Ear dandy cabs

[bluesmann]

I just had to laugh, This cab builder Tiny Timmy was full of venom when he realized his line didn't land a sale with me. I must say I was a little shocked at his put downs and venom he was spewing on eBay's email. then I went searching on the net and found this. lol!

http://www.rig-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=49438&start=100 business must not be good for him these dayz. lol! god love him!

 

have any of you had a good experience with him? just wondering. I'm looking for a 4 10" cab and he tried to sell me a tiny 2 10" I might be good for a boxy blues Jr. for a bigger boxy sound.

​I'm seeking as I stated, for a 4 10" cabinet. So far the WGS 10's sound like they might be the closest speaker to get close to a super reverb cabinet. Has anybody bought a 4 10 cabs that will do that job.

 

[WRGKMC]

If you go dirt cheap, yes WGS will work but they'd probably be my last choice. Why buy a clone of a speaker that's still being manufactured?

You want the real deal simply buy Jensens. I bought 4 Alnico Jensens about 5 years ago for about $200, built my own 4X10 cab out of pine with a plywood baffle and it sounds as good as any Fender open backed cab I've heard. I used Cabinet Carpet from Parts Express. Its very fast and easy to apply using 3M spray on glue. I used their grill cloth, and corner protectors, handles from them too and used thin aluminum corner molding as piping around the edges of the baffle and it wound up looking pretty classy.

 

The most it may have cost me to build the cab was $45 and a Saturday afternoon. I could have used regular Tolex, but I would have had to spend more time sanding the corners smooth. I have another 4X10" cab I built the same way so I wanted it to match. The best part is the pine makes the cab light. I can lift it with one arm easily. The semi open back really helps with that. Cuts the weight way down and really makes the 10's produce great tone.

[Phil O'Keefe]

Wow...

 

"Tim will not not answer questions about how the cabs are built or why, He has a college education in the fields of sound engineering & acoustic reproduction and has been doing this for over 2 decades."

 

This guy sounds like a possible candidate for inclusion in my "are audio engineers egotistical?" thread over on the Studio Trenches forum.

 

 

 

[bluesmann]

I saw a Boogie cabinet in the lonestar series that has the 4 Jensen's you're talking about. I emailed sweet water , they just called, but the sales person I usually deal with is gone for a week. And will call me when he gets back in. If I do it, it will be a special order so I have to be sure its what I want. I built some PA cabs once using titebond wood glue and screws. Borrowed a table saw and a router for the corner edges. they came out sounding pretty good too. But I really don't want to get into all that again. I also saw some pine cabs on ebay where most of the work is done. I used to do some wood finishing with satin poly, oooo steelwool and paste wax. that makes for a beautiful finish, but you have to baby it every time its moved. So hey! I'm still looking around.

[bluesmann]

Egotistical? more like the last part over the fence kind of guy. imo.

[bluesmann]

He really pissed me off when he said I was duped by Mark Bartel (tone king amps.) Mark wouldn't rip anybody off and is a outstanding builder / designer and over all great guy.

[WRGKMC]

The Alnico are different then Ceramic in tone, just like Ceramic vs alnico in guitar pickups.

The limitation is they can only build 10" speakers up to 25/35W RMS each compared to ceramics which can be built for very high wattages.

 

For guitar using a tube head there's nothing that matches Alnico for great vintage tone. They have a milder saturation when you push them compared to ceramics which have a sharp change from clean to saturated in a nasty way.

 

I use 4 of the 25W alnicos and can run up to a 100RMS head which is more then plenty for anything I'd ever need. I run my 67 Blackface Bassman along side my Marshall 1960 cab with 75W cream back Celestion's and 100W Valvestate head. My Bassman on 3 matches the volume of the Valvestate at 6.

The combination sounds nice but for portability I usually use the 4X10 because it fits in my Mustang's Trunk and can travel light. I've also run that cab with a Fender M-80 head, Sunn Concert Lead, and my Music Man 65 head. Sounds fantastic with my Marshall Valvestate too.

