I recently got this 1x18 for free from a friend. Hes had it for many many years as its looks can show you. I have no clue what this could be, or is, and would like to know. My brother has been using it for guitar and he says it sounds really clean and works fine, but I dont want to blow it trying it with my bass. I dont even know if its a bass cab, but I think its safe to assume because its an 18... If you know what this is, what is the impedence of it?
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VERY unmarked cab
- Thread starter JJd2sc
- Start date
almost done taking off the back... whew, old screws are tough. Will it be written on the speaker itself?
aha, its a Utah. Their motto was "over 40 years" over 40 years ago heh. I have the model number, about to google it.
JJd2sc said:
Was there anything else written on the speaker. There's usually some very basic specs (watts, ohms, an brand name)?
Can you take a picture of the speaker's magnet and post it here?
Utah?? Seems that thing pre-dates the internet 
OK first step, grap a multimeter and measure the DC resistance. If you get a reading that's between 2 and 4 ohms, chances are the speaker has a 4 ohm nominal impedance. If it reads between 5 and 8 ohms, treat it as an 8 ohm speaker.
It's an 18 so the chances are it was made for bass. Even if it wasn't you should be able to play through it at low volume and not to any damage. The danger with running bass frequencies through a guitar speaker is that the low frequencies will make the speaker move too far and cause damage. So naturally, th softer you play, the less the speaker moves. Bring the volume up gradually and listen carefully for any signs of the speaker complaining.
Also, it looks like the cab is of the sealed variety. The beauty of sealed speakers is that that the speaker movement is consistent and predictable. A speaker in a ported cab will move a hell of a lot if it's fed frequencies that are too low for it, sealed cabs aren't as violent. So again, bring the volume up gradually, keep an eye on the speaker's movement. There shouldn't be any nasty surprises.........
OK first step, grap a multimeter and measure the DC resistance. If you get a reading that's between 2 and 4 ohms, chances are the speaker has a 4 ohm nominal impedance. If it reads between 5 and 8 ohms, treat it as an 8 ohm speaker.
It's an 18 so the chances are it was made for bass. Even if it wasn't you should be able to play through it at low volume and not to any damage. The danger with running bass frequencies through a guitar speaker is that the low frequencies will make the speaker move too far and cause damage. So naturally, th softer you play, the less the speaker moves. Bring the volume up gradually and listen carefully for any signs of the speaker complaining.
Also, it looks like the cab is of the sealed variety. The beauty of sealed speakers is that that the speaker movement is consistent and predictable. A speaker in a ported cab will move a hell of a lot if it's fed frequencies that are too low for it, sealed cabs aren't as violent. So again, bring the volume up gradually, keep an eye on the speaker's movement. There shouldn't be any nasty surprises.........
Well first off, whats a multimeter? A few hours ago I plugged it into 8 ohms and slowly brought up the volume. It dosent wanna get that loud before it gets cranky, sadly. I tried 4 ohm and it was a lot less volume. It can get decently loud I supposed, but it dosent reproduce low end that well. My 4x10 gets MUCH deeper bottom than it, granted its 50+ years newer Chances are ill end up using this thing as a practice amp in here, unless someone wanted to buy it. Thanks for your help!
Chances are ill end up using this thing as a practice amp in here, unless someone wanted to buy it. Thanks for your help!First of all, it's a GUITAR speaker. Utah made speakers OEM for Fender and others back in the day, and for awhile, having bigger speakers was considered to give a guitarist better tone, hence Peaver made 26" guitar speakers and EV made 30"s. It uselsss for bass unless you just want to blow it up. Utah's were famous for poor quality.
If you're referring to the different output impedances marked on the back of your Bass 400+, changing jacks is a DANGEROUS way to determine the speaker's impedance. You could fry your amp by doing that! It's probably a 16 ohm speaker, as most of the old big guitar speakers had high impedance values so you could run alot of them.
JJd2sc said:
If you're referring to the different output impedances marked on the back of your Bass 400+, changing jacks is a DANGEROUS way to determine the speaker's impedance. You could fry your amp by doing that! It's probably a 16 ohm speaker, as most of the old big guitar speakers had high impedance values so you could run alot of them.
ouch. Thanks for the advice man, you certainly always have known your stuff! Do you think I could have done much damage turned on for under 5 minutes total?
I doubt you've hurt you amp, but it's not something you want to make a habit. BTW, the speaker is a 15", not an 18".
