New Cabinet Day

tonebender · Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:30 pm

This will sound crazy but in my continual effort to downsize I made two more purchases. I would like to use my Luker tube head with the band I am playing with but I only had a closed back Orange 1x112 cabinet with a Vintage 30. Since we do not mic up I use a combo and situate it so the drummer can hear my guitar out the back of the amp. The answer of course is an open back 1x12 cabinet. I looked around but did not like the prices since I have downsized and can could do without it.

I would on Craigslist from time to time and finally a prospect popped up. A, like new, Seismic 1x12 open back. It's not ideal and a little bigger than I would have liked bit the price was right and it sort of matches the head. It was loaded with a Celestion 70/780 which I did not want so I made an offer for the empty cab. He agreed to remove the speaker and sell me the cab. I wanted to drop in a Vintage 30 so the search began. Yesterday I found a guy selling 2 Hellatone speakers which are Celestion V30s just broken in and re-labeled by Avatar. He was asking right at half price for 2 so I asked if he would sell one. He agreed. In the end I have $200 in this Baltic birch made 1x12 cab and a Celestion V30. The Luker is back in business.

tonebender · Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:33 pm

Now that the Luker is back in business and with the new Gibson Goldtone combo I am contemplating letting go of the Ampegs. So I upsized in order to continue downsizing.

toomanycats · Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:51 pm

tonebender wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:30 pm This will sound crazy but in my continual effort to downsize I made two more purchases. I would like to use my Luker tube head with the band I am playing with but I only had a closed back Orange 1x112 cabinet with a Vintage 30. Since we do not mic up I use a combo and situate it so the drummer can hear my guitar out the back of the amp. The answer of course is an open back 1x12 cabinet. I looked around but did not like the prices since I have downsized and can could do without it.

I would on Craigslist from time to time and finally a prospect popped up. A, like new, Seismic 1x12 open back. It's not ideal and a little bigger than I would have liked bit the price was right and it sort of matches the head. It was loaded with a Celestion 70/780 which I did not want so I made an offer for the empty cab. He agreed to remove the speaker and sell me the cab. I wanted to drop in a Vintage 30 so the search began. Yesterday I found a guy selling 2 Hellatone speakers which are Celestion V30s just broken in and re-labeled by Avatar. He was asking right at half price for 2 so I asked if he would sell one. He agreed. In the end I have $200 in this Baltic birch made 1x12 cab and a Celestion V30. The Luker is back in business.

Luker 1.jpgLuker 2.jpg

That Seismic is a good looking cab.

Just curious, why do you prefer V30 over Greenback? Do you need the capacity to handle more wattage in a 1x12, or do you just prefer the tone of the V30?

I ask because I go back and forth between those two speakers. I like the V30 because of the clarity and power handling. I like the Greenback because of the woofiness and early breakup.

tonebender · Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:20 pm

toomanycats wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 12:51 pm ....Just curious, why do you prefer V30 over Greenback? Do you need the capacity to handle more wattage in a 1x12, or do you just prefer the tone of the V30?

I ask because I go back and forth between those two speakers. I like the V30 because of the clarity and power handling. I like the Greenback because of the woofiness and early breakup.

I have had a couple Greenbacks over the years and found them to be thin and brittle to my ear. I really love Alnico magnet speakers in general but when it comes to ceramic I have just found that I really like the V30. I have also used and equally loved Black Shadow speakers which used to be standard equipment in Mesa amps. They were always turning up for sale cheap and I put them in several amps over the years. I have found that I can live with the Blue Marvels that come in Peavey amps.

I do not like Jensen speakers or at least none I have tried. I recently put a Warehouse speaker in my Super Champ and it is much better but I still do not like the amp in general except for it's size and convenience. At least it is better now. Some of the best sounding speakers I have ever owned came in a vintage made in the USA 4x12 Univox cabinet. I traded a guitar for the cabinet and it looked like it had been pulled behind a truck to every gig it ever played but those speakers were pristine. I took them out and put them in a custom made 4x12 cabinet. I used it with the Luker as well and it was amazing. Probably the best sounding guitar speaker cabinet I ever played through. I have no use for a 4x12 these days but I would love to have those speakers. There are similar speakers on fleabay and they look like this except this one is a 15". If I had not found this V30 I was probably going to buy a vintage speaker off fleabay like this.

mozz · Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:33 pm

I have a Univox 4x12 and I'm 99% sure that's what is in it. There is tin foil over the magnet openings usually. Made by CTS mid 70's? They are only about a 25w speaker. I did read once you could buy the Univox cabinet new with optional Altec or JBL's speakers but the upcost was a lot so not many were sold like that.

Partscaster · Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:47 pm

I like Seismic because they are big sized, I think it can lend to a larger vs boxier sound of smaller 112 cabs.
Also I think the 9/16th ply thickness construction is livelier with medium or small sized heads, vs the 3/4 ply of some cabs.
Does look sharp too.

tonebender · Fri Mar 17, 2023 8:26 am

mozz wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 9:33 pm I have a Univox 4x12 and I'm 99% sure that's what is in it. There is tin foil over the magnet openings usually. Made by CTS mid 70's? They are only about a 25w speaker. I did read once you could buy the Univox cabinet new with optional Altec or JBL's speakers but the upcost was a lot so not many were sold like that.

