Looking for a 8 inch replacement speaker for a Valco amp

[Muzzy]

I had an Airline with the 1616T circuit. Same amp but with tremolo. I put a 3.2 ohm Weber 10A125 in it. It was a significant improvement in tone. The sound was bigger and the breakup was smoother and less ratty. The speaker fit the cab with room to spare. I think it was a great match.

 

[OrganicDrummer]

I had an Airline with the 1616T circuit. Same amp but with tremolo. I put a 3.2 ohm Weber 10A125 in it. It was a significant improvement in tone. The sound was bigger and the breakup was smoother and less ratty. The speaker fit the cab with room to spare. I think it was a great match.

Thanks Muzzy, but that airline 1616T has a completely different cabinet design than the s6606. The s6606 has the front-facing controls. I looked up some pictures of the Airline 1616T and it is hard to tell if the chassis extends all the way to the front of the cabinet or if there is a slight gap near the front/grill cloth for the speaker. The problem I'm having is that the s6606 chassis extends all the way to the front of the cab, so it eats up a few inches of the top-to-bottom clearance within the cab. The 10A125 looks like a 10" speaker. The space available in the s6606 cab is barely 8" total, top to bottom, so there is no way for a 10" speaker to fit, as far as I can tell. I'm still new to vintage amps (I'm a drummer) so unless I'm doing something totally wrong, I think I need a very small speaker to go in there.

 

[Muzzy]

Yeah, You're right. I just looked up the 6606 and I see what you mean. Bummer, that ten really sounded good. I would go with a vintage type 8" Weber alnico in that case. If you get a new one, get the factory break in. It helps quite a bit towards breaking the speaker in.

 

[OrganicDrummer]

I dig, thanks Muzzy.

I emailed Weber yesterday and and waiting to hear back. FWIW, I tried the Eminence 820H and the fit is not even close, and it's total diameter is 8.25". The holes line up fine, but the diameter is just too much. So yea, not a lot of room in there. I'm hoping that the Weber Signature 8 will fit, as it is only 8.06". I know it sounds crazy, but even that might be too large.

 

[dkevin]

Is it OK to admit to carving on a speaker to get it to fit? I have a 6606 and ran into the same fit problems with a Weber Sig 8 speaker. I used a band sander to flatten the upper and lower contact surfaces of the speaker and allow it to squeeze into the cabinet. The warranty is obviously voided by my hack but the speaker sounds great!

 

[OrganicDrummer]

Is it OK to admit to carving on a speaker to get it to fit? I have a 6606 and ran into the same fit problems with a Weber Sig 8 speaker. I used a band sander to flatten the upper and lower contact surfaces of the speaker and allow it to squeeze into the cabinet. The warranty is obviously voided by my hack but the speaker sounds great!

Is it OK? I think it exactly the kind of "OK" I'm more than willing to do immediately and, probably, poorly haha. dkevin can you provide any more info on this amazing and drummer-approved hack? Is a Dremmel sufficient or do I need something heavier as you've suggested?

Thanks!!

 

[dkevin]

Stand by...pictures and (gory) details to follow...

 

[OrganicDrummer]

Sweet, thanks!

I'm currently in the process of trying the same thing based upon your previous post. Result to follow as well.

 

[dkevin]

As for tools used, I had access to a band sander at work. I masked off the speaker to keep dust and debris from damaging the internals and used a marker to shade the areas I wanted to remove. I tried to remove as little of the speaker frame as required for the speaker to fit inside the cabinet. The band sander belt was fairly aggressive and I tried to sneak up on the material removed to keep from destroying the speaker. As for what tool you can use at home, I am not sure. The material needs to be removed slowly and carefully but with minimal handling of the tender parts of the speaker. It is not pretty but it works...

 

[OrganicDrummer]

Just to follow up on this, I was able
to cut down a Weber and it fit with room to spare. Thanks for all the help!

 

[dkevin]

Play on!

 

[TAWeber]

Stand by...pictures and (gory) details to follow...

wow...

 

[Stratkeysplz]

You probably already settled on a speaker, but here's my 2 cents anyway :

I own a Gretsch 6150 (same amp more or less) and love the original Jensen speaker sound. Despite what other say, cheap or otherwise, this is one killer Valco recording amp ! If you put a microphone in front of it, you can play anywhere. There's nothing else like it.

I too wanted to preserve my Jensen original speaker, so after careful consideration of all my options went with the inexpensive Weber Sig8 (The Smooth Cone Version).

I couldn't believe how close the Weber is to the original amps Jensen. It is a bit brighter, but very, very close none the less. I chose the Weber speaker based on recommendation from others, after hearing demos, and based on it being only a 15 watt speaker. The original Jensen I believe is also a very low what speaker, perhaps only 10 watts or less, so it breaks up real early !

I wanted that sound and the 15 watt Weber delivers ( with a built in margin of safety ) ! I've driven the crap out of my little Gretsh with Distortion pedals, compressors, boosts, you name it, and the Weber speaker takes it all with no protest. The temperature of the magnet assembly barely gets warm after an hour of playing flat out with insane gain. The old Jensen would get quite a bit warmer (I tested it before I swapped to the Weber).

Whatever your choice good luck, and don't Ever sell that amp. You will live to regret it ! Here's a clip of just one of the many cool vintage tones that can be had from your Mongomery ward (Valco amp) From 0:54 to 1:21 is that amp I believe...

Did someone say something about poor tone ?

http://www.soundclick.com/html5/v3/player.cfm?type=single&songid=5100928&q=hi&newref=1

Wow what speaker is being used in the click of you playing "Strange Brew"? Sounds incredible!

 

[ando]

my favorite 8" speaker is the weber 8" alnico blue pup...they're in my victoria 518 champ & my gibson les paul jr. amp...i also like the tone tubby low watt 8" alnico in my '65 vibro-champ...