I've never heard of Gauss spekers

[rudutch]

http://grandrapids.craigslist.org/msg/1438595579.html

the do look heavy,
could you make a twin reverb weigh a hundred pounds wit these?

[Gravity Jim]

Not much history online... they were made in California back in the day, and pretty well known as a supplier of large, high-power coaxial speakers used in some high end studio monitors (the big soffit-mounted boys with 15" or 12" drivers).. there was a line of Guass monitors, and you'd see their coaxs in Altec boxes, etc.. Owned by JBL for a time, maybe by Electro-Voice for a while?

My pal Gary would know all about these... I'll ask him. They probably sound good, but they sure do look heavy.

[rudutch]

they make my EV "SRO" speakers look puny

[phantomman]

When Fender and JBL parted ways in the late '70s, Gauss was contracted to build high-end speakers for Fender's premium amps. The SP12 was used in the Twin Reverb while the SP15 became a staple in the Dual Showman Reverb and available as an upgrade for the 1 x 15 Vibrasonic combo. Indeed, they are a heavy piece of issue and like the JBLs that preceded them used massive alnico magnet structures. Tone-wise they sounded like a cross between a JBL and an EV.

HTH

(addendum)

These are not original to a Fender amp -- those built for FMI had orange frames and a black wrinkle finish on the magnet covers much like the D-120/130 JBLs that preceded them. They'll sound great assuming good condition. As for pushing a Twin Reverb's weight beyond 100 lbs, NO PROBLEM!

[thegeezer]

We used Gauss 15s in our PA back in the early 70s. they pushed a lot of air.
Jerry

[Gravity Jim]

I'm on the phone with Gary right now, and he actually visited the factory back in the early 80's, because the company he worked with back then was a Gauss dealer!

The model you're looking at 4281, which is nearly 30 years old. It features a dual spider voice-coil for crazy power handling and is an outrageous 400 WATTS RMS: insanely efficient so it will "bite your damn head off." Gary says they were way, way ahead of the tech of the time. The magnets are off the charts... and the weight of two of them actually pulled the baffle board out of a 60's Pro Reverb (the one that used to be mine). They are extremely high-quality, and Gary says that these could have easily spent the last 30 years in hard use without requiring a re-cone.

They will barely fit in a Twin, and Gary used them in stage monitors and FOH columns.... they were intended for that use, says Gary, and were not intended for guitar cabs, although they'd probably sound great.

But his first question is, "Are you thinking of bolting these into something that you would ever want to move?"

[rudutch]

it was more of a curiosity..
or course, it's craigslist - should I offer him $75?
(No, I am not serious)

[phantomman]

Thanks for the info, Jim. I knew of these things but had never actually spent any quality time learning the particulars or had any actual hands-on experience with them.

'Preciate it.