I think you are correct about the 25 watts. They are not powerful but they all plenty loud enough. The young man I got if from told me the recording engineer was going to kill him for letting it go. He was in a band that had several records and toured but not in the US. They toured in Europe and other places. He said when they recorded they made him bring that cabinet because of how good it sounded. I probably should have kept it but I need a 4x12 like I need another hole in my head.

tonebender · Fri Mar 17, 2023 8:29 am

Here you go boys, if you are looking for a speaker for your low wattage tube amp these are great.

https://reverb.com/item/59642042-matche ... -excellent

Mr. Leyvatone · Fri Mar 17, 2023 12:51 pm

That looks great with the head. Excellent work putting that rig together!

tlarson58 · Fri Mar 17, 2023 3:44 pm

I had to look up what a Luker amplifier is all about. "Best Fender tone" is what came up a couple of times. Kinda the same topic since you mentioned your drummer: What is the set list these days and who makes up the band? Bringing two guitars or one? Details!

tonebender · Sat Mar 18, 2023 10:06 am

tlarson58 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 17, 2023 3:44 pm I had to look up what a Luker amplifier is all about. "Best Fender tone" is what came up a couple of times. Kinda the same topic since you mentioned your drummer: What is the set list these days and who makes up the band? Bringing two guitars or one? Details!

@tlarson58 The band I am playing with has 4 records out and available and we just finished number 5. I am not on the first 4. You can hear them on several sites. Thunderbolt Brown is the band name. It started as a 3-piece blues band and still pretty much is but we do some covers. Currently covers include:

Angel From Montgomery
Midnight Hour
Georgia
Hard Times
Tell The Truth
Gold Dust Woman
Free On A Wing
Stuck In The Middle
Harvest Moon

There are several others that get rotated in and out and I would say it is about half covers and half original music. What we do not do is all the usual covers you hear all the bands play. I played with the other guitarist in the band back in the 90's up until about 2000. After that when we would run into each other we would talk about putting an acoustic show together as a side project for both of us. Finally in 2018 we did that. We mostly did our own songs we had written over the years. I Iearned a lot of his songs doing that. His 3-piece was playing a big show in front of a crowd that wanted original music. He decided that it would be a great venue for us to do a set acoustically as a duo to open the show. It was a singer/songwriter type set where we told the stories. He also asked me to bring my LP and amp to join them for the closing song. that was when I was introduced to the band. Right after that Covid hit and playing out dried up.

During Covid they were doing live internet shows to stay sharo and I got the call to join the band. They recorded multiple guitar parts on their albums. They wanted to perform some of them for the live shows and needed that second guitar. I had expressed my desire to not gig a whole lot anymore and so initially it was just to help out with the live internet shows but after playing with them it was mutual that I was a full member. We only average about one gig per month which is perfect for me. If it were not with these guys I would only be pursuing the acoustic busker thing. I love the whole street music approach to performing. Thunderbolt Brown music is a lot like Blackberry Smoke type stuff with a heavy blues influence. You can find them on Youtube, Spotify BandCamp, and maybe some other music sites. I do not get involved in any of that.

backinit · Sun Mar 19, 2023 7:51 am

Do you think that the break in process takes some of the sizzle out of the V30s? I have a 2x12 with V30s and it's almost like there is too much presence in anything I connect to it. For a similar sound without the high end spike I prefer the V type speaker.

tonebender · Sun Mar 19, 2023 8:10 am

backinit wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 7:51 am Do you think that the break in process takes some of the sizzle out of the V30s? I have a 2x12 with V30s and it's almost like there is too much presence in anything I connect to it. For a similar sound without the high end spike I prefer the V type speaker.

The break in process always helps a speaker in my opinion. I used to play the stereo through a new speaker. I would go out to the studio building, turn it on and go to bed. Early the next morning I considered it broke in and ready for action. All I know is I have played through many speakers in my day and it just seems like I get along well with a V30, even over the long haul.

Mr. Leyvatone · Wed Apr 05, 2023 2:41 am

I found myself in a similar situation this week. In the never-ending quest for good tone it occurred to me that I have never fully bonded with the three amp heads I have.

Then it dawned on me that part of what I associate with pleasing tone is the open back cabinet configuration of my combo amps. I have only ever played the heads through my 4x12 Marshall cabinet or my 1x12 Fender cabinet, both closed back cabs.

Something that drove the point home: I have two 100w Katanas, a 1x12 (open back) combo and a head. The head never sounded as good as the combo through either closed back cab.

I searched for open back cabs, comparing high quality cabs with lower priced cabs (which lead to thoughts about speaker upgrading). The usual slippery slope. And with all seriousness, I want functional gear, not more gear.

Solution: I modified the Fender 1x12 cab!

I wandered the aisles at Lowe’s for a half hour today and came up with this:
A $6 piece of pine, and a jack plate I made from that thing you stick your hand in to slide open a closet door.

Already had a Switchcraft jack. So it was like $9 to mod my cabinet and make it open back.

