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Photo Page 12

Guitar Speaker Cabinets

L410H

L140

L80/100/L140 and B80/B100

Club 10

L610

1.1: Sound City L410H 4x10 Cabinet Front View
A reasonably rare and exceptionally clean DMI-era 4x10 speaker cabinet. The "H" in the model name stood for "heavy duty" as well as the cab's somewhat higher 120W rating. The "L" stands for Lead, which means this cabinet was built for Guitar applications primarily (see also the "DMI-Era Catalog"). Note the offset-right small plastic logo, the light-brown grill cloth with gold metal trim, the metal corners, and the square front edges, all of which were characteristic of the DMI-era guitar and bass cabinets.   Photos Home Page

1.2: Sound City L410H 4x10 Cabinet Front View
Same cabinet as above, but with the grill removed. Note the front-loaded 10-inch speakers and lack of cabinet porting.   Photos Home Page

1.3: 10-Inch Eminence Speaker from L410H 4x10 Cabinet
The "67" indicates Eminence, and the "plug" magnet design is suggestive of AlNiCo.   Photos Home Page

1.4: Sound City L410H 4x10 Cabinet Rear View   Photos Home Page

(Photos of the 50 Plus head below are shown on Photo Page 3.)

1.5: Sound City L410H 4x10 Cabinet Serial Number Label
Note the two-digit prefix "76" in the serial number, which suggests this cab dates from 1976, and which is definitely in the DMI era. This serial numbering convention is consistent with other products from this era (from ~1973 on).   Photos Home Page

1.1: Sound City L140 4x12 Cabinet Front View
Model L140, 160W, later Dallas Arbiter- era, ~1970--1972, with original grill cloth, metal trim around the grill frame, grey vein around the cabinet, and small plastic logo. Cab is in good condition considering its age. Note the centered logo, which was correct for this era, but offset-logo versions do pop up occasionally.   Photos Home Page

1.2: Sound City L140 4x12 Cabinet Front View w/o Grill   Photos Home Page

1.3: Sound City L140 4x12 Cabinet Rear View
Note that the original silver vein appears to have been replaced with the thicker white vein typically seen on Hiwatt cabs of this era, but this could just be a trick of the light from the photo/flash. Both the rear ID plate and the input cups appear to be original.   Photos Home Page

2.1: Sound City L140 4x12 Cabinet Front View
Later Dallas Arbiter-era L140 4x12 cab with original front-loaded 12-inch Fanes (c1971--1974).   Photos Home Page

2.2 Sound City L140 4x12 Cabinet, Fane Magnet-Side View
Rear of one Fane showing the characteristic "Sound City Power Speaker" labels.   Photos Home Page

3.1: Sound City L140 4x12 Cabinet Front View w/o Grill
Appears to be a DMI-era L140 cab (but could also be a B140 as these cabs were identical) with four square-magnet Eminence 12s ("Sound City Power Speakers"). The speaker codes indicate a manufacture date of December 1973. This cab, and another just like it (as well as a Hiwatt DR103 and a Stratocaster), used to belong to the late Tommy Bolin and are now owned by a gentleman who is a friend of the Bolin family and who plans to preserve all this historic equipment.   Photos Home Page

3.2: Sound City L140 4x12 Cabinets (et al.) Front View   Photos Home Page

1.1: Sound City L80/L100/L140 4x12 Cabinet Front View
A very clean 4x12 cab from an earlier Dallas Arbiter era. It could be either a L80, an L100, or an L140, but there is no serial number label to verify this to a certainty. Note the sparkling silver-gray grill cloth and centered white-on-black logo, which are indicative of the earlier Dallas Arbiter era when the L80 and L100 cabs were being built.   Photos Home Page

1.2: Sound City L80/L100/L140 4x12 Cabinet Rear View
Note the single input jack and removeable rear baffle board, which indicates rear-loaded speakers and an earlier Dallas Arbiter era.   Photos Home Page

