4X12 Wiring Emergency

[Benji2204]

Yikes,

I just installed four brand new Celestions (X pattern of Classic 80s and V30s) wired them up series/ parallel as per the diagram on Celestion's site, but I'm only getting sound from the right hand pair of speakers. I've checked for blown speakers with my ohm meter set across the tabs of the speakers and they all check out.

How can I check the continuity of the circuit to find if (and where) I might have any cold solder joints? I have a show the day after tomorrow and need to take care of this ASAP. Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks
-Benji

[SlyFoxx]

Re: 4X12 Wiring Emergency

Hummm...not sure. But does the cab have any switches? Stereo/mono...something like that? My 4x12 has a switch that lets you just run a pair instead of all 4.

[Benji2204]

Re: 4X12 Wiring Emergency

Thanks for the reply, but no my cab has only one jack, no switches. Just a mono '74 Marshall cab.

[Benji2204]

Re: 4X12 Wiring Emergency

Turns out one of my speakers was bad from the factory, at least that's what I'm assuming. Does anybody know if that red goopy glue should be spilling out a little from the edges of the spider?

[Danglin' Fury]

Re: 4X12 Wiring Emergency

If you have a volt meter, on the ohms setting there should be a little speaker icon, select that value ant touch the leads together. If it makes a tone, then put it on either end of the wire/circuit. If you have no tone, you have no continuity and you should test all the wires like this.

[That90'sGuy]

Re: 4X12 Wiring Emergency

V30s/CL80s are a great mix, you'll love 'em!

Provided they're all 16 ohm speakers, if you did series/parallel wiring correctly, from the hot tip to the ground ring should be 16 ohms. Don't hook up the cabinet, just take out an ohmeter and if you see the full 16 ohms, you'll know you have not only a complete circuit, but it's also wired the way you'd expect (so you don't blow anything when hooked up to a power amp).

The idea is this (I'm sure you know all this, but it bears repeating):

2 16 ohm V30s in parallel: 16/2 = 8 ohms output (when in parallel, the ohmage gets cut down by how many speakers there are... if you had 4 16 ohm speakers in parallel, you'd get a 4 ohms output.... 16/4 = 4)

2 16 ohm CL80s in parallel: 16/2 = 8 ohms output

Put the two sets together in series and the ohms add up: 8 (from the 2 V30s)+ 8 (from the 2 CL80s) = 16

If you're not sure what parallel is, it's wiring up terminals "+" on one speaker to "+" on another and then wiring up one "-" to another "-" on another speaker. It goes right down the line, like polarity all matched together.

Series is going from the "+" of one speaker to the "-" of another (or vice versa).

They each have their pros and cons, but for a general guide, that should point you in the right direction for what you're looking to accomplish.