So here's a basic very short brief review of how the Weber 1265 Alnico and Weber Neo 12 Sound together. Firstly, for those who may not know, The Weber Neo 12 is Weber's latest go at cloning the JBL D120 speaker. It addresses one of the main issues that people have with the Weber California, the size of the voice coil. The Cali has a 2 inch coil and magnet , whereas the Neo has a 4 inch coil and Magnet. The Neo, of course has a Neodymium Magnet, as opposed to the AlNiCo or Ceramic Magnet found on the Cali. Also, the voice coil is edgewound like the original D120 and the Neo mag has the same power and energy as the original AlNiCo magnets used in the D120. I opted for the Paper Dome, as I have never liked the "ping" and raspiness you get from the aluminum domed D120's. I also got the doped paper surround and had Weber break it in for me.

I played the BM first through the Neo, then the 1265 and then together. I also played sans c-lator and cranked the snot out of the amp to get a nice clear and loud signal. This is the first chance i've had to play loud in a few months, as i have not been gigging or playing out and i have a lodger here at the moment and i don't wanna drive him insane!

I have to say that the Neo 12 comes darn close to the sound of the original D120 as i remember it. It is very clear and uncolored, no mid hump, no coloring whatsoever, just what we look for out of a D120 of an EV12 or an Eminence Delta. It also has a VERY strong, deep, tight low end. I'm talking internal organ damaging, drywall rattling, send the cat scurrying low end, without getting farty all out of an open back 2x12 combo. I think if it had been in a ported or sealed cab it woulda been horrifyingly thumpy. The mid highs and highs were present, but not overbearing, partly i think due to the paper dome, and partly due to the BM's tonestack. In short, the speaker really allows the Tweed Bassman heritage of the clean channel of the BM come through. Just like the D120, the Lows and Highs are at the party, but the mids aren't super boosted. The BM, being more scooped than other OTS shows this very clearly. Turning the mids up and turning the midboost, which a rarely use, on helps this, though. The OD is a whole other story. Having tuned the HRM for 2 1265's I had the bass quite low, mids down a smidge and the highs very high. It was ear piercing. I'm gonna have to drop the chassis and retune the HRM for sure, but with it bypassed, it sings very nicely.

Now for the experiment part...the 1265 and the Neo 12 together. Throwing two very different drivers into a 2x12 cab and running them in parallel is a gamble, to be sure. Ya never know what it is going to sound like. All i can say at this point is wow. I was mainly concerned that the Neo would overwhelm the 1265, due to its efficiency, but these two speakers play very well together. The mids from the 1265 make up for what the Neo is missing, and the deep lows and crisp highs that the Neo delivers make up for what the 1265 is missing. It truly is one of those cases where what you think will happen does happen, and i couldn't be more pleased with the results. The resulting sound is very complex, articulate and 3d-ish. Those two speakers really balance each other out and let the BM have some high end without being overly chimey, and allows its monster low end to be heard (and felt) as well. They are indeed an odd pairing, and might not be everyone's cup of tea, but i love it. It sounds especially good when CRANKED. As most 50 watt BM owners know, if you set the preamp volume to about 5 and crank the master from 7 on up to 10 it is one of the most beautiful amp overdrives you can experience. Engage a clean boost and it gets even better. With two 1265's it was awesome. With a 1265 and a Neo 12 it is flabbergasting. The only downside is that i have now developed a rattle at certain frequencies. At first i was scared that the speaker was damaged in shipping or that i had rattled my cab loose. Nope, it was just the springs on of my power amp tube retainers rattling. 20 some odd years of playing and i have never seen that happen. that's low end response  

Would I want to run two Neo 12s on a BM? I'm not sure yet, but i don't think so. The Neo, just like the speaker they clone, aren't very middy and in the case of the BM this can be a bad thing. Alot of complaints about D120's being ice picky are valid, especially when in a twin reverb, which is even more scooped than the BM, plus the original D120's had the aluminum dome which made it worse! The EV and the Delta, however, while being more transparent than most guitar speakers, at least have some mid presence to them and aren't as piercing as the D120. The thing that makes the Neo 12 a good choice for the BM is the extended high end response, and the strong, tight deep bass, as the BM is a bit of a dark amp, and indeed has a ton of bass response that the Neo can handle and translate well, and the increased high end response allows you to get more highs out of the amp, but it really needs to be paired with a warmer, more middy speaker to really make it shine, at least on the BM.

So, if you are wanting to try a neutral sounding speaker, but don't wanna shell out the dough for an EV and you are not convinced that the Eminence Speaker has the Mojo, for $160 you can try the Weber Neo. If you don't like it, you can flip it quickly as alot of JBL fanatics are using them now as replacements for their original speakers, as they weigh half as much, and recone kits for the D120's pretty much suck. You can even try mixing it with other drivers and see if you like it.

I know this was a very basic review and i will give a more detailed one tomorrow as i will get to wail on it for a good 4 hours or so, but i just wanted to give you guys some inspiration and encourage you to go against the grain, if you will and try out combinations you thought would never go together, the results may astonish you!

Gregg