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Peavey Scorpion replacement???

#21
agedhorse said:
Be sure to follow the instructions and be careful.
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I will. I'm low key kinda freaked out about the prospect of possibly destroying the new voice coil during the replacement process. Kinda makes me wanna just replace the whole thing, provided I can find a whole speaker (Peavey doesn't seem to sell them anymore, unfortunately.)

agedhorse said:
The Scorpion has some desirable characteristics, and is a very good speaker. The OP's cabinet is already tuned for the Scorpion as well (presumably it's a Peavey cabinet).
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It is indeed a Peavey cab, though I'm not sure the Scorpion is original (see below). Having read enough threads here about the dangers of replacement speakers going in cabs with the wrong dimensions/volume, I'm a bit weary of straying from what (to my knowledge, anyway) is the proper speaker for the cab.

Adienn7 said:
do this have fuse? attached to the speaker?
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Alas, no. I was hoping it would be something fairly obvious like that but no such luck.

trevcda said:
Mu two cents: it's absolutely worth contacting Peavey for a replacement. I've found them to be generally very helpful in the past. And in my considerable experiencee, I've never heard any Peavey equipment improved by replacing the OEM driver.
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I haven't bought anything yet so I think I'm gonna do that and see what they can tell me.

braud357 said:
Concerning Scorpions - I have found that they sound, as best I can describe - flabby. Very unfocused in sound. Again - this has been MY experience !
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agedhorse said:
Not my experience, sorry.
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Hasn't really been my experience either. My conception of Peavey (for bass, anyway) is LOUD and good for very aggressive music (meaning I expected some breakup/distortion and maybe some muddiness as well). As such I was actually surprised by how clean/clear the setup of the 400 bass head with the Scorpion 1x15 cab has been. It IS loud, though.
 
#25
Apparently it's a Model 115 Bass Enclosure -
peavey-cab-info.jpg
 
#26
braud357 said:
Concerning Scorpions - I have found that they sound, as best I can describe - flabby. Very unfocused in sound. Again - this has been MY experience !
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I still own a pair of 12" Scorpion loaded PA cabs from the early 1980s. For the past few decades they have served as band monitors. Every person who hears them asks me to bring them again next time we play together.

I am often asked where someone can buy a set and after telling them they are literally antiques, I usually hear "name your price" or "would you ever consider selling them?". I would not recommend them for deep bass at high volume. However, as stage monitors or reasonable sized room mains I find them to be crystal clear, well-focused, very tight sounding cabs.

IME no one has ever previously described Scorpion loaded cabs as flabby...just the opposite. We all hear things differently or perhaps you got a cab(s) with a damaged driver.
 
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#27
Just another point to ponder - most Peavey cabs back then were offered with a Black Widow option. I am sure that those combos and cabinets were not redesigned for the Black Widows ! I will tell you what REALLY sounds good in the old Peavey cabs - the older JBL speakers (D140F, E140, 2220H, and the newer 2226HPL) I used to use a couple of the 2x15 cabs with D140-F speakers installed - they were amazing. I also have a TKO75 combo with a old JBL 2220 in it - and sounds awesome. All I am trying to say is that Peavey probably designed the cabs with some specification leeway, because they offered 2 different driver options in most models. And as I stated before - "your results may vary" !
 
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#28
definenredefine said:
Incidentally, someone on the 'verb is selling what they claim is a replacement voice coil for my speaker. Is this legit?

Peavey Scorpion 2.5" 2 1/2" Voice Coil recone parts re-cone components Fix Your Scorpion For Cheap! | Reverb
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No, it’s a gross misrepresentation. First of all it’s ONLY the voice coil not the rest of the necessary parts. Second, there’s no way to know if it’s the real part (unlikely since Peavey never sold the voice coils separately) and reconing using raw parts is not easy nor is it something I would recommend.
 
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#29
braud357 said:
Just another point to ponder - most Peavey cabs back then were offered with a Black Widow option. I am sure that those combos and cabinets were not redesigned for the Black Widows ! I will tell you what REALLY sounds good in the old Peavey cabs - the older JBL speakers (D140F, E140, 2220H, and the newer 2226HPL) I used to use a couple of the 2x15 cabs with D140-F speakers installed - they were amazing. I also have a TKO75 combo with a old JBL 2220 in it - and sounds awesome. All I am trying to say is that Peavey probably designed the cabs with some design leeway, because they offered 2 different driver options in most models.
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I recall the same thing about the speaker options on most Peavey products back in the day. I wonder if there was any difference with the "vent cutout on the baffle", but suspect it was a simple speaker substitution within a "close enough for any option (standard/heavy duty, Scorpion, or BW)" cabinet tuning. Back in the 70's, 80's and into the mid 90's I owned almost exclusively all Peavey gear for bass and PA system use.
 
