Speakers for a DIY 4x10 to go with '72 Fender Bassman 50

[jgimbel]

Last year over Christmas I built a 1x12" cab with my grandfather, and it sounds amazing. I just got a 1972 silverface Fender Bassman 50 which sounds really nice through the 1x12" (which is 8 ohm, the Bassman is 4 ohm). I got the amp to use for both guitar and bass (I use somewhat guitarish sounding bass sounds generally), but also to play out, so I'd like to build a new cab to go with it. When I bought the amp I tried it with a 2x10", 2x12", and 2x15". Of those I liked the 2x10" which had speakers somewhat like what's in my cab, which is a WGS Veteran 30 (sounds amazing!). However I really love the sound of a guitar through a 4x10 (those tweed Bassman reissues are amazing, as are the Super Reverbs).

I've used the search and found good info on speakers, but I thought I might see if anyone has recommendations for what to use specifically with a Bassman. Budget IS an issue. I got my WGS used for $45, which is a good price for me. I know I'm pushing it, but I don't have a ton to swing. The best option I've found so far is the Weber Alnico Sig 10S. I've seen it recommended specifically for Bassman amps, and at $40 each that works for me. They're 8 ohm, I'm not quite sure how to go about wiring four 8 ohm speakers for a 4 ohm load, is that possible? I'm very good with soldering, I just haven't had to wire a multiple-speaker cab before. FYI I'm planning on building the cab similar to Super Reverb/tweed Bassman dimensions. It'll be used mostly for clean electric guitar (strat, tele, jaguar). Are there and other recommendations on a lower budget you might have over the Alnico Signature 10S?

[calaverasgrandes]

Your amp should be good with an 8 ohm load as well.
Just wire the 8 ohm speakers in parallel first. So that you have two set of eight ohm speakers, each wired in paralle with its brother to make a 4 ohm load. Now wire those two lo0ad in series for 8 ohms.
You could of course wire it series to 16 ohm, then wire those in parallel to be 8 ohm. Sounds the same to me either way.
It is easy to do bu hard to describe on the internets without a picture.
I'm sure there is some wiki or somethign out there that details this.

[Mudcloth]

You can't wire four 8 ohm speakers to be 4 ohm. Series/parallel will get you 8 ohms, which is okay with a Bassman as they can handle it. My favorite gigging rig is my 68 Bassman head through my 1x12 Celestion Vintage 30.
Ideally, you'd want a 4 ohm load for it, though.

Look up series/parallel wiring. It makes sense when you see it and isn't hard to do.

Four 16 ohm speakers will get you to a 4 ohm load [parallel], as would four 4 ohm speakers [series/parallel]. Since you won't find any 1 ohm speakers, series wiring will not be an option.

Anywho, if you can find a 4x10 16 ohm cab with good speakers in it [Marshall comes to mind], you can re-wire it to 4 ohm by wiring it in parallel.
Those Weber speakers will sound great.
Hope this helps.

[jgimbel]

Yeah I figured series/parallel would be the way to go, I've read about it before, but I haven't been too worried about it, knowing that the amp sounds great at 8 ohm so that'll be fine if I can't do a direct match. My main concern right now is what speakers to get. I haven't found too much that seems like a better fit than the Weber Signature 10S, but I'm still open. Weber's got a deal going on until December 17 that all speakers are 10% off, which isn't much, but if it's the right speaker for me and happens to be on sale I'll jump on it. Just want to make sure I don't bite on it and then find out there's something a bit cheaper or for the same price that would be much better.

[jgimbel]

WGS 10" Veteran? http://wgs4.com/content/vet10

The WGS Veteran 30 I've got in the 1x12" sounds amazing, though that's part of WGS's "British" series, while the 10" is part of their American. For a Fender amp American of course sounds right, though I don't really know how much the name applies here. But they're about the same price as the Weber, plus they come in 16 ohm in addition to 8. Thoughts?

[kslight]

Well the original spec speaker for the 59 Bassman Reissues made in the 90s (as opposed to the currently made reissues...which use a Jensen) is an Eminence...this one specifically: http://angela.com/fenderspeaker108ohm30 ... lnico.aspx
At $65 a piece (shop around? I see these on Craigslist sometimes) its a little out of your budget perhaps but I have a 1990/1 59 Bassman Reissue that blows everyone away and it uses these speakers... And I also use my Bassman for bass and guitar work (and synth work), my main axe is a Fender Bass VI style guitar (tuned E-E an octave down from guitar, like a six string bass with guitar string spacing) and I can vouch that these speakers sound good for this purpose and have not blown.

[jgimbel]

Thank kslight. Yeah those seem sound-wise like a perfect fit, but yes they're definitely a bit out of my price range new, and I'm not sure I'd be able to find four of the same speaker used (I'm looking to have all the same speaker in this, I'll mess with varying them down the road). I'm wondering if this speaker is why people recommend the Weber as a possible replacement, they seem to be pretty similar except the watts. I'm thinking that might mean if I'm going to definitely buy new speakers maybe the Weber would be a better choice than the WGS.

[KoffeeKommando]

http://professional.celestion.com/guita ... t_swd.html

[biasvoltage]

+1 on the Weber Alnico Signiatures

I put a pair of Weber Alnico Sig 12s in a 60s open back 2x12 Vox extension cabinet and it is by far the best sounding cabinet I've ever owned. I use it with a 65 Bassman head and a Hiwatt 50. The Webers are also very light, which will be a plus when you stick 4 of them in a cabinet!