Blown Black Widow - What now?

Tom Palmer · From: East Wenatchee, WA USA (deceased)

I have a blown Black Widow in my Nashville 400. Do I order a replacement from Peavey, get it reconed, and if reconed where? I called a local place about reconing and he wants $120.00 and needs it for a couple of weeks. Your advice will be appreciated.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Try Orange County Speaker - look them up on the web.

Nick Reed · From: Russellville, KY USA

Just get on ebay and find you a replacement

Jerry Roller · From: Van Buren, Arkansas USA

Tom, I'm not sure how you determine which part of the speaker is blown but Peavey is the only speaker I know that you can buy a new basket for. No reconing necessary, just replace the basket which has the cone in it for around $60.00. Those bolts on the back attach the basket assembly. It seems like Peavey has thought of everything. Contact Mike and he can lead you in the right direction.
Jerry

Tom Palmer · From: East Wenatchee, WA USA (deceased)

Thanks to both of you. Larry e-mailed me and filled me in about the removable baskets. I have seen it discussed but never quite understood what players were talking about. Now I have a better idea of how to approach this. I do appreciate your input. - Tom

Mike Brown · From: Meridian, Mississippi USA

The days of reconing a speaker have been over for me for years now. It takes about 5-10 minutes to replace a Peavey Black Widow or Scorion speaker basket. If you are at a gig, you could change the basket out during your break! It's always a wise idea to have a spare speaker with you at a gig, but how many of us actually do that? Not me as I have never blown a BW speaker during a gig.

The 15" BW replacement baskets carry a U.S. MSRP of $89.99 and most authorized Peavey dealers will give you a break on the price as well. How much time and money does it require to recone a speaker these days anyway? It's way easier to replace a basket than to recone. The Black Widow and Scorpion Series both have replacable baskets.

If you have further questions, contact me toll free at 1-877-732-8391, ext. 1180.

Mike Brown
Peavey Electronics Corporation

Jerry Roller · From: Van Buren, Arkansas USA

Well, there you go. Mike's right on time.
Jerry

Mike Brown · From: Meridian, Mississippi USA

Just tryin' to help. The item number for the 1501-4 ohm BW replacement basket is #00027020 and carries a U.S. MSRP of $89.99.

Mike Brown

Herb Steiner · From: Briarcliff TX 78669, pop. 2,064

I know that there are JBL devotees that will accept nothing other, but the Black Widow is the all-around, all-things-considered, best steel guitar speaker on the market today IMHO. Not only for its great sound and power handling capabilities, but also for its reasonable price and convenience.

I've had BW's in Peavey amps, of course, but also Evans amps (recommended by Ed Buffington no less), Webb amps, and Sho-Bud amps, all to my satisfaction. On the rare occasions (two that I can think of in 20+ years) I've had to replace the basket, the job took 10 minutes tops, and that included turning on the compressor to blow dust out of the crevices of the magnet frame.

Peavey should be in some steel technology Hall of Fame for the development of this workhorse speaker.

------------------
Herb's Steel Guitar Pages
Texas Steel Guitar Association

Stephen Gambrell · From: Over there

Just to add an "amen' to what Herb said. Peavey's built some good gear over the years, but the BW speaker is in a class by itself!
And Tom, just HOW LOUD were you playing that push-pull to blow up a Black Widow?????

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

Excellent point, Stephen! I'd hook a cheap speaker up to the amp or I'd have a tech check it out before I'd throw another $95 into it.

A shorted transistor (not an uncommon failure) will cook a new speaker in just a few seconds!

Tyler Hall · From: Mt. Juliet, TN

Never mind...

D-10 Fessenden, Nashville 112, Session 500, Goodrich LDR

[This message was edited by Tyler Hall on 02 February 2006 at 06:35 AM.]

Mike Brown · From: Meridian, Mississippi USA

Let me add to the comments about the BW speaker. To determine just why the BW failed in the first place, simply examine the voice coil windings when the magnet is removed. If the copper windings are dark in color or actually there is burn smell(yes, stick your nose to the vc windings!), this means that the coil has heated pretty good which caused the discoloration. This is caused by distortion or clipping which is sometimes called the lack of headroom(available clean power). BEING ABLE TO DISASSEMBLE A SPEAKER IN THIS MANNER IS ANOTHER ADVANTAGE OF THE BLACK WIDOW/SCORPION SPEAKERS, BECAUSE YOU CANNOT DO THIS WITH OTHER BRANDS.