1.3: Sound City L80/L100/L140 4x12 Cabinet Interior View
F-f-f-four F-F-F-Fanes, of course. Note the "Sound City Power Speaker" labels, which were common on this era's speakers. Note also the use of plywood instead of particle board (which came later), the removeable rear baffle board and rear-loaded speakers, and especially, the lack of ports. Ports were common in the later Dallas Arbiter-era and DMI-era 4x12 front-loaded cabinets.   Photos Home Page

1.4: Sound City L80/L100/L140 4x12 Cabinet, Close-Up of Smaller SC Label on Fane   Photos Home Page

2.1: Sound City B80/B100 Cabinet Front View
Another very clean 4x12 cab from an earlier Dallas Arbiter era. Probably a B80 or B100, because of the rear port (see Photo 2.2 following), but there is no serial number label to verify this to a certainty. Note the sparkling silver-gray grill cloth and the offset-center-left white-on-black logo.   Photos Home Page

2.2: Sound City B80/B100 Cabinet Rear Oblique View
The spring-loaded, hinged "door-knocker" handles and rear horizontal bass port were indicative of earlier DA period cabs. Judging by the ragged Tolex, it looks as if this cab has been dragged quite a bit. You can see where the rear label used to be (upper-right-hand corner).    Photos Home Page

2.3: Sound City B80/B100 Cabinet Open Rear View
Fanes! Again, note the "Sound City Power Speaker" labels and plywood construction.   Photos Home Page

1.1: Sound City Club 10 2x10 Guitar/PA Cabinets Front View
These cabinets are a bit of an anomoly. A 2x10 cab, called the "Club 10," is shown in the DMI catalog, and an unnamed 2x10 cab (for use with the Sound City 20) is shown in the Dallas Arbiter catalog on its PA pages. The cabs shown in the following photo have the top-mounted handles, top-centered logos, reddish-brown grill cloth*, and gold grill-frame trim used on DMI-era cabs, all of which which suggest these are Club 10 cabinets.   Photos Home Page
*See "Raw Speakers, Grill Cloth, Tolex, and Logos" on Photo Page 14.

1.2: Sound City Club 10 2x10 Guitar/PA Cabinet Rear View
The following photo clearly shows that the two 10-inch (possibly AlNiCo) speakers in this cab are rear loaded, which is specified in the DMI catalog for the Club 10 cabs. Also, note the "67" on the magnet of the right speaker, which means Eminence (in EIA code). You can also just make out "72," which means this speaker was made in 1972 (also in EIA code). Assuming these speakers are stock, I'd say it's a safe bet these are Club 10 cabs made in the early DMI era.   Photos Home Page

1.1: Sound City L610 6x10 Cabinet Front View w/o Grill
Six 10-inch Eminence speakers were standard in this somewhat rare DMI-era speaker cabinet. (See the photo 1.3: 10-Inch Eminence Speaker, above; please note that until I receive information about another 10-inch Eminence speaker that might have been available, my assumption is that this model was the stock 10-inch speaker in the L610.) Also, the metal corners and square cabinet front edges indicate this cab is from the DMI era. The owner of this cabinet has replaced the stock Eminences with the following: from top to bottom... two 35-watt Jensen Classics... two 35-watt Jensen Mods... and two 50-watt Jenson Mods.    Photos Home Page

1.2: Sound City L610 6x10 Cabinet Rear Label
This photo shows a good example of the Sound City serial numbering that was used starting in approximately 1973. (I say "approximately" only because I've yet to see such a serial number with a two-digit prefix lower than "73.") According to the DMI catalog (see Catalog Pages), this cab was also available in a "Heavy Duty" model designated the L610H. And as was the case for many Sound City products during this Dallas Arbiter-to-DMI transitional period, this cab was made in either England or in Mahwah, NJ. Finally, for a diagram of how this 6x10 cabinet might have been wired, see the "Wiring Diagrams" page.  Photos Home Page

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