5 Attachment(s)
Metregon from 1962 on ebay
Seller says he has original sales receipt dated 03/01/62
Components:
130A Signature Speakers, serial numbers not supplied
275 serial number 885 and 886
N600 serial number 1722 and 1719
in auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...DME:L:RTQ:US:1
from auction description:
This is the classic 'Metregon' Stereo Reproducer speaker system from "JBL". The speaker has had one owner all of these years, and it has been well cared for, and it works and sounds great. The entire front display has no scratches, and the color is still nice and bright. The top does show some fading on it, and a couple of ring marks on it, and can be brought back to life. The raised ring area trim around the top has a few small 1" type spots where the outer vaneer has chipped off, and they are only the on the outer vaneer, and do not go into the wood, and can easily be matched back up. The bottom fanned wood speaker grills are in perfect shape, with no chips or other damage, and the cloth over the speakers are in perfect shape as well, and is nice and tight. The edges all around the speaker are nice and clean, and are in great condition. It has all of the original components in it, the 2 JBL 130A Signature Speakers, the 2 JBL model 275 16ohm Drivers, Serial #s 885 & 886, and the N600 16ohm Dividing Networks, Serial #s 1722 & 1719. All of the components are in perfect condition, with no type of wear, and you could tell that the speaker had never been opened up. There is also a number of original Speaker Brochures and documents that came with it, and I'm including those in the auction as well. The previous owner told me that he remembered the day that it was delivered to him, and the original trucking delivery receipt is included as well. I have taken several photos to show the condition. It measures 73" by 25" by 31". It must be picked up in Huntington Beach, as I do not have a safe way for it to be shipped.
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D-175 / 175 / LE75 / LE175 serial numbers Part 1: Before the serial numbers
The earliest JBL compression drivers I have seen bear the same square "A Jim Lansing Signature Speaker" badge/logo/nameplate as the early cone drivers. The nameplate was placed on the side of their rolled and welded, smooth finish, magnet pot.
They did not have an applied label showing serial number or model.
The oldest square label shows the "San Marcos" location.
After the move to 4221 Lincoln Boulevard in Venice a square "A Jim Lansing Signature Speaker" with the "Venice" location was used.
The first model identifying label appears on a driver without any other label, badge or logo. It simply says "MODEL D-175" on a small rectangle of paper stuck on the side of the rolled and welded magnet pot. Maybe the original label fell off and the owner replaced it with this?
The earliest "cut corners" tag with spaces for "Model No.", "Impedance", and "Serial No.". and the "James B. Lansing Sound Inc.", name only, appearing at the bottom of the cut-corners tag. This tag first appeared in conjunction with the race-track oval shaped Venice, Calif. "Jim Lansing Signature Speaker" logo nameplate on the side of the rolled and welded magnet pot. It identifies the driver as "D-175" and lists a 16 ohm impedance but the "Serial No." area is left blank
The next version still had the cut corners "James B. Lansing Sound Inc." name only tag, but the oval race-track label was updated to the new "Van Nuys" location. The "Serial No." area is left blank on this driver as well, although the factory cabinet this came in did have a serial number D-1002 Serial No. 1090. This also came mounted on a later version of the H-1000 horn that only had the sound dampening sawdust-glue mixture applied to the backs of the mouths of the multicell horn, from the front mounting flange back to the horn throat the cells are bare, painted metal.
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D-175 / 175 / LE75 / LE175 serial numbers Part 2: The earliest serial numbers
D-175 serial number 499 (September 1949)
This is the earliest serial numbered D-175 I've seen. This has the same Van Nuys race-track logo and cut-corners "name only" label on the side of the rolled and welded magnet pot.
September 1949 is the date of manufacture I infer according to the early non-suffix date code interpretation: The first two digits of the serial number representing the last two digits of the year and the next one, or two digits indicating the month (YYM or YYMM)
D-175 serial number 5101 (January 1951)
This is the second earliest serial numbered D-175 I have seen. While it still has the Van Nuys race-track logo it has the newer cut corners label with "Los Angeles, Calif. Made in U.S.A." at the bottom. The name, "James B. Lansing Sound inc." was moved to the top, and in between appear the same spaces for model, impedance and serial number. This change in the cut-corners label was probably a result of the 1949 move from Van Nuys to Fletcher Drive in Glendale, Ca.
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D-175 / 175 / LE75 / LE175 serial numbers Part 3: The Big Script “L” Logo
The new Alvin Lustig designed JBL logo, with the "L" in Jim Lansing rendered in oversized flowing script had appeared in JBL advertising in 1950, and soon it appeared on the drivers as well.
The cleaner and bolder Logo was aided by the redesigned cut corners label that now displayed the address. The name, "James B. Lansing Sound inc." was moved to the top of the cut-corners label, and in it's place at the bottom appeared "Los Angeles, Calif. Made in U.S.A.". In between were the same spaces for model, impedance and serial number..