You can also determine if the magnet rubbed the voice coil windings or clean out the trash in the gap of the magnet or if the pole piece is out of line.

Mike Brown
Peavey USA

[This message was edited by Mike Brown on 14 December 2005 at 07:28 PM.]

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

Man, I wish I'd known this a few months ago. I sold a bass cab with a blown Black Widow really cheap because I didn't want to recone it. If I'd known it was a do-it-yourself proposition I likely would have kept it.

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Mike - a quick technical question on replacing these baskets.

The old (ser # 0026xx) Spider Web 4-ohm BW in my LTD 400 has some voice coil rub. I took out the basket, carefully cleaned the gap, tried it back in, no soap. The speaker is functional, but the coil rub is audible.

My buddy Dave Sarge has a spare basket which I tried, but even it rubs a bit. Then we looked on the box and it said 8 ohms. The question is this: Is it possible that the extra voice coil windings in the 8-ohm speaker are enough to make this rub, or is there probably something else wrong? I can think of two possibilities - 1. the replacement basket has an issue (probably unlikely), or 2. the magnet around the gap has warped in time. This speaker must be at least 25 years old, and has had a lot of use. The amp very well could have gotten jarred hard in the back of a van - who knows what can happen at 3am with band members throwing equipment around?

I'd like to keep the amp as original as possible, but I don't want to throw away good money on a basket if it won't help. I can always just get a whole new BW, and maybe that's the smart move. There's a JBL K-130 in there now - sounds fine with a Fender Dual Showman, but I think the BW sounds much better in the LTD 400.

Thanks in advance.

ps - the NV 400 cover arrived, fits perfectly on the LTD 400, as you said. Thanks.

Jerry Roller · From: Van Buren, Arkansas USA

Mike, I would be very interested to know if the basket can be replaced on the old "Spider Web" Black Widow. It seems that I read or heard they were not available or changeable. Please clear this for me.
Jerry

Mike Brown · From: Meridian, Mississippi USA

The only thing that can really become defective on a BW or Scorpion speaker is;
A-overpowering or underpowering the voice coil, or
b-the magnet becomes demagnetized(very,very rare, or
c-the voice coil becomes out of round and scraps the side of the magnet pole piece and
d-of course the glue can become loose around the spider or surround, or
e) the tinsel leads become loose.

I may think of other reasons later, but it is late and I've had a difficult day. But, keep the questions coming.

Dave, the windings on a 4 ohm or 8 ohm basket will not make the speaker rub as they use the same magnet structure. In other words, the gap is the same for both speakers. Here's another bit of trivia for you; the magnet is common for an 18", 15" or 12" four or eight ohm BW or Scorpion. In other words, the same magnet fits both speaker sizes.

If a speaker(any speaker is dropped hard)there is a possibility that the pole piece in the magnet can shift, causing the the voice coil to rub and eventually fail.

The original Spider/Peavey flat magnet of the late '70's/early '80's will not fit properly on a new basket. Other than that, all BW's should retrofit other BW's. But, BW magnets and Scorpion magnets will not interchange.

My question is, "why haven't other speaker manufacturers used this design"? My answer is that they want you to purchase a complete replacement speaker.

[This message was edited by Mike Brown on 14 December 2005 at 08:13 PM.]

[This message was edited by Mike Brown on 14 December 2005 at 08:16 PM.]

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Mike, that answers my question completely. This is an old flat-magnet spider web BW. Looks like I need a whole new speaker. That's what I was expecting to hear - I didn't see why the 8-ohm voice coil should be wider - the windings seem to be in one layer. But I just had to ask. I certainly got my moneys worth out of that speaker, and it still works, but I expect it got shoved one too many times (and probably not by me). Thanks.

Tom Palmer · From: East Wenatchee, WA USA (deceased)

Please close. Thanks to everyone who responded and a special thanks to Peavey for making a speaker replacement so user friendly. It was a breeze after I received all the information. - Tom Palmer

Eric West · From: Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.

I too have a failed attempt at getting a new basket for an old BW 15". Hopefully since I used it once, it wasn't damaged in the attempt.

Now I at least have a hell for stout refrigerator magnet..

EJL

Mike Brown · From: Meridian, Mississippi USA

Or, you can use it to pick up nails in your yard!

Jamie Danter · Posted 1 Feb 2006 11:03 am

BW speaker parts source

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