JBL E120 in 65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue?

[JohnnyKRed]

Hi! I have been after JBL speaker tone and finally settled on trying an 12 inch, 8 ohm E120 in my deluxe reverb reissue. Ordered it.

Anyone have experience with this combination? Curious about installation issues, weight/size considerations on the amp itself, and tone.

Thanks!!

John

 

[Jasonpatrick]

I have an orange D120F in my 1969. Sounds great. Heavy and someone had to cut 4 of the studs off to fit it.

 

[39martind18]

Outside of extreme weight, the E120 is a great sounding speaker that has that JBL sound in spades. With a speaker that is designed to handle around 150 WRMS, you're not going to get any speaker distortion with an amp output of 22WRMS, but if you're looking for punchy cleans, this speaker will flat-out do it. I had an E120 that I put in my 1969 DR, and the results were spectacular to my ears. It also found a home in my Blues Deluxe with similar results. Alas, my back dictated that I lighten the load concerning moving my equipment, so now I play through a Tone Master DR that I've converted to a 2x10, using Jensen Neo speakers, thereby keeping the weight manageable, but do I ever miss that E120 sound!

 

[JohnnyKRed]

I have an orange D120F in my 1969. Sounds great. Heavy and someone had to cut 4 of the studs off to fit it.

Wow! Good for you. Much appreciated!!!

 

[JohnnyKRed]

Outside of extreme weight, the E120 is a great sounding speaker that has that JBL sound in spades. With a speaker that is designed to handle around 150 WRMS, you're not going to get any speaker distortion with an amp output of 22WRMS, but if you're looking for punchy cleans, this speaker will flat-out do it. I had an E120 that I put in my 1969 DR, and the results were spectacular to my ears. It also found a home in my Blues Deluxe with similar results. Alas, my back dictated that I lighten the load concerning moving my equipment, so now I play through a Tone Master DR that I've converted to a 2x10, using Jensen Neo speakers, thereby keeping the weight manageable, but do I ever miss that E120 sound!

Thanks for the reply! Very much appreciated!!

 

[39martind18]

Thanks for the reply! Very much appreciated!!

Yer weclom!

 

[buddyboy]

I use a a friend's original BF Deluxe Reverb, equipped with an E120, at practice. It's one of the best amps I've ever used for the style of music we do, namely 60's-70's honky tonk. Loud, big and punchy. Turn the reverb up high, plug in a Telecaster, crank it and go!

 

[Blue Bill]

I love the JBLE120s and the EV12L big-magnet speakers in a DR. It's my favorite setup. Super punchy and clear. Takes any pedal you can throw at it. No worries about blowing the speaker, your ears will melt first.

You may need to swivel the reverb transformer out of the way to get it in, but they do fit into that ammp without any major mods. Have fun, watch your ears!

 

[JohnnyKRed]

I use a a friend's original BF Deluxe Reverb, equipped with an E120, at practice. It's one of the best amps I've ever used for the style of music we do, namely 60's-70's honky tonk. Loud, big and punchy. Turn the reverb up high, plug in a Telecaster, crank it and go!

Great to hear!! Thanks!!

 

[JohnnyKRed]

I love the JBLE120s and the EV12L big-magnet speakers in a DR. It's my favorite setup. Super punchy and clear. Takes any pedal you can throw at it. No worries about blowing the speaker, your ears will melt first.

You may need to swivel the reverb transformer out of the way to get it in, but they do fit into that ammp without any major mods. Have fun, watch your ears!

Thanks for your thoughts on that! Much appreciated!!

I am inspired by the tones of Jerry Garcia, Frank Zappa, Jeb Puryear, Mike Bloomfield, Clarence White, and Trey Anastasio, to name a few. So I do have a Tele with a b-bender that also has two 54 style Strat pickups to round out the Tele bridge pickup.

Hopefully the JBL E120 will be a really fun addition to my rig.

 

[GotA24Fretter]

I have an orange D120F in my 1969. Sounds great. Heavy and someone had to cut 4 of the studs off to fit it.

