WEM Columns
Printed From: Speakerplans.com
Category: Other Chat
Forum Name: Golden oldies
Forum Description: Post all historic interesting items, stories and photos here (no, not your Nan)
URL: https://forum.speakerplans.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=31135
Printed Date: 26 March 2026 at 10:04pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.08 - https://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: WEM Columns
Posted By: Static Age
Subject: WEM Columns
Date Posted: 29 September 2009 at 8:02pm
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Guys, are these old cabs worth anything? Each cab has three 10" drivers in & as far as I can see are 100% original.      ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: Robbo
Date Posted: 29 September 2009 at 8:09pm
| What you have there is a single WEM 6x10 PA column---The two halves are designed to clip together to form a 12 ohm column hence why each one is 24 ohms----They sounded crap in the early seventies when they first came out so they will sound even worse nowadays----Having said all that, they will probably still sound a lot better than some of the line arrays that I have heard lately. |
Posted By: Static Age
Date Posted: 29 September 2009 at 8:30pm
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Yep thats right Robbo, they do indeed clip together to make one big column, all the catches & sockets are in full working order to do this.
So are they worthless? -------------
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Posted By: jbl_man
Date Posted: 29 September 2009 at 9:04pm
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They even have alnico magnets! Im sure some collector would buy them Dan as they all original,i reckon about 40=50 quid on ebay would be a sensible price. ------------- Be seeing you. |
Posted By: Static Age
Date Posted: 29 September 2009 at 9:36pm
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Thanks Ian, I was wondering if they were worth sticking on ebay. It was either that or take them to the tip this weekend.
I'll get them on ebay this week, I cant imagine anyone one here would want them. Actually I really should give SP members first refusal. I'll stick a post up in the for sale section. -------------
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Posted By: djeddie
Date Posted: 30 September 2009 at 9:26pm
 Nice one John, LMAO!------------- Chas n Dave : it's like Drum and Bass but with beards. E=mc² ±3dB |
Robbo wrote:Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 02 October 2009 at 5:25pm
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Things have come on a bit since then - I forgot how crap drivers were in those days (were Goodmans HiFi speakers, after all). First time I took a WEM PA apart to replace a load of blown drivers, we were so pissed off with the damage that the drummer in the band (the great Phil Spinelli) suggested we remove the blown drivers, crap in the cones and replace all the drivers into one cab and send it back to WEM for repair telling them they sounded sh*t! Unfortunately, we needed all the available cabs for a tour we were starting and couldn't spare one (we were very, very stoned at the time.)
------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: Static Age
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 7:26pm
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Well I'm glad I put them on ebay rather than taking them to the dump. They just sold for £83. -------------
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Posted By: Robbo
Date Posted: 11 October 2009 at 9:08pm
| Its Amazing isn't it what sells on Ebay---I think I will have to start digging deeper in our storage barns to see what "goodies" I can put on there----Congrats on getting that kind of money for them. |
Posted By: jbl_man
Date Posted: 12 October 2009 at 8:30am
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Well done Dan...i think the 6 alnico-magnet drivers helped,they are probually useful to someone wanting a vintage sound for an old valve guitar amp...anything with an alnico magnet seems to sell well on Ebay. ------------- Be seeing you. |
Posted By: Static Age
Date Posted: 12 October 2009 at 8:55am
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I'm amazed at how much interest these old things generated. I had bidders from Germany & Italy wanting to pay for the shipping if they won the auction. -------------
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Posted By: Static Age
Date Posted: 26 October 2009 at 12:23pm
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Well the buyer seems pretty happy with the cabs. He told me that he is also interested in getting his hands on some WEM festival stacks, any of you vintage PA experts know what hes on about?
I said I would keep a look out but I dont know what I'm looking for  -------------
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Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 26 October 2009 at 2:30pm
I cut my teeth on these in the early seventies. Here is a picture of a version of the WEM Festival stack (there were several versions with differentHF driver combos): and here is it's baby brother, the ubiquitous WEM 4x12 column:  Don't expect too much of them - they're a 40 year old design utilising 40+ year old HiFi speakers. Build quality is OK, but sound wise they aren't a patch on modern cabs a fraction of their size. Originally driven by WEM 100Watt slaves and WEM Audiomaster mixers - both of which were primitive and unreliable. Here are some more photos for you - WEM Audiomaster mixer:  WEM PA100 mixer amp :  and finally, a typical WEM PA electronics setup comprising: WEM Audiomaster, WEM PA100, WEM PA Slaves, WEM Copicat tape echo unit:  I can smell the smoke from the amps from here 36 years later!!!! ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: Static Age
Date Posted: 26 October 2009 at 5:37pm
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Thanks Jazomir. -------------
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Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 29 October 2012 at 3:58pm
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<undead threa> Check this...  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEM-Vintage-Speakers-Bins-Cabinets-Cabs-/200839109936?pt=UK_ConElec_SpeakersPASystems_RL&hash=item2ec2f19d30" rel="nofollow - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEM-Vintage-Speakers-Bins-Cabinets-Cabs-/200839109936?pt=UK_ConElec_SpeakersPASystems_RL&hash=item2ec2f19d30 ------------- music is the message |
Posted By: jbl_man
Date Posted: 29 October 2012 at 4:06pm
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They look enormous for what is probually a 150 watt cabinet.There is a chrome-dome 15" in the bottom part,i wonder what driver that is? Celestion powercel maybe?
