Grateful Dead Music Forum

I recently bought what I thought was a working 1977 Mesa Boogie MK I combo with 5-band graphic equalizer. Long story short it did not work (when it was delivered) at all and now hundreds of dollars later, the guy working on it for me is finally about there, but the 15" EV Speaker is totally shot, not useable. He told me to buy a new speaker or maybe could get it reconed but didn't know anyone in the Chicago area that did that kind of work anymore....I'm playing bobby parts, need a new speaker and wondering if you guys have any suggestions? I am not an amp guy, so forgive my ignorance, I have no idea what to even look at? Apparently, the 15" Electro-voice measures 5.2 static ohms, so guessing it was 8 when it was new. Any help here is extremely appreciated...I tried to add pics of the amp and speaker - apparently it was modified, the effects loop has been removed and the in jack is now being used to foot switch the EQ boost on and off.
Thanks!
Matt

I think these were the other speakers that Mesa used in their 15" combos?

Altec Lansing 418

JBL K130

Or, if you want new, you could go Weber California ceramic or alnico.

Full disclosure I do not have any amps with 15" speakers.

Don't laugh - while I haven't myself tried them, now and then, I run into people who swear by their Peavey 15" Black Widows, in particular the 1501DT-4 (I don't know if they can be had at 8 ohms): https://peavey.com/support/technotes/mi ... kwidow.cfm

While not EV-specific but I also hear good things about the Eminence Big Ben 15": https://www.eminence.com/pdf/BIG_BEN.pdf

Weber claims their 15" Ceramic California speaker is modeled after the JBL K130, perhaps it's worth considering, too, and you can choose your cone material: https://www.tedweber.com/cali15f

Or you could try to cop whatever Quilter Labs is using in their Steelaire combo: https://www.quilterlabs.com/index.php/s ... re-series/

Hope these suggestions help.

Looking at the photos of the back of your amp, it looks like the speaker hole is cut out for a 12" speaker. It looks like there is a ring well beyond the cutout where that 15" speaker was sitting. It's kind of hard to tell from then photos, but maybe you can confirm. If so, I would look at getting a 12" speaker as the replacement.

Jon S. wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 9:44 am Don't laugh - while I haven't myself tried them, now and then, I run into people who swear by their Peavey 15" Black Widows, in particular the 1501DT-4 (I don't know if they can be had at 8 ohms): https://peavey.com/support/technotes/mi ... kwidow.cfm

While not EV-specific but I also hear good things about the Eminence Big Ben 15": https://www.eminence.com/pdf/BIG_BEN.pdf

Weber claims their 15" Ceramic California speaker is modeled after the JBL K130, perhaps it's worth considering, too, and you can choose your cone material: https://www.tedweber.com/cali15f

Or you could try to cop whatever Quilter Labs is using in their Steelaire combo: https://www.quilterlabs.com/index.php/s ... re-series/

Hope these suggestions help.

Older BW's The ones with the web sticker on the magnet

Hi guys, thanks so much for the suggestions and help with this, I really appreciate it. With all the crazy shit going on, I actually forgot I posted this, so I apologize for not responding sooner. A couple things, I did just verify that it is indeed a 15" speaker and was able to find a local guy in Chicago that has been re-coning speakers for the last 30 plus years, so I've given him a shot at this. We'll see how it goes, if I'm not happy with it, I'll keep it as a back up and then look to buy one that you guys have suggested.

Hope you guys are all staying healthy and sane...I'll keep you posted on what I get back from this local guy and how it sounds. It's definitely been a long strange trip and some added $$$$ but I'm excited to get it back and try it out. The guy that sold it to me, really misrepresented the condition of the amp, so It's been extremely frustrating, but I know now, buying an amp online and having it shipped across country is a terrible idea, I put too much trust into people I guess.

Anyways, thanks again, hopefully this works out and I love it,

Matt

heymur1 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 8:47 am Hi guys, thanks so much for the suggestions and help with this, I really appreciate it. With all the crazy shit going on, I actually forgot I posted this, so I apologize for not responding sooner. A couple things, I did just verify that it is indeed a 15" speaker and was able to find a local guy in Chicago that has been re-coning speakers for the last 30 plus years, so I've given him a shot at this. We'll see how it goes, if I'm not happy with it, I'll keep it as a back up and then look to buy one that you guys have suggested.

Hope you guys are all staying healthy and sane...I'll keep you posted on what I get back from this local guy and how it sounds. It's definitely been a long strange trip and some added $$$$ but I'm excited to get it back and try it out. The guy that sold it to me, really misrepresented the condition of the amp, so It's been extremely frustrating, but I know now, buying an amp online and having it shipped across country is a terrible idea, I put too much trust into people I guess.

Anyways, thanks again, hopefully this works out and I love it,

Matt

Good luck with this and please post back your results with the recone job if possible. Bummer about the amp and hopefully you get it all situated.

I’m outside of Chicago and have a couple of speakers to recone. Let us know how it went. Thanks!!

Hey, I recognize that Alvarez in the background. I have one just like it!

Bill, tgo

Gr8fulCadi wrote: ↑Sat Apr 25, 2020 8:40 am

heymur1 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 22, 2020 8:47 am Hi guys, thanks so much for the suggestions and help with this, I really appreciate it. With all the crazy shit going on, I actually forgot I posted this, so I apologize for not responding sooner. A couple things, I did just verify that it is indeed a 15" speaker and was able to find a local guy in Chicago that has been re-coning speakers for the last 30 plus years, so I've given him a shot at this. We'll see how it goes, if I'm not happy with it, I'll keep it as a back up and then look to buy one that you guys have suggested.

Hope you guys are all staying healthy and sane...I'll keep you posted on what I get back from this local guy and how it sounds. It's definitely been a long strange trip and some added $$$$ but I'm excited to get it back and try it out. The guy that sold it to me, really misrepresented the condition of the amp, so It's been extremely frustrating, but I know now, buying an amp online and having it shipped across country is a terrible idea, I put too much trust into people I guess.

Anyways, thanks again, hopefully this works out and I love it,

Matt

Good luck with this and please post back your results with the recone job if possible. Bummer about the amp and hopefully you get it all situated.

I’m outside of Chicago and have a couple of speakers to recone. Let us know how it went. Thanks!!

Same here south burbs

Better late than never, apologize for the huge delay in responding. I would not recommend the guy I had do the recone job, for a lot of reasons. I’m having an effects loop reinstalled on the amp (someone removed it at some point) and the guy doing it has had my amp for a couple months, I think I’m just going to buy a new speaker and look at the above suggestions again. I’m getting it back in a week or so...I’ll let you know what I get and will be able to compare the two....hope everyone is well!

heymur1 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 4:59 pm Better late than never, apologize for the huge delay in responding. I would not recommend the guy I had do the recone job, for a lot of reasons. I’m having an effects loop reinstalled on the amp (someone removed it at some point) and the guy doing it has had my amp for a couple months, I think I’m just going to buy a new speaker and look at the above suggestions again. I’m getting it back in a week or so...I’ll let you know what I get and will be able to compare the two....hope everyone is well!

Sorry to hear that and do appreciate the word of caution or in other words, Don’t!! Hopefully everything gets situated with your Mesa.