The Steel Guitar Forum

I picked up good condition (I believe) 1972 Quad Reverb the other day. After a few age related fixes of capacitors and a general service I expect it will be sounding good. I would like to build a head cab and matching speaker cabinet for a single 15. I want to use a peavy label JBL I have but am worried that the 100 watt output might fry the speaker. Are there ways to mitigate that risk?

Also, is anyone seen plans with dimensions for the cabinet project? I have some black walnut I would like to use and leave finished. I may even weight relieve some of the boards on the interior since the walnut is so darn strong.

Thanks!

Cabinet similar to this finish:

That's a beautiful cabinet! I'd be afraid to take that out to a gig.
Nice workmanship.

Joe Kaufman wrote:........ I want to use a peavy label JBL I have but am worried that the 100 watt output might fry the speaker. Are there ways to mitigate that risk? ........

I don't like your odds. At home, in the practice or recording studio you can monitor your levels and you have a good baseline sense of loudness. On the bandstand, one can lose track of things. You can get to feeling too good by the third set. Plus, it's hard to keep track of real loudness as you fit yourself into a full band mix. That speaker is rated at 50W. An inexact number and an inexact science but you are taking it on an adventure with a 100W amp.

I have a super 6 (same amp) that had a d130 in it, and yes, it blew out playing C6.

I think a single D130 with a nominally 100-watt Twin Reverb chassis like this is likely to blow at some point. I blew one out with a Deluxe Reverb.

A discussion from a couple of years ago - https://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=344704

Are you sure that Peavey JBL was a D130? I thought they were K130 speakers. K130 is more robust than D130. But none of these older JBLs like the D and K series are super high-power speakers.

I guess I’m not 100% sure it’s D series. I came from a LTD 400. I’m sorry that picture isn’t clearer but maybe it will help:

That speaker is a K-130 JBL branded for Peavey.

The K-130 is rated at 125 watts RMS. Since your amp is only putting out 100 watts RMS, you're perfectly safe if it's in a closed-back (properly dampened) cabinet. But speakers in an open cabinet need to be de-rated, power-wise, for absolute safety. Even then, a lot depends on how you play. High levels of bass or distortion are the real killers of speakers!

To better understand, I'll give you the following hypothetical scenario: Lloyd Green could use that speaker with a 200 watt amp for 20 years and never have a problem. But I doubt it'd last Curly Chalker or Robert Randolph for one night.

In other words, the "programming", what you're putting into the speaker, is more critical than published power ratings when it comes to "will it or won't it hold up".

Don't know for sure, but with 4 speakers the stock Quad Reverb could be 2 Ohm. I think it'd be sensible to get the impedance-matching sorted out.

BTW I'd heard at various times that the original blond Showman amps put out more horsepower than their factory JBL single 12's and 15's could handle.

I read on line (so it must be true ) that the Quad Reverb came with 4 16 ohm speakers wired in parallel to give a 4 ohm load to the amp. The Quad Reverb head is just a Twin Reverb except for the labeling on the control panel.

So Joe's 4 ohm JBL is the right impedance for the amp head. Just don't push it. No overdrive/distortion and no loud C6th.

Yup, that's a K130 for sure, as Jeffrey states. Great speakers, and more robust than the D130. However, as far as power handling goes, both hard playing and even simple elapsed time can gradually whittle away at the resilience of speakers. If you don't push it, it may well be OK for a while if it's not already compromised. But these are not 'high power speakers' in the sense of many modern speakers. But they are very efficient, so you don't really need to push them real hard to get a good volume level out of them. So just be careful if you decide to use it with your Quad Reverb.

K130 will certainly hold up better than D 130, but I never met a JBL I would bet my life on. I have blown out more than 1 E130 with 40 watt Fender heads at moderate volume. D130? Forget it, they just don't hold up, and with the reconing kits available today they just don't sound like an original JBL.. At one point years ago, I ditched JBL speakers entirely and went to a Weber California... Never sounded quite as sweet as the JBL speakers, but I could depend on it with any amp zi decided to use. That being said, your K130 should be able to handle the Quad... maybe....

If your JBL doesn't hold up, you might want to try a used EVM15. They sound similar and handle about 200 watts.

What Michael just said! Decades ago, I switched to the EV SRO/EVM series speakers for the same reason (I kept frying the JBL's). To me, they were better sounding than the JBL's, but I had to abandon using them some years ago due to their weight...which was heavier than the JBL's. I've spoken about them here many times and I just wish they made a lightweight neo version.

I use to have a quad reverb it was the best sounding amp I ever had.. just so darn heavy if I had an opportunity to have it again I would just leave it alone and leave it in one spot..

Hey guys, Just thought I would add to this thread. I Just did my first full recone on my JBL d 130f speakers. I installed them in my Peavey Classic E 115 extension cabs . I removed the black widow 1505-8s . JBLs sound brighter and not quite as much bottom end. Bought the kits from Simply Speakers .Everything went great, but I am not happy with the zingy highs. Playing through a Revelation tube pre and a Crown XTI 2000 power amp. By the time I get the zingy highs gone with tweeking treble and the z controll on the Rev and the tone control on the guitar its muddy. Going back to the Black widows. JBLs are more suitable for six string.

Oh, and I would add the new JBL kits are rated for 60 watts.

Dan, since the D130 and D140 share the same frame and magnet, reconing the D130 with a D140 cone set should remove the treble zing. But you can usually find D140's for sale at far more reasonable prices than a D130.

Even though I love the D130 for 6 string guitar too, I replaced my Nashville 400 speaker with an original cone D140 for PSG. The result was perfect. Even the tone of the stock reverb became magical.

P.S. I don't find myself often anymore playing PSG live at very high volume levels and never engage the compression circuit in the Nashville 400. So I think it is a decent risk to take placing the D140 in that amp.

Got to thinking about that Quad Reverb.... They didn't make a lot of those, and although they're not highly regarded now, they could be quite the collectible sometime in the future.

Just a note here, as many steel players use the George-L cables. And it's important to remember that if you have an "ice-pick" treble problem, those cables will make it even worse.

How does it sound for steel using the four 12s ?

Steve Spitz wrote:How does it sound for steel using the four 12s ?

Its a Twin Reverb with a bigger cab, and runs 4 16 ohm 12 inch speakers instead of 2 8 ohm 12 inch speakers.. It sounds exactly Like good Twin would with a 2x12 extension cab... All Fender Twin sound, same 6L6/12 ax7 power and preamp,SS rectifier, just bigger sound because its pushing more air... I bought a minty one probably around 2000 or so, and used it as a gigging amp.. It was great for steel, but too damn big and heavy just made no sense. I went back to BF heads.. They were warmer, less brittle and easier to move and control onstage.. It was a better steel amp than a guitar amp.

I am still waiting for it to come back from the repair man. Thanks!

Dave Mudgett wrote:Yup, that's a K130 for sure

Are ALL the "JBLs branded for Peavey" K-130s rather than D-130s?