Rewiring 2x12 cab

[themusicboxstudios]

hey, is there anyway i can re-wire my 16 ohm orange cab 2x12 cab with 2 vintage 30's to 8ohms? i want to run my future bandmaster head through the cab but it only runs at 8 ohms. i've been running my orange head at 16 ohms but it can also run at 8 ohms.

thanks, jon

 

[RL in Fla]

If they're both 8 ohms , no . You either get 16 in series or 4 in parallel .

 

[themusicboxstudios]

what if i buy different speakers?

 

[RL in Fla]

Okee dokee , two 4's in series or 2 16 's in parallel = 8

 

[themusicboxstudios]

so if i get 2 16ohm vintage 30's i can make it work?

 

[themusicboxstudios]

would the tone change at all?

 

[themusicboxstudios]

anyone?

 

[Blunder]

Yes, 2 16ohm speakers wired parallel would give you 8 ohms.
It might change your tone slightly. Probably give you a little more headroom.

 

[John Phillips]

Originally posted by curehardy
hey, is there anyway i can re-wire my 16 ohm orange cab 2x12 cab with 2 vintage 30's to 8ohms? i want to run my future bandmaster head through the cab but it only runs at 8 ohms.

Are you sure? Most Bandmasters (all BF and SF ones, anyway, I'm not certain about the Brown ones) are 4 ohm.

 

[cameron]

Originally posted by John Phillips
Are you sure? Most Bandmasters (all BF and SF ones, anyway, I'm not certain about the Brown ones) are 4 ohm.

The quite rare 1960 brown Bandmaster was a 3x10 combo. 3 8 ohm speakers in parallel gives, 2.6666... ohms.

The early blond Bandmaster heads were sold with a 1x12 cab, so 8 ohms. Later blond Bandmasters were sold with a 2x12" cab, hence 4 ohms.

Fender standardized on only 8 ohm speakers at a relatively early date. And they only ever wired cabs in parallel. So if you know what cab an amp was sold with, you can figure the impedance.

 

[Reactionjackson]

It's perfectly acceptable to run the 8ohm out from the Bandmaster into a 16ohm load -- you'll get a little more compression and a little more sag; a nice compliment to the Bandmaster if you ask me.

 

[r9player]

I guess just the basics to remember ...
Speakers in series add Ohms
Speakers in Parallel .. 1/R1 + 1/R2 + ... = 1/Rt
(Speaker Ohm val 1, 2 etc. = t = Total impedance)

If you are eyeing some improvement in sound, new speakers is a great idea. And if your output (is confirmed) 8 Ohm out, I'd say get two 16 Ohm in Parallel (vs. two 4 ohm in series)
What it does is it divides the current in half to each speaker and so you cab can run higher wattage.

If you really like the speakers you have, you can do what I did (I didn't want to get change out my Fane speakers) and get a Weber Impedance Matcher. (Very affordable)

 

[themusicboxstudios]

i've been running my ad30 head at 16ohms with my orange cab. if i run it at 8 ohms through an 8ohm cabinet, will there be a tone difference? i know the cabs will sound different, but will the different ohms affect the sound?

basically, im think about selling the orange cab and getting 2 avatar cabs, one at 8ohms (for the orange) and one at 4 ohms (for the fender)

 

[r9player]

(not to run cab makers out of business but)
You could again use the Weber Impedance matcher and just go with one cab. Works quite well so far.

As far as tone differences ... I believe technically speaking here shouldn't be a difference although from the practical side .. everything seems to make things sound a little different.

I believe the way the theory goes ..
Amps with multiple impedances out, basically it is coming off the same Transformer but after a different amount of windings. If your load is matched I believe your current output stays the same? i.e. Current out for 16 to 16 ohm is same as 8 to 8 ohm.
If the current output is affected then you get a slightly different sound.

 

[cameron]

Originally posted by Reactionjackson
It's perfectly acceptable to run the 8ohm out from the Bandmaster into a 16ohm load -- you'll get a little more compression and a little more sag; a nice compliment to the Bandmaster if you ask me.

But unless he's got a 1961 blond Bandmaster, what his amp wants to see is a 4 ohm load.

Running an amp that wants a 4 ohm load into a 16 ohm cab is not a good idea. Generally a 100% mismatch either way is safe (at least with Fenders) but a 300% mismatch upwards is likely to cause trouble.

 

[themusicboxstudios]

can i get more info on the the weber impedence switchter, that deff sounds like the best answer. any reveiws?

 

[r9player]

Check out
Weber Amplification

Click on Z-Matcher

 

[themusicboxstudios]

is this thing passive? about how big is it? which do you have? the 100 watt or 50?

sorry for so many questions ... the site doesn't have very good info.

 

[r9player]

I have the 100 watt .. although I ordered the 50 .. got the 100 shipped ..
I haven't opened it, but ...
It is all passive (you don't plug it in, no powerering of any parts)
It's cool though, has a line out, xlr out and an extra out so you can hook into various extra things from it.

I believe (guessing) the guts are 1 speaker (or something that functions as a speaker) that doesn't actually make any sound and load resistors ...
plus some connectors and switches.

 

[themusicboxstudios]

is it just for the handling? if i got the 100 watts would it still be fine for my 30 watt orange and 40 watt bandmaster? or would the 50 watt be better. i was just thinking about the 100 watt one just in case i get a higher wattage head inthe future.