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Vibrolux Speaker Replacement

Gridlock

Well-known member
Joined
May 16, 2019
Messages
287
Check out Eminence Legend 1058's
I’ve had the Legend 1058’s in a Fender ‘63 VIbroverb RI. I replaced the 1058’s with Jensen C10Q’s, and later I replaced the C10Q’s with Alessandro’s. To my ears, the Alessandro’s were the winner and stayed in that amp when I sold it.
 

Mustardc Caps

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2021
Messages
54
JBL E110s. Theres 2 for sale on Rvb. Theesse were the upgrade from around mid 70s on, for Fender speaakers that used a 10in speaker

SRV used JBL E110 speakers in his Super Reverbs. He only swithed top EV10Ms after JBL stopped making these. He also used JBL E130s in his Vibroverbs.
Also look into Tone Tubby Reds. Jimmy Herring uses Tone Tubby Reds with his Super Reverbs
 

yladrd61

New member
Joined
Sep 6, 2021
Messages
16
JBL E110s. Theres 2 for sale on Rvb. Theesse were the upgrade from around mid 70s on, for Fender speaakers that used a 10in speaker

SRV used JBL E110 speakers in his Super Reverbs. He only swithed top EV10Ms after JBL stopped making these. He also used JBL E130s in his Vibroverbs.
Also look into Tone Tubby Reds. Jimmy Herring uses Tone Tubby Reds with his Super Reverbs
SRV also switched to the EV15s in his Vibroverbs after he could no longer get the JBL E130s
 

Wally

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Feb 27, 2003
Messages
3,535
SRV also switched to the EV15s in his Vibroverbs after he could no longer get the JBL E130s

It could be that he realized that it would be even far more difficult to get new eardrums! eeeehaw….
Imho, an EV is a more musical speaker than a JBL with less harm done to the high frequency range of one’s hearing.
A metal dust cover belongs nowhere near a guitar amp, imho…especially if there is any distortion at all being used.
Metal dust covers don’t do well with distortion. The metal dust cover was invented in 1947 by Altec for the Model 600B high fidelity musical reproduction speaker.
 

Mustardc Caps

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2021
Messages
54
Duane Allman used JBL D120Fs Dick Betts used them.

One of the greatest speakers of all time has a metal dustcap. The 100w Fane Cresendo A
Dave Gilmour used JBL D130s in his Dual Showman Rvb.
Hendrix used the D130F in his Dual Showmans at Monterey. He used 2 Dual Showmans, and a 1966 Marshall JTM45/100.
The last amp Hendrix bought was from Mannys. Fender Twin Rvb, with JBL D120Fs

The 100w Fane Cresendo. David Gilmour still uses them, and they are the sound of early Pink Floyd.
Rawson Sparfield makes a replica Cresendo A and its a great speaker. Has a 30hz-16,000hz frequency response. They can also be used for Bass.
Roger Waters also used the Cresendos.
Remember all those WEM cabinets Floyd used at Pompeii?? All loaded with Fane Cresendos. Metal Dustcaps.

Robin Trower used a Marshall, and a Dual Showman Rvb cabinet loaded with JBL D130Fs.

Ive got 2 Altec 418Hs, and have had them since 1972. I use them with either a 69 Fender Dual Showman Rvb, or a 2013 Metropoulos LTD ED GMP45 head, and they sound great. Scare my 4 Pulsoinc Celestion G12Ms to death. I also have some Hemp Coned JBL E120s that sound great with distortion.
One has to totally re-eq with a JBL

All Fane Cresendo loaded WEM cabinets.


You can see the metal dustcaps peeking through the fender cabinet.



You can see the back of the JBLs at the upper right. Hes using them in an open back

B0o6Gyv.png



You cant see the JBLs, but theyre in there.

R.1268d93a594ecfc1ad792836f7cf29eb






What speakers does David Gilmour use in Wem?
David's WEM speaker cabinets are typically loaded with Fane Crescendo 100w 12" speakers. They are a perfect speaker to blend with the Hiwatt sound, and out of all of David's gear, the Hiwatt/Crescendo combo could be said to define the core foundational tone heard in most Gilmour performances.



David Gilmour Tone Building - Kit Rae

www.kitrae.net/music/David_Gilmour_Amplifiers_and_Speakers_2.html
Gilmour recording at Abbey Road in 1975 using a 1972 Fender Dual Showman Reverb amp with matching Fender 2x15 cabinet with JBL speakers and a Hiwatt Custom 100 through a WEM 4x12 cabinet with Fane Crescendo speakers

R.560c7ef83900c3a20398139886db6d22



Fane Cresendo . Metal Dustcap.

mlzb7xl98nm1jzuzpx49.jpg
 
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HI-TONE

Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2014
Messages
40
this guy is half right. Metal dust caps can be excellent with distortion.
the "rawson sparfield" speakers do look like real crescendos, but are thinner and more anemic sounding than any 1970;s Crescendos I have ever heard or owned.
 

Mustardc Caps

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2021
Messages
54
Ive got 4 original Cresendos Ive had since the 70s, and 2 Starfinders. I dont find them anemic at all.

Heres what Rit Rae says about them, and some demos. Originals vs Starfinder.

He says they are very close to the same. I agree. I find the originals may be a tad brighter, but this could be due to such long breakin.





