| Author | Message | ||
| alemted
New Username: alemted Post Number: 1 Registered: 7-2015 |
I bought this bass cabinet many years ago (15?) and never really used it. I was told it was Alembic, but there are no numbers or markings anywhere. It looks exactly like the stacks the Dead used on their wall of sound. It has a JBL 15" speaker, weighs 80 lbs, and dimensions are 26" wide, 22" deep and 18" high. It sounded great when I used it; filled a big room. It's in beautiful perfect condition (cobwebs in the corners). I want to sell it but don't know what it's worth. What do you guys think? Thanks! I'm having a problem uploading pics, sent a message to moderator. | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 2091 Registered: 5-2002 |
We have a couple of resident experts here who should be able to fill you in. (Paging Wolf!) Where are you located? I look forward to pics! | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4395 Registered: 5-2009 |
Hello Edwin , here I am ! I do in fact have several different incarnations of similar looking cabinets. They range from what Alembic sold at the old 60 Brady St location , actual wall of sound box's ( the biggest in the variations) and also what " Bagend" sold. ALL of them make use of the aluminum front load brackets. Pictures and exact measurements will be needed for identification purpose's Perhaps I can help . Wolf | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4396 Registered: 5-2009 |
Here are my measurements; " Wall Of Sound; 30" wide 25 1/2 " deep 20" high Alembic A-15 25 3/4 " wide 21 1/2 " deep 20"high Bagend 26" wide 22" deep 18"high Perhaps your cabinet is an early "Bagend" ! What is the model number of the JBL speaker that is mounted on this critter ? Wolf | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4398 Registered: 5-2009 |
There seem to be many variations. | ||
| adriaan
Moderator Username: adriaan Post Number: 3252 Registered: 6-2002 |
[pasewark's FS post moved to a separate thread.] | ||
| alemted
New Username: alemted Post Number: 2 Registered: 7-2015 |
Bass Cabinet pics. Just wanna see if pics come through. Oh wow, I think you need a bigger server, it took a long time to upload a small file from iPhone. I have many others, but you can get in touch and I can supply those. I hope this comes through. I other papers and articles that elucidate the progression of the Dead speaker evolution. I think this is a  | ||
| alemted
New Username: alemted Post Number: 3 Registered: 7-2015 |
Bass Cabinet pics. Just wanna see if pics come through. Oh wow, I think you need a bigger server, it took a long time to upload a small file from iPhone. I have many others, but you can get in touch and I can supply those. I hope this comes through. I other papers and articles that elucidate the progression of the Dead speaker evolution. I think this is a | ||
| alemted
New Username: alemted Post Number: 4 Registered: 7-2015 |
I'm glad that came through, as I was saying, that is a 130 JBL and is probably a Bagend cabinet- whatever that is. I looked into Bagend and is probably one. I think it weighs heavier because of the 1/2" marine plywood. I have any pic you want, but I don't want to go through drama of loading those. I'll try another, Ted  | ||
| keith_h
Senior Member Username: keith_h Post Number: 2255 Registered: 2-2005 |
Bag End is a boutique maker of speaker systems for a wide range of uses. Their INFRA (also known as ELF) subwoofer systems are based on designs from Alembic founder Ron Wickersham (the same person that does all of Alembic's electronics). Here is a link to their musical instrument speakers page. Keith | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4404 Registered: 5-2009 |
Is the JBL a D130? Wolf | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4405 Registered: 5-2009 |
(double post correction) (Message edited by sonicus on July 31, 2015) | ||
| edwin
Senior Member Username: edwin Post Number: 2094 Registered: 5-2002 |
Beautiful cabinet! I think the driver is a D 140, though, because, if my memory serves me zucchini, the D 130 is a smooth cone, not ridged like the D 140. I'd love a cabinet like this, although I don't think I can handle the weight. It would be cool to build one, although not built to withstand being trucked about the country, with techniques similar to the fEARful. I want to make a cabinet with a JBL 15 and 10 like this: fairly big and sealed. | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4407 Registered: 5-2009 |