 

The Alnicos aren't overly bassy. They have a bright vintage jangle to them at lower volumes and get quite aggressive cranked. If you play Metal they might not be the best choice if you want that low end cabinet thump from and amp only. If you use pedals it wont matter of course cause you can EQ them however you want. Using a typical Fender head they nail everything from classic blues to classic rock tones. If you use a British head you can nail all the British invasion tones. Using a strat you can get those SRV and Clapton tones quite easily and if you max out a Fender head with a Gibson with some extra gain boxes you can easily get some Neil Young grind happening.

 

The string touch is the best part. Ceramic speakers often have heavier cones and the pick attack can have less dynamics. The alnico cones are light weight and you have more of a 1:1 dynamic ratio. Then you play light you can get smooth or crisp details depending on the pickup you select, then when you dig in harder the speakers respond without having a ceiling until you reach their saturation level and the tone gradually saturates like the tube head does. The pinch and chime harmonics are killer sounding too. Very transparent.

 

The Alnicos have gone up in price so you may need to shop them. As I said I got mine for $50 each new several years ago. As an alternative, the Eminence Legends are a good option too. back in the day, Fender put a bunch of companies in a bidding war to make Jensen spec speakers for their amps when Jensen raised their prices. Eminence, CTS, Utah, Oxford all made nearly identical speakers. Many of those companies aren't in business any more but Eminence was one that took the money they got from Fender and grew their company.

 

There are a few others that Claim to sound like Jensen's like Weber. I have two of their 12" and I cant personally endorse their product based on the results I got with them, but they were low end speakers and I may have simply got what I paid for. They do make allot of others.

 

If you want the best vintage tones you'd have to find some Altecs or JBL's. They are getting incredibly hard to find now and many have been reconed but they are worth every dime. I still have my original Altecs that came with my Bassman and I've yet to find a speaker that sounds better.

[Into Nation]

Table: 10 jobs with the most arrogant workers

 

1. Private chefs

2. Chief executives

3. Art directors

4. Floral designers

5. Bartenders

6. Airfield operations specialists

7. Plant and systems operators

8. Sound engineering technicians

9. Farmers

10. Ranchers

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-professions-with-the-most-arrogant-workers-2016-09-01

[GAS Man]

The only cab I've bought was an Avatar. I bought it for a 1 x 10 Weber Alnico Blue, but like a dummy I didn't pay attention to the dimensions. When it was delivered it was quite a bit bigger than I would have guessed. IIRC their dimensions for a 1 x 10 cab are the same size as their 1 x 12 cab. (I got the Vintage style). But actually point of my story is that even though the footprint is bigger than I expected, that cab sounds grrrrrrreat!

[bluesmann]

I think you just got a gig for boogie, you sold me buddy!

[bluesmann]

The only cab I've bought was an Avatar. I bought it for a 1 x 10 Weber Alnico Blue' date=' but like a dummy I didn't pay attention to the dimensions. When it was delivered it was quite a bit bigger than I would have guessed. IIRC their dimensions for a 1 x 10 cab are the same size as their 1 x 12 cab. (I got the Vintage style). But actually point of my story is that even though the footprint is bigger than I expected, that cab sounds grrrrrrreat![/quote']

 

​I've got 2 avatar cabs 1 12" one with a E120 JBL and the other a G12H30. Avatar has the best price on raw framed speakers that I've seen any where.

I remember when Mark was designing his Meteor II amp which I own 2, he went through a lot of test cabs till he got the results he ended with. Its a light cab that some how sounds as big as a 4 12" I'm not kidding. I've never needed to mic this amp even outside biker BBQ gigs.

​Its not all speaker that makes this cab alive. Ask some meteor II owners, i think you'll hear the same. There must be some magic pixie dust sprinkled.

 

Boogie has been around a good while and I'm sure its a tightly built cab. Hopefully there won't be a long break in period. My Tone King sounded great from the git go. I have a old SRO coffee can 12" that was reconed by weber. Its still not broke in, so its sitting till I get back to it.

 

As WRGKMC was saying, Altec, JBL, Gauss, fostex and a few other made some great speakers that were highly Efficient. A few db's makes a big difference. 102db sensitivity will light up your tube amp. most of the speakers made today at tops may be 99db sensitivity. The cannabis Rex hemp cone speaker I've found is in that same vein 102db. Just hot sounding and a good up grade for fenderish type amps. I know , I'm a run on sentence lol! hey! I'm into this stuff. I think I'll stop by the Avatar site and look around. I might email them a tell them Tiny Timmy may be looking for a job. Seems he's brought rocket science to the cab building industry

[Phil O'Keefe]

That's the same basic article, although I saw it on MSN.

