Speaker opinion

[Phillip Leggett]

So I have a Quilter Toneblock 202 which I run into my Hilton volume pedal then into an EVM12L cab which I find to be a great sound.

However, recently I purchased an Eminence EPS-15C for an absolute steal but can’t seem to get a good tone from it? It’s a very sterile sound with quite chalky treble.

I realise tones are subjective but I was wondering if anyone had any luck with a different head etc…

Cheers!

[Marty Nemanick]

I've tried that speaker with a couple of different amps including the TB202 with the same results as you, sold it and moved on.

[Phillip Leggett]

Interesting, I’m glad it’s not just me.

It has quite a cloudy mid range. I was wondering if I was missing anything?

[Brett Lanier]

I’ve had a Toneblock 202 for a few years and thought I just didn’t like it into any speaker. Tried the TT12, PF350… A JBL K130 was a lot better (still not great), and I’m also worried about blowing it.

A week ago I did a van and trailer run where I didn’t want to bring one of my nice amps, so I experimented at home with other stuff. Found an EV 15L that was in a busted LTD I had. I ended up being really happy with the Quilter into the EV. In fact, it was awesome. Tonally better than the JBL for that amp too.

The other thing about the Quilter is the direct options. I never liked the sig out. It sounds and feels like a plug in to me. The XLR is ok but it’s way darker than what you’d get out of a speaker. I’ve used the xlr plenty, but have compensated by increasing the treble control a lot. What you don’t want to do is monitor through a cabinet on stage then send XLR to FOH because it’s going to be a lot darker out front than what you’re hearing, and you’ll be relying on someone else to brighten it up for you.

[Jerry Overstreet]

The ideal 12" Black Widow speaker for steel guitar is the older edition of the 1203-4 from the late 80s, and 90s. Paper cone.

It's a crap shoot though, because the later versions were not. Those applications were for FOH as the construction was different using the Kevlar and had a different frequency curve.

The only way I know you can tell is to find an original Nashville 112E cabinet. The black ozite covered ones. These were made for steel guitar and will have the speaker you want provided it's the factory installed model in it's original condition.

I still have 2 of those and not letting go of them.

A pretty good second choice would be the old original flat magnet Spider Web 1201. Again, only the flat mag is guaranteed to be suitable. The next earliest edition SS mag early models were good too, but there's no way to differentiate those from the later models unless you are very familiar with the cone charcteristics.

I also have a few of both of these. They are OK, but the original 1203-4 is the one.