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Vintage 15" JBL comparisons w/soundclips

#41
pbassnut said:
Back in my full time playing days (circa late 70's/early 80's), I had a Sunn Concert Bass 2x15 cabinet loaded with a pair of JBL K-140s that I used with an early 70's Ampeg SVT and various pre-CBS Ps and Js that was the bomb. I later went with a hippie sandwich (read:Alembic) bass and all kinds of rack gear, but never quite matched the sweet tone of that badass Fender/Ampeg/Sunn (w/JBLs) setup.
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yup. i agree. ;)

i have a few cabs loaded with two K140's and they're still my favorites:

Sunn 200S cab:

IMG_0004-2-3.jpg



vox super beatle:

tube-beatle-1-w.jpg



Fender 2x15:

supertwin-2-w.jpg


and most recently, my acoustic 408 w/4x15's (not shown)...
 
#42
GREAT thread, thanks!

I have it on good authority that JBL used to make a special model of the D140F with larger than stock magnets OEM for Sunn only who used them in their 2x15 cabs.

that is correct, and they are Very rare. D140F8 i think they were called. a freind has a 4 or 6 of them. he's a well known jbl reconer as well. two are loaded into a blonde 2-15 dual showman can that he runs with a blonde 16 ohm showman head. absolute bass tone of the gods right there, good lord
 
#43
I have a K140 that I got in the late 70's and though it's been reconed once, it still sounds better than any of my "modern" speakers. The freq range is broader than almost anything else out there and it never sounds harsh or cloudy or muffled. It has a smooth responce and is therefore the most natural sounding speaker I've delt with and I don't feel like I need a tweeter with it either. I have BagEnd, MarkBass and Emenince speakers of various sizes and magnet structures, and the JBL smokes them all no matter what cab I put it in. It may not have the output or boosted lows or mids so essentially you get back what you put in, which to me is how it should be. God bless the K140!
 
#46
I use 145s and have for the past 30+ years. I've got 1 K and 1 E in my cabs now, with spare reconed K waiting in a cardboard box in my garage just in case. It's been in that box since the mid 90s.

I just love them. They're honest sounding. They are incredibly well made - this pair I'm using now has been all over the country and gigged steadily for 20 years. I never have been in a situation where they weren't adequate to cover a stage, and also work fine in a reasonable size room without reinforcement.

Yeah, they're heavy...but in individual boxes nothing I can't deal with.
 
#47
shrigg said:
Thanks for the great info. Now you have me wanting a Blonde 2x15 to go with my 62 Bassman. Here's an "as found" picture the day I opened it up. All untouched original except one filter cap!
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awesome amp! i've owned several of those over the years and i've always loved them. and if you ran two E130's with it, you'd be surprised how loud that little baby can be.

congrats!
 
#48
pgk said:
GREAT thread, thanks!

I have it on good authority that JBL used to make a special model of the D140F with larger than stock magnets OEM for Sunn only who used them in their 2x15 cabs.

that is correct, and they are Very rare. D140F8 i think they were called. a freind has a 4 or 6 of them. he's a well known jbl reconer as well. two are loaded into a blonde 2-15 dual showman can that he runs with a blonde 16 ohm showman head. absolute bass tone of the gods right there, good lord
Click to expand...

I'm pretty much of a Sunn-o-phile. I don't claim to know everything about Sunn gear, but the only "Sunn specific" JBL driver I've heard of is the model D15S. It was a rebadged D130F, same driver just with a Sunn model designation.
JBL did make a D140F6, which was also used in Sunn bass cabinets; but that was just the 16 ohm version of the D140F.

Exceptional work John!
 
#49
nysbob said:
I use 145s and have for the past 30+ years. I've got 1 K and 1 E in my cabs now, with spare reconed K waiting in a cardboard box in my garage just in case. It's been in that box since the mid 90s.

I just love them. They're honest sounding. They are incredibly well made - this pair I'm using now has been all over the country and gigged steadily for 20 years. I never have been in a situation where they weren't adequate to cover a stage, and also work fine in a reasonable size room without reinforcement.

Yeah, they're heavy...but in individual boxes nothing I can't deal with.
Click to expand...

i agree Bob. IMO speakers and amps don't have to be pushing kilowatts when you're using JBL's. they just have so much more output than anything else i've ever owned.

my buddy used to have a super reverb with four d110F's and it could tear your head off. believe it or not, that BF SR was way louder than a 100 watt marshall stack.
 
