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Karen Sarkisian


From:
Boston, MA, USA
Post  Posted 20 Aug 2014 6:40 am    
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could someone fill me in on the basic tonal differences in the following speakers:

15" eminence neo
15" black widow
15" fender steel king stock speaker

thanks
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Emmons, Franklin, Mullen
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Jack Stoner


From:
Kansas City, MO
Post  Posted 20 Aug 2014 8:58 am    
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I was one of the "field testers" for the Eminence EPS-15C. The EPS-15C was designed to be a direct replacement for the Peavey Black Widow 1501-4 that is used in Peavey amps.

My first impression of the EPS-15C was that is sounded just like a JBL K-130 that I had installed in a Fender Twin Reverb.

According to Mike Brown, Peavey, the BW 1501-4 was designed to be a high power version of the JBL that they originally used in the Session 400 steel amp. The JBL couldn't handle the power and was blowing.

Thus the Eminence EPS-15C, designed to be a direct replacement for the BW 1501-4 sounding like a JBL is no coincidence.

I know nothing about what speaker Fender uses in the Steel King.

There are some sound samples on my web site of the Emience EPS-15C, a SICA Neodyminum magnet Model PL15B25S (sold by Ken Fox) and some samples of the stock Eminence/Peavey Blue Marvel used in the Nashville 112. Some of the samples use a Nashville 112 amp and two use a GK MB200 amp. Both the Eminence and SICA were new and not broke in when the tests were made. I used my Franklin D-10 that has Lawrence 710 pickups.

http://www.gulfcoaststeelguitar.com/sptest.htm
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Karen Sarkisian


From:
Boston, MA, USA
Post  Posted 20 Aug 2014 9:28 am    
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Thank you. will check out sound samples...
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Cartwright Thompson


Post  Posted 20 Aug 2014 3:08 pm    
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I think that the Steel King speaker was also designed to emulate the JBL.
JBL's seem to be the sound which all others are judged by, with good reason!
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Roger Francis

 

From:
kokomo,Indiana, USA
Post  Posted 20 Aug 2014 4:25 pm    
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Karen, dont forget about the telonics 15 neo! Its another great speaker to think about if your looking for a speaker to try.
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Rittenberry SD10, 2 nashville 112s with telonics speaker, behringer EPQ450 power amp, 705 pups, Telonics FP-100, live steel strings, mogami cords, wet reverb
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Dave Grafe


From:
Hudson River Valley NY
Post  Posted 23 Aug 2014 3:42 pm    
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Quasi-scientific local consensus is that the Telonics 15" sounds good no matter what you drive it with...

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=266354
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Karen Sarkisian


From:
Boston, MA, USA
Post  Posted 24 Aug 2014 5:30 am    
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Dave Grafe wrote:
Quasi-scientific local consensus is that the Telonics 15" sounds good no matter what you drive it with...

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=266354


definitely interested in telonics. thanks
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mike nolan


From:
Forest Hills, NY USA
Post  Posted 24 Aug 2014 11:29 am    
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These three speakers will be a bit different depending on which amp you are putting them in.... so is it for the Steel King or the Twin, or something else. Tube amps will like a different speaker than a SS amp, at least in my experience.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 24 Aug 2014 5:23 pm     Re: speaker comparison
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Karen Sarkisian wrote:
could someone fill me in on the basic tonal differences in the following speakers:

15" eminence neo
15" black widow
15" fender steel king stock speaker

thanks



15" eminence neo; I use there 12" version and I like it.

not a JBL though

15" black widow: Great speakers.It is the speaker of choice for many top Nashville players. My JBL tech said it is the only speaker he likes if he can't get vintage JBL's.

15" fender steel king stock speaker: Farted out on the low end, hollow mids and shrill highs.

Edited because of the addition of telonics.

I used a 15" telonics neo for a while and it didn't do much for me. It didn't have the shimmer in the highs or the focus in the low mids that I was looking for.
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Bob
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Tom Gorr

 

From:
Three Hills, Alberta
Post  Posted 25 Aug 2014 8:12 pm    
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Bob, what's your take on the smooth cone black widow vs the ribbed cone/ aluminum dust cap black widow like in the pv vegas?

I think one is a 1501 and the other a 1502, but i'm getting too saturated to remember that kind of detail.
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Bob Hoffnar


From:
Austin, Tx
Post  Posted 25 Aug 2014 11:57 pm    
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Tom,
I don't have enough recent experience with those 2 speakers to give you a valid opinion.

I know Paul Franklin, Wayne Dahl and a bunch of top Nashville guys are into Black Widows but I don't know which model.
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Bob
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Billy Carr

 

From:
Seminary, Mississippi, USA (deceased)
Post  Posted 30 Aug 2014 8:47 pm     amps/speakers
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I bought a new FSK when they first came out and had a pic of the Big E sitting behind a black D-10 Carter in the ads for the amp. Eminence 15" speaker didn't hold up very well, so I replaced it with a 15" BW 1504, I think it was. The BW in the FSK sounded great and if I was using a FSK today that's the first thing I would do is add a BW. Currently I'm using a NV-400 and I also carry a Session 500 in case an amp goes out while playing. I don't unload the 500 unless it's needed. I'm going to try a Neo speaker first chance I get in the heavy 500 to reduce weight. The NV-400 has a 15"BW. With the single coil Excel pu wound at 18,000 ohms, I increase the lows and cut the highs back to get what I like to hear from the 400.
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