[caspersvapors]

The DRRI + D123 in that clip sounds more like Jerrys tone from 93-95 when he was playing lightning bolt. Kind of brittle and piezo like. I dont think I would want to hear that every day

[aiq]

It’s not a Jerry style sounding JBL... it lacks the 4” voice coils and it has a ribbed cone. It’s its own thing. I still have couple stashed.

I see your point, the ribbed cone makes for a cleaner tone ... HOWEVER the speaker is definitely capable of Jerry tones - although maybe not the best all around choice.

Here is a demo with a guy playing Jerry style licks through a DR and it sounds really good IMHO

https://youtu.be/wH3Fh9-WBk0

I am that guy. Thanks for saying something nice. IMO my playing is pretty pedestrian in that clip and just for demoing the amps.

I have sold both of those amps after I found a 64 Deluxe Amp which now has the D123 in it.

I recently acquired a lawsuit era Howard Roberts copy, made at FujiGen in June 76, branded Speedfire. That amp with that speaker makes that guitar sound as sweet as candy.

Not a Jerry sound but I am not really looking for that anymore. Plenty of others chasing it.

[Chocol8]

The DRRI + D123 in that clip sounds more like Jerrys tone from 93-95 when he was playing lightning bolt. Kind of brittle and piezo like. I dont think I would want to hear that every day

That is also when he stopped playing the Twin Reverbs. Don’t think it was the guitar.

[Jon S.]

Interesting discussion. I had a HT-style cab loaded with a pair of Weber neo speakers ostensibly modeled after D120s. They did sound D120-like but with exactly the type of piezo-ish artifacts others are describing now. I couldn't make peace with the Webers because of it and sold them.

[Neil Godbole]

Love Love Love Love Love Love Love JBL D123's! I wish they had larger voicecoil spacing. After 2 years of playing them in my studio, they have started to develop a bit of rub - mostly only noticeable with gained up tones. They are by far my favorite speaker for clean and as long as you have some pre speaker output EQ options, you can compensate for the extended top end that isn't great for higher gain distortion.

I can nail almost every era of Jerry tone and beyond with it. It's got its own personality, but its way more detailed and almost gives me that acoustic like clarity to my playing (and hence requires better technique) than my D120F's.

I use a pretty standard Sarno SMS Classic JG -> McIntosh MC250 nested within a much larger rig, and its glorious in stereo and mono with 123's mounted in hybrid pine and baltic birch open back cabs.

[Neil Godbole]

No Idea why I haven't posted on this thread... probably because I just saw it - so a bit of a ghost thread revival. [EDIT: I guess I did reply! Lol, I see my reply above that I somehow didn't see and then wrote the post below. ) Also, I previously mentioned some VC rub... well it turned out that wasn't the case, but I hadn't yet gotten good at tuning the top end and also sorting out proper gains staging with my mesa for 'hairy' tones... so I thought I was experiencing rub on the low end and with breakup... but nope... all good. I have 4x of these speakers, and generally run them as a 2x12 for best results.

I am a diehard fan of the D123's (pictured). I have a fairly complex rig that gets me to where I need to get though. I'll share some examples since without examples.. well we all know... words can't sing like good tone can!

Anyway, the EQ tilt for clean tone lovers, and the overall extended frequency response while still retaining the classic JBL punch on the low end is what drew me to these speakers. In a semi-open back or fully open back BB or Pine/BB combo cab, they present a 3D sound that is slightly diffuse in the upper midrange. I think this is a positive, because the less directional nature of the amp in this range allows the volume to be higher without the shrill nature of the upper midrange getting out of control - meanwhile the true highs are not attenuated and this is what is often missing in clean tone.

Now obviously its going to reveal your technique, and you will have to dial a rig in to suit both your playing, picking style, etc... Also you will hear more string noise so you will have to be cleaner. I use a TC1128 Analog Rack Mount EQ with Digital/MIDI control to tame the highs before it hits my McIntosh MC250.

I also go into a Mesa 20/20 after my Sarno Pre (RCA Blackplate 7025). The Mesa is loaded down by a Suhr Reactive Load box which I connect to a loop on my RJM Switcher. I basically dial in control of power tube saturation with those sweet chimey EL84's which gives the Jerry bite when digging in but without getting thin or harsh.

In general, distortion tones will need work with this kind of speaker. It will help to take a look at Celestion curves, or classic british style speaker response curves and dial those in post distortion pedal(s). This is another reason I use the TC1128. I can MIDI program in the 1128 to switch over to my response curve of choice when I hit my distortion pedals and really dial in the EQ curve. In general, all that glorious top end that sounds good with clean or hair of the dog tones is nothing but frizzle frazzle with heavier distortion, so we must tame everything above 5K and also dial in some reductions in the midrange and upper midrange (hence studying the response curves of classic speakers). The D123 ends up being a clean and transparent platform that takes well to EQ and sonic manipulation... but requires work for heavier tones... but to me, it is worth it for the heavenly clean tones that are anything but thin or anemic.

[sw72]

The D 123 is a very popular jazz players speaker. Very clean and articulate. It does not handle distortion / drive pedals in the same way you think about JBL's or like kind Dead speakers. It's not designed or intended to. If you know a jazz guitar player they will tell you about the love affair with the D123. Great speaker for absolute clarity.