No need to cut the studs. The studs themselves are specialty thread with a machine thread that transitions to a coarse wood thread. They can be backed out with a jam nut and removed from the grill cloth side without needing to remove anything else.

Alternatively if you have a right angle ratcheting screwdriver you can just loosen them through the speaker hole.

 

[chezdeluxe]

I have a DRRI with a JBL K120 (the alnico model after the D120 and before the ceramic E120)

Perfect clean sounds but heavy.

No need to remove any studs.

 

[Jasonpatrick]

No need to cut the studs. The studs themselves are specialty thread with a machine thread that transitions to a coarse wood thread. They can be backed out with a jam nut and removed from the grill cloth side without needing to remove anything else.

Alternatively if you have a right angle ratcheting screwdriver you can just loosen them through the speaker hole.

Word, yeah I swear every single fender I’ve seen just had em cut off. But hey. If they just back out then why not.

 

[Jon S.]

I still have a K120 in one of my Sound Scaper Productions (SSP) 1X12 Hard Trucker style cab, and D120 in my FYD JG (Jerry Garcia) Special Reverb 1X12 combo. But I removed and sold the E120 from my other SSP 1X12 cab. It was both a boat anchor and, I felt, not at its best unless pummeled at a volume far above anything I could reasonably play at. I replaced it with a Celestion Neo Copperback. The Copperback, I'll admit, sounds more EV to me than JBL. But it weighs 4 lbs versus the 18 or so lbs. of the E120. This is just my personal experience - YMMV.

 

[JohnnyKRed]

I still have a K120 in one of my Sound Scaper Productions (SSP) 1X12 Hard Trucker style cab, and D120 in my FYD JG (Jerry Garcia) Special Reverb 1X12 combo. But I removed and sold the E120 from my other SSP 1X12 cab. It was both a boat anchor and, I felt, not at its best unless pummeled at a volume far above anything I could reasonably play at. I replaced it with a Celestion Neo Copperback. The Copperback, I'll admit, sounds more EV to me than JBL. But it weighs 4 lbs versus the 18 or so lbs. of the E120. This is just my personal experience - YMMV.

Ah interesting. Thanks! I debated holding out for a K120 but found the extra cost and more limited availability to be a barrier to me getting into the JBL world. So you found the K or D were quite a bit better for tone and practicality? I figured I would start with the more accessible E120 and then work towards a K or D if it’s moving me in the right direction.

 

[Jon S.]

Ah interesting. Thanks! I debated holding out for a K120 but found the extra cost and more limited availability to be a barrier to me getting into the JBL world. So you found the K or D were quite a bit better for tone and practicality? I figured I would start with the more accessible E120 and then work towards a K or D if it’s moving me in the right direction.

This is hard to explain. You really have to hear it. But in summary, my experience is the D and K speakers are voiced quite differently. Both sound great but the D has a unique, almost piezo-like chime to it whereas the K is more balanced overall. The E speakers sound much closer to the Ks than the Ds. You can think of the Es as essentially JBL's take on a high power K.

If you dig your new E, I'm confident you'll love the K as much or more, but I wouldn't say you'll automatically love a D though I think you probably would. (Note: A DR puts out around 22 watts - IMO, that's not enough to drive an E for best tone. This is why you'll read of some people calling Es "harsh sounding" - because they've never pushed one like JBL designed it to be - but then listen to Jerry Garcia's sweet tone pummeling his Es with 2,000 watt solid state McIntosh power amps and there's not a hint of harshness to them.)

If weight's an issue (it is for me - bad back), the wild card is the Celestion Neo Copperback. I see from your profile you're in Canada so unfortunately you can't drop by my place in Virginia. If you could, we could A-B together my two SSP cabs with the K and the Copperback. As an inveterate Deadhead, I admit, the K is the richer sounding transducer of the two, but I find the Copperback surprisingly in its ballpark.