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/3-professions-with-the-most-arrogant-workers/ar-AAiovfX?li=BBnbfcL

 

I started a thread to discuss it in The Studio Trenches forum... feel free to stop by and tell us all what a bunch of egomaniacs we are.

 

http://www.harmonycentral.com/forum/forum/Forums_General/acapella-57/31806543-are-audio-engineers-egotistical

[Phil O'Keefe]

The only cab I've bought was an Avatar. I bought it for a 1 x 10 Weber Alnico Blue' date=' but like a dummy I didn't pay attention to the dimensions. When it was delivered it was quite a bit bigger than I would have guessed. IIRC their dimensions for a 1 x 10 cab are the same size as their 1 x 12 cab. (I got the Vintage style). But actually point of my story is that even though the footprint is bigger than I expected, that cab sounds grrrrrrreat![/quote']

 

That's the thing with AlNiCo speakers; you have to make sure the cab is deep enough for that big bell on the back.

 

Did you ever wind up using the Weber AlNiCo Blue Dog? I have a 12" in my Vox and I really like it a lot... I was just wondering how the 10" version holds up.

[Phil O'Keefe]

As WRGKMC was saying, Altec, JBL, Gauss, fostex and a few other made some great speakers that were highly Efficient. A few db's makes a big difference. 102db sensitivity will light up your tube amp. most of the speakers made today at tops may be 99db sensitivity. The cannabis Rex hemp cone speaker I've found is in that same vein 102db. Just hot sounding and a good up grade for fenderish type amps. I know , I'm a run on sentence lol! hey! I'm into this stuff. I think I'll stop by the Avatar site and look around. I might email them a tell them Tiny Timmy may be looking for a job. Seems he's brought rocket science to the cab building industry

 

I've got a factory-optional EV in my Fender Princeton II and it makes a HUGE difference. That little 1x12 20W amp will hold its own with far bigger and more powerful amplifiers with more ordinary speakers simply because the EV speaker is so darned efficient.

 

I had to take it with me the other day in the car, and I was reminded just how heavy it is too... but that's the price you pay for that huge magnet, high efficiency and 200W power handling capability. I wish they still made those speakers - I'd love to put a 10" into my '83 Super Champ.

[GAS Man]

 

That's the thing with AlNiCo speakers; you have to make sure the cab is deep enough for that big bell on the back.

 

Did you ever wind up using the Weber AlNiCo Blue Dog? I have a 12" in my Vox and I really like it a lot... I was just wondering how the 10" version holds up.

 

The one I got was a Alnico Blue Pup and I ran it in that cab just for a little while and then I put a Celestion Greenback 10 in there instead. I liked the Celestion much better for over-driven tones. I had trouble with the Blue Pup sounding rather horrid (raspy) when pushed. I'm still not sure if I got a lemon, or if it just needs to be broken in yet. But the Blue Pup has great chimey cleans at lower volumes. Unfortunately I had the speaker for about a year before I finally got around to putting it in a cab so no warranty, so I'm hoping it's a "break-in issue". Again, "like a dummy" I originally bought the Blue Pup Alnico to go into a Vox AC4TV, but of course it won't fit "as is". So the Blue Pup sat around for a while. I"ve thought about removing the bell cover and proceeding ahead with the installation, and I've also got a Vox AC4-C1-BL as a possible recipient, but the "BL" model actually has less depth of tone to it than the AC4TV, so it's not as good a candidate for the Blue Pup as the AC4TV. However, I think both amps would have a more wider use with a Celestion Greenback 10s. As they say about them, they are about the closest thing to a 10" speaker that thinks it's a 12" speaker.

 

So I've had the Blue Pup, a Celestion Greenback 10, and now an Eminence Ragin Cajun in that Avatar Cab. The RC is good for having a loud sound for a 10", but I just can't get with the fan base that loves that speaker. To me they just sound too neutral, like a PA. I know folks often righteously applaud the RC for being loud and cutting through the mix, but I'd rather have a bluesy tone or the British Chimey tone OR a Fender Black Face tone (like an Eminence Legend). So the Blue Pup needs to go back in the Avatar cab for another go, to see if that raspy sound it had when pushed will improve with some break in time.

