Just wondering if anyone knows of a 15" speaker out there that sounds similar to a JBL D130, but takes overdrive a bit better. I love my JBL's, but if I had a nit to pick, I wish they were a bit less 'fizzy' with OD. I realize that this may be due to the aluminum dome, and I can usually make it work by removing some treble...but still. Am I dreaming here? Just wondering if anyone else has found speaker that can do this. Maybe an Altec? One of the Webers?
Hrmm... the D120Fs sound wonky with gain to my ears as do the Weber Californias, at least with aluminium caps. A buddy has a Silverface Vibrosonic (basically a Twin Reverb with a 1x15) with a D130 and i think it sounds pretty incredible with gain. It's probably my favorite Fender amp I've ever heard that sounds great clean and equally great with gain. If I were to go for a Weber 15" for great cleans and gain tones, I'd go with the Michigan. It really has a lot of low end though. I had one for a while but just didn't have a pressing need for a 15" speaker/cab. But it left enough of an impression that the next 1x12 Fender-ish combo I get, I'll absolutely order a 12" Michigan. The Michigan is Weber's take on the EV 12L/SRO type speaker. Big, robust, lots of bottom end, minimal breakup and is almost never harsh.
E130 Ceramic version of your D130. I've always felt ceramic speakers work better for overdrive. Here are a pair of clips with overdrive: Fast Playing Noodling Not sure if this sound is less fizzy then what you're experiencing, but Its still a JBL so you know you're getting the same sonic footprint
(Vintage) Electro-Voice 15W, all alnico monster-tone in that muthu with a 4" voice coil, same as the JBL's I believe. I can't remember if they come in different impedances, I had mine re-coned by Ted Weber years ago (bought it cheap with a ripped cone), it's 8 ohm now, no fizz. I believe they made an EV SRO 15 as well, but they're usually ceramic when you see them, but I think the SRO's were 8 ohm if memory serves me.
I have a showman 2x15 cab with JBL D130F's that were reconed at weber with paper cones that sound devine.
Thanks everyone for the replies. I think I am going to try out a cali with the paper dome, or send a blown d130 to weber for recone with the paper dome.. I'm almost positive it's the aluminum dome i'm hearing, I guess i'll find out. On another note, has anyone compared the Weber neo mag 15" to the Cali? What did you think?
These even come with LHDCs to really filter off sizzle and fizz. Also worth mentioning is the slightly Fane inspired Thames which has more of a British mid and hence takes distortion better. You can indeed opt for a harp-screen here as well should you want one.
I was searching for the same thing for years because every D130 I bought needed a recone or had been reconed and sounded ******. My search ended when I bought an Altec 418B. What I like most about it is that it will grind out some great overdrive. I use it for cleans with my D Style amps and I don't use a lot of gain so the overdrive is just a slight breakup. But, when I play around and dime the gain and volume, the speaker also handles it like a champ.
An interesting sidenote: I also have a Weber P15NT (35W-ish?) which is a great speaker as well as the EV, and the weird thing about it is that when playing clean, it has all the trademark tones of a big 15". But as the overdrive level goes up, it starts responding more like a 12" speaker...I love that about that speaker, and the only speaker I've heard that does that.
