Gamble Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Hiya! I'm after a bit of guidance, if anyone knows their way around speakers your input would be gratefully received! So, I've got an old Mesa Boogie 1516b which has been in storage for a while and when I was checking it over ready to sell it the other day I discovered that the 15" speaker wasn't working, like an idiot I thought "I'll just see if the cone moves freely" and lets just say the paper didn't put up much of a fight. After that I opened the thing up properly and ran a cable direct to the back of the driver and it definitely seems to be a problem with the speaker and not the wiring, plus it's now got a tear in it. Not a great Saturday night. Anyway, my question is; is there anything I can try to A. diagnose the issue and B. repair the cone? Papier maché is all can think of unless it's actually replaceable. Failing that, what's a suitable replacement? I'm guessing that sensitivity would be important to match somewhat to keep a balance between the different sized speakers in the cab. Of course I'd like to spend as little on it as possible as I want to sell the thing rather then pour more money into it, but I don't want to stick any old junk in and make the cab undesirable and not be able to sell it full stop. What do all you clever people reckon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 I'd sell it as is. A replacement driver close to the capabilities of the original will cost you close to what the cab is worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Agree with Bill. Cut and run, as top end speaker repairs don't come cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 These guys can do a great job in repairing it. Ask them for a price and then you will know if its worth doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumnote Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Oops, forgot the link http://www.wembleyloudspeaker.com/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartelby Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 1 minute ago, bumnote said: Oops, forgot the link http://www.wembleyloudspeaker.com/ was just about to post the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 You can get a recone, but it won't be cheap, and you'll still end up with a forty year old driver that, by today's standards, isn't all that good for electric bass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 2 hours ago, Gamble said: What do all you clever people reckon? 1. Sell it as is. 2. Replace the EV with another driver and sell as a working cab. Include the EV. 3. Recone the EV and sell. You have to know how much these cabs (with original EV's) fetch and what a recone costs. Only then can you decide which way to go. I had a 15" EV reconed when Shuttlesound were the dealers. That was 20 years ago. I don't remember how much it cost but it didn't break the bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 Awesome, thanks for the input chaps! It's currently still for sale with the price negotiable, but I'll look into getting a repair on the driver in the meantime - it's got to be more attractive as working and complete, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 Just going back a bit, does anyone have any suggestions on why the speaker is unresponsive to input? No point repairing the cone if it's still not going to go backwards and forwards....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VTypeV4 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Usually a frazzled voice coil caused by a thermal overload - bass boost + clipping amplifier come to mind. You may be lucky and find one of the tinsel leads which run from the terminals on the frame down through the cone to the coil itself has failed / split - I've got a few more years out of a couple of Peavey Black Widows by repairing the tinsel on drivers which would have otherwise been scrapped. Take the driver out of the box and do a visual inspection then check the speaker with a multi-meter set to continuity across the terminals. If you don't have a meter, you can use a battery and see if it clicks / moves. Take some pics of it out of the enclosure and report back when you've done the above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 I hooked a speaker lead up directly to the back of it and got nothing, shouldn't be that it's been blown up as it's not been used since it last worked to my knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 I'll fish it out and have a proper look at some point though, just got to find the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 If you are only doing it up to sell then it probably isn't profitable to do much but no harm in getting a quote for a re-cone. Old drivers turn up on ebay from time to time so if you are in no rush then keep looking and an old EV may come up. Or try and sell your old working drivers to someone who has holed their other speakers but has a working 15. There's always a market for old drivers for people who love their vintage gear. If the driver is working you can repair. layer up tissue paper and latex adhesive (Copydex) over the tear as if it is a fibreglass repair on an old rusty car. you might get away with an old Peavey Black Widow as a cheap replacement, it'll be roughly right in a cab of that size, not ideal but I don't suppose the old EV was either. Used they go for £30-40 on ebay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Browning Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 I am not going to denigrate either of the experts on this but those old Boogie cabs, whether this one or the 2x15 diesel are positively awesome for bass. They may not be modern and light but they are briiliant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Alternate opinion, they remind me of what we used to say about the F4 Phantom : Put in a big enough engine and you can make anything fly. If the OP wanted to go to the trouble he could have the EVM-15B that's been hanging from a nail in my workshop for the last 12 years. That's how long it's been since it was worth my lugging it around. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 I read somewhere that the 15B was sometimes used as an upgrade in these cabs but wasn't actually as good as the 15L in terms of sound, but I'll certainly remember that you've got one if you might be prepared to part with it. I still need to get this one out and check it over properly, been on early starts all this week though so once the kids are in bed it's pretty much been time for sleep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 8 hours ago, Phil Starr said: If you are only doing it up to sell then it probably isn't profitable to do much but no harm in getting a quote for a re-cone. Old drivers turn up on ebay from time to time so if you are in no rush then keep looking and an old EV may come up. Or try and sell your old working drivers to someone who has holed their other speakers but has a working 15. There's always a market for old drivers for people who love their vintage gear. If the driver is working you can repair. layer up tissue paper and latex adhesive (Copydex) over the tear as if it is a fibreglass repair on an old rusty car. you might get away with an old Peavey Black Widow as a cheap replacement, it'll be roughly right in a cab of that size, not ideal but I don't suppose the old EV was either. Used they go for £30-40 on ebay Thanks for the advice, it's good to have a few options! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 The 15L and 15B were literally the guitar (lead) and bass versions. The primary difference was Qes, 0.25 for the L, 0.30 for the B. Lower Qes gives stronger highs, at the cost of lows. Loaded in a TL606 cab the knee frequency of the L was 100Hz, the B was 80Hz. The high end knee of the L was 5kHz, the B 3.5kHz. Why Mesa would have used the L for bass, especially in a three-way cab, is puzzling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 I can't find where I read it now, but I think the argument was that the increase in bass wasn't worth if for the loss of clarity/highs/mid voicing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 That's really useful information from Bill. I'd think most of the mids came from the other drivers in this cab, it may be that your 15 was itself swapped in the dim and distant past, you often find non original drivers in old cabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fitzmaurice Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 1 hour ago, Gamble said: I think the argument was that the increase in bass wasn't worth if for the loss of clarity/highs/mid voicing. When it was used with a ten and two sixes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted January 19, 2018 Author Share Posted January 19, 2018 I may have my wires crossed, it's possible they were talking about the 2x15 cabs. When you say it like that is does seem kinda redundant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
converse320 Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 Gamble, can you post a picture of the damage? I'll try to help. It might not be as bad as you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gamble Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 It's jusy a straight tear in the paper cone, pretty much pointing straight to the centre. The real issue is that it's unresponsive to input, if it weren't for that I wouldn't have poked it to see if it was seized! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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