 

But dang, that Avatar Vintage 10 cab is huge. It's 11" D x 20" H x ~ 24" W, so I've been tempted to see about either getting a 1 x 12 baffle from Avatar or attempting to remove the baffle and cutting it wider for a 12" speaker. I mean, it does a great job of bringing a 10" speaker to its full potential, but since it takes up such a big footprint space in my home, it partly seems like a waste of space to not have it housing a 12". But then again, if I do that, I'd be back to square one trying to figure out which amp should get that uber-chimey Weber Blue Pup. In hindsight, I think the Weber Silver Pup (being voiced a bit more Marshall-esque than Voxy), might have been a better choice for those little Vox 4 watt amps, and of course, it would have made things easier if I'd gotten the smaller ceramic version. But then again, if you want that chime, you want that chime and the Blue Pup Alnico delivers that in spades.

 

But speaking of Alnico 10s, somewhere back in the '90s I bought a Fender Pro Junior and eventually realized it had the best natural over drive tone (i.e. not harsh or hard on the ears) than any amp I'd had before at moderate volumes. I'd owned it for awhile before I realized, "hey, that's a stock Alnico Blue speaker in there". It's not branded, so I don't know who made it for Fender, but that Pro Junior with the Alnico 10 impressed me more than my Fender Pro Junior. Heck, I thought the Blues Junior would sound just that much more fuller and bassier, but it actually has a more shallow sound than the Pro Junior with the Alnico. My BJ, however, is the NOS version (which has a Jensen C12N) and as BillM states, it's really not the best choice for a Blues Junior, the base model BJ comes stock with a better sounding speaker. http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=295

He also notes that the C12N sounds better after a "lengthy" break-in. And I believe he's correct on that too. My BJ was so devoid of bass tones when I first got it, than I had to run the bass full on and really still needed an EQ pedal to get a more resonant (verses shallow) tone out of it. But it's hard to break in a speaker if the tone chases you away, so it went out of rotation for some time. Later on I came back to it, and its bottom end had improved some. I've got an Eminence Swamp Thang and a Cannabis Rex kicking around, just haven't decided which to try first. The ST would be the best for bottom end, but the Cannabis Rex would probably give me a smokier bluesier tone, so fitting for a "Blues" Junior, right?

 

Funny thing too, the only reason I bought the Cannabis Rex was for my Epiphone Electar Century Amp. I wanted a bit fuller tone, but the size/shape of the CR would not fit the Electar.

 

Live and learn, I guess. It's all good!

[GAS Man]

Good feedback, thanks.

[onelife]

I've got a factory-optional EV in my Fender Princeton II and it makes a HUGE difference. That little 1x12 20W amp will hold its own with far bigger and more powerful amplifiers with more ordinary speakers simply because the EV speaker is so darned efficient.

 

I had to take it with me the other day in the car, and I was reminded just how heavy it is too... but that's the price you pay for that huge magnet, high efficiency and 200W power handling capability. I wish they still made those speakers - I'd love to put a 10" into my '83 Super Champ.

 

I retired a Twin with two EVM12s in it for a while after carrying it up four flights of stairs and finding a 100 Watt Montreaux (high end Fender solid state amp with a single 12) that I could lift over my head with one hand. I bought the Montreaux and used it for about a year but halfway through I decided to experiment and put one of the EVMs int it. So much for portability but did it ever sound good - no speaker distortion and a nice clean power amp really allowed the features of the well designed preamp to shine through - even the solid state MOSFET overdrive sounded good with all the bottom end the speaker was reproducing.

 

From the picture...

 

you can see there's not much room in there for that big heavy speaker

[bluesmann]

Tiny Timmy of candy as cabs has been harassing me with his phone calls from Indiana 219-252-7342. many calls last night and he started in this morning at about 6 am. this guy has issues. I emailed ebay last night telling them their vender is harassing my home with their mail system and with his phone calls from Indiana. I'm thinking being I'm on the national no call registry the FTC might be able to go after him. Business must be real bad for this knuckle head. First he wouldn't answer then after I called him a coward on 4 of his calls. he'd say bluesmann8. lol! what a jerk.