jbl guitar speaker

[steviemac]

I would love some information about what jbl to use in a vintage Fender
Pro Amp circa 1954......I have one possibility: JBL Professional Series 2220H,
I need your opinions and expertise.

steviemac

[brad347]

I would love some information about what jbl to use in a vintage Fender
Pro Amp circa 1954......I have one possibility: JBL Professional Series 2220H,
I need your opinions and expertise.

steviemac

Honestly?

I would not use a JBL in that amp at all.

Tweed-era Fender amps are all about "mid-fi" and to sound their best, they really need a speaker with a lot of coloration, IMO. JBLs, being really nice speakers, don't match well with the extremely colored, primitive design and sound of tweed-era fenders. Now I love a pair of D130s in an old Dual Showman or a pair of D120F in a Twin Reverb, or even JBLs in a Super Reverb... the blackface amps, being a little more modern and linear in their conception and voicing, suit the JBL sound very well.

But when I'm thinking speakers for old tweed amps, I'm thinking Jensen. Maybe Oxford or Utah, but probably Jensen. The "right" speaker for that amp, to me, is a Jensen P15N.

If you put something like a D130 in and like the sound of it, then I'd suggest being open to shopping around and maybe selling the tweed pro, getting instead a brown Pro or Vibrasonic with a D130F in it. Or if you can find one, a blackface Pro-amp (not pro reverb-- the pro reverb had 2x12 and the pro-amp was 1x15). Or if you're on a budget, a silverface Vibrasonic Reverb or Fender 75. If you like the sound of the JBL in your amp, then that's the direction your ears are taking you-- and the JBL-in-tweed-amp alone probably won't get you all the way there.

Is the amp a TV-front amp? You said ca. 1954 so I believe it would be either TV front or wide-panel. Which is an even greater argument, to me, against a JBL. The TV front and wide-panel tweeds are the most primitive and "low-fi" of all Fender amps, and the "hi fi" JBL speakers are not the best match in my opinion, in most cases.

Feel free to try though, you may like it! If you do try, I'd of course suggest a D130F, which can be had relatively cheaply (relative to other 15" JBLs) and are designed for musical instrument amplifier use.

[BMWCCA]

Or a D130 and just don't tighten it down too much! Right Harvey?

[Harvey Gerst]

Or a D130 and just don't tighten it down too much! Right Harvey?

Right, that drives me crazy!!

[Fred Sanford]

Another I'd consider & keep a look out for is the 2135- pro 15", aluminum dome, alnico mag. Shallow depth, too, for tube clearance. Similar to the D130s, but I can't remember what resource described that relationship. A bit of a sleeper, 'cause not too many people are familiar with the model #.

je

PS, I had the 2220B and didn't think it had the highs for guitar. The 2220 is rated to 2K, 2135 is rated out to 8K, I think.

[jcrobso]

A lot depends on what sound you want. You will have to use the JBL guitar speakers since they have an extended high end.
Vox amps of the 1960 used speakers that had a asymmetrical magnetic field, this generated 2nd order distortion that the Beatles liked.
I heard a story that on one of the Beatles tours some one put JBL D120F in some Vox amps and had the Beatles play thought them. The Beatles didn't like them because they sounded to clean. Oh Well!
I never should have sold my 1963 Fender Concert amp, but I'm a bass player and used the money to buy two D140Fs which I still have. John