Complicated world of 10" speakers

Oct 12, 2019
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The bass-related part is at the end. I'm posting on a few forums, in hopes of advice.

I have a '65 Vox (Thomas Organ) Berkeley V8. For those unfamiliar with it, it's basically an AC15, but with reverb. For decades I've used it with a 2x12 cabinet w/ Vox/Oxford Gold Bulldog alnicos (from a Vox Buckingham) and loved the chime-y overdrive.

Over the last few years, I've collected enough Berkeley bits (heads, cabinets, trolleys, covers and footswitches) to create one damn gorgeous mid-60s shiny trapezoid-headed beauty. The only thing(s) I'm missing are the correct Vox/Celestion(UK) 7442 speakers. I have a pair 7424s from a solid state Berkeley, but they present 4ohms to the head, instead of 8 so I can’t use them.

I’ve also got a pair of Celestion G10 60Watt Vintage 10’s that came in one of the “parts amps” as well as a pair of NOS (from Thomas factory liquidation, I’m told) 10” Vox/Oxford Gold Bulldog alnicos as would have come with some Vox Pacemakers.

A lotta nice 10s, but all 8ohms and useless to me for that amp/cab. So...
  • Should I just keep using my 212 cab to play through and leave the 7424s in the Berk cab for eventual selling (even though they are wrong models)?
  • Or should I post everywhere online, looking to trade for correct 7442s? (Damn hard to find Vox versions!)
  • Or are any of what I have so great that I should get an impedance matching gizmo (e.g. Weber Z-Matcher) and see why some folks like 10s better than 12s?
And just to overstay my welcome a few moments longer- my studio bass amp is an early 70s silverface Bassman 10, w/ 4 original 10" Oxford 32ohm spks. I want to keep using it for bass, but rumor has it that it makes a decent guitar amp, especially for pedals. Would some combo of my “wrong” Vox speakers be right for goosing the bassman for dual-uses? Maybe I'm better off mixing pair of G10Vs with 7424s (series-parallel) in the Bassman 10 and selling the 32ohm oxfords? (do people want 32 ohm spks)?

It's a complex world!
Thanks in advance.
Randy