Price Check 1968 Fender vertical 4 10's (Solid State)

kuys · #1 02-16-2011, 03:37 PM

I got these things for next to nothing at a yard sale, I'm curious as to their relative value on the open market. Bass cabs they are not; they do sound vintage when used as such but the low frequency support is not good. They have an almost jack Cassady tone. I will be home tonight so If I need to post more pics I will. Also as far as I know they are stock.

**ExaltBass** · #2 02-16-2011, 03:55 PM

PA cabs of that time looked like this... and sucked! (IMHO - sorry to be harsh - YMMV)

kuys · #3 02-16-2011, 04:13 PM

I didn't pay anything for them. Jump change really; I've had my guitar plugged up to them and I think they sound pretty good. I've been thinking about replacing all the speakers and using them as guitar cabs. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't tearing apart something valuable.

christw · #4 02-16-2011, 04:14 PM

The speakers may well be the most valuable part of them.

**ExaltBass** · #5 02-16-2011, 04:24 PM

They may make decent guitar speakers as-is... have you tried it? As a bass speaker?... I don't think so. The speakers are probably Jensen guitar speakers anyways.

kuys · #6 02-16-2011, 04:39 PM

Speakers say fender on them. I can take the back off tonight and get some pics of them. I still got another hour at work.

Like I said before, using my Harmond Karmon tube head (rebuilt and modded) they sound pretty good stock. I have no idea on the power handling; I was a bit weary to really crank it.

billfitzmaurice · #7 02-16-2011, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuys

I'm curious as to their relative value on the open market.

About what you paid for them. The drivers may have value, they're the same as those used in either the Super or one of the other 10 loaded guitar cabs of that period.

Calaverasgrande · #8 02-16-2011, 05:55 PM

there should be a number on the back of the speaker, usually on the magnet, sometimes I've seen them on the frame. It will have one part that is 2 or 3 digits that can be looke dup as an EIA code. It will usually take alittle dciphering but be fairly obvious.
EG
1675-649-6010 would be 16 ohm 75 watt EV from the 10th week of 1960. Thats a totally made up one off the top of my head that bears no relation to reality, but you get the idea.
Check out
http://www.triodeel.com/eiacode.htm
for more real info.
On a side note I used to do AV in high school and would dread pulling those things out. So unwieldy. You cant put it on an av cart or anything so you just shlep it up an down the hall by hand.
Also, I wouldn't doubt that they record well for guitar among other things.

billfitzmaurice · #9 02-16-2011, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calaverasgrande

Also, I wouldn't doubt that they record well for guitar among other things.

As a guitar cab probably very good, but between not having the 'right look' nor being used by any heroes you'll never get a guitar'd player to use one.

kuys · #10 02-16-2011, 07:25 PM

christw · #11 02-16-2011, 07:28 PM

Ooh! AlNiCo drivers! Yeah, those would make some kickin' guitar cabs. CTS Speakers from '68.

kuys · #12 02-16-2011, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christw

Ooh! AlNiCo drivers! Yeah, those would make some kickin' guitar cabs. CTS Speakers from '68.

Any idea on the power handling? Or value?

christw · #13 02-16-2011, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kuys

Any idea on the power handling? Or value?

Probably pretty low on power handling. Most people guess 25 watts or so RMS per speaker for these.

Erm, amended. I still say do a little eBay/webstore research and get accurate numbers if you have patience. I googled "Fender CTS AlNico" and found a couple of threads on these speakers. Here's one on eBay that sold for a meager $15. http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/ws/eBayISAPI....m=220709996568

kuys · #14 02-16-2011, 07:52 PM

I am a supporting member.

But anyways I've decided to hold on to it and clean it up and replace 2 speakers out of each box with something modern.

My amp is only 50 watts so I don't think I will blow them even cranked; but they are 43 years old.

christw · #15 02-16-2011, 07:54 PM

My bad! Amended the post.

As for numbers, the speakers themselves seem to be up to eBay flux from $15 for one to $300 for a set of 4 from one amp. I guess I can't give you a good number anyways. Luck of the draw with who you sell them to? Maybe you can find a guitard with a '68 Fender who needs 4 drivers and is desperate to have a matching set for TEH TONEZ

billfitzmaurice · #16 02-16-2011, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christw

Ooh! AlNiCo drivers! Yeah, those would make some kickin' guitar cabs. CTS Speakers from '68.

Quite possibly the same as used in the original SVT...and their meager capacity is why the original needed two 810s to handle the 300 watts of the head.

will33 · #17 02-16-2011, 08:02 PM

Ya, they'd make pretty good guitar or vocal cabs. Probably marketed as PA columns back in the day. Maybe a competitor to the Shure Vocalmaster????

May have been a lucky mistake on their part, maybe not, but they are laid out better speaker-wise than a lot of stuff nowdays although the speakers probably aren't capable of what you can get now.

As Bill said, you'll never get a guitar player to use one no matter how much you explain to them how much more sense it makes.

Technically, they make sense as vocal columns as well but speaker distortion would likely come into play at volume. Ever hear somebody plug a microphone into a Blues Deluxe?

kuys · #18 02-16-2011, 08:10 PM

Does that plan sound insane? Replace two of the speakers in the 1 and 3 position with something a bit modern. Re-tolex and replace the particle board on the front and back; rip the fender logo off and give them a good cleaning? Wouldn't they project very well being the vertical configuration?

I play some guitar and have the 12 string. I'm in the process of splitting the pickups in the 12 string with their own outputs.

billfitzmaurice · #19 02-16-2011, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by will33

Maybe a competitor to the Shure Vocalmaster????

They pre-dated it. Almost every amp company made PA columns in the 60s. They disappeared because users couldn't wrap their heads around the notion that vertical sources have wide dispersion, while wide sources have narrow dispersion. PA companies like JBL, EV etc. introduced cluster arrays, to satisfy the demand for them despite the fact that they were totally flawed, because it's what customers wanted. Familiar? A fairly comprehensive history of PA found here:
http://www.gtaust.com/filter/05/07.shtml
http://www.gtaust.com/filter/06/08.shtml

will33 · #20 02-16-2011, 08:17 PM

Thanks for the links.

It's weird that old PA columns followed basic dispersion principles even if by mistake (or not) but didn't have the driver performance we have now. Now we have drivers that can blow them out of the water but put them together in messed up ways. Talking 2 or 3 generations here, you'd think we'd have figured it out by now.