Fullback wins it hands down. Definitely has a more well rounded and clear midrange bite. Kinda has vintage 30 properties. Which is a good thing. I do wish there were more options in the 15” speaker market. I don’t know why they can’t make basically every model that’s available in 12” available in 15”.
Myself and Stevie became tight in 1986 and from there I was always spending time with Cesar Diaz up where he lived in the Pocono’s,PA. Yes, Stevie used JBL’s fir a while but finally through Cesar settled on EV Force speakers. The Force stayed clean but gave a little when amps were pushed. 5751 phase inverter tube in all amps and solid state rectified section. What most people don’t know is Stevie absolutely loved certain Marshall amps, Blackface Bassman amps and Telecasters. Reason he didn’t use Bassman heads or Marshall’s that much was because lack of reverb and Telecaster’s not getting used was lack of trem and pickup positions that a Strat could get with a 5 way switch. No Stevie himself along with Cesar did not like the 160 watt Dumble amps.
@@usernameunk : He did fir a while in 1 of them but 2 of the Vibroverbs still had D130’s. The EV Forces ended being his favorites Cesar’s favorite and I myself when I was around thought they sounded and felt best in his amps.
@@theirritatedirishman5440 That makes sense. JBL D went into JBL E to handle much power. But I have heard customers complains about JBLs not being able to handle too much distortion. So maybe EV do that better. Maybe Steve kept the JBL Ds in his not for gig 40W Vibroverbs because he likes more their sound when playing alone. Thank you for sharing.
This is not the first time I’ve seen that Stevie wasn’t a fan of his 150w Dumble Steel String Singer’s. Do you know why he continued to use them as a staple of his live rig ever since he got his first one, SSS #007, in January 1984, all the way through until his death? Also why he kept ordering more of them from Dumble? It’s kind of strange to me why he would end up with 3 Dumble Steel String Singer’s with a 4th having been ordered by the time he died? No sarcasm here, genuinely interested in this!!
The stock Eminence delivered across the board, with a full range of frequencies. JBL was kinda generic sounding. The Fullback had that sort of Vintage "Speaker Cone" sound, but lacked a Full Range.
I liked the stock Emminence. It was richer. I have a 1964 Vibroverb with a stock D-130F and it is only good on 4 with a Strat - a bit of a one trick pony with that speaker. When i plug it into my 2X 2-12" Bandmaster cab with Celestion Greenbacks in one and original G30Hs' in the other - that's when it sounds magical.
The Jbl D 130 is a hi fi speaker that remains clean, allows the lows to sound unrestrained, and gives the unique glassy highs. I cant imagine a more quality speaker. But after 50 years of abuse most have been reconed with alternative components loosing their magic. The original gasket is light grey with a red little round seal stamped on it, its one piece rim which breaks in three or four pieces when reconed, the diaphragm is of the same paper not glossy nor black, and the original cone has stamped the code 21057.
@@leonardo.rafael my JBLD130 was first reconed by JBL using their heavy cone, then again by Weber to factory specs. It sounds great after break-in, but is a one trick pony and doesn't stand up to being on '7' well.
@@andrewsrea I read there never existed original JBL recone kits, so recones were made with E 130 ones (which were designed to handle 150 watts). If that is true, I dont know how that may affect the sound. The original D 130 cones have stamped the 21057 code. Thanks you for sharing your experience. That shows us there are sweet spots we must expect, look for, and accept in our own particular gear.
I liked the JBL most (nice full lows with mellow highs) but they're all pretty close. I would suggest a 2nd 🎤 way back, a "room mic", to capture the character of each speaker. When they're all on the cone, its difficult to get a sense of what the general 'flavor' of the speaker is. Good vid!
I don’t know much about recording - but my favorite guitarist - Doyle Bramhall II recorded his 2nd or third album with on mic in the room and it sounds killer!!!!! Moreover, Chris thanks for the video - I’m on the hunt to buy a Vibroverb RI for the 2nd time except this time used 🤦♂️
I love JBL, but the E120 (while okay in other applications), sounds sterile and one dimensional in a guitar amp. This speaker lack the complex harmonics you hear in well know guitar speakers like the Vintage 30.
That celestion sounds too tight and sterile, like it def needs more break in,,,, the JBL seemed just the opposite like it was a little bit tired. The emminence seemed to be a general all around consistient match overall for thst amp. It was not anything super special but just seemed just about like what it should be expected. Surely Stevies tone did not rely on a specific speaker and I would believe that his choices werent 100 percent tone. He likely considered many things when deciding what speaker was loaded in his cabs
I liked the Fullback the best. I have an Eminence 15 in my Randall RS125CX which sounds pretty good but I'm looking for something with a more bass punch. That's why I think the Fullback sounded best. It just had a better bass tone imo.
Great comparison video, bravo! Really surprised by how much I liked the Fullback, probably going with that one. Other surprise is how much I didn't really enjoy the JBL's too much, sounds congested to me... Cheers!
I would say the 15 fits in between a 1x12 and 2x12 in the sound, the frequency response. The vibroverb is actually a really powerful amp. It can blow away a deluxe, its more like taking the power of a super reverb and using a single speaker, so its more midrange focused than a super.
The Fender is probably the best all-rounder because of the nice mids, but I could see how if you were SRV you'd want the JBL because of the tighter lows and mids.
Thanks for the consistent comparisons. The JBL is my least favorite in this video with the track played. The fullback seems to lean toward honk, but I love the punchy full range availability. What did you stick with?
Just curious, if you’re doing a SRV tone comparison, why not turn on the Diaz mod and SS rectifier? Also, how did you get the E130 to fit in the baffle? It was too heavy for mine and the screws didn’t clear the chassis of the speaker.
The JBL is the tone we recognise but that Celestion is pretty nice and tight /musical. The metal dome in the middle of the JBL makes it more dynamic...If I could choose only 1 then JBL wins . Maybe a beefy cab would open up the Celestion?
First speaker, the eminence, seems to have low to mid-range tone, the vintage JBL E130-8 had a more mid range tone with less low end, and the Celestron had more highs than the other two, at least that was the way that I heard it, I would go the middle of the road, for a more balanced sound, you could dial the mids back a little to smoothin it out too!
I got the same Amp installed is a 15 Inch warehouse speaker. Sounds great playing clean but if I put an overdrive pedal in front of it it sounds awful.. Have you tested those speakers with an overdrive pedal? Which speaker was your final choice?
Yes, I decided to go back to the stock speaker because it sounded a little closer to SRVs Texas Flood tone than the others. I like the JBL but its lacking in the low end compared to the other speakers. The highs on the Fullback I thought were a little harsh.
Wow on those chords from the first sample riff, you can really hear the extra low end of the fullback. May I ask what the thing on top of your amp is? Attenuator?? Thanks for the demo
Yes, attenuator and much more :) www.thomann.de/intl/universal_audio_ox_amp_top_box.htm?sid=0e67b0039c0a6265a36b80bbab85ff1a&ref=intl&shp=eyJjb3VudHJ5IjoiZnIiLCJjdXJyZW5jeSI6MiwibGFuZ3VhZ2UiOjJ9&reload=1
