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NEAR MINT 1946 JBL D-101 Iconic 15" Woofer~RARE FIND! - eBay (item 160544127920 end time Feb-20-11 18:30:11 PST)
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Sure is purdy...but I begin to understand why Altec quickly sued..
Wouldn't this be Pre-Altec and Pre-JBL?Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Guy
Pre- JBL.Quote:
Originally Posted by Audio_by_Goodwill
If you read the history, Altec bought Lansing's FIRST company.
"1941 Altec Service Company bought nearly bankrupt Lansing Manufacturing Company, and formed Altec Lansing Corporation on May 1 at 6900 McKinley Ave. to manufacture former Lansing products with 23 employees. First Altec power amplifier, model 142B."
Lansing had a no-compete clause, so he worked for Altec till it was up. I understand they parted on good terms, but that soured when he tried to use the Lansing name.
He left right after WW II. So this would be one of his first newer efforts. The address on the speaker is his tool shed behind his house. He didn't have a factory yet.
The settlement as I understand created JBL...his initials. By placing his signature on them he was still able to put Lansing on them. Altec owned Lansing, not James B. Lansing. The operative theory I gather was Altec bought the trademark not his name...
I would not be surprised to see a 5-10 grand price on this.
I wonder if this has been re-coned with 130 as I would have thought the spider would be phenolic. Also, the DC resistance seems low for a Lansing product of this era. Could this be a very nice clone? It sure is a beauty though, whatever it is.
Steve Schell please comment!
Looks like a 515B to me.But the spiders of the era were Bakelite were they not ?Could this have been reconed ?
The D130 of a year later had a very similar cone. I think it's original, but then ya know about opinions...
If you were 18 when this came out you are 82 now...I ain't there yet.;)
"James B Lansing Sound" AFAIK, and according to Eargle's book "The JBL Story" Jim Lansing the man never knew a company called "JBL" as the abbreviation came after Mr Lansing's untimely suicide.Quote:
The settlement as I understand created JBL...his initials. By placing his signature on them he was still able to put Lansing on them. Altec owned Lansing, not James B. Lansing. The operative theory I gather was Altec bought the trademark not his name...
Here's a little chunk I pulled from Wiki:
Lansing and Decker moved to Los Angeles where they set up a business manufacturing loudspeakers. It was called the Lansing Manufacturing Company. Just before the company was registered on March 9, 1927 Lansing changed his name from James Martini to James Bullough Lansing at the suggestion of his future wife, Glenna. Most of his brothers had adopted the surname Martin, two of which (Bill and George) came to LA to work with him.
Decker was killed in an airplane crash in 1939 and Lansing Manufacturing began to suffer financial difficulties without his business guidance. Altec Service Corporation bought Lansing Manufacturing in 1941, seeing the company as a valuable source for loudspeaker components. The combined company was named Altec Lansing. James B. Lansing was made VP of Engineering with a five-year contract.
In 1946, Lansing left the company on the day his contract expired and started a new company called "Lansing Sound, Incorporated". Altec Lansing had a problem with that name's similarity to trademarked brands they had developed, so James Bullough Lansing renamed his new company "James B. Lansing Sound, Incorporated". Eventually, this became shortened to JBL on product branding and then officially as the company name.
James Lansing was noted as an innovative engineer, but a poor businessman. As a result of deteriorating business conditions and personal issues, he took his own life by hanging himself in his home in San Marcos on September 24, 1949.
At one time the Wikipedia entry had a lot of content written by Todd, but since anybody can edit it, including ALS, I believe there is some things stated that we commonly don't agree with. I've even read differing accounts on here, regarding various aspects on the company, by people that are qualified to know.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cal Weldon
That is one beautiful D-101 and it will be interesting to see the auction result. I have two of them, but they have been reconed and are not pristine examples like this one.
Altec Lansing never got to the point of suing Jim Lansing, but they did express their displeasure over his use of the term "Iconic" once they got wind of it. Altec considered the term to be theirs with the purchase of Lansing Manufacturing Company. Jim Lansing had coined the term for his two way monitor system in 1937, and may have thought it was still his to use for the new two way system he was creating. Altec felt differently, so Lansing ceased using the term. Interestingly, the early San Marcos D-101s were the first speaker products to actually bear the name "Iconic", as it had never appeared on the LMCo. or Altec products. Altec Lansing applied for a trade mark on the "Iconic" term and artwork in 1947, and continued to use it sporadically on their 800Hz. two way systems for decades after.
Altec was also concerned over Jim's use of the term "Lansing", as they thought it might confuse the buying public. Altec highly valued the Lansing name at the time of the acquisition due to Jim's reputation in the industry, and widely used the term "Loudspeakers by Lansing" until Jim left Altec. Lansing's friend and marketing consultant Norman Neely created the "A Jim Lansing Signature Speaker" tag line. This allowed Lansing to identify his products while clearly differentiating them from those of Altec Lansing. Jim also agreed to change the name of his company to "James B. Lansing Sound, Incorporated."
Things then settled down between Altec and James B. Lansing Sound until the mid 1950s, when the new company had grown to become a major competitor. Altec again expressed displeasure over use of the "Lansing" name by the newer company, which settled the matter by agreeing to most prominently use the term "JBL" while still retaining their full company name.
If i'm not mistaken, right about the time the exclamation point monogram was adopted.Quote:
Things then settled down between Altec and James B. Lansing Sound until the mid 1950s, when the new company had grown to become a major competitor. Altec again expressed displeasure over use of the "Lansing" name by the newer company, which settled the matter by agreeing to most prominently use the term "JBL" while still retaining their full company name.
The cover of the 1956 catalog features some interesting text "JBL means James B. Lansing Sound, inc.".
Interesting. I had always taken Eargle's statement about an "out of court settlement" as meaning legal action was initiated but dropped before trial....Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Schell
Final auction result was $1,691, not out of line for a museum quality example of JBL's first product, handmade by the founder.
Yes it ended already. $455 a lot less no doubt due to the cone.
Wow, that one went cheap. Drivers with the Signature paper label which say San Marcos are extremely rare; I've seen very few. I have one D-130 with this label. It must have not been long after settling of the scuffle with Altec over use of the terms "Lansing" and "Iconic" that Jim Lansing moved his operation into the Marquardt Aircraft facility in Venice.
The seller states "It is said to be an exact copy of the Altec-lansing 515." I am not sure who he is quoting though, as there are several differences. Although there are strong similarities, the basket is a different casting. The Altec 515 used an edgewound copper voice coil, phenolic spider and paper dust cap, where the D-101 used an edgewound aluminum voice coil, corrugated cloth spider and aluminum center dome.