cheap guitar speakers.

[atreidesheir]

Does anyone know of cheap maybe chinese clones of guitar speakers that are affordable?  10 or 12 inches hopefully.

I am giving guitar lessons to needy kids at my school as part of a rehab program for abused children.  None of them have amps.  I raised money for squier guitars from area businesses, but I will have to pay for amps from my own pocket.  I was thinking I would build each of them Rubies, but the kicker is the speaker.  I want them to have something worth keeping so  I want to avoid 3 inch speakers or some bargain bin stuff.  I want reasonably useful 12 in speakers in case I have a student or two with some talent.  I don't want a student to be frustrated with the amp and get turned off.  Most of these children have anger issues and do some slightly irrational things when the going gets tough (due to bad past events).

So let me know if you know of a source or product you think fits this description.  This is probably good info for all of us DIY types anyway.  Merry Xmas again to all.  I hope it is a happy day.  and every other day also.

[jkokura]

Try emailing Warehouse Speakers and find out if they can help you out.

Jacob

[jeffaroo]

Jensen MOD series      8-20 works awesome for small amps (and cheap)
Mail them for help

http://www.jensentone.com/mod_series

[jeffaroo]

might even shoot musicians friend a mail
they might shoot them out at cost. look at there prices

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/search/search.jsp?sB=r&question=MOD

[JakeFuzz]

I can second the Jensen MOD recommendation. I have a few of their 10 and 12 inchers and they all sound great for the money. I have a 10" in my Princeton clone and it sounds so good cranked up. Be careful if you are doing mixing combinations though with other brands. I was looking at getting one to match my Celestion Heritage greenback and the efficiency rating is pretty low for the 12-35. If you overlay the frequency responses you can see that a decent match for most 100dB speakers is the 12-70 with the Jensen picking up a low end hump and scooping in the high mids. They usually run around $40-50 too which is awesome. 

[TNblueshawk]

I just want to say kudos man for doing what you are doing. If I had an old speaker spare I would send the thing to you free of charge man. What about scouring ebay etc... for some old cheapies that someone wants to unload but are still good?

I am going to suggest this and I may be way off base here. It is of course your call on this. I would be tempted to post in the buy/sell/trade lounge here and at BYOC and just ask some members if any of them have a cheap speaker they want to part with. Maybe pay for shipping so that is all it would cost you. I think I would do that if it was me. I don't know if you will get any help there but your cause is beyond just IMHO.

[atreidesheir]

Thanks for all the replies.

I just want to say kudos man for doing what you are doing. If I had an old speaker spare I would send the thing to you free of charge man. What about scouring ebay etc... for some old cheapies that someone wants to unload but are still good?

I am going to suggest this and I may be way off base here. It is of course your call on this. I would be tempted to post in the buy/sell/trade lounge here and at BYOC and just ask some members if any of them have a cheap speaker they want to part with. Maybe pay for shipping so that is all it would cost you. I think I would do that if it was me. I don't know if you will get any help there but your cause is beyond just IMHO.

This is part of what I do for a living.  My first wife left me inpart because intrinsic reward did not fill her closet and garage with the goodies she felt she deserved.

I thought about asking for speakers and the main strike against it is speakers are so heavy a cheap one will cost more to ship than it is probably worth.  I thought of the Jensen Mods.  I know they sound decent and I even have one in my silverface Champ. 
The Mods are great value, but I am not able to swing the cost even for those.  I have more than enough parts in the bins to build the circuits. 
What about some PA type speakers.  12 inches are out of the question.  No way I can  swing just the shipping.
I am still looking.
Looking at tiny speakers now.   

[atreidesheir]

I am thinking headphone amps maybe the way to go.

[reddo]

Headphone amps sound like the way to go:
Quiet
Easy to store
No speaker enclosures to build
Ear buds or low end headphones are a lot cheaper than speakers

If you do have any standouts, cross that bridge when you have to.

How many are you thinking about making?

[oldhousescott]

The Weber Signature line is good and affordable. The Sig12B is one of my favorites at any price. Very similar to the much-loved Reverend Alltone 1250.

[pickdropper]

Headphone amps are cool and all, but can be a bit uninspiring for guitars unless there is some sort of modeling involved, which is a bit more complicated to DIY.

I'd also scour the Gear Page and other forums for speakers that people have pulled from their amps when upgrading.

[jkokura]

Sending you a PM Charles

Jacob

[TNblueshawk]

I'd also scour the Gear Page and other forums for speakers that people have pulled from their amps when upgrading.

This is actually what I was thinking specifically. People who upgraded and have them sitting in the closet kind of thing. But, if shipping it too much then it is too much. I honestly have no idea how cheap one could ship a 10-12" speaker. Guess it depends on how far it is going too.

I don't know what kind of budget you are working with but maybe pawn shops too. I also don't know what you target number of speakers is that you are looking at.

[jprizz]

I replaced my 8" speaker in my Vox Pathfinder, you are welcome to the stock one if you are interested, it's just sitting in my basement. PM me if you want it.
-Josh

[Chi_Boy]

I'd also scour the Gear Page and other forums for speakers that people have pulled from their amps when upgrading.

I have a 12" stock speaker from a Blues Jr. that you could have.  I upgraded and the one I pulled was perfectly fine.  Since it's for a good cause, I'll even spring for the shipping if you are ConUS.  Would be cost prohibitive for international I think.