Quilter Overdrive 200

[supersoldier71]

I just scored a decent price on Reverb. It’ll be my first head, and certainly my first SS head. FWIW, it was a toss up between the OD200 and a JC-40 because portability was the main thing.

Doesn’t matter now, because before I can think about a JC-40, I’ve got to figure out a cab solution for this thing.

I think I want a Mojotone cab, one because they’re affordable, two; made here in N.C.

Speaker selection has me vexed though, because at 200 watts peak, there aren’t a whole lot of speakers with that much power handling.

I’m leaning towards neo speakers, once again, aiming for weight savings, because I took a 35 lb combo and added about 6 lbs—a very noticeable 6 lbs—with my WGS Retro 30.

Whoops.

Any suggestions?


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[golem]

I never played my OD200 at 200 watts, honestly. I probably never took it above 60.

[fatjack]

From a quick glance at the manual, they suggest keeping wattage turned to no more than max rating of the speaker you choose, makes sense it;s simple. I'd say a texas heat would make you wear hearing protection before you got near 150 watts

[supersoldier71]

From a quick glance at the manual, they suggest keeping wattage turned to no more than max rating of the speaker you choose, makes sense it;s simple. I'd say a texas heat would make you wear hearing protection before you got near 150 watts

Good point. My WGS Retro 30 is like 99.6 dB or something, and even in my 35W Mesa Combo, it's absurdly loud.

Besides portability, the other main reason I went SS was to get nice sounds without rattling the ceiling fan.

I'm definitely aiming for a less efficient speaker this time 'round.

[fatjack]

ok I'm confused on the less efficient speaker unless you want maybe some speaker distortion vs amp or pedal distortion . but I keep mine pretty clean other tan maybe a little reverb or light delay or trem.usually just 1 .

[supersoldier71]

ok I'm confused on the less efficient speaker unless you want maybe some speaker distortion vs amp or pedal distortion . but I keep mine pretty clean other tan maybe a little reverb or light delay or trem.usually just 1 .

I find less efficient speakers to be more forgiving.

The Blue Marvels in my Peavey Classic 50 are about 96db, vs 99.64 or so for the Retro 30 in my less powerful 35W combo. 4x10 vs 1x12 and the little Boogie 1x12 is way harder to tame and feels louder.

That may not be a problem with a SS amp that doesn’t need a certain volume level to get everything singing properly, but high efficiency speakers with high power behind them also seem to get “beamy” in a way that less efficient speakers aren’t as prone to, it seems to me.


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[golem]

[mention]supersoldier71[/mention] I'm not very knowledgeable about speakers. Where does one find these db readings for speakers? Right now I'm tempted to get one of these super lightweight 2X8 Quilter cabs but they're admittedly pricey.

[fatjack]

Thanks, that was an explanation I understand

[supersoldier71]

@supersoldier71 I'm not very knowledgeable about speakers. Where does one find these db readings for speakers? Right now I'm tempted to get one of these super lightweight 2X8 Quilter cabs but they're admittedly pricey.

The most reliable place to find them is on the manufacturer's site.

Here's the page for the Jensen 12" Tornado Stealth 100:

https://www.jensentone.com/jet-series/1 ... tealth-100

There's a chart at the bottom right of the page, and towards the very bottom of that chart, we see "sensitivity", which some manufacturers refer to as "efficiency", given in dB. Higher numbers are more efficient speakers, and so, louder for a given power input, lower numbers are less efficient, so, not as loud, given the same input.

Most manufacturers have similar charts for all their speakers.

What seem to be small increases or decreases in dB, can have a large effect on what we hear.
https://jlaudio.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ar ... ing-Output

It requires doubling the power to create a +3 dB change in volume, and a factor of 4 to create a +/- 6 dB change, which is a very noticeable difference. An increase of +10 dB is generally perceived as being twice as loud.

So the difference between a speaker with an efficiency of 90 dB (which would be very low), versus 100 dB (very efficient), would be twice the perceived loudness.

[supersoldier71]

Head arrived on Monday, picked it up from the post office yesterday. Played it through my Mesa DC3’s speaker.

It’s an amp. Played my Standard 24 with DiMarzios. It’s a good pairing, but I am looking forward to trying my Strat through it.

I only had a few minutes, but there are some decent tones in this little thing. I was looking for light weight and durability, and usable tones, but I also wanted to simplify my amp situation.

Right now, I mostly practice through a multi-effects pedal, but often one of my tube amps. Recording, the multi. Church: Fender Mustang 3 modeler. Gigs and jams: back to tubes. Portability and durability, along with a direct-out, means I can use the same amp for everything.

When I get some time this weekend, I’ll add my ‘board and really get to dialing it in.


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[supersoldier71]

I ordered a cabinet from Guitar Cabinets Direct. It’s a Marshall 1936-style 112. Deep cabinet, heavy duty construction and I’m going to install a lightweight neodymium magnet speaker, either an Eminence EM12N, BN12-300S or a Celestion Copperback.

Any of the neo speakers will keep the cab under 30 pounds, and pedal board included, the whole rig will be well under 40 pounds.

The whole point of this was more portability, and I think I’m on target for that.


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[mozz]

Eminence EM12N may be too clean?

[OMB]

I have a 101 Reverb and run it through a Jensen 40 watt Alnico cab. The cab is a Harley Benton and I sold the Celestion V30 and replaced with a Jensen. Can't beat the Deal on those cabs after selling the speaker. You could try one of these Jensen Mod Series Mod 15-200. https://www.jensentone.com/mod-series/mod-15-200

[supersoldier71]

Eminence EM12N may be too clean?

The EM12N is a strong candidate!

A funny thing happened last weekend. When I finally had time to install a speaker in the cab, I pulled out the Celestion V30 I swapped out of my Mesa, and I pulled out the Eminence Jet City that I really didn't like in my Jet City 20W combo. More about that speaker in a second.

The Vintage 30 is a very good speaker, but I tend to favor the WGS Retro 30 over it, which is why the Celestion was in a WGS box under the spare bed in the music room, but I soldered the connections into the cab and as I was going to secure it in the cab, I lost my grip and tore the cone.

After cursing myself out, I desoldered the now-busted V30 and installed the Eminence.

To my astonishment, it sounded great. And is significantly lighter than the V30 also. It's almost certainly not a neo magnet, but other than 16 ohms impedance, there isn't a lot of info. I think it's rated at 75W, but I keep the Quilter well below 50, so I feel pretty safe.

The real reason I didn't like that Eminence in the Jet City had little to do with the speaker, and everything to do with the fact that it was biased WAY hot. Once biased correctly, the stock speaker would have likely worked just fine. Didn't really matter, since I got both the amp and the WGS speaker for free from an Army buddy who was on orders to go to another duty station and was over his weight allowance. And in the spirit of paying it forward, I gave that amp to a kid who was learning guitar.

So I may yet change out this Eminence for a high-powered, lightweight neodymium speaker.

But there's no urgency.