Thanks to the both of you for quick replys. I love this amp but my band currently needs a bass player so I need more bottom end as we are a two piece guitar and drums. The thing that got me started on swapping out speakers was that I also own a 1484.  You may or may not know, the 1484 model is a lower watt version of the 1485 and powers two 12 " Jensens. This larger speaker circumference intensifies the lower frequencies. i thought if I could throw in some 15s into my 1485 I could replicate or surpass the tone offered by the smaller amp. However, if I lose that cardboard box sound, well... that's a sacrifice I'm not willing to make.

When the speakers breakup, is that because of the quality of the speaker? If I were to use vintage 15s would I get breakup?

Oh, and yes it has two taps (I'm assuming that is what you mean by the 2 jack inputs on the head receiving the jacks from the cab).

 Mardy Pune, good idea about the EQ pedal. I"ve gotta graphic I used to use. Maybe I can save myself the hassle and just employ that to amplify my bass frequencies.

First thing: Valve/tube amps contain dangerous voltages that can kill you. If you don't understand how these kind of amp's work and want to do some work inside one you should get a qualified technician to do the work for you. In other words; just look after yerself.

here's a link to a schematic for the 1485: Silvertone

I don't know if it's original or correct.

Although it looks like it has two output transformers I would think it has one output transformer with two taps (output sockets).

Is your amp a combo or head and cab?

According to the schematic each speaker is 8 ohms which equates to 24 ohms per tap. It's kind of an odd number by modern standards but back when these were made there were all sorts of values used, I've seen amps with 32 ohms and 56 ohms required and I've got an old Rola speaker at home that is rated at 30 ohms.

So the minimum amount of 15" speakers you would need in total would be 4. You would need a 8 ohm and a 16 ohm wired in series per tap so you get your 24 ohms. I looked at some pictures of a 1485 and you might be able fit 4 15's into the cab.

Everything the Jamie said is true as far as I'm concerned. I also think that you would change the overall tone of the amp in a big way. That electrified cardboard box sound you like is probably due to the speakers breaking up, I don't think you'll retain that sound if you rebuild the cab and put new speakers in.

Personally I would go and buy a eq pedal and try to modify the tone that way for a start. It will cost you a lot less money, won't de-value your amp and save you a lot of time and stress.

I might be tempted to leave it stock just to keep it original. I think the price on those amps have gone up quite a bit due to the Jack White connection. You would have to change the baffle I'm assuming. A speaker change probably would give you a lot more bass. Look up wiring diagrams online. If you know how many ohms each speaker is and how many ohms the amp needs then just google "series" or "parallel" speaker wiring find out which one you need in order to match up the ohms and you're good to go.

So I've got this Silvertone 1485.I like it a lot (especially the fact that it sounds like an electrified cardboard box) but recently I considered reconfiguring it. As of now the 1485 has 6 x 10" speakers. I was thinking about taking these out and connecting a bunch of 15" Jensens to it, main reason being to get more bass. Anybody have any ideas about what I should do? I know how to solder and I know to match ohlms and that is about it. I am figuring it is not rocket science?

i saw the zeros in San frnsisco...1979...w/ the Mutants... i have an old Bomp LP...iggys on it!!! zeros do "yourawimp"... white vinoyl!!

Lenny Helsing said:

Zeros yeah tremendous teen punk...have u seen the dvd that came out by them its full of scorchin stuff!

I was a Rock N' Roll fan first and foremost...

Lenny Helsing said:

Hey man you don't have to tell me it was rebel, I already know it, and yeah I also know about rat fink...a boo boo, but next you'll be telling me Link Wray wasn't punk ha ha...the thing is although we here all decide that The Sonics and the Seeds and all the 'rebel' mid-60s gangs are punk, it wasn't know as such at the time...and only when Lenny Kaye put the original 'Nuggets' together in the early 70s did anyone start using the term punk to mean raw and alive beat music...and of course it was only then that it was picked up by all the then new rebels, ie Ramones...Pistols, Damned, Clash, Adverts, Zeros, Saints, Eater, Boys, Rezillos, Valves, Scars, Prats, Dead Ks, Crime, Misfits, Exploited et cetera. I'm sure there will be many here who will agree...and me, well I ain't out to ruin it that's for sure...

ratoonie said:

it was rebel!!!!!...... not pUnk!!........get out of your deniel!!!... rat fink was a super cool  thing* back in the 60,s....... dont ruin it!!!!!!!!

Lenny Helsing said:

au contraire mister teen fink ratoonie man punk was around long before you think

RAXOLA-S/T LP I like. Does anybody know where the tune I WAS BORN A SON OF A BITCH by Raxola comes from? Its not on the LP.

I'M interested in rare first wave punk bands that might be worth a mention here.

Hey man you don't have to tell me it was rebel, I already know it, and yeah I also know about rat fink...a boo boo, but next you'll be telling me Link Wray wasn't punk ha ha...the thing is although we here all decide that The Sonics and the Seeds and all the 'rebel' mid-60s gangs are punk, it wasn't know as such at the time...and only when Lenny Kaye put the original 'Nuggets' together in the early 70s did anyone start using the term punk to mean raw and alive beat music...and of course it was only then that it was picked up by all the then new rebels, ie Ramones...Pistols, Damned, Clash, Adverts, Zeros, Saints, Eater, Boys, Rezillos, Valves, Scars, Prats, Dead Ks, Crime, Misfits, Exploited et cetera. I'm sure there will be many here who will agree...and me, well I ain't out to ruin it that's for sure...

ratoonie said:

it was rebel!!!!!...... not pUnk!!........get out of your deniel!!!... rat fink was a super cool  thing* back in the 60,s....... dont ruin it!!!!!!!!

