The Steel Guitar Forum

Hell of a deal David! I'm jealous! Definitely a hernia machine, but worth it for the tone. Let us know how it compares to the 65 RI. Congrats! Tim

UPDATE-
NO re-cap was needed. But they did put in 4 new sovteck 6L6's and new preamp tubes.
A new 3 spring tank ( deep reverb man)

Guess what happened after they hooked it all up? One of the JBL's was DEAD as a doornail.

They just happened to have an EV with a HUGE magnet.
So now, I've got the 135watt Trin Reverb with one JBL and one EV.
I didn't have much of a chance to test it out yet- but I'm playing at A&M Roadhose in NYC tonight.
Trial by fire ( I did not bring an extra amp!)

I'll let you know tomorrow how the sound is!

Keep in mind a stock JBL is phased backwards to other speakers. You might test with a battery and see if they are in phase. Otherwise, a thin sound will be produced.

Uh-oh.
Test with a battery? How do you do that?

I was in a rush when I picked it up- so I was only able to hear it with a tele- and it was loud as excriment- according the the guy tryimg to talk on the phone while I was testing it.

Would the fix be simply reversing the leads on one speaker?

Yes, reversing the leads would do it. I use a 9 volt battery to test phase. When applying plus to the red terminal or (+) terminal and negative to the black or (-) terminal a speaker should move forward. Just bump it a few times and feel the speaker with a finger to verify direction. Sometimes it is hard to see them move in the amp, a finger on the speaker makes it easy to feel the direction. A JBL typically will move backwards on this test!
Do not leave a battery connected for more than a moment, as DC can be bad news for a speaker (heats it up). A speaker can take a pulse of DC quite well.
You can also audibilly here it, just reverse one and listen to the difference in the bass response. There will be a lot of bass loss if one is reversed.

David--you would apply the battery to the leads of one speaker and observe if the cone goes in or out. Doesn't matter which. Just that the two speakers match. And yes, the fix would be just reversing the leads. There is no danger in out of phase speaker wiring. Just phase-cancelling filtering--thin tone.

.........Listen to Ken.<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Jon Light on 18 December 2003 at 04:48 PM.]</p></FONT>

Thanks so much for the quick responses guys- I'm heading out the door in a few moments.
Wait- I'm a little confused.
How can I tell if they are wired in phase or not. If I confirm that they are indeed, opposite phases( take a battery, positive-red, neg to black and see which way the speaker moves by holding my finger in that back of the cone- teat both to see if they are the same- yes?)

wheather or not they are, is the color coding accurate ( ie are EV speakers coded red/black, and fender wires) ??<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by David Friedlander on 18 December 2003 at 04:55 PM.]</p></FONT>

update-
Thanks again Jon and Ken!
Turns out that the guy I bought the amp from was hip to the phase issue and had already handled it.

For those of you in New York, I would reccomend a visit to "30th Street Guitars"
The owner, Matt, and his brother Ned, have an awesome selection of vintage amps.
They are NOT the typical NYC musinc store ( read- they have fair prices on vintage, and friendly service)

Not only did I get a great deal on the Twin- they offered me the opportunity to return the amp today for a refund if I wasn't happy after the gig.
The amp - well, I finally understand what my guitar should sound like with a band.
The drummer commented that it was the first time I wasn't too loud. Yep. having all the extra power allowed me to use the volume pedal with much more discretion.
I'm quite pleased to say the least.
Heavy? well the casters really help.

Looks like these guys gave me an amazing bargain.

cool!