------------- Be seeing you. |
Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 29 October 2012 at 4:25pm
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I used to play on a homemade 1X1"/1x12"/1x15" version. OOh, my back!
------------- music is the message |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 29 October 2012 at 5:11pm
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It always amazes me the variety of gear that WEM made - I know that Charlie Watkins had several factories and loads of people (160+?) working for him, but the company's output both in numbers and varieties was mind boggling. After 40 odd years, I still keep seeing new boxes - I know he made custom/one-off stuff for customers, but I'm really suprised how much of it is still around and the sheer variety. ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 29 October 2012 at 5:25pm
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Yep, just when you think you have seen it all, another set turn up.
------------- music is the message |
Posted By: fordlltwm
Date Posted: 23 November 2012 at 11:54am
| Anyone got an idea on what a pair of 4 * 12" WEM columns would be worth? My boss at work has a pair that he keeps threatening to sell (second hand shop with a slightly hoarding owner), apparently they're ex Hawkwind, but I'm uncertain as to whether that provable or not. |
Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 23 November 2012 at 12:16pm
Hawkwind? Open them up, could be something stashed inside  . £50-80 seems fair for them.
------------- music is the message |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 23 November 2012 at 12:17pm
Propbably worth putting in a museum, not for using - really, as I said earlier, they are very outdated and even putting new drivers in them wouldn't do much good. If they are ex-Hawkind they are probably from 1970-71 when I used to follow them and you could probably scrape a couple of ounces of resin from each cab so thick was the smoke at their concerts! ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: odc04r
Date Posted: 23 November 2012 at 12:46pm
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Hah, I was back in Trowbridge for a mates charity night with a bunch of standup comedians. There was one of those WEM columns in each corner of the social club. Could hear about 50% of what was said as an estimate. I offered him a pair of Res1 for gratis as it was a benefit and I was coming down anyway but he said not to worry, silly bugger. Not many people seemed to care though. |
Posted By: Robbo
Date Posted: 23 November 2012 at 2:53pm
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Don't know if anyone realises that there were a lot of different models in the WEM 4x12 column range---starter was the "A" column which was a low power full range cabinet---these are the reason why everyone thinks that all WEM speakers sound crap---then there was the "B" column which was really heavy and again full range drivers which actually sounded rather good and this model tended to be the most popular among the pro bands of the day as they certainly used to go a bit-----then there was the "C" column which contained bass only drivers, this was supposed to be used with the really slim horn loaded HF cabinet and they again sounded crap without the accompanying HF cabinet. The full range cabinet pictured above was available with cheap drivers inside but still sounded pretty good but the same cabinet was available factory loaded with all Electrovoice components throughout and these sounded superb---I saw the Cliff Bennett band once using just a pair of them a side without any subs and the sound was spot on back in the day. In the seventies most of the top touring bands like Slade, Sweet, Raymond Froggatt all had their own WEM PA systems which used to comfortably fill 3000 seater venues--then all of a sudden companies like Entec, Showco and Tasco appeared and everyone started hiring bigger systems in for tours which in the main were JBL based cabinets and components with a few Gauss here and there as well. |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 23 November 2012 at 8:06pm
Robbo, I didn't realise there were three variations - I have never seen a 'C' column so can't compare it with the others build wise. As for the bands, I saw Sweet at Imperial College in 1974(Saturday December 7th!) and they were using all Martin gear (badly set up due to space limitations, I was much impressed by their show - they had overhead screen with video clips/intros and lights!) and I am sure SLADE were using Martin too, though they may both have used WEM much earlier in their careers. ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 03 December 2012 at 12:24pm
 ------------- music is the message |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 03 December 2012 at 2:04pm
They look like a version of the WEM Vendetta column. ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: Robbo
Date Posted: 03 December 2012 at 3:09pm
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It looks like someone has just bolted in a pair of those twin throat Motorola Piezo hf units like Peavey use instead of the Celestion HF horns that should have been there. There are also two different types of Wem Vendetta PA cabinets---The early ones were loaded with two 12", two 10" and the standard twin Celestion HF units whereas the newer ones were loaded with four 12" drivers plus the HF units---not a lot of people know this. |
Posted By: jazomir
Date Posted: 03 December 2012 at 3:27pm
I often used to go to several gigs a week back in the early seventies and there were always different WEM cabs on show - they were after all flavour of the month. Trouble is, with their scrims/grilles it wasn't always easy to see what was inside them - so it is difficult now to know which are later 'mods' and which were customised at the time to suit a specific requirement. This would often be a size need funnily enough - not everyone had presence of mind to make sure all their cabs fitted together nicely (like Tony of ASS) and the only standard size was something that fitted in a transit neatly or in a 3 ton Ford (then artic - hence the 44 1/2" (?) standardisation for easy truck pack) ------------- For sidefills, can we have two enormous things of a type that might be venerated as Gods by the inhabitants of Easter Island, capable of reaching volumes that would make Beelzebub soil his pants. |
Posted By: burningbush
Date Posted: 19 December 2012 at 4:32pm
A hoi-hoi... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEM-AUDIOMASTER-SOLID-STATE-1970S-VINTAGE-AUDIO-MIXER-SPRING-REVERB-UNIT-FAULTY-/281040717456?pt=UK_Mixers&hash=item416f550690" rel="nofollow - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WEM-AUDIOMASTER-SOLID-STATE-1970S-VINTAGE-AUDIO-MIXER-SPRING-REVERB-UNIT-FAULTY-/281040717456?pt=UK_Mixers&hash=item416f550690 ------------- music is the message |