Which 15"er for my Fender Quad?

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 29 Jul 2005 10:52 am

I have a Fender Quad that's being rebuilt for steel. Ya know, some cap changes, slope resistor, removal of master vol, etc. Which 15 " speaker should I get that will match well with this amp?
Thanks, JB

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 29 Jul 2005 11:03 am

I end up sounding like I'm shilling for Weber because of all the times I recommend them but...I have run my 100W Dual Showman Reverb into a Weber California ceramic w/ paper cap and I think it sounds great. The speaker is technically rated for 80W but I've never had a problem. Is you Quad a 100W or 135W model?
Also, what's the output impedance on that amp? (the Weber can be ordered in 4, 8 or 16 ohm so there's no problem there.)
My advice, though, is to get the heaviest speaker you can find because you wouldn't want that frail rig to blow over in a breeze.

If you want the safety of a higher rated speaker, I bet an EVM or a BW would sound great too.

Ken Fox · Post by **Ken Fox** » 29 Jul 2005 12:08 pm

I just checked the schematics for both the 100 and 135 watt, both were 4 ohm outputs, same output transformer as the Twin reverb.

A 1501-4SB Black Widow would do the trick for you.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 29 Jul 2005 12:13 pm

Jon, I've had very bad luck with Weber speakers. I bought one for my Vibro Champ, and it sounded as if someone had thrown a blanket over the amp. Bought another in 12" for a modded Princeton Reverb, and the cone-cry was ridiculous. Then I got into a long arguement with him on the Fender Discussion Forum. He called me a liar, and said he couldn't find a record of me buying anything from him. Tried to discredit my comments by lying. And my comments weren't that bad, only that I'd had bad luck and that I was well aware that others loved his products. I then posted his purchase order number, and the date he took my order. I won't be odering anything from him. But I'm glad that you've had good luck with his product. Man what a rant! Sorry!
JB

Jon Light (deceased) · Post by **Jon Light (deceased)** » 29 Jul 2005 12:28 pm

Hey, John--I am a Weber fan and a very happy customer (7 speakers, various other products) but I am not so stupid as to believe that an experience such as yours can't happen. That's really too bad. I'd be pissed if it were me. Oh well. Fortunately the BW is an easily available great choice. EVM's can be found without too much trouble. And you might consider some of the reviews of the Neo magnet speakers--Celestion and Eminence--are getting. Mixed reviews, actually but some folks really like them (I haven't tried one yet) and they are apparently lighter than air, nearly.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 29 Jul 2005 3:34 pm

JBL JBL JBL

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 30 Jul 2005 5:56 am

Dave,
That's what I was lookin' for, but haven't found one. Waded trough a lot of pages on ebay. What's the 4 ohm speakers model number?

David Doggett · Post by **David Doggett** » 30 Jul 2005 8:12 am

The neos are all 8 ohm. The classic old JBLs were all 8 ohms, but some were reconed to 4 ohms. It is hard to find good 4 ohm 15" speakers.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 31 Jul 2005 8:50 am

I see in For Sale, that a forumite has some new BWs for sale. I've also been offered a JBL E130-4by another forumite, also for a good price. Which will sound better with the Quad. I like Lloyd's and John Hughey's sound. That's the type of sound I'm aimin' for. JB

P.S. I know, I know, it's the player, not the equiptment, but you know what I mean!

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 31 Jul 2005 10:33 am

John; both John Hughey and Lloyd Green play through the Alnico Magnet JBL; which can be either a D-130 or K-130. The E-130 JBL is the more modern ceramic Magnet and you will find it to sound more like a Black Widow.
If you really want THAT sound of Lloyd and John(other than playing with their hands..ha.)you would do just fine with a JBL D-130 or K-130 and if they are 8 ohm; that is Ok man....
If you can find an original D or K or M31 from JBL; out of either a old Sho-bud single channel or Christmas tree amp> or old Peavey LTD or session 400(I'm talking 70's); then you can actually find a 4-ohm JBL; D or K or M31; that is not reconed with a "E" kit. If you find an original JBL; D or K; that has been reconed to 4-ohm; that is was done with the E kit and will not sound like an original D or K.
Good luck in your quest...and actually I believe my friend James Morehead is lowsy now with the kind of speaker you want> If you can just talk him out of it....ha..
John Hughey has like a closet full of them; but everytime we try to talk him out of one....He laughs...ha....>and I don't blame him.
Ricky

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 31 Jul 2005 3:36 pm

Pay attention to Ricky, he's layin' out the facts.

Up until the advent of the E series JBL made virtually all pro model and musical instrument speakers and recone kits available in 4, 8 and 16 ohm versions. Many of these cones are interchangeable - i.e. the 2220 and the D130F both used identical cone/coil kits.

I currently have an E130 4 ohm speaker in my Randall and while it does sound different than the 8 ohm D130F in my rack rig I have gotten more compliments on my tone since switching to the Randall than I ever got with the old rig - different isn't always a bad thing, just, well, different!

Don't overlook the fact that you could put two 8 ohm speakers in separate cabs and get your 4 ohm load to move some serious air.

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 31 Jul 2005 8:43 pm

<SMALL>Don't overlook the fact that you could put two 8 ohm speakers in separate cabs and get your 4 ohm load to move some serious air.</SMALL>

Yup, that gets around the problem of finding a 4-ohm speaker, and I seriously doubt anyone will have trouble hearing you.

Seriously, with a Fender, I agree on the JBL D and K series, and I also like the EV SRO. But I agree with Dave G., I'd cut that thing down to a head cabinet and separate speaker cabinet(s). If you're not pushing the amp hard at a quieter gig, it shouldn't be a problem to run it at 8 ohms in a single cab. But then you'd have extra juice when you needed to run it at 4 ohms with both cabs. I hauled a Quad Reverb around for a year, for guitar - it's a beast. I think it's bigger, more awkward, and heavy than a Session 500.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 31 Jul 2005 9:09 pm

Dave, It's going to be a head and cab. I actually just bought the chassis and reverb tank with that in mind. I emailed Rick Johnson today about building the cabs. I really just want one single 15 cab. I've never needed more than that anywhere, I think that a JBL 8ohmer will work well, or so I've been told by people I trust completely on this issue.
JB

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 31 Jul 2005 9:24 pm

Now you're talkin'. Ain't nothin' like an old 100-watt tube Fender into a JBL, to me. If you can find a 4-ohm recone, I'd go for it since that's the correct impedance match for the Quad Reverb, see http://www.ampwares.com/ffg/ . But I don't think it's critical.

I also need to get a better cab made for my Dual Showman Reverb head, and also want to split up my Session 500 like I saw so cooly done a while ago. I just need to recover from the P/P Emmons I just bought.

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 31 Jul 2005 9:50 pm

Dave, i just bought a mint Shobud S-10 from Bobbe. Ricky is going to add some knees using parts from John Coop. So I'm heading back to where I started. Shobud and tubes. I'll have to spend really lightly for a few months, but I DON"T CARE! I'm lookin' forward to this big time! JB

Post by **Dave Mudgett** » 31 Jul 2005 10:44 pm

Yep, the old sound is a good sound. They'll have to pry my old tube amps away from my ..., well you get the drift.