Jess Oliver lives on through The AMPEG PORTAFLEX CLUB - now up to lucky 7!

[beans-on-toast]

Originally Posted by Vintage-Blue

They only baffle that can be removed on a double baffle cabinet like yours is the grille (outer) baffle. The speaker (inner) baffle is essentially part of the cabinet and cannot be removed without some serious tearing apart of the cabinet. If you want to remove the grille baffle there are four nuts that need to be removed inside the cabinet at roughly the 2, 4, 8, and 10-o'clock position. The nuts are attached to threaded spikes that are part of the grille baffle assembly and protrude through the speaker baffle. To remove the speaker from its baffle just remove the four nuts that are holding it on.

I would have included some photos but they're at home and I'm at work.

I would add that sometimes, if the spikes are not in straight, the baffle doesn't come out easily. A light tap with a hammer on the ends of the spikes is sometimes required. They can be fragile so be careful.

[John D]

Originally Posted by beans-on-toast

Sometimes seeing the sweep and ballistics of an analog meter is useful.

Yeah, just try using a digital meter to bend tuning capacitor tabs in an old multi-channel radio receiver.

[ddbassGA]

Originally Posted by John D

There is a dead give away that this is an old guy's shop. Can you spot it?

All analog meters? The CRT scope? The old Western Electric wall phone?

[John D]

Originally Posted by ddbassGA

All analog meters? The CRT scope? The old Western Electric wall phone?

Yep, there are several good clues, now that you guys pointed them out. I guess I zeroed in on the prescription bottles because I do the same thing. I was looking at the electronics gear so hard that I just now noticed the woodworking tools. Are they in the same room? If they are, cleaning up must be a real chore, after using that belt sander.

[John D]

Originally Posted by beans-on-toast

I would add that sometimes, if the spikes are not in straight, the baffle doesn't come out easily. A light tap with a hammer on the ends of the spikes is sometimes required. They can be fragile so be careful.

They can also take out a speaker cone in a heartbeat.

[deekay911]

The front baffle is out! It was aligned 90 degrees out, with the bar vertically...Never seen so much dust and crap behind it...
What's a good method for cleaning the grill material?

[ddbassGA]

Originally Posted by John D

They can also take out a speaker cone in a heartbeat.

In 1970, I watched in horror while the lead Guitard in our band impaled the cones of not one, but 2 JBL D120Fs in rapid succession while attempting to change his own speakers.

[Vintage-Blue]

Originally Posted by John D

... I was looking at the electronics gear so hard that I just now noticed the woodworking tools. Are they in the same room? If they are, cleaning up must be a real chore, after using that belt sander.

They are in separate rooms. This diagram may help with the general layout of things relative to each other in Jess' shop. I'm sure the scale is off, as well as some of the details but it should give you a general sense of things. I was suffering from serious sensory overload at the time and was struggling to take it all in!

[John D]

Originally Posted by Vintage-Blue

They are in separate rooms.

Okay. This makes a lot more sense, now. Jess had a cool little setup.

[FenderAmpeg]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

Tom,
Just an observation here, from the perspective of a guy who used to swap out various brands of 15's in his B-15N to try and improve the sound. Personally, I was not all that enamored with the stock 15's and. 12's. To my ears the JBL's , Altec's and EV's all sounded better. I never considered re coning them, just my opinion though. These days the JBL D130's and D140's are selling used for more than the used to cost new, so I guess reconing the CTS' is a less expensive option.

Ric

Ric,
I agree that the JBL, Altec and EV are all a step up from the Jensen and CTS. The 12" I just had reconed came out of the NRF B-12 and was very tired and had a bit of cone rattle so I decided to have it done with the idea of keeping the amp whole. But in the mean time I got a D120F so, of course it's staying in there. About that time I got the SB12 turned SB15 so I found myself with an application for the Jensen after I put in the new baffle.

All said and done, JBL sounds better, but at lower volumes I think there is less of a difference between JBL/CTS/Jensen, so if I was going for a lower cost alternative, I would just recone a C12N for $60 instead of going for a $200 JBL.

[RutherfordBrave]

All said and done, JBL sounds better, but at lower volumes I think there is less of a difference between JBL/CTS/Jensen, so if I was going for a lower cost alternative, I would just recone a C12N for $60 instead of going for a $200 JBL.

I'm a fan of Weber like Jimmy is a fan of Ampeg, so naturally I just took a look at their D120F equivalent. I'd be willing to bet that if they broke this speaker in for you, it'd sound almost identical to the $200 -- if you can find one -- real deal. $105, plus about $30 in shipping, if I recall.

[Ric Vice]

Originally Posted by FenderAmpeg

All said and done, JBL sounds better, but at lower volumes I think there is less of a difference between JBL/CTS/Jensen, so if I was going for a lower cost alternative, I would just recone a C12N for $60 instead of going for a $200 JBL.

Tom,
That's a much less expensive option, for sure. One things for certain, with all the ebay and Talkbass samplings of B-15N (A,B, and C's) I haven't seen one amp with a JBL D130F so there evidently weren't many takers. It was a pretty pricey upgrade when it was offered.

Ric

[FenderAmpeg]

Originally Posted by Ric Vice

Tom,
That's a much less expensive option, for sure. One things for certain, with all the ebay and Talkbass samplings of B-15N (A,B, and C's) I haven't seen one amp with a JBL D130F so there evidently weren't many takers. It was a pretty pricey upgrade when it was offered.

Ric

I'd say spot on, look at the upgrade price in relation to the base price. Public school math tells me a 25% addition to the cost, not many could afford it and at "music shop" levels not enough of a difference to sell the option.

Plus by the time we get them the original speaker is pretty tired so any upgrade JBL/Altec/EV (even the same age), recone etc. will most likely sound better now.

[Latanza Heist]

Does anyone know where I can get a slip cover in the uk? For the pf115 cab?

[coreyfyfe]

Originally Posted by Latanza Heist

Does anyone know where I can get a slip cover in the uk? For the pf115 cab?

I think ampeg is starting to sell their own now, you could try their website and see if they have links to dealers. Fliptops has some that fit, their standard B-15 covers, though I'm not sure of their overseas shipping policy. They're a little tighter on the PF cabs because of the skid rails on the back, but they go on easily enough.

[deekay911]

I did some considerable cleaning of the nely acquired '63 B15N today, all looking much better. Incredible how much grime that tolex will hold.
This thing is almost completey original, with all the original valves etc. Someone had suggested I recap the amp, and secondly fit a grounded power cord. Can anyone point me to some basic instructions on these two projects? I am pretty competent with a soldering iron. I see the existing 2 wire power cord goes to the 'ground' switch - what's the purpose of that anyway?
Thanks!

[ddbassGA]

DK911, the ground switch swaps polarity since the 2 prong plug can go in either way -- it's like unplugging and turning the plug around. Pick the one with the least hum. With 3 prong we know which goes where (assuming the socket is wired correctly) so the ground switch can be disabled or used for another function ( eg disco lights). I'd do (or have done) both of those mods, btw. More like maintenance items than mods.

[LoriB]

I'm really loving my new PF-500 & PF115. May I gain entrance to the Portaflex club?

[Boondog Reisbol]

Excellent shape, crappy phone pics...

[deekay911]

Does the original double baffle setup on the B15N cabinet has felt between the grill cloth and the wooden baffle? Looks like mine should have had some at some point but it has long since vaporised. What does everyone use to replace that?