EVM 12L = reissued by EV, EVM 12L Classic

[chipaudette]

Another possibility is that my eBay speaker is busted. Maybe it's supposed to have more presence and sizzle then it does. What could go wrong with a speaker other than it being obviously flappy and blown?

I've seen some eBay listings saying that a speaker needs to be "reconed"? What does a speaker sound like when it needs to be reconed?

Chip

[Steve Conner]

Hey Chip

Probably a Vintage 30, or one of Ted Weber's JBL-a-likes. These are available with aluminium dustcaps if you really want your head taken clean off with HF energy.

I think part of the problem is not the speaker itself, but that regular open-backed guitar cabinets roll off the bass severely. The Mesa vented cabinet doesn't, it has a flat response down to below bottom E on the guitar, so it sounds very dark and bass-heavy in comparison to what we're used to. It may also have some internal resonances. You might prefer the tone if you stuffed it with acoustic wadding to damp these. An old pillow will do.

You might also find it interesting to take the EVM12L out and try it in an open-backed cab. However, the humongous magnet means that it won't fit in many combos.

I have no idea what makes a speaker need reconed, outside of things like rips in the cone or voice coil rub. A couple of years ago I was feeling really extravagant, and I bought this EVM12L reissue and a Celestion Gold reissue too.

The Gold started out with a kind of trashy high end that made distorted tones sound buzzy, but after a couple of really loud jam sessions, it mellowed out. The EV sounded a bit constipated to start with, but as it broke in, it seemed to loosen up and make more and lower bass. Again, it took several hours of pounding with the amp's full output to do this. I imagine once you have the cone nicely broken in, the last thing you want is to replace it.

[mac1amps]

As another EV fan, I thought I'd add that I've run into some situations where I didn't care for the results. Primarily, I've found that (for my taste in tone), EV's "tend" to sound better in open back cabinets/ combos, whereas the added bass response that you get from [most] "sealed back" cabinets, can often result in an over "boomey" sound with EV's. I installed a couple of 12L's in a 2x12 Orange cabinet of mine (great cabs, BTW), but found the bass response was overbearing, even with the amp's bass control set at "2", but when they were loaded in an open back cab, it sounded gorgeous. ANOTHER common characteristic of "sealed" enclosures, BTW, is reduced brilliance (i.e. "sizzle").

[Bill Moore]

Usually you know when they're blown.

Most of the time an (electrically) blown speaker will give a low output, distorted sound, or none at all, the coil windings are shorted, or open. A mechanically blown speaker usually exibits some form of coil rub and/or flatulance sound as the bonds that hold either the cone or voice coil are loose. If you can get a clean sound at moderate volume, the windings are probably OK. If it sounds (farty) at higher levels, and there doesn't seem to be any loose parts on the outer or the inner accordian looking connection near the voice coil, it may have been overextended, and the inner voice coil is hammered.