The first D-175 drivers with this labeling still had the rolled, welded magnet pots and were mounted to the later H-1000 multicell horns.
Also at this time someone decided to try and include more information in the serial number in the form of a numerical suffix. The first three digits of the serial number would be a simplified version of the original date-code, only the very last digit of the year was used, followed by two digits representing the month. Appended to this, sometimes separated by a hyphen, the suffix was initially a two digit number and later became a three digit number. A little later the date-code serial number was given a prefix “N”, “N-“, or “No” which seems redundant as it follows the “Serial No.” that was already printed on the cut corners label.
So far I have no good explanation of what the suffix represents, I think these things are true:It only seems to increase in irregular increments.
It seems to change more often in the early life of a product but,
It may remain unchanged for years on a mature product.
It does not necessarily change when the product design changes
(Ex: didn’t change when the 175 switched from a welded to a cast magnet pot)
It does not change as often on a simple product.
(Ex: almost every date-code 1217-1290 horn has “153” for the suffix number).
I guess someone will have to ask John Eargle about this one.
D-175 serial number 10822 (August 1951, suffix number 22)
Almost immediately the big “L” logo decal was moved from the side of the magnet pot to the flat back of the compression driver, but the cut corners label continued it’s familiar place on the side of the magnet pot
D-175 serial number 11138 (November 1951, suffix number 38)
Then the “D” was dropped from the model number so it became simply 175
175 serial number 20442 (April 1952, suffix number 42)
1952 saw the introduction of the cast metal 1217-1290 horn
175 serial number N21074 (October 1952, suffix number 74)
175 serial number N30474 (April 1953, suffix number 74)
The next change for the 175 was from a welded to a cast magnet pot
175 serial number N30474 (April 1953, suffix number 74)
175 serial number 40274 (February 1954, suffix number 74)
175-34 serial number 40374 (March 1954, suffix number 74)*
*the 175-34 variant appears on a theatrical equipment pricelist
175 serial number 40474 (April 1954, suffix number 74)
175 serial number N-40674 (June 1954, suffix number 74)
175 serial number N-41074 (October 1954, suffix number 74)**
175 serial number N-41074 (October 1954, suffix number 74)**
175 serial number N-41174 (November 1954, suffix number 74)
175 serial number No50274 (February 1955, suffix number 74)**
175 serial number N-50274 (February 1955, suffix number 74)**
175 serial number N-50574 (May 1955, suffix number 74)
** date-code serial numbers are not unique, duplicates are sometimes seen
2 Attachment(s)
D175 / 175 / LE75 / LE175 serial numbers Pt 4: Engraved Plastic “L” Exclamation Point
The engraved black/white plastic laminate nameplate was introduced around 1955. It featured an early version of the exclamation point logo with an "L" in the dot at the bottom of the exclamation point. "Jim Lansing" appeared to the left of the exclamation point, "signature" was to the right.
For the first time the serial numbers seem to be simply a sequential numbering system, possibly starting with 1000.
175 serial number 1391 (japan)
175 serial number 1393
175 serial number 1398
175 serial number 1482 (from system with December 1955 date code crossover)
175 serial number 2119 (claimed 1956)
175 serial number 2283 (from C34 with July 10, 1956 sales receipt)
175 serial number 2288 (japan)
175 serial number 2307
175 serial number 3672
175 serial number 4076
175 serial number 4237
175 serial number 4346
175 serial number 4368
175 serial number 4410
175 serial number 5379
175 serial number 5396
175 serial number 5805
175 serial number 6298
175 serial number 7001
175 serial number 7105
175 serial number 7116
175 serial number 7238
175 serial number 7289
175 serial number 7373
2 Attachment(s)
D175 / 175 / LE75 / LE175 serial nos. Pt 5: Engraved Plastic “JBL” Exclamation Point
I believe it was around 1956/57 that the engraved black/white plastic laminate nameplate was updated to feature the new version of the exclamation point logo with "JBL" in the dot at the bottom of the exclamation point. "signature" moved from the right side of the exclamation point to the left, where "Jim Lansing" had been, and “speaker” now appeared to the right. The serial numbers continued uninterrupted over this change which occurred sometime between serial number 7373 (“L” “Jim Lansing signature” exclamation point) and 8860 (“JBL” “signature speaker” exclamation point).
175 serial number 8860
175 serial number 8872
175 serial number 8873
175 serial number 9217
175 serial number 9598
175 serial number 9880 (claimed late 60s, but I believe it is earlier)
175 serial number 9901
175 serial number 10032
175 serial number 10133
175 serial number 10167
175 serial number 10419 (claimed late 60s, but I believe it is earlier)
175 serial number 10471
175 serial number 10542
175 serial number 10726