what size speaker should I get for steel guitar

[Steven Black]

I need help selecting speakers sizes for my rack mount system, I came across a couple of monitors built by Carvin they both are powered monitors but have 12" size speakers, my friend who plays in a band suggests I wait for two yamaha 15" monitors because I would get better sound quality for my high notes and mid range notes on my steel guitar and that I would later be unhappy with these 12" monitors, is he right? is there a quality sound difference?

[Justin Griffith]

I think your friend is right. I prefer 15" speakers. Today's speakers are lighter weight and there is no reason not to use a 15". A lot of folks do use 12" speakers and love them too. There is no "one size fits all" steel guitar speaker.

I may be misunderstanding you but if you plan to use floor monitors as speakers I don't think you will be happy. You need to get a speaker voiced for guitar not vocals.

Send me a E-mail if you like and we can talk more on the phone.

Best,
Justin

[David Morgan]

I have a 100 watt tube rack system and tried it through my carvin 12 in monitors. Too thin, partly due to the horns...perhaps. I often use two Mesa Boogie 12 inch cabinets...not the conventional choice for steel but decent sound. 15inch JBLs would be great. (something that won't break up) Not sure you want to haul around full 15inch PA type speakers every where.

[Gil Berry]

15" like a Peavey 1501 or a JBL D130 is preferred by most. Just be sure you get a "full range" speaker. I made the mistake of buying a couple sets of 12" speakers to put into an old Ampeg sound system and was concerned about ability to handle power. The speakers I would up had no problem handling the amp's output power, but had absolutely no bottom AND no highs. At best they were suited for mid-range speakers in a 3- or 4-way speaker system. If I had bought some D120s or 12" Peaveys I would have had a nice speaker set. Live and learn.

[Jerry Overstreet]

What Justin said. I don't believe you would be happy with pa vocal monitors for steel speakers. As previously mentioned, 15" Peavey's like the 1501-4 BW or the JBL 130 series sound nice for steel. Also, the Peavey 1203-4 designed for steel guitar work really nice. In fact, some players prefer these 12" speakers over 15's.

I hear good things about certain Weber speakers, also the SICA drivers that Ken Fox is selling though I have no personal experience with those. I think Bobby Lee uses the Tone Tubby's, so there are several choices.

In my rack system, I like to use one 15" and one 12". I have the Peavey's mentioned above loaded in my cabs presently. The different sizes and frequency responses enchance the stereo effect and make for a bigger sound.

I'm considering building a pair of wedges, ala monitor boxes, to house my steel speakers as an experiment to see how that works. Kind of like the old Session wedge amps.

Cowboy Eddie Long has a unique stereo monitor/stage speaker set-up that he uses. I'll try to find a link for it later. http://www.beckmusicalinstruments.com/Paico.html

[Daniel J. Cormier]

JMHO But use a good 12inch such as the above mentioned 1203-4 BW , any one of the JBL 12's or better yet the Blue Marvel speaker Peavey uses in the Nashville 112. The secert is in the cabinet you install them in. My buddies Fred Justice and Tommy Huff both build really excellent Lightweight cabinets that will give all the bottom end you'll ever need and good clean highs.