JBL D130 Clones

John Fields · Post by **John Fields** » 25 Jul 2022 10:06 am

What's the best D130 copy being made today?

Brett Hansen · Post by **Brett Hansen** » 25 Jul 2022 3:13 pm

Originals are still around and affordable, you can get them reconed still too.

John Fields · Post by **John Fields** » 25 Jul 2022 4:11 pm

I would use old ones, but I would need to be able to get them in volume. I've heard that the Weber Neomag 15s are as close as you can get to the D130F but I don't know any steel players that have personal experience with them.

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 25 Jul 2022 5:08 pm

Jerry Overstreet has a pair of the Weber 15" Nomad speakers.

Justin Griffith · Post by **Justin Griffith** » 27 Jul 2022 12:28 pm

Although I prefer the original, the Weber California is the closest one I have come in contact with.
I’ve tried tons of the neo offerings, I just can’t get what I like out of those.

Jeremy Threlfall · Post by **Jeremy Threlfall** » 1 Aug 2022 3:23 pm

check out Beyma - Spanish manufacturer. I have one of their Liberty E120 copies in a 2x12 with an Eminence Delta Pro ( an EV12L copy) . Beautifully made, sounds great, good price

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 2 Aug 2022 10:49 pm

That Beyma looks promising. I watched a guitar demo on YouTube and he was playing through a pair of Liberty 8’s…sounded great!

Josh Yenne · Post by **Josh Yenne** » 2 Aug 2022 11:39 pm

I think overall Weather is making the best speakers these days. At least for what I like. They have so many different kinds of speakers in magnets and search for which is great.

As someone else stated I think it’s the California series that is supposed to be A direct take off of the old JVL‘s.

If you get any I would be super interested to hear your thoughts. I don’t need a JBL but I’m just happy that anyone is trying to go for that vibe and I’d love to hear someone experienced see if they get close or not

Jerry Overstreet · Post by **Jerry Overstreet** » 3 Aug 2022 7:30 pm

FWIW, the Weber model Neomag is what they state is the JBL D130F replacement. https://www.tedweber.com/neomag15/

As Len writes, I do own a pair of these, however I may not be the best to review them. They are the 4 ohm aluminum dome all paper cone model.

I am using them with a MosValve 500 power amp and a Roland GP100 preamp/fx unit in a stereo rig. I first subbed one of these in place of a 1501 Black Widow in the stereo setup. Truth be told, I couldn't tell much difference , but I do believe they have a brighter tone. I now have both of the Webers loaded up.

They are rated at 75 watts, so I was skeptical about hammering them hard, especially with the big strings and grips on the C6 but they seem to handle everything I give them without a whimper and I'm using them regularly anytime I play the stereo rig.

These are my observations within the last year or so of use.

Joe Alterio · Post by **Joe Alterio** » 4 Aug 2022 8:45 am

Eminence made a speaker called the Commonwealth which was the clone of the JBL D-130 - except meant to handle much more power. This is the speaker that Fender used in its Steel King and reissue Twin Reverb Custom amps about 15 years ago, except with Fender branding (and no mention of Eminence on the speaker).

That speaker morphed into the Eminence EPS-15C, which is still available today and at a reduced weight than the speaker it replaced. Telonics makes a slightly tweaked version of this speaker, too (TS-NEO-15-4) which is what I now use in my Steel King and stand by.

Best,

Joe

P.S. I would also be very interested in hearing more about the Weber Neomag in pedal steel amp usage - I remember Ted Weber (who reconed my old JBL K-130 about 3 times because I kept blowing it in my Session 400) talking about developing a pedal steel speaker before his untimely passing. I suspect this is not of the same design as what he may have been thinking 20 years ago.

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 4 Aug 2022 9:21 am

I have a Weber NeoMag 12". It's not an exact clone but closer than many other so called clones that I've heard. It's definitely in the "ballpark." I haven't tried it on the bandstand yet...maybe I'll throw it in a cab and take it out this weekend, and report back.

dz

Josh Yenne · Post by **Josh Yenne** » 4 Aug 2022 4:20 pm

https://www.tedweber.com/cali15a/

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 7 Aug 2022 9:24 pm

I took my Weber Neomag 12 out for the first time today and powered it with my Quilter Micro Pro. While I’m not a big Weber fan ( I know I’m supposed to love them ), I really liked the Neomag a lot for pedal steel. I may buy another. I think I might prefer it over the JBL…very smooth and a tad warmer, but not as loud as a JBL, which is good for me…but it’s definitely in the ball park of JBL

Ethan Shaw · Post by **Ethan Shaw** » 8 Aug 2022 9:32 am

I replaced a d-130 with an Eminence Commonwealth like Joe was talking about, and it sounded almost identical, but could handle a lot more power.

Dave Grafe · Post by **Dave Grafe** » 11 Aug 2022 7:12 am

The "Fender Custom 15 by Eminence" that comes stock in the "Fender Custom Twin 15" is a true clone, with many design features copied durectly from the D130f. To my ear it sounds very like the JBL K130 I replaced it with, i.e. similar clean strong lows, mids are nearly as smooth, and there is a bit less top end response, but to get the desired flux demsity they used a ceramic magnet which adds several pounds over the JBL. I would consider it a reasonably good OEM unit if that is your need.