Edwin , yes , an original D 130 has a smooth cone. A D140 has a ribbed cone thicker paper and a stronger spider then a D130. It is important to note what the model number is on the frame of the speaker to determine the original aspects of the entire unit. Wolf | ||
| alemted
New Username: alemted Post Number: 5 Registered: 7-2015 |
That's awesome, thanks for your help guys. I have a "speaker manual" -that I got with the speaker- and it has the K 130, 140,etc., but I can't really tell from the pic. Do I have to take it out to see the numbers? I can't see anything from the front. Any tips on releasing those clamps? Looks straight forward. I guess the big Q is A. what's it worth? and B. Who wants it? BTW I live in SF bay area. Thanks | ||
| sonicus
Senior Member Username: sonicus Post Number: 4408 Registered: 5-2009 |
Take out the speaker and look for the model number on the back of the frame. Wolf | ||
| keith_h
Senior Member Username: keith_h Post Number: 2256 Registered: 2-2005 |
In the K series JBL's the K130 would have been a full range speaker where the K140 was designed as a bass speaker. The K130 has a smooth cone and the K140 has a ribbed cone. I have two cabinets with the K140's which is my favorite speaker. Keith | ||
| ed_zeppelin
Junior Username: ed_zeppelin Post Number: 16 Registered: 2-2010 |
I apologize ahead of time for this seemingly endless screed, but it appears that I have stumbled upon the answers to questions about the Wall of Sound that I have held onto since I was a boy, growing up in a fundaMENTAList Pentecostal cult in Sudden California. Some of you were THERE at the foot of the wall. You not only got to hear it, but you fixed it or sacrificed your youthful spine to hauling it around. I'd like to tell you something so you can appreciate your good fortune from a different perspective. I should say that anybody should feel free to bail if this novel is not for you (you should know by now, I figure) with no ill will on my part. Frankly, I wouldn't read it either, but I have to, to write it. What's your excuse? Access to the outside world in the cult was strictly controlled, but because I was the grandson of a legendary Evangelist, who had established our family band that toured alongside the likes of the Carter Family, I was allowed to read what they considered "music magazines;" Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy, National Lampoon, Creem etc. You can't imagine what peering through that portal was like, in the early 70's. A couple hundred miles north, people were reinventing the human race, for the better. That's when I read an article about the Grateful Dead's "Wall of Sound." It changed my life. Sincerely. I was interested in sound, because when I was around six I was watching my dad play guitar and I suddenly realized; "oh, it's a grid!" Since I was the youngest of five, it was either drums or bass. I chose bass, and it chose me right back. Some of you understand. Fortunately there was an interview with Misters Wickersham and Stanley, and it was like being able to get inside Michelangelo's mind when he first looked up at the Sistine Chapel's ceiling. No mixer. No monitors. No soundman, except in an oblique way. Controlled by the musicians themselves. Using about a dozen incredibly-precisely placed mics (and that was with two drumsets and a grand piano!) and some kind of magic phase manipulation. I recall Mr. Stanley (I don't like to use his nickname, out of respect. Call me old fashioned) saying that he had conceived it VISUALLY. Boy, it wouldn't be long before I saw what he meant for myself. It was beautiful. That monolith made as much sense as the Great Pyramid must have to its builders. Anybody would guess by looking at it that it was about volume, but it wasn't. It was about enveloping the largest number of people possible in music, and doing so with absolute clarity, to focus the resulting living, vibrant miasma of sound on the musicians' fingers. It's fortunate "holy rollers" play kickass music and flop around like trout. You're not only allowed to spazz out with God, it's almost mandatory. I like to say I've been "saved" more times than an extra on Baywatch. But it comes from the same place as the Wall of Sound, though: a physical manifestation of the spiritual, through music. Where the musician can go from playing to BEING PLAYED. Okay, long story short (as