Vibroverb users looking for that SRV sound: Speaker Content

[JubileeMan 2555]

Hello,

I've got myself a vibroverb clone that I have been recently working hard at getting to sound its absolute best. I have had an EVM 15L in the amp for a long time and It may be the best fit for ME personally, but I wanted to pass on this info I found to help other Vibroverb users looking for that Stevie Sound.

Whenever I find posts regarding vibroverbs, there seems to be a lot of talk regarding putting the D130 AlNiCo speaker into that amp for that authentic early SRV sound. He may have had that speaker in his amp when he got the vibros right away, but This pic from 1980 shows that he switched to the ceramic E130 VERY early in his career. Way before any of us would have heard a recording of him. here are a couple of pics.

I always thought it was interesting because his sound never seemed to have an AlNiCo sound. Not to mention that they get more raspy and harsh when pushed too hard. Ceramic seems to be a better fit for SRV and I think this pic shows that.

 

[Stk1520]

Funny . . . with all the Dumble talk here recently, I still always liked SRV’s Fender Vibroverb tone the best (El Mocambo DVD, Albert King sessions).

Have you directly compared the EVM 15L to a D130 or an E130 in your Vibroclone? I’d be interesting in hearing your thoughts ---- I’ve been experimenting with 15-inch speakers recently with a ‘Fender-ish’ amp I have (a Blueverb), but I haven’t tried a JBL yet.

BTW --- who built your Vibroclone?

 

[JubileeMan 2555]

Funny . . . with all the Dumble talk here recently, I still always liked SRV’s Fender Vibroverb tone the best (El Mocambo DVD, Albert King sessions).

Have you directly compared the EVM 15L to a D130 or an E130 in your Vibroclone? I’d be interesting in hearing your thoughts ---- I’ve been experimenting with 15-inch speakers recently with a ‘Fender-ish’ amp I have (a Blueverb), but I haven’t tried a JBL yet.

BTW --- who built your Vibroclone?

yeah, early SRV is my favorite. His tones right up to about '85 are my favorites. After that, he seems more "flat" sounding...

I've never played a D130 myself. But the e130 will take a little more explaination.

I had a local guy build me the vibroverb clone. At the time, I had never even used a soldering iron. The guy that built it is one of those attention-to-detail builders and his build quality is unreal. Probably the best i'd ever seen.

problem was that he had more of that "marshall" ear and had built the amp with components and a few changes that made the amp lose a lot of that fender sparkle. So...I put the amp to the side.

I then bought a E130 speaker and gave it a try. What I noticed was the same qualities of hte EV, but with a more papery highs and much lower volume. It was actually too quiet. The problem was that the vibro, at this point, wasn't putting out enough volume and it wasn't the fault of the speaker. I decided to sell the JBL since it was too quiet, but knew I'd try it again once I got the vibroverb running the way it should.

Anyways, my story is kinda confusing, but to make a long story short, I have since done a lot of rewiring, component swaps etc, and have just recently bought another E130 and its on its way to me now. I really enjoyed the tone of the first time I had the JBl in there, but it was too quiet to use. NOW i've got her working at 100% and will be able to give a better review when I install the speaker for the second time.

Basically I'd say the EV is for clarity and precise tone while the JBL E130 has the same basic tonal family as the EV but with some added JBL "coloring" that includes papery highs and a slightly softer response. I can say without pause that the EVM 15L is a phenominal speaker. It would be VERY hard for me to replace it permanently, but I'll do my best to give the two speakers a fair review once the JBL is in.

 

[The Rocket]

I had a '64 Pro Amp (1x15, 40W, 2x6L6s...same as the Vibroverb but without reverb) for a few years. I had the original Jensen speaker, but I put a JBL D130F on it and it was great. A friend of mine put a paper dust cup (?) instead of the aluminium dust cup of the JBL and the sound was less harsh and raspy when pushed....
I've never tried an EVM15, but I have some EV12L speakers and I think that EV speaker maybe are the best choice for the SRV sound.

I really liked the alnico JBL D130F, but I also think that the SRV sound is more "ceramic" than alnico....

anyways...the Pro Amp was a very sweet amp and it surely is a very good alternative to a blackface Vibroverb...

when you receive your speaker please post your impressions and your always great clips

 

[JubileeMan 2555]

...when you receive your speaker please post your impressions and your always great clips

Sure will!

 

[niksevig119]

is this an 8ohm speaker??

 

[Jack Daniels]

The E130 is an excellent speaker that tames all the highs and harshness of a D130. To me the E series is one of the best speakers ever designed. I remember seeing SRV in the early 80's (about the time Texas Flood came out) and he was definitely using E's at that time. But the other thing you have to remember about SRV is that his amps were tuned by C Diaz. They were not stock. Somewhere I had a discription of his mods, but can't find them. I can recall if it was upgraded transformers or just negitive feed back changes.....

