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  1. Ask Leland Sklar @ TalkBass! Please note that new threads in this forum will be placed in a queue briefly for moderation. Sklar is probably the busiest bassist on earth, so please give him time to respond. Thank you!

Lee, wondering if you could shed some light on this 15" Cabinet of yours?

Discussion in 'Ask Leland Sklar' started by nickbearden, Mar 19, 2020.

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  1. Mar 19, 2020 #1
    nickbearden

    nickbearden Jamestown Revival - Bass Supporting Member

    Nov 13, 2013
    Nashville, TN
    Reunion Blues, LR Baggs, D'Addario, Seymour Duncan, Tecovas, A-Designs REDDI Planet Waves Vic Firth
    Hey Lee,

    Medium story short, before heading out on this recent tour, I picked up this 60's Ampeg B-18-N off the son of one of Waylon's bassists here in Nashville. I boxed it up at FedEx and checked it on my Southwest Flight to meet the bus & trailer in Austin. It bounced around down in the bay until we made our way to Los Angeles... where I picked up a road case that it fit just right in, from The Section. The caveat is that it came with this custom made cabinet equipped with a 15" EV speaker in the case. This thing blows the 18" Ampeg out of the water, and would give many larger bass cabinets a run for their money. I was wondering if you could shed some light on this particular 15" cabinet? Any and all info on it and the case it rode in on would be greatly appreciated. These photos are from The Fillmore in SF last week, and the SVT head shown was powering the cab, which it handled with ease, no problem.

    Cheers, and thank you in so many ways...

    Lee Sklar Cabinet 1.jpg Lee Sklar Cabinet 1.jpg Lee Sklar Cabinet 2.jpg

    ~Nick Bearden
    Jamestown Revival
     
    GregC likes this.
  2. Mar 23, 2020 #2
    Jerry Ziarko

    Jerry Ziarko Supporting Member

    Feb 23, 2003
    Rochester, NY
  3. Mar 25, 2020 #3
    nickbearden

    nickbearden Jamestown Revival - Bass Supporting Member

    Nov 13, 2013
    Nashville, TN
    Reunion Blues, LR Baggs, D'Addario, Seymour Duncan, Tecovas, A-Designs REDDI Planet Waves Vic Firth
    Similar, but not 100% exact! The cabinet I acquired has an EV in it, full carpet, and a different jack plug infrastructure on the back, but definitely built by the same builder. Cheers!
     
  4. Apr 24, 2020 #4
    BigTreble

    BigTreble

    Jan 3, 2006
    Canada
    That is cool to score that. The cab you have is what they call a Karlsonator as you see. The enclosure itself is what makes it special. IIRC they were sold without speakers in the early days and one would put a driver in.

    If you look up Karlsonator, they're well documented, and I could never do justice to the explanations I've read elsewhere, but I do know they tend to offer certain efficiencies in how they're tuned, and in hifi applications, the slotted front allows high frequencies to be better dispersed off axis... Dunno if that helps us as bassists much.

    Maybe the man himself will have more to add.
     
    nickbearden likes this.
  5. Apr 28, 2020 #5
    Leland Sklar

    Leland Sklar

    May 12, 2015
    Warwick, Dingwall, Euphonic Audio, GHS
    I loved the Karlsson cabs. Had 4 of them on tour. Two were carpeted and two were wood without carpet. The tone is great. Work well with any speaker. It is the enclosure that defines it.
     
    bass nitro, dan1952 and GregC like this.
  6. May 19, 2020 #6
    nickbearden

    nickbearden Jamestown Revival - Bass Supporting Member

    Nov 13, 2013
    Nashville, TN
    Reunion Blues, LR Baggs, D'Addario, Seymour Duncan, Tecovas, A-Designs REDDI Planet Waves Vic Firth
    Right on Lee, thank you kindly for the info, greatly appreciated!
     
  7. May 19, 2020 #7
    nickbearden

    nickbearden Jamestown Revival - Bass Supporting Member

    Nov 13, 2013
    Nashville, TN
    Reunion Blues, LR Baggs, D'Addario, Seymour Duncan, Tecovas, A-Designs REDDI Planet Waves Vic Firth
    Thank you for the info! These cabs are wild and sound great. Heavy!
     
  8. Dec 30, 2021 #8
    mike buzzetti

    mike buzzetti

    Apr 10, 2019
    Paso Robles Ca.
    I had a pair of them in the 70's they project massively very cool cabs , I think I ran a Dynaco power amp direct ? good to see them still used