JTM45 into 4 G12M 20w Celestions...Opinions?

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emmjaydubya
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JTM45 into 4 G12M 20w Celestions...Opinions?

Post by emmjaydubya » Sun Mar 25, 2012 12:46 pm

Have an opportunity to aquire an original old Marshall bottom from a friend with the impossible to find G12M 20 watters. It needs restoration, as it's covered in Ozite instead of tolex and a has a metal grill. :palm: Anyway the resoration doesn't scare me at all, as I have a few under my belt already. Even contemplating the stupidly expensive EC pinstripe grillcloth, depending on how the speakers date. I'm just not sure about being able to actually use it for fear of trashing the speakers!

I built a JTM45 last year which I dearly love and I play it out live alot. I'm not shy about cranking it, sounds best around to me around 8 1/2 and it doesn't have much headroom at all, squashes really quickly and isn't half as loud as my Matchless combo. I'm wondering if 4 vintage 20 watt Celestions would be safe to use? I'm one of those guys that thinks gear should be played, not put in a museum but of course I don't want to ruin them either. What do you guys think?

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Re: JTM45 into 4 G12M 20w Celestions...Opinions?

Post by Scumback Speakers » Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:45 pm

I run my Trainwreck Express clone (36w) and my 1987x 50w Metro clone into my 20w equipped 4x 12 from 67 all the time at volumes from 6-9. You should be good to go!
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Re: JTM45 into 4 G12M 20w Celestions...Opinions?

Post by neikeel » Sun Mar 25, 2012 2:57 pm

I have an early 68 pinstripe A with 20watters, narrow metal handles etc.

Sounds sublime with a JTM45 and a 50 watter or JTM45/100 with a couple of clicks down on an attenuator (to be safe).
Neil

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Re: JTM45 into 4 G12M 20w Celestions...Opinions?

Post by emmjaydubya » Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:36 pm

Just the two guys I wanted to hear from! Well that is what I was hoping to hear because I'm really excited about getting it. Never played through 20 watters before but I have heard this cab a long time ago, he's had it since the early eighties and hasn't played through it in almost 20. I just hope the speakers are in good shape.

I know I've read this on the forum somewhere, but what are the differences in the two handle sizes (narrow and wide) and when did the transition occur? I figured this would be another clue to help date the cab besides the speakers and help me decide between basketweave and pinstripe.

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Re: JTM45 into 4 G12M 20w Celestions...Opinions?

Post by Scumback Speakers » Sun Mar 25, 2012 3:43 pm

There's no rhyme or reason to the metal handles dating cabs, sir. Neikeel says his is an early 68 pinstripe with narrow flange metal handles.

I've got a slant from early 68 (or late 67 since my date codes are late December and early January on my 20w) but it's the basketweave cloth, and it has narrow flange metal handles. I just picked up an empty straight cab with the narrow flange metal handles and it's a BW as well.

The basic guideline, since there are no absolutes, is that the pinstripe and narrow flange metal handles ran through early 68, but BW had already made it's appearance before (obviously since my slant is early 68 at worst). All of this stuff overlapped and there are no hard start/stop dates for build materials.
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Re: JTM45 into 4 G12M 20w Celestions...Opinions?

Post by BaronGreenback » Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:08 pm

What you need to watch out for with 20 watt speakers is they are not always what they seem. From my own experience speakers from mid 68 with EA, FA, & GA stamps usually use the 20 watt/15 Ohm label but would have had a little '25' sticker over the top of the 20. Those stickers are almost always missing, so be careful of that. Usually there is a bit of sticker residue there as evidence.

HA and onwards usually have the 25 watt/16 Ohm label.

DA and earlier, usually no sticker residue on the labels.

Before Jim jumps in with his oddities and rarer speaker models, Im talking about T1221's here and T1511's.

The thin to wide handle transition was roughly around June 68. I recently picked up a cab with FA stamped speakers and it had the thin handles. A friend picked one up also with FA stamped speakers and it had the wider handles. The date codes were only one week apart.

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Re: JTM45 into 4 G12M 20w Celestions...Opinions?

Post by Scumback Speakers » Sun Mar 25, 2012 4:39 pm

LOL Baron...I am way too busy for that. Over 120 speakers got ordered in the last four days, I haven't got the time to chime in, correct or disprove anyone! Sorry! LOL
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Re: JTM45 into 4 G12M 20w Celestions...Opinions?

Post by emmjaydubya » Sun Mar 25, 2012 6:17 pm

Thanks for the info fellas, I'll look for the letter codes and sticker residue for sure...

We can all agree that dating these suckers is difficult at best. At least the speakers will provide a ballpark (I'm confident that they are original to the cab, but can never be positive), and I suppose the only way to verify correct grillcloth for a particular cab is if there is a scrap left on the edge of the baffle. Beyond that I guess it's up to me to decide on spending $40 for basketweave or $500 for pinstripe! Haha can't even believe that I've considered it! Not to mention that I've thought about giving Music Ground my money for a 'correct' Marshall logo. :palm: Somebody slap me!

I will hopefully see the cab next weekend and play and inspect it, I'll post pics and datecodes, cones #s, strip or triangles at the baffle bottom, etc. Nothing wrong with a little extra documentation...

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