Fibreglass insulation in old Fender cabinet? Date of manufacture?

[MichelD]

I've got an old Fender Bandmaster cab I bought off a friend about 28 years ago.

Just recently I got curious about its vintage.

It has FO13268 marked in ink on the bottom.

What does that tell me?

The speakers are Fender "Special Design Speaker" marked.

The only numbers on the speakers themselves are 1193 and 12T6 9

Does anyone here know what actual maker these speakers came from?

And each section of the cabinet has some fibreglass insulation lining it, but it was loose and hanging onto the speakers when I opened it up. Is that normal?

 

[Stumbo]

I've got an old Fender Bandmaster cab I bought off a friend about 28 years ago.

Just recently I got curious about its vintage.

It has FO13268 marked in ink on the bottom.

What does that tell me?

The speakers are Fender "Special Design Speaker" marked.

The only numbers on the speakers themselves are 1193 and 12T6 9

Does anyone here know what actual maker these speakers came from?

And each section of the cabinet has some fibreglass insulation lining it, but it was loose and hanging onto the speakers when I opened it up. Is that normal?

@johnk_10 could probably tell you.

 

[Mr. Foxen]

At a certain point in time, stuff your cab with fiberglass was the in thing. Reactance anulling. Does tend to make them sound a bit better. But fiberglass is not the right material to use.

 

[Rick James]

Reactance annulling is done in horn loaded speakers, by correct sizing of the rear chamber. Damping is used to absorb midrange and high frequency reflections inside a cabinet. High density fiberglass, Type 700 in particular, is one of the best materials for that. Soft fiberglass insulation, the pink stuff, isn't a good material, because it fractures and the fibers aren't the right size. Stuffing is something else entirely, used in sealed cabs to lower the cab Qtc, although knowledge of that didn't exist before the 1980s. The cab in the picture is a large 2x12, so it dates from between 1967 and 1974. The drivers could be Jensen, Utah, Quam, Oxford, whatever company gave Fender the best price for that particular production run. The only thing special about the Fender Special Design drivers was the sticker, otherwise they were off the shelf.

 

[beans-on-toast]

It appears to be a 12" Oxford speaker with a ceramic magnet.

Look for a code on the rim or the label, it might be faint, on the basket starting with 465, it will be followed by a year and week of the year code.

The code could be under the blue label, a blow dryer could be used to release it but you have to be very careful.

This is an exampe of an Oxford, 1968, 18th week label.

I prefer to use a damping material that is more healthy than fiberglass. There are inexpensive recycled denim and foam alternatives that are very effective.

 

[MichelD]

It appears to be a 12" Oxford speaker with a ceramic magnet.

Look for a code on the rim or the label, it might be faint, on the basket starting with 465, it will be followed by a year and week of the year code.

The code could be under the blue label, a blow dryer could be used to release it but you have to be very careful.

This is an exampe of an Oxford, 1968, 18th week label.

View attachment 3394186

I prefer to use a damping material that is more healthy than fiberglass. There are inexpensive recycled denim and foam alternatives that are very effective.

Thanks. Yes, my Fender sticker is on top of those but I did make out a 4 and maybe 6 peering out from the edge.