if it ain't way too late for that): I saw sound itself as the medium, and instruments as the tools. Here's a weird fact: I never heard the Grateful Dead's music until years later, though I often chuckle at the thought of what exorcism I'd have had to endure if I was caught listening to a band called "the Grateful Dead." I never got to hear the Wall of Sound. The egalitarian message of it - to envelope large numbers of people with clear sound - became a guiding principle, but fortunately I was too damn dumb to realize it at the time. (You learn far more from making your own mistakes, something I had to learn for myself, apparently). The Wall of Sound was and is Alembic. The result of what Bette Midler described in "View From Abroad" as; "an orgy of creativity." The aspect of striving for perfection in sound lived on in the gorgeous forms of our Alembic basses. So a couple of weeks ago, when I saw this: http://alembic.com/club/messages/395/208690.html?1436924480 I thought that there was a chance that it was part of the Wall. Handwritten logo, settings noted in some kind of strange, early magic marker. I wrote the seller to ask if it had a serial number. He said it didn't, but once I got it I found something that could be a serial number. That's all I know about it, which was a tricky proposition to explain to my Scottish wife when it comes to prying her incredibly strong fingers from the purse-strings (my "trust me" shtick hasn't worked since she realized she married a musician). If anybody would like to help with resizing the pics, I'd be happy to take 'em. Let me say once again how grateful (!) I am for this community. Perhaps there are great forces at work, though since Alan Watts and Ram Das freed me from the cult I don't subscribe to any philosophy other than "be excellent to each other." Boy, am I happy to meet you guys. Nice thread you have here. Love what you've done with the place. Okay, I'll shut up n | ||
| fc_spoiler
Senior Member Username: fc_spoiler Post Number: 1763 Registered: 5-2006 |
You can send the pics to the address in my profile, we want to see this! :-) | ||
| cozmik_cowboy
Senior Member Username: cozmik_cowboy Post Number: 1920 Registered: 10-2006 |
Cool story, Forest (but there was only one drummer during the WoS era). Peter (Who in HS kept singing bass in a gospel quartet a couple years after finding his way to atheism. They were weird, but it was fun) | ||
| alemted
New Username: alemted Post Number: 6 Registered: 7-2015 |
That was a cool thread, I have an interesting article that I'm going to try to load...basically it says that Phil used 36 k-140 cabs on his part... pics of that set up too. Anyway, inquired at Bag End, and he said it could be a S158-D cabinet but he wants serial number-which I can't find. BTW, I have the Altec-Lanseng JBL K-140, shiny finish on magnet. (8 ohm input). He also says that "we don't use JBL speakers, they lessen the value". Is he kidding? I sent him pics and info today, and I'll let you know what I find. It's an interesting history to me now.  | ||
| stephenr
Intermediate Member Username: stephenr Post Number: 101 Registered: 9-2014 |
Are you in touch with Dan Saraceno at Bag End? That is who I was referred to when I asked them exactly what model of 2x10 cabinet I own. Cabinet was built in the early 80s and has no serial number or model number. Dan didn't seem to know much about the early cabinets but after making some inquiries sent me the following reply... "I talked to one of the owners here and he confirms much of what you know and have touched upon in previous e-mails. The cabinet you have is a D10M series (2x10 for musical instrument applications) designed for guitar and bass rigs. In a bass rig, as you might imagine, it was intended as the midrange box in a bi-amped system, much the way you use it. It was indeed a standard product at the time...early 1980's. Also, he said they were originally loaded with JBL drivers. Unfortunately, this is all he could tell me." | ||
| alemted
New Username: alemted Post Number: 7 Registered: 7-2015 |
Oh, nice, I will connect with him. Thanks for your post, that gives more perspective. I talked to Tera Secoy, and they were less than helpful. He/she finally said "The cabinet is not ours, looks like a wanna be". If that's not condescending,.. but, whatever, let it go, BTW, what does 2X10 mean; 2-10" speakers? I will contact Dan Saraceno, and see what happens. Thanks bros |