SPEAKER COMPARISONS - I have listed as much information above as I can for those of you that want to seek out the original 12 A Crescendos, but there are two good modern speakers that do a good job replicating the Crescendo tone, and several other alternative speakers listed below. For comparison purposes, below are sound clips of a real Fane Crescendo 12A through a Hiwatt (Reeves Custom 50). Each performance was recorded on a Boss RC-3 looper and played back through my rig with identical effects and settings, so each performance is identical. The amp was set at very high volume, not bedroom volume. Each speaker was mounted in the same isolated 1x12 speaker cab and recorded with a Sure SM57. The microphone was placed on each speaker to get something that sounded like what I hear in the studio. Keep in mind that this is just one Crescendo, and not all Crescendos will sound identical.
mp3 Fane Crescendo Type A speaker with Green Russian Big Muff - On the Turning Away solo
mp3 Fane Crescendo Type A speaker with a Green Russian Big Muff - In Any Tongue solo - no modulation
mp3 Fane Crescendo Type A speaker with a Green Russian Big Muff - In Any Tongue solo with modulation
mp3 Fane Crescendo Type A speaker with EHX Ram's Head Big Muff - Mother solo
mp3 Fane Crescendo Type A speaker with Green Russian Big Muff - Money solo
mp3 Fane Crescendo Type A speaker with B.K. Butler Tube Driver - Take A Breath solo
mp3 Fane Crescendo Type A speaker - clean tone with compressor - Coming Back to Life solo
mp3 Fane Crescendo Type A speaker - clean rhythm tone with compressor - Another Brick in the Wall Part II

Rawson Sparfield sells a 100w Fane Crescendo 12A replica that is a very accurate recreation of the original, using a similar cast metal frame, the same magnet and voice coil specifications, and aluminum dust cap just like the original. It is named the Starfinder, after the name of the WEM Starfinder speaker cabinets that Gilmour is so much associated with, and the company is named after Rawson Sparfield Ltd, the original builder of those Starfinder cabs, although RS is not affiliated with either original company. RS is run by Jeff Lewis, head of the U.K. amplifiers and speaker cabinet company Matamp, and Chris Hewitt, owner of Ozit Morpheus Records and CH Vintage Audio. Chris is a music gear collector with a large collection of vintage WEM audio equipment, including one of Pink Floyd's early mixing boards bult by WEM.
The Starfinder is made in the U.K. using Kurt Mueller cones and the magnets are charged on a magnetizer used by the original Fane speaker company. Visually the speaker looks very similar to the original Fane Crescendo, but the spoke holes in the cast metal frame are not as wide, the underside of the magnet has a beleveled edge rather than a corner like the original, and the hammerite finish pattern is smaller and smoother looking. RS sells the speakers individually, and also loaded in their Starfinder 4x12 speaker cabinet, which is a replica of the WEM Super Starfinder 200 4x12 cabinets that David Gilmour used. Hearing a Hiwatt through the Starfinder speaker is instantly recognizable as the Gilmour Pink Floyd sound, especially his early to mid 1970s tones. All Crescendos do not sound identical, but compared to my originals, the Starfinder is slightly darker with less upper mid range. It is still very close, as you can hear in the sound clips below. Compare these to the original Fane Crescendo clips at the beginning of this section.
mp3 Starfinder speaker with Green Russian Big Muff - On the Turning Away solo
mp3 Starfinder speaker with Green Russian Big Muff - In any Tongue solo - no modulation
mp3 Starfinder speaker with Green Russian Big Muff - In any Tongue solo with modulation
mp3 Starfinder speaker with EHX Ram's Head Big Muff - Mother solo
mp3 Starfinder speaker with Green Russian Big Muff - Money solo
mp3 Starfinder speaker with B.K. Butler Tube Driver - Take A Breath solo
mp3 Starfinder speaker - clean tone with compressor - Coming Back to Life solo
mp3 Starfinder speaker - clean rhythm tone with compressor - Another Brick in the Wall Part II


 

yladrd61

New member
Joined
Sep 6, 2021
Messages
16
It could be that he realized that it would be even far more difficult to get new eardrums! eeeehaw….
Imho, an EV is a more musical speaker than a JBL with less harm done to the high frequency range of one’s hearing.
A metal dust cover belongs nowhere near a guitar amp, imho…especially if there is any distortion at all being used.
Metal dust covers don’t do well with distortion. The metal dust cover was invented in 1947 by Altec for the Model 600B high fidelity musical reproduction speaker.
I have tried both the JBL E130 and EV15L in my Vibroverb and I prefer the JBL, I also prefer SRV's early live tone with the JBLs.
 

Mustardc Caps

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2021
Messages
54
I also prefer the JBLs.

BB King also used JBLs in his Twin Reverbs. Wes Montgomery also used JBLs. Mike Bloomfield also used Twin Reverbs with Grey Frame JBL, and also would run Dual Showman cabinets with them loaded with JBL D130Fs.
Pete Townsend also uses JBL E110s in is Vibro Kings
 
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Mustardc Caps

Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2021
Messages
54
Theres several D110Fs. K110s, and E110s on reverb.

Theres 4 D110Fs that came out of a Super Reverb for $1110 with shipping included.

About 5 K110s

and 4-6 E110s

All have original cones.
 

Wally

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 27, 2003
Messages
3,535
I have tried both the JBL E130 and EV15L in my Vibroverb and I prefer the JBL, I also prefer SRV's early live tone with the JBLs.


I like those white boots even less than I like metal dust covers. Eeeehaw…..
IF that Super Reverb has JBLs in it, then he is properly blocking the harsh high ends with that tape.
 
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