Additional note: since taking these pics, I sold the McIntosh MC50 and FYD 2U preamp. Now I'm driving the pair of SSP 1X12s using the 2U rack on the right consisting of a Sarno Music Solutions (SMS) Classic Preamp with JG Mods into a Carvin DCM200L power amp. Lightweight and toneful!

 

[JohnnyKRed]

This is hard to explain. You really have to hear it. But in summary, my experience is the D and K speakers are voiced quite differently. Both sound great but the D has a unique, almost piezo-like chime to it whereas the K is more balanced overall. The E speakers sound much closer to the Ks than the Ds. You can think of the Es as essentially JBL's take on a high power K.

If you dig your new E, I'm confident you'll love the K as much or more, but I wouldn't say you'll automatically love a D though I think you probably would. (Note: A DR puts out around 22 watts - IMO, that's not enough to drive an E for best tone. This is why you'll read of some people calling Es "harsh sounding" - because they've never pushed one like JBL designed it to be - but then listen to Jerry Garcia's sweet tone pummeling his Es with 2,000 watt solid state McIntosh power amps and there's not a hint of harshness to them.)

If weight's an issue (it is for me - bad back), the wild card is the Celestion Neo Copperback. I see from your profile you're in Canada so unfortunately you can't drop by my place in Virginia. If you could, we could A-B together my two SSP cabs with the K and the Copperback. As an inveterate Deadhead, I admit, the K is the richer sounding transducer of the two, but I find the Copperback surprisingly in its ballpark.

Additional note: since taking these pics, I sold the McIntosh MC50 and FYD 2U preamp. Now I'm driving the pair of SSP 1X12s using the 2U rack on the right consisting of a Sarno Music Solutions (SMS) Classic Preamp with JG Mods into a Carvin DCM200L power amp. Lightweight and toneful!

Wow thanks for taking the time to reply! Great info! Would you say the K would be a better fit in a deluxe reverb with regards to the amp being able to power the speaker better? Similarly, the copper back?? Thanks again!!

 

[Jon S.]

Wow thanks for taking the time to reply! Great info! Would you say the K would be a better fit in a deluxe reverb with regards to the amp being able to power the speaker better? Similarly, the copper back?? Thanks again!!

Actually, for a DR, a D would probably be the best fit all 4 possibilities (D, K, E and Copperback).

 

[schmee]

Hi! I have been after JBL speaker tone and finally settled on trying an 12 inch, 8 ohm E120 in my deluxe reverb reissue. Ordered it.

Anyone have experience with this combination? Curious about installation issues, weight/size considerations on the amp itself, and tone.

Thanks!!

John

A bit too sterile sounding for me, JBL's have this "plink" thing going on in reaction to picking that bugs me (I can't think of how else to describe it!) but overall not a huge thing, you may like the speaker. Heavy too. I've had many JBL D series in 10-12-15" versions and a few E series. Never have been my go-to for guitar in the end though.
But at the same time..... there is a part of the sound that grows on you!

The JBL combo I liked best was a D130F used with a 4 ohm Bassman head for a couple of years of gigging. It sounded very good, and very loud.
I guess they are really only 35 watt speakers though. Peavey used JBL's early on and blew them too often , that's why they eventually started making the Black Widow speakers themselves. Ditto for Dick Dale, he blew the JBL's and Fender requested JBL make them more robust.

I had a vintage 65 Deluxe Reverb that I discovered the studs were not long enough to mount a D120 I bought. At best I could get one thread of the nut on. I think maybe the JBL cork gasket was too thick.

When it comes to heavy duty speakers, I like the EV's a lot.

 

[Jon S.]

Different strokes for different folks - I find EVs more sterile than JBLs, not that sterile itself means much (see below!).

And re: sterile, I posted this earlier and I'll repeat it now.

E-series JBLs are high power speakers. Don't run 15-22 watts into one and expect it to sound anywhere near its best. This, and the weight, are why I eventually sold mine.

Also, sterile is an intrinsically ambiguous term. I occasionally run into guitarists who don't like Teles who dis them as shrill, sterile, whatever. Myself, I love mine - it's not sterile: it tells the truth.

JBLs also tell the truth.