I'm familiar with the Fender stacked 2x15 cabs, but not the diagonal positioned ones from that time period. Any thoughts and experience on them will be appreciated. 
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
70's Fender Bassman 50 Diagonal 2x15 Cab
- Thread starter Oren Hudson
- Start date
They built the cabinet to fit the wider heads. The first thing that I notice is they are not very deep, 12" but they have a big sound with guitar. Never tried one with a bass.
I like how they look.
I like how they look.
- May 9, 2008
- 4,081
- 1,236
- Disclosures
- Proprietor Springvale Studios
Well if they have the JBL D140f driver in there they sound very good indeed with a bright upper mid forward tone.
If you are looking for a fat b string and heaps of low thuddy bass it won't be a cab for you.
If you are looking for a fat b string and heaps of low thuddy bass it won't be a cab for you.
Realize this is an older post was thumbing through when it caught my eye. Since there weren't many responses thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. Have one of the diagonal 2x15s and love it. It handles any head I plug into it either guitar or bass if you want a fat baddy guitar this thing throws out the fat. And screams the highs with serious mids, From a 15w fender super champ to a 60 watt supersonic. 400w solid state to 100bassman. It handles them like a champ. I'm not real sure as to what speakers are in it its a closed/sealed back. Appears all original but who knows its 40 years old I gave 200$ for it and thought I got a steal. Especially after playing through it. I've recently purchased a fender Bassman 50 which I can't wait to hear rumble through those 15s. As for sound... it's a tone thing man you either love it or hate it. Find something you like and "play it like you stole it." Forums are a great place to get a 50/50 wash Love/hate good/bad opinion on sound... gotta love it. The only really great amps are the ones that got away. Never know your sound until you play through it. It will rattle the walls if you push it. Stack it in with a410 Deville and it flat out rocks. Imop nice addition...if nothing else it sure looks cool and gets a lot of attention. If it ain't loud enough mic it. I can think of a lot of 60s and 70s bands that were rocking stadiums with 100w amps. That's all they had.
Keep rockin peace out.
Keep rockin peace out.
I've seen a guy play them with the stock speakers and they sounded pretty decent with an old Bassman head. I beleive John Kallas had one loaded with JBL K140s at one point and thought it was pretty good. I like the compact style of them.
yes there are a lot of nay-sayers here on TB when it comes to fender bassman's. i gig with my bassman 50 and never have volume problems. I will own that cab one day, loaded with D140f's it will be glorious.
long live the bassman!!
long live the bassman!!
Those smaller square 2x15 cabs are sought after in my circle... very rare compared to the big rectangular 2x15 no one ever seemed to like... I would buy it if it wasn't too expensive...
not totally related, but sort of ... 
I found one of those Fender 2x15's on clist locally and wanted to buy it, but missed the deal. Looked again for a while and did not see any more come up.
So, my solution was to have Don at LDS build me a diagonal 2x15 loaded with Faital 15PR400's (very similar tone profile to K140's) in Silverface.
I stack my '78 Fender Studio Bass (26" wide) on top and its a great combination to be sure.
Pics - grill off and grill on, and one with the original LDS badge.
I found one of those Fender 2x15's on clist locally and wanted to buy it, but missed the deal. Looked again for a while and did not see any more come up.
So, my solution was to have Don at LDS build me a diagonal 2x15 loaded with Faital 15PR400's (very similar tone profile to K140's) in Silverface.
I stack my '78 Fender Studio Bass (26" wide) on top and its a great combination to be sure.
Pics - grill off and grill on, and one with the original LDS badge.
Attachments
Last edited:
i'm looking to get one of these to pair with my Fender Bantam Bass head. Anyone have any idea how heavy they are? I know they're 28" x 30" x 12" and sealed with 2x15 speakers (eminence or CTS square backs). Just trying to see if it's under a 100 lbs. or not.
not totally related, but sort of ...
I found one of those Fender 2x15's on clist locally and wanted to buy it, but missed the deal. Looked again for a while and did not see any more come up.
So, my solution was to have Don at LDS build me a diagonal 2x15 loaded with Faital 15PR400's (very similar tone profile to K140's) in Silverface.
I stack my '78 Fender Studio Bass (26" wide) on top and its a great combination to be sure.
Pics - grill off and grill on, and one with the original LDS badge.
View attachment 617162 View attachment 617164
I picked up one about 5 years ago for $50, because one of the speaker had a torn cone. Anyway to the point, I noticed your cab is ported. What size are the ports? I've been considering porting mine.
I don't have the cab here with me, but I do have the port plugs I made to tune the cab. The port plugs are 4" diameter, so the ports must be 4". Not sure how deep the ports are though (don't have the cab with me) and that is important in terms of how they tune the cab to the drivers.
good luck
not totally related, but sort of ...
I found one of those Fender 2x15's on clist locally and wanted to buy it, but missed the deal. Looked again for a while and did not see any more come up.
So, my solution was to have Don at LDS build me a diagonal 2x15 loaded with Faital 15PR400's (very similar tone profile to K140's) in Silverface.
I stack my '78 Fender Studio Bass (26" wide) on top and its a great combination to be sure.
Pics - grill off and grill on, and one with the original LDS badge.
View attachment 617162 View attachment 617164
I understand. The diameter without the depth is pretty useless. "Port plugs"?
yes, when Don at LDS built the cab for me he told me that I could plug the ports selectively to slightly raise or lower the tuning of the cab. So I made "port plugs" out of 4" diameter small cell foam cylinders with ABS plumbing caps on the ends.
Ultimately, after messing with various combinations, I just ended up leaving all 4 ports open as it seemed to work best for what I was after.
Other cab builders have taken a similar approach. For example, the Duke Lejeune Changeling cabinet can be tuned the same way ... along with some other adjustable crossover attenuation.