#50
johnk_10 said:
awesome amp! i've owned several of those over the years and i've always loved them. and if you ran two E130's with it, you'd be surprised how loud that little baby can be.

congrats!
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Thanks man! Not to derail, but that Bassman is true holy grail stuff. Got it with the matching blonde 2x12 cab with original Oxfords. It simply KILLS with guitar...

Never had the heart to try bass due to the vintage Oxfords but this awesome JBL thread has me thinking!! A 2x15 Blonde Showman cab would rule, or even two separate 1x15's... (The Bassman's original transformers need to see a 4 ohm load).

Bottom1.jpg
 
#51
edbass said:
I'm pretty much of a Sunn-o-phile. I don't claim to know everything about Sunn gear, but the only "Sunn specific" JBL driver I've heard of is the model D15S. It was a rebadged D130F, same driver just with a Sunn model designation.
JBL did make a D140F6, which was also used in Sunn bass cabinets; but that was just the 16 ohm version of the D140F.

Exceptional work John!
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thanks for that info Ed,............ and the kind words. ;)

I'm sure if someone contacted Harvey Gerst, he'd know about the Sunn speakers. afterall he's the one that created/designed the D & F series.
 
#52
shrigg said:
..........Never had the heart to try bass due to the vintage Oxfords but this awesome JBL thread has me thinking!! A 2x15 Blonde Showman cab would rule, or even two separate 1x15's... (The Bassman's original transformers need to see a 4 ohm load).
Click to expand...

i think that you'd be surprised what two E130's would do for it.

when i ran my 180 watt super twin thru two of 'em, it was WAY louder than my SVT/810 rig and had more headroom too.
 
#54
shrigg said:
Yes, but how to house 'em? What would a 2x15 loaded with E130's weigh?
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ALOT! ;)

by the same token, two K140's in a large bassman cab or even two K120's in your 2x12 wouldn't weigh all that much and it would probably be loud enough to gig with for smaller clubs. the funny thing is, the K120 (12") has twice the x/max of the K130 (15").
i used to run a '66 bassman through it's small 2x12 cab with two D120F's and it was great at mid gig levels for rock n roll, since they're so efficient, and it sounded awesome.
 
#56
johnk_10 thanks for bringing back a lot of great memories.
I remember vividly pressing my nose against the display window of our local music shop when they had a Fender cab with the "JBL inside" badge, the stuff my dreams were made of... :cool:
But alas, I couldn't afford them then :crying:

A great thank you also for the soundclips, that's the sound of bass from my formative years. While I love bright roundwounds through a tweetered cab, sometimes I still feel that your soundclip (K140) is how bass was meant to sound.

:D
 
#57
shrigg said:
What kind of bass response you think I'd get with two K120's in my small 2x12 (pictured above) ??
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i think that they'd sound great. i might even have a few of them available soon since i have four of 'em that i'm not using at the moment. they actually go down pretty low for 12" and fender heads have plenty of low end.
 
#58
OldogNewTrick said:
johnk_10 thanks for bringing back a lot of great memories.
I remember vividly pressing my nose against the display window of our local music shop when they had a Fender cab with the "JBL inside" badge, the stuff my dreams were made of... :cool:
But alas, I couldn't afford them then :crying:

A great thank you also for the soundclips, that's the sound of bass from my formative years. While I love bright roundwounds through a tweetered cab, sometimes I still feel that your soundclip (K140) is how bass was meant to sound.

:D
Click to expand...

thanks for sharing that. ;)

yeah, i have alot of newer lightweight (and featherweight) 2-way cabs with neo drivers in them that sound really good, but for me, nothing has the feel or sound of the JBL's, so even at the ripe old age of 57, i'm still willing to schlep them. heck, my JBL cabs have wheels and aren't hard to tilt into my trunk, so to me, it's easily worth it.
 
#60
nysbob said:
I use 145s and have for the past 30+ years. I've got 1 K and 1 E in my cabs now, with spare reconed K waiting in a cardboard box in my garage just in case. It's been in that box since the mid 90s.

I just love them. They're honest sounding. They are incredibly well made - this pair I'm using now has been all over the country and gigged steadily for 20 years. I never have been in a situation where they weren't adequate to cover a stage, and also work fine in a reasonable size room without reinforcement.

Yeah, they're heavy...but in individual boxes nothing I can't deal with.
Click to expand...

I've always loved JBLs, my studio monitors are JBLs in fact. I have an E130 and a K145 in storage, both in great shape. I'm curious what cabinets and amp your running?
 

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