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Post subject: Speaker cabinet dating
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 9:37 am
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I have what I believe is a 1968 Bandmaster . Model TFL 5005D. It has a silver face and trim around the grill cloth. The cab. is 39" X 29" with two twelve inch speakers. I just bought a vintage 2X12 cab measuring 20"X 32" and want to know how to tell the date/year it was made. I took the speakers out of the original cabinet and put them into the smaller one. What is the difference between the two? The smaller one seems to sound just as good if not better so I'm thinking stage presence maybe might be the only difference. Any input will be helpful.

Thanks

Skip B.


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Post subject: Re: Speaker cabinet dating
Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 11:24 am
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Skip B wrote:
I have what I believe is a 1968 Bandmaster . Model TFL 5005D. It has a silver face and trim around the grill cloth. The cab. is 39" X 29" with two twelve inch speakers. I just bought a vintage 2X12 cab measuring 20"X 32" and want to know how to tell the date/year it was made. I took the speakers out of the original cabinet and put them into the smaller one. What is the difference between the two? The smaller one seems to sound just as good if not better so I'm thinking stage presence maybe might be the only difference. Any input will be helpful.


Dating the blackface speaker enclosures is problematic at best. Periodically, a penciled or ink-stamped date will be found inside, usually but not always on or near one of the rear cleats that the back panel screws into. I once found a penciled date on the front cleat of a Showman cab.

In the absence of a specific date for the original "small-box" types, the approximate vintage can be inferred by examining the tilt-back legs. On enclosures built prior to 1967 the legs will both be stamped "PATENT PENDING" and one of them will also have a serial number at the bottom.

The "big-box" enclosures are somewhat "boomier" than the older types due to the increased interior volume which artificially lowers the cab's resonant frequency. Big-box Bassmans and those Dual Showmans specifically ordered from the factory with JBL D140F bass drivers have a ported baffle which may compound the issue for guitar (contingent upon what speakers are installed).

HTH

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


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