More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

[Lee Brenkman]

An old friend just steered me to this photo of a performance by The Astronauts, the most popular and successful Colorado rock band of the mid 60s.

They were the standard all of the bands of my salad days as a REALLY young sound guy were held to.

Nice stage full of vintage cream colored Fender amps, eh?

But even I can't identify that PA speaker downstage right. I would assume there was another one stage left.

Any guesses?

 

[Robert Lofgren]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

The toms are tilted in a funny way...

(I've never seen that speaker before)

 

[Ivan Beaver]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

They got the Beach Boys look going on------

I have seen other speakers like that in old photos-but cannot give you a name-sorry.

 

[frank kayser]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

At least they had the sense to tilt the amps back.

Oh yeah - the others before my time.

 

[Art Welter]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

My guess would be home built along the style popular from the 1940s, probably with a 15" or perhaps 4 x 12", with the size of the ball corners either could be possible. For that matter, could be a bunch of car oval speakers in the box.

 

[John Norris]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

Beats me.

Besides homemade, Bogen is the only manufacturer that comes to mind that may have produced a similar PA cabinet back then.

Here's a photo of some vintage Bogens - somewhat similar to the cab in your surf's up in the Rockies picture, Lee.

 

[Ivan Beaver]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

I am thinking it may be some sort of organ speaker.

I remember seeing something that looked like it in a photo from the Monterey pop festivals from the 60s There was also the typical Altec A7.

The "organ speaker" was facing inswards-so maybe acting as a front fill.

 

[Ivan Beaver]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

I am thinking it may be some sort of organ speaker.

I remember seeing something that looked like it in a photo from the Monterey pop festivals from the 60s There was also the typical Altec A7.

The "organ speaker" was facing inswards-so maybe acting as a front fill.

So my memory failed me again (getting old sux-to bad I am only 28yrs old )) )

Here is the photo I was thinking of. The "cabinet in question" is facing forward (not inwards) and does not have ball corners-but those could have been added.

 

[Lee Brenkman]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

So my memory failed me again (getting old sux-to bad I am only 28yrs old )) )

Here is the photo I was thinking of. The "cabinet in question" is facing forward (not inwards) and does not have ball corners-but those could have been added.

I think I might have been the person who first posted that picture on this forum.

The "organ speaker" out there at stage right under the big multi cell horn is a an Altec model 515 15 inch woofer in an Altec model 612 "utility cabinet". The two side fill speakers, only one of which is visible in the picture were Altec 604 co-axial speakers with a 15 inch cone and 1 inch HF driver, also in "utility" cabinets. The monitors are sitting on their special McCune Sound tilt back bases.

Not that I was there, I wasn't but I knew and worked with the guys who were.

 

[Randy Amos]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

Nevermind the speakers, what's up with all the giant feet dangling at the top of the picture?

 

[Max Warasila]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

Nevermind the speakers, what's up with all the giant feet dangling at the top of the picture?

It looks like this picture is in a spread, surrounded and in some parts covered up by other photos.

 

[Dave Barnett]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

Looks like a single 12" or 15" in a box. Could be a co-ax, or not. Not much different from a Califone projector speaker.

 

[Lee Brenkman]

Re: More prehistoric speakers. Colorado circa 1965

Nevermind the speakers, what's up with all the giant feet dangling at the top of the picture?

It is part of a collage of pictures of the band.

The location of the central picture is the bandshell that was in the City Park in Boulder Colorado.

An "informed source" has told me that the speakers were most likely built by the "National Speaker Company" of Denver and are open backed boxes with either 12 or 15 inch Jensen "full range" speakers. Power was most likely a Bogen amp.

National Speaker was founded in 1957 and is still in business but these days mostly doing reckoning and guitar amp repairs.

In my "band in a van" days they made some truly mediocre column speakers but were the only source in the region for replacement diaphragms for the 1 inch Altec 808 drivers in my circa 1967 system. They were also the Crown dealer but in those days that meant tape recorders. The DC300, the first "real world" large solid state power amp was just making its first appearance.