I never thought there would be a time when I would admit that a 12″ speaker would work for pedal steel guitar, but it has happened!
There is a new speaker out called the 112E from Peavey. Well, it ain’t new really, it has been out there for over a year. These little things are marvelous. They are about two thirds the size of a regular 15″ speaker cabinet and they weigh about half as much. You can crank up the volume and blow the walls down. The bass response is massive.
Most of us have had these speakers laying around for awhile and didn’t use them. They sounded… funny. Then we finally figured out why. You cannot maintain the same amp settings we use for a 15″ speaker. 12″ speakers naturally produce more high’s, so you have to back off of the treble quite a bit. But when you do the bass end comes up and they are still clear as a bell.
The typical changes I have had to make on my Profex II settings are as follows;
15″ Speaker 12″ Speaker
Lo 45 50
Mfreq 750 780
Mid -43 -50
Hi 9 -34
I use a Goodrich 14B volume pedal though, which is the same as having a Goodrich Matchbox in the line and it does affect the treble. Your settings might be a lot different than these if you aren’t using a Matchbox.
We have to tell the truth here. These speakers were first designed by the Pacific Speaker Company. They still make a version of it. The Peavey guys heard them and at our request, made one that would work just as well in this small cabinet.
As of right now Paul Franklin, Hal Rugg, Johnny Cox, myself and I don’t know how many others are using them. They are amazing. We have finally got our gear down to a size that we can carry. We have downsized the effects units to a one rack space Profex II, a one rack space digital amplifier and two speakers that weigh about 20 lbs. each. For a time there it looked like we were all going to have to buy trucks to haul our gear to a free gig 450 miles from the house on Saturday night.
That in itself is a question.
Doesn’t it bother you that you will take off from work early, on your wife’s birthday, load up your steel, your two amps or speakers, your effects rack, a packa seat and drive a hundred miles each way to go play on a Saturday night in a band that plays wrong chords, out of tune and possibly with a girl singer or two, all for the price of gas money or less…. sometimes for free? That would not be so bad if we didn’t lie about it the very next day and brag about how much fun we had. You do it, you have done it and you will do it again and you still don’t know why.
Jeff Newman