J

 

[mrs. dad]

Here's a really wonderful interview with Cesar Diaz and among other things he gets very specific on SRV's amps & speakers for most of the middle portion:

http://www.tonequest.com/ray.htm

 

[Baloney]

SRV's tone was more than a speaker. He used the ts9's and huge piano strings on his strat haha.. His playing style lent alot to his tone too. A good speaker isnt a bad thing but his tone was more than that.

 

[Jack Daniels]

WoW! Awesome artical. So SRV's Vibroverbs (same basic amp as a Pro Reverb or a Vibrolux from Diaz mouth) was upgraded to a bassman transformer. His super reverbs had Twin Reverb transformers and all his amps had the tube recto replaced with SS silcone diode....blah blah blah...

Great stuff. He did state that later in Stevie's career he was using EV speaker and JBLs earlier on.

JD

 

[Baloney]

The thing I noticed is how hard he pushed his gear. It seems everyone with legendary tone had to push there gear to the breaking point and then replace it often, even during a gig.

 

[DeaconBlues]

anyways...the Pro Amp was a very sweet amp and it surely is a very good alternative to a blackface Vibroverb...

I've always wanted a Brown Pro or early BF Pro with the 15" speaker. I've owned two Tweed Pros, still have a '57, but the Brown era would be my holy grail.

BTW, I'm using one of BBQ Boy's 15N150 Neo Mags in my '57 Tweed Pro.

 

[tiptone]

The thing I noticed is how hard he pushed his gear. It seems everyone with legendary tone had to push there gear to the breaking point and then replace it often, even during a gig.

That's rock and roll baby! (even when it's the blues )

 

[ROKY]

SRV's tone was more than a speaker. He used the ts9's and huge piano strings on his strat haha.. His playing style lent alot to his tone too. A good speaker isnt a bad thing but his tone was more than that.

Yup, a sum of the parts, including ... the man, himself .

 

[telejammer]

I just recently purchased a 64 Vibroverb Custom amp with "Diaz" mods, switches out the vibrato curcuit and normal channel at the sme time. Another switch alows you to go either tube or solid state rectifier. This has a Eminence 15" speaker in it, I think it sounds fine, but have not played one with a JBL in it so I can't make a comparision. What would be the advantages of a speaker change?

 

[SuperReverb2]

This is my second go around with the Fender 64 Custom Vibroverb. (like this one MUCH better than the first one for some reason) When I had the first one of these amps, I didn't like the stock ceramic Eminence 15 at all. To mid rich, and syrupy to my ears. VERY harsh as well. Like I said earlier, for some reason this amp as a whole sounds better as well as the stock speaker. Don't actually mind it this time around. I do have a Weber Alnico Cali 15 (paper dust cap) arriving this week, just for a comparison, but if it doesn't work out, for now the stock ceramic will do.
I tried 2 different JBLD130's in my first Custom Vibroverb. One was a Ted Weber re-cone that I liked quite a bit and one was a cherry original that I managed to find. Interestingly enough, I preferred the Webber re-cone to the stock original. The Weber wasn't as "bright" and telling, but in the end the dome "clink" got to me and I sold the amp. The JBLD130's really do give the Vibroverb a distinctive (recognizable) tone, but I would have to say it's NOT signature SRV. I have never tried the E series, but there are some available here in town so I just might have to do that in the future.
As a matter of note. BOTH JBL's I tried in my first Vibroverb did NOT fit the stock baffle board screw pattern. That's not to say the screws didn't line up, (they did) it's just that there isn't that much clearance (in regards to the transformer) when it comes to the JBL. I found I had to remove the baffle board and the grill cloth and drill new holes to mount the JBL so that the transformer fit in between the basket arms. (I guess in hindsight I could have simply built a new baffle board, but I didn't think of it at the time)

 

[RussB]

Cool Thread

Although my goals aren't to try and cop the SRV sound, I enjou the heck out of my Vibroclone, and have tweeked it relentlessly to get it to be it's "Best"


I have a re-coned D130F, with the paper dustcap. Thet makes the D130 much better than the stock aluminum dustcaped speakers, IMHO. The shrill harshness is gone, and the amp takes boosts and OD's quite well.

That said, I aquirred an EVM15-L recently, an this speaker gives the amp more punch and headroom. The bass stays tighter & more focused. It does roll off more highs than even the paper dustcapped JBL.

I like them both, but they are different

My clone has an Allen TO-2-4-8 OT, a .022 & .033 caps in the Vibrato channel's tone stack. The rest is stock Fender