Does anyone know of cheap maybe chinese clones of guitar speakers that are affordable? 10 or 12 inches hopefully.
I am giving guitar lessons to needy kids at my school as part of a rehab program for abused children. None of them have amps. I raised money for squier guitars from area businesses, but I will have to pay for amps from my own pocket. I was thinking I would build each of them Rubies, but the kicker is the speaker. I want them to have something worth keeping so I want to avoid 3 inch speakers or some bargain bin stuff. I want reasonably useful 12 in speakers in case I have a student or two with some talent. I don't want a student to be frustrated with the amp and get turned off. Most of these children have anger issues and do some slightly irrational things when the going gets tough (due to bad past events).
So let me know if you know of a source or product you think fits this description. This is probably good info for all of us DIY types anyway. Merry Xmas again to all. I hope it is a happy day. and every other day also.
Try emailing Warehouse Speakers and find out if they can help you out.
Jacob
Jensen MOD series 8-20 works awesome for small amps (and cheap)
Mail them for help
http://www.jensentone.com/mod_series
might even shoot musicians friend a mail
they might shoot them out at cost. look at there prices
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/search/search.jsp?sB=r&question=MOD
I can second the Jensen MOD recommendation. I have a few of their 10 and 12 inchers and they all sound great for the money. I have a 10" in my Princeton clone and it sounds so good cranked up. Be careful if you are doing mixing combinations though with other brands. I was looking at getting one to match my Celestion Heritage greenback and the efficiency rating is pretty low for the 12-35. If you overlay the frequency responses you can see that a decent match for most 100dB speakers is the 12-70 with the Jensen picking up a low end hump and scooping in the high mids. They usually run around $40-50 too which is awesome.
I just want to say kudos man for doing what you are doing. If I had an old speaker spare I would send the thing to you free of charge man. What about scouring ebay etc... for some old cheapies that someone wants to unload but are still good?
I am going to suggest this and I may be way off base here. It is of course your call on this. I would be tempted to post in the buy/sell/trade lounge here and at BYOC and just ask some members if any of them have a cheap speaker they want to part with. Maybe pay for shipping so that is all it would cost you. I think I would do that if it was me. I don't know if you will get any help there but your cause is beyond just IMHO.
Thanks for all the replies.
Quote from: TNblueshawk on December 26, 2012, 10:01:35 PM
I just want to say kudos man for doing what you are doing. If I had an old speaker spare I would send the thing to you free of charge man. What about scouring ebay etc... for some old cheapies that someone wants to unload but are still good?
I am going to suggest this and I may be way off base here. It is of course your call on this. I would be tempted to post in the buy/sell/trade lounge here and at BYOC and just ask some members if any of them have a cheap speaker they want to part with. Maybe pay for shipping so that is all it would cost you. I think I would do that if it was me. I don't know if you will get any help there but your cause is beyond just IMHO.
This is part of what I do for a living. My first wife left me inpart because intrinsic reward did not fill her closet and garage with the goodies she felt she deserved.
I thought about asking for speakers and the main strike against it is speakers are so heavy a cheap one will cost more to ship than it is probably worth. I thought of the Jensen Mods. I know they sound decent and I even have one in my silverface Champ.
The Mods are great value, but I am not able to swing the cost even for those. I have more than enough parts in the bins to build the circuits.
What about some PA type speakers. 12 inches are out of the question. No way I can swing just the shipping.
I am still looking.
Looking at tiny speakers now. :)
I am thinking headphone amps maybe the way to go.
Headphone amps sound like the way to go:
Quiet
Easy to store
No speaker enclosures to build
Ear buds or low end headphones are a lot cheaper than speakers
If you do have any standouts, cross that bridge when you have to.
How many are you thinking about making?
The Weber Signature line (https://taweber.powweb.com/weber/) is good and affordable. The Sig12B is one of my favorites at any price. Very similar to the much-loved Reverend Alltone 1250.
Headphone amps are cool and all, but can be a bit uninspiring for guitars unless there is some sort of modeling involved, which is a bit more complicated to DIY.
I'd also scour the Gear Page and other forums for speakers that people have pulled from their amps when upgrading.
Sending you a PM Charles
Jacob
Quote from: pickdropper on December 27, 2012, 04:13:30 AM
I'd also scour the Gear Page and other forums for speakers that people have pulled from their amps when upgrading.
This is actually what I was thinking specifically. People who upgraded and have them sitting in the closet kind of thing. But, if shipping it too much then it is too much. I honestly have no idea how cheap one could ship a 10-12" speaker. Guess it depends on how far it is going too.
I don't know what kind of budget you are working with but maybe pawn shops too. I also don't know what you target number of speakers is that you are looking at.
I replaced my 8" speaker in my Vox Pathfinder, you are welcome to the stock one if you are interested, it's just sitting in my basement. PM me if you want it.
-Josh
Quote from: pickdropper on December 27, 2012, 04:13:30 AM
I'd also scour the Gear Page and other forums for speakers that people have pulled from their amps when upgrading.
I have a 12" stock speaker from a Blues Jr. that you could have. I upgraded and the one I pulled was perfectly fine. Since it's for a good cause, I'll even spring for the shipping if you are ConUS. Would be cost prohibitive for international I think.
I'm good for an 8" speaker and I'll see if I can't round up any others. I'll eat the shipping too, since it's a good cause. PM me with shipping info if you want it.
Now this is what I was talking about !! Wish I could contribute something.
I can ship you out a 12 inch speaker, its a no name 60's ceramic, that actually sounds really good. It was in my Mesa studio .22 when I bought the combo used. PM me your address, and I will ship it to you. Thanks for doing what you are doing.
T
PM received.
I have been at the in-laws' in the booneys for a couple of days. NO cell phone or www for a while. It was actually a nice change of pace.
I am overwhelmed by the response so far.
I had a couple of boring days to think about this dilemma. Here is what I am thinking is a good idea.
I begin the lessons next week and they will continue until at least the end of May. I will continue for about one month, then let's see how many students stick with the program. I am teaching children between 12 and 18 years old. I know from past experience many of them will drift away and not continue to attend lessons. And sometimes students in my afterschool workshops just leave town or move with no notice. It is simply that the adults in their lives are often transient in ways many more settled people have real trouble understanding (running from bills, rent-jumping, alcohol, drugs, foster home difficulties, etc....).
So I think we should wait and see how many of my children are actually needing amplifiers by the end of January. The guitars are paid for and the donors get a tax write-off. So that hurdle is jumped. The local music store gave me a great deal, because the owner wisely said he will see most of them again and sell them multiple times. I have plenty of parts to build 386amps for 12-15 children. I have 19 students officially. Past experience tells me at least 5 or 6 will quit in the first month, and then we will see how many speakers I need.
My father keeps enough scrap wood in his workshop for me to build cabinets.
I have to say your response has been inspiring for me. This is such a great place to hang out for a lot of good reasons and good people is the first on the list.
So please bear with me for 3 or 4 weeks. I do not want to waste any of our resources.
thanks
charles
Just let us know. I'm glad to support such a cool cause.
Happy New Year everyone!
its like Jack Black all over again