Lenny Helsing said:

au contraire mister teen fink ratoonie man punk was around long before you think

No, Ive never seen the DVD, but the albums sooo punk rock it hurts. If only the punk bands now could grasp this.

It doesn't have to be intelligent, doesn't need a manifesto of worldly causes, deep or even meaningful stuff. Just a bit of style&attitude+raw emotion was the recipe(wait, did I forget any ingredients?), I'll leave out practice since everybody knows punkrock bands don't practice,hehehe.

The 70s was the end of 3 generations of killer tunes. I look at 70s punk as the rocknroll apocalypse. None of that year zero BS spoke of in the Joe Strummer documentary(which was still pretty good except for that rubbish year zero theory) makes any sense to me.

Lenny Helsing said:

Zeros yeah tremendous teen punk...have u seen the dvd that came out by them its full of scorchin stuff!

it was rebel!!!!!...... not pUnk!!........get out of your deniel!!!... rat fink was a super cool  thing* back in the 60,s....... dont ruin it!!!!!!!!

Lenny Helsing said:

au contraire mister teen fink ratoonie man punk was around long before you think

au contraire mister teen fink ratoonie man punk was around long before you think

The best part about that video is easily the hunchback guy in the background doing the same move over and over. Awesome find.

I dunno if anyone's posted any Mummies goodness yet, but this has got to be way up there:

Apparently that was recorded 3 days before they broke up.

Gotham City Mashers said:

Nice!  I remember this episode.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Thanks. I'll post the Neanderthals. I like this.


Ross Jesus Navaro Richards said:

i like the neanderthals on ghoulagogo, also 5678´s on same show, the monks on beatclub, and the banana splits intro! the mutha fuckinist intro eva! would have posted a link, sorry guys im on work comp and all flash etc stopped!

Love the Stones "Dancing With Mr. D"

Nice!  I remember this episode.

Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Thanks. I'll post the Neanderthals. I like this.


Ross Jesus Navaro Richards said:

i like the neanderthals on ghoulagogo, also 5678´s on same show, the monks on beatclub, and the banana splits intro! the mutha fuckinist intro eva! would have posted a link, sorry guys im on work comp and all flash etc stopped!

I don't know if it's the best video of all time, but I get a huge kick out of this:

Mexican masked surf rock.

Hideout Admin said:

Just curious... have any of you ever listened via a wifi radio? I'm thinking of getting one (click the link).

Just curious... have any of you ever listened via a wifi radio? I'm thinking of getting one (click the link).

For me it would be the Gun Club back in '85. Met Patricia Morrison in the bar at the back of the venue and proceed to attempt to impress her with our (that would myself and The Boss from MOTH) knowledge of the late 70's LA punk scene, which she'd been a part of whilst in the Bags. Anyway she very kindly offered to put us on the guest list for a gig that weekend in Sheffield (not far from where we were based in Leeds). I still feel somewhat embarrassed looking back at how much we must have overstayed our welcome in the dressing room at that show. After barging in at the end of their set, they were clearly in no mood hob-nobbing with us (and several other hangers-on we'd brought with us) specially after we'd helped ourselves to their beer and sandwiches. However, Patricia was very tolerent and The late, great Jeffrey Lee Pierce managed a few grunts as I recall..and that's about it really. Not a very interesting story I'm afraid!

Oh! did meet the Ramones after a gig in '79 whilst I was still at school and got them to sign a record sleeeve, that I still have.

i have pajama parties with bands all the time. favorite moments: tabman from holy shit! wearing one of my dresses and jumping on my bed, marcus from uv race playing pinball in his underwear (pulled up to his chest), have a rootbeer float party with the daily void and dots from italy, making scott from the blowtops do fart situps with a self-inflating whoopee cushion, benji from the creteens appearing in my bedroom doorway at 5am screaming, "WHERE THE HELL AM I?!?!" and on and on...

I know someone who saw the Batusis a couple of months ago.  He thought it was great fun and got their EP autographed for me.

Johnny Bean said:

The Batusis

Hanoi Rocks - missed them a couple of times in the old days

Sonics - missed them a couple of months back hope it was not the last chance :(

...and actually the Wasps' flipside 'She Made Magic' is no slouch either, a real driving piece of cool!!!

Just wanted to share how cool The Wasps single 'Teenage Treats' is. If you don't already know it, it's a teenage punk pop killer from back in the day...but one that sadly not many folks seem to talk about, or even know about, despite its appearance on one of the early Raw and rare Punk Rock comp. LPs that appeared in the late 90s or so. I remember when it first came out John Peel played used to play it a fair bit. Listening to the single again right now it is still truly a mesmerising slice of '77 greatness!

mine was a shit kicking  instrumental version of liar liar, heard at a northern soul club, my search for this record led me to the castaways version.

there was a thriving mod and northern soul scene in the late seventies in the north of England, the odd garage tune would turn up on the dance floor with surprising regularity.

the human beinz nobody but me, tommy james and the shondells mony mony, and a bizarre funky surf guitar hybrid record called scratchy by travis wammack.

the scooter scene in England embraces many genres of music, punk, ska, rockabilly, soul, garage, it served me well.

i never did find out who did the cover of liar liar, maybe someone out there in garage land can give me a clue ?

I'm a newbie here, but I've been maintaining a blog called "Middleclass Haunt" for about a year and a half now. It's pretty much everything-but-the-kitchen-sink, centered on alternative music and more recently on garage rock. I just uploaded the best live recording I own, a Clash concert from '79:

Middleclass Haunt - The Clash: Manhattan Calling! (Live 1979)

I'd love some comments, and I'd be happy to trade links with you freaks.