dead, send them, and I'll look 'em over to see what I can do.

[Froumy]

Jim,

Thanks for taking the time to clarify. Curious as to the voice coil. Are you working on the normal coil, or is it a new prototype? Sry. Lost a little in translation.

Ohh yeah. Never knew Ted, but I can't help but think you're right about the rolling over part. I'm sure he knew what his kits were. Inexpensive for the budget minded-not much more. You could, however, get a cab, and sometimes, 2 or 3 of the good speakers. You could throw away most of the components, and still come out on top. That's gone, for me.

Same with the gentleman's agreement you had with Ted. I'm guessing Ted was proud of every Scumback sold-whether it was his design, or not. Guess the management doesn't feel like spending 8 times as long to make the product you made famous. Sad state, sir.

Best of Luck, Jim. I've got a feeling we'd all enjoy a test/comparison of your new manufactures. Help put the hater's to rest for sure.

Not trying to flame Weber, either. Instead, guess I'll offer a hat tip, and thanks, for the stuff Ted brought.

[Scumback Speakers]

I have lots of coils/suppliers to consider, and I have someone locally who's talking about building the exact paper coil like the originals for the PVC project as well. All of this is R&D/testing/multiple prototypes to get right, though. Since my ears, and my "holy grail speakers" I have here are the final test arena, it will take awhile to get done.

As per my usual fanatical attention to tonal detail, I won't offer these unless they're right. I don't want to waste anyone's time or money that way, although I will waste mine in the pursuit/test arena. I did it for the pre rola 003/014 cone tones, and I just did it for the Black Back tones (which was quick to my surprise).

The PVC will be tougher, I'm sure, but worth it when it's ready. As I've stated online recently, the outpouring of vendors/suppliers/industry pros that have stepped up, and bent over backwards to help me has been great, overwhelming even! And I've become privy to a lot of history that has bummed me out, too, some as recent as yesterday.

[Froumy]

Thanks again Jim, for a thorough answer to a direct question-that's uncommon.

This is what I've got. Your cones are nailed. Your BlackBacks are nailed. Your success has given an outpouring of industry suppliers that want to be part of the Scumback name. You're doing the thing that got you here with the coils, and investigating all possible options-whatever they might be..... I can definitely live with that. You're playing with the big boys for a reason.

Best of Luck. Hope your wife is still in the picture, and realizes how important this is. What are you shipping, and what do we have to wait for?

I know this is a process, but I can't help but wonder if you'll be able to offer quantity discounts to small amp builders with the new business model... DOH! Sorry. Couldn't help myself. Guess that was meant to be a shameless vote of confidence. Of course, we can't wait to hear them.

I love it when the little guy wins. Where's that Davey and Goliath emocon?

[Scumback Speakers]

Depending on what my final landed cost for parts is, I might able to offer a better price on my amp builder accounts. Obviously with the higher startup costs I have going right now, it won't be right away, although I'm hoping to reduce my costs and do better down the road. As you can imagine, samples shipped overnight to test/build/verify cost some serious extra $$, not to mention ordering 540 speakers worth of parts (with 210 extra cones/coils/etc for reconing) for my initial order. I expect that to last about 2.5-3 months at current sales volume, and I'll be on a constant re-order cycle to keep speakers in stock.

I'll be shipping M/J/H/Scumnico 12" speakers right away when it all gets here as that's what I setup for first, since they're my most popular models. Over 100 have been pre-ordered since I announced my move of production to California last Saturday. Amp & cab companies that weren't interested in Scumbacks before are now placing orders due to my direct involvement in the production as well as the longer warranty, and shorter lead times. The response has been overwhelmingly positive.

And now I'm going back to watch the British Open on ESPN!

[fillmore nyc]

I love it when the little guy wins. Where's that Davey and Goliath emocon?

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[Scumback Speakers]

fillmore: you're cracking me up here!

[BAinFL]

fillmore: you're cracking me up here!

+1

LOL Fill...that was great!