The $0 solution would have been to simply saw 11 inches off the original back. But I wanted to retain the ability to revert to the original closed back configuration (which is how it was designed to pair with the matching Hot Rod Deluxe open back combo).

I’m proud of my creativity and execution on this project! It sounds really good! I’ve tried two of the three heads through it and noticed a night/day difference…immediately heard tones I’ve been seeking for years from those amps. Including the Katana head which now sounds at least as good as the combo (probably better, considering the larger cabinet made of better tonew

d).

Pic below. I left enough tolerance in the gaps to allow for wrapping the piece in tolex to better match. But honestly I dig the conspicuously homemade look (and it’s the dark side of the cab anyway).

Partscaster · Wed Apr 05, 2023 6:51 am

Mr. Leyvatone wrote: ↑Wed Apr 05, 2023 2:41 am I found myself in a similar situation this week. In the never-ending quest for good tone it occurred to me that I have never fully bonded with the three amp heads I have.

Then it dawned on me that part of what I associate with pleasing tone is the open back cabinet configuration of my combo amps. I have only ever played the heads through my 4x12 Marshall cabinet or my 1x12 Fender cabinet, both closed back cabs.

Something that drove the point home: I have two 100w Katanas, a 1x12 (open back) combo and a head. The head never sounded as good as the combo through either closed back cab.

I searched for open back cabs, comparing high quality cabs with lower priced cabs (which lead to thoughts about speaker upgrading). The usual slippery slope. And with all seriousness, I want functional gear, not more gear.

Solution: I modified the Fender 1x12 cab!

I wandered the aisles at Lowe’s for a half hour today and came up with this:
A $6 piece of pine, and a jack plate I made from that thing you stick your hand in to slide open a closet door.

Already had a Switchcraft jack. So it was like $9 to mod my cabinet and make it open back.

The $0 solution would have been to simply saw 11 inches off the original back. But I wanted to retain the ability to revert to the original closed back configuration (which is how it was designed to pair with the matching Hot Rod Deluxe open back combo).

I’m proud of my creativity and execution on this project! It sounds really good! I’ve tried two of the three heads through it and noticed a night/day difference…immediately heard tones I’ve been seeking for years from those amps. Including the Katana head which now sounds at least as good as the combo (probably better, considering the larger cabinet made of better tonewd).

Pic below. I left enough tolerance in the gaps to allow for wrapping the piece in tolex to better match. But honestly I dig the conspicuously homemade look (and it’s the dark side of the cab anyway).

7D7FE3BF-A8B4-49EE-9025-B0F9EBB5E69E.jpeg

Nice mod. I prefer open backs generally. I wonder if a 1-1/2" or 3" piece across the top wouldnt hamper the open back effect while adding some additional rigidity against the frame from ever racking if someone sits on it, etc.

Tonray's Ghost · Wed Apr 05, 2023 6:51 am

After the Favorite Beer thread of recent days I was thinking more on these lines:

tonebender · Wed Apr 05, 2023 8:42 am

Mr. Leyvatone wrote: ↑Wed Apr 05, 2023 2:41 am I found myself in a similar situation this week. In the never-ending quest for good tone it occurred to me that I have never fully bonded with the three amp heads I have.

Then it dawned on me that part of what I associate with pleasing tone is the open back cabinet configuration of my combo amps. I have only ever played the heads through my 4x12 Marshall cabinet or my 1x12 Fender cabinet, both closed back cabs.

Something that drove the point home: I have two 100w Katanas, a 1x12 (open back) combo and a head. The head never sounded as good as the combo through either closed back cab.

I searched for open back cabs, comparing high quality cabs with lower priced cabs (which lead to thoughts about speaker upgrading). The usual slippery slope. And with all seriousness, I want functional gear, not more gear.

Solution: I modified the Fender 1x12 cab!

I wandered the aisles at Lowe’s for a half hour today and came up with this:
A $6 piece of pine, and a jack plate I made from that thing you stick your hand in to slide open a closet door.

Already had a Switchcraft jack. So it was like $9 to mod my cabinet and make it open back.

The $0 solution would have been to simply saw 11 inches off the original back. But I wanted to retain the ability to revert to the original closed back configuration (which is how it was designed to pair with the matching Hot Rod Deluxe open back combo).

I’m proud of my creativity and execution on this project! It sounds really good! I’ve tried two of the three heads through it and noticed a night/day difference…immediately heard tones I’ve been seeking for years from those amps. Including the Katana head which now sounds at least as good as the combo (probably better, considering the larger cabinet made of better tonewd).

Pic below. I left enough tolerance in the gaps to allow for wrapping the piece in tolex to better match. But honestly I dig the conspicuously homemade look (and it’s the dark side of the cab anyway).

7D7FE3BF-A8B4-49EE-9025-B0F9EBB5E69E.jpeg

Back in the day I had a Marshall 4x12 cab that came with a Valvestate head. The amp sucked but the cab was nice. It had a manufactured wood back. I simply took it off and cut it in two right below the jack. I could remove the bottom panel for open back applications and put it back for closed. I quit using gear that cumbersome years ago though.