Riffster Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 I also posted this at MLP in hopes that somebody could tell me something about it. What did I buy? has anyone seen one of these? Browsing at Nashville Used Music I spotted this cab, small-ish 1x12, closed back, seems either 60's or 70's, the badge "Crown" could be original or added since the screws do not look original and actually splintered the wood on the inside and there is another hole that does not line up. 8ohm speaker, is this alnico? looks like it. Seems like the speaker could have a bell since there is a screw for one. Sounds really thin but for the price I can always swap the speaker. The cabinet is plywood all around, well made and since is seems to be 1/4" plywood it is ver lightweight. This is the only accessible marking on the speaker, the code printed on the magnet is hard to reach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted January 1, 2013 Author Share Posted January 1, 2013 Also, after scratching my head over why a 12" would sound so thin I decided to open the cab again and check the polarity of the speaker...sure enough, it was backwards and it looks it was this way from factory since the solder joints were original. That is a big problem on a closed cab, the speaker travels backwards instead of forward and meets the resistance of the air in the closed back cab. I changed the polarity and the actual wires to something thicker as the stock wire was thin. the speaker sounds better, still very vintage output and I am not sure a small cab with closed back is the best fit for it, I may swap speaker with one of my other 1x12 open back larger cabs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twiz Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 I've never seen one like that. It reminds me of a Univox or something. Looks like its made pretty well. Cool vintage mojo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted January 1, 2013 Author Share Posted January 1, 2013 Yea, looking at speakers on eBay it does look reminiscent of Univox speakers, the sound is definitely vintage and the cab while made with 1/4" plywood is definitely well made. Now I have to see how this speaker sounds in my boxy Groove Tubes 1x12 from the 80's, that cab adds a lot of low end because of its shape and size, I am sure this alnico speaker will benefit from it, if not I will put it on eBay, I like vintage stuff but find it limiting since it is ultimately not my thing. I suspect that this speaker was never broken in, it looks and feels new when moving the cone with my fingers. I do not think the cone has doping so it should break in easier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted January 1, 2013 Share Posted January 1, 2013 Yo Riffster: To spite what everyone says and writes about "alnico" speakers being warmer and smoother, I find the reality is very different. And after tweaking/owning/swapping many speakers, including a lot of genuine Jensens, I think what you describe IS pretty much what your average "alnico" speaker sounds like. Where things will change for an alnico vs ceramic, is when reaching the point of compression- not with the amp, but the speaker itself. Before the speaker reaches a point of it's 'pwer handling', or over heating, it will reach a point of not putting out power in proportion to the power you put to it. An alnico generally reaches this point more abrupt and sooner than a ceramic- thus, "smoother" in overdrive, as opposed to more headroom with a ceramic. THIS, of corse, is provided the power amp driving it is at the point of compression. A low output speaker helps with that. And of corse (and this matters a great deal), low output speakers played clean will generally sound thinner and brighter than a high-output speaker. And almost by default, most alnico's are "low power". Comparing THIS speaker to most speakers that come in amps these days, that's two things different. These are generalizations: it's the speaker you are hearing, not so much the cap. Try plugging it into a low powered amp and cranking it, see what it does! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis G Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Thought it might be a red wine (cabernet) thread... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Stein, I am reaching the conclusions you point out, I have plugged the speaker to my Vox 2watt, Mesa on the 5watt setting, Epiphone Valve Junior head 5 watt and my JCM1 1 watt and it sounds best with my Mesa but it needs a lot of tweaking and I can hit a sweet spot that sounds good with overdrive but that's it. The speaker does sound good clean. Most likely I will sell it but since I am taking it out anyway I will give it a test in my other cab, curiosity if anything. My other cab has a Weber Blue Dog rated at 15 watts with no cone doping, great speaker for low wattage stuff, I am curious as to how it will sound on this smaller cab. If I do sell this alnico speaker I will put that money into a Celestion Lynchback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiamondJig Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Could be that the cab/speak is not voiced for a guitar and is for use as a small vocal PA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Could be but searching "Crown Guitars Japan" on Google I did get results and there is actually a guitar amp that seems to use the same cab but with a much smaller speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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