12 inch vs. 15 inch speakers

Gary Dunn · Post by **Gary Dunn** » 24 Mar 2005 5:56 am

What are the advantages/disadvantages between the two sizes for SG?

Tim Harr · Post by **Tim Harr** » 24 Mar 2005 6:33 am

Gary I use a 15" JBL in my Webb 6-14E and 2-12" in my 65 Fender Twin Reverb

I can say that I love both -- I sometimes hate that they both sound that good. Makes it hard to decide which amp I want to take to the gig.

I usuallly decide like this:

Webb 6-14E for jobs where I am playing New Country mainly. Also because I take my Twin to play my Tele through.

Twin Reverb only when I am doing a gig where it is mostly traditional country (Tubb, Price, Young, Hag, Buck, J. Bush, etc..) It sounds great for that stuff. If I polay guitar I will just use both amps and split the instruments with an A/B box.

You will have to decide for yourself which speaker has the sound YOU want..

Best way is to experiment if you can and find what YOU like.

Good luck!

Dave Van Allen · Post by **Dave Van Allen** » 24 Mar 2005 6:39 am

http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum11/HTML/006652.html

a link to an earlier thread may help you. the forum search function although lame, can indeed return some useful past (and not too distant past) info

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 25 Mar 2005 11:36 am

The most simple and direct answer to your question, Gary, is this:

12" speakers are more compact and have a slightly better high end response - clear tone

15" speakers move more air (read "louder") and have better low end response - fat tone

Some of us use both, either together or for different applications.

dg

That's all.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Dave Grafe on 25 March 2005 at 11:38 AM.]</p></FONT>

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 25 Mar 2005 2:03 pm

One other thing not mentioned...one fifteen is usually noticeably lighter than two twelves!

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 25 Mar 2005 3:24 pm

What's weird is that sometimes the 12" will have better bass response if it's in a cabinet tuned for a 12". Like the Peavey LTD or Nashville 400. That cabinet size originally came from an amp (Pacer) that was acoustically designed and matched for a 12" speaker. It's, technically speaking, too small for a 15" speaker. That means that lots of lows get lost. You can see the speaker moving, but you won't hear the lows completely. A speaker's low end is largely a component of the enclosure. I have a 12" speaker (with an adapter ring) in an LTD and it actually seems to have a fuller and more balanced low end compared to the 15" that was in it. The 12" may get more stressed at high levels, but the tonal balance is fuller. Even the Webb 6-14E is kind of undersized for a 15" speaker. I bet a 12" would sound great in a 6-14 cabinet. If you take a Webb (tone #2) and connect it to the speaker in a Nashville 1000 or a Session 400, you'll hear what I mean, HUGE, GIANT bass response. More than the Webb cabinet can physically generate.

The open back cabinet size that is "correct" for a 15" speaker is like the NV1000, Session 400/500, Twin, Sho-Bud, larger Evans, etc. It's not that it's wrong to have a 15" in a smaller cabinet, it's just that the bass response won't be there.

Brad