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#30
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#31
braud357 said:
Just another point to ponder - most Peavey cabs back then were offered with a Black Widow option. I am sure that those combos and cabinets were not redesigned for the Black Widows ! I will tell you what REALLY sounds good in the old Peavey cabs - the older JBL speakers (D140F, E140, 2220H, and the newer 2226HPL) I used to use a couple of the 2x15 cabs with D140-F speakers installed - they were amazing. I also have a TKO75 combo with an old JBL 2220 in it - and sounds awesome. All I am trying to say is that Peavey probably designed the cabs with some specification leeway, because they offered 2 different driver options in most models. And as I stated before - "your results may vary" !
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Sure there is some leeway, but the Black Widow drivers were fairly forgiving, the cabinets were larger (internal volume) and the amp power at the time was not as great as it is today. Players expectations were also lower, so it kind of worked ok.

The OP already has the proper driver for the cabinet, it makes no sense to play games fixing something that’s not inherently broken (other than the defect itself).
 
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#32
agedhorse said:
No, it’s a gross misrepresentation. First of all it’s ONLY the voice coil not the rest of the necessary parts. Second, there’s no way to know if it’s the real part (unlikely since Peavey never sold the voice coils separately) and reconing using raw parts is not easy nor is it something I would recommend.
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I figured this probably fell in the "too cheap and/or good to be true" territory.

agedhorse said:
This was available with the Scorpion driver as the stock part.

I recommend replacing the basket with the correct 8 ohm part, relabel the cabinet as 8 ohms, and you are good to go.
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Okay, looks like the route I should go. Further question before I do, though - there are NOS drivers on 'verb and ebay (usually 8 ohm models) that are cheaper than buying the replacement basket. Is it too much a risk to try one of those?

An example - Peavey 0015020 SP-15825 Scorpion 15" 8 Ohm Replacement Subwoofer Driver 2010s - Black | Reverb

agedhorse said:
Sure there is some leeway, but the Black Widow drivers were fairly forgiving, the cabinets were larger (internal volume) and the amp power at the time was not as great as it is today. Players expectations were also lower, so it kind of worked ok.

The OP already has the proper driver for the cabinet, it makes no sense to play games fixing something that’s not inherently broken (other than the defect itself).
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I'd like to add that I'm quite satisfied with how the cab sounds, either with the Peavey 400 Bass head that I bought it for, or the old Music Man 130 Reverb head I also have. As such I'd like to stay as close to that sounds as possible.

Incidentally, since I've quoted 3 of your posts, I wanna say I really appreciate all of your advice.
 
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#35
I was given one of those cabs unloaded by a guy that ran a rehearsal studio I used long ago. I put an eminence legend in it and my wife adopted it as her live rig cab under a vintage V-4b. She ran it live for years with our loud bass focused post-punk trio including touring it.

although I initially thought it a bit lacking in lows compared to a half (115) Sunn 200s clone I have with a legend in it I have come to appreciate it and it currently lives in my studio. I feel it rolls off lows close to the how a 810 fridge does, pretty much right where I want it to.

curious to hear how the new scorpion sounds for you since I have since acquired one.
 
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#37
So the new old driver arrived a day or 2 ago, but I just put it in the cab this morning. Sounds like it did before. I was concerned that an 8 ohm driver might cost some efficiency and volume, but that doesn't appear to be the case. It's still as loud and gross sounding as before.

Not bad for around $70.

I'm probably still going to replace the basket for the old driver, but now I can just kinda do that whenever, no rush.

Also, a question - the magnet on the replacement is significantly smaller/lighter than the original. It also uses hex bolts rather than allen bolts. Am I right in thinking that means this is a newer driver?
 
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#38
definenredefine said:
So the new old driver arrived a day or 2 today, but I just put it in the cab this morning. Sounds like it did before. I was concerned that an 8 ohm driver might cost some efficiency and volume, but that doesn't appear to be the case. It's still as loud and gross sounding as before.

Not bad for around $70.

I'm probably still going to replace the basket for the old driver, but now I can just kinda do that whenever, no rush.

Also, a question - the magnet on the replacement is significantly smaller/lighter than the original. It also uses hex bolts rather than allen bolts. Am I right in thinking that means this is a newer driver?
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I don’t remember
 
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#40
Welp, looks like going the cheap route is gonna cost me in the long run. The "new" speaker crapped out during practice the other day. It's thin/distorted sounding, like the cone isn't moving anymore. So probably the voice coil again.

Now I get to decide if I wanna replace the basket on one or both of the scorpions I have now, or just call it a day and use the other rigs I have (thank heavens for redundancy.)
 

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