Good extension cabinet for a Music Man 210 combo?

[pnelson513]

Hey all, new user here. I've got a ~1977 Music Man combo, 130w, 210 JBL speakers. Love the reverb and clean sound, and it's the first amp I ever bought (got it back in 1994 when I was a teenager).

I've been gigging a bit more recently, and was wondering if an extension cabinet might fill its sound out a bit. Anyone here have any ideas/experience with this-- brands, specs, etc.? It's for a louder, surf/classic rock-style band.

thanks!

-PN

[J M Fahey]

2 x K110 JBL speakers?
Tough act to follow, I´m afraid any other type speaker you add to the mixture will not be up to their level.
Maybe you´d consider a 2 x 12" cabinet if you want to add lows, but before spending a cent, try any cabinet you get close to , plugged into the extension jack, and check for yourself whether it´s worth it.

[Leo_Gnardo]

More cone area will definitely make for a fuller sound, even more so if your extension cab is closed-back. What will make you happy, it's hard to say. Try as many extension cabs as you can get your hands on before you commit $$$, even 15" bass cabs. And if you decide what floats your boat is JBL K110 (or D or E series), I have a few for sale... and you can find 'em on ebay & reverb as well. Best to try before you buy, as with anything. And welcome aboard!

[pnelson513]

Thanks for the info, and yeah, I had not thought about inferior sound when I'm adding another speaker to the JBLs. I just tried hooking the amp to my bassist's 15" Ampeg cabinet, and was not too impressed. The search will continue!

[Leo_Gnardo]

I just tried hooking the amp to my bassist's 15" Ampeg cabinet, and was not too impressed. The search will continue!

Sure that Ampeg 15 is bound to sound miles different from JBLs. What I thought is a 15 in addition to the JBL's could certainly add some low frequency content. If you tried that and no dice, no worries move on.

[J M Fahey]

I thought K110 or similar level JBLs were unobtainable or crazy expensive, but now that I see some are available, I guess you could build (or order) a 2 x 10" closed back cabinet, about same size as your combo (you still want to move stuff around I guess) and stock it with another 10" JBL pair, with some important advantages:

1) first and foremost, you retain sound quality and very high efficiency

2) it will provide more volume and projection: 4 cones instea of 2

3) you *will* gain Bass: besides the doubled cone surface, the new cabinet, although not harder to transport than original combo, will also fully use the cabinet volume (no chassis wasting space), can be made closed back (no hot tubes inside), I´d suggest same width as current combo so it sits on top of new cabinet, using same stage space, you can make it somewhat taller than combo, say extra 4" and if you wish, you can make it somewhat deeper, say 2" at least, maybe 4" and even 6" if you dare, it´s up to you.

Resulting combination will be deadly, he he

Another possibility might be a similar extension cabinet, but fitted with an EVM15L or even a 15" Black Widow, which are fully in the same class, but in either case you should get one with the needed impedance to fit the extension jack.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Remember, in most Musicman amps, the extension speaker jack puts the ext. speaker in series with the built-in speakers. And there's a 4/8 ohm switch to select the appropriate output tap.

Yours may vary. Have a look, check the owner's manual (available online I'm sure) & see if that is the case for your amp.

[The Dude]

I have a rather different view of this. That amp, with a couple of JBL's, should be plenty loud. I suspect that the problem is the acoustic coupling at mid frequencies that happens when two speakers are side by side. If it's just a fuller sound you're looking for and not more volume, try one of these to scoop out some of those overbearing mids instead of toting around another cabinet.

[The Dude]

Another thought: Please make sure your existing speakers are in phase. You could be losing lots of volume and low end if they are not.

[loudthud]

Yet another thing to be aware of: JBL speakers are typically out of phase with other brands of speakers. A positive voltage on the Red terminal makes the cone move towards the magnet, not away from it like most other brands.

[pnelson513]

Remember, in most Musicman amps, the extension speaker jack puts the ext. speaker in series with the built-in speakers. And there's a 4/8 ohm switch to select the appropriate output tap.

Yours may vary. Have a look, check the owner's manual (available online I'm sure) & see if that is the case for your amp.

Yup, all this is true. Thanks!