Is this an original late 1965 BigM 4x12?

[PaulHamwijk]

It is filled with 4 x Celestion G12 T0652 Alnico date stamped 15EK on the front gasket (15 May 1965), the pinstripe feels crackly and original, the tolex is the black/blue type, BigM logo is of several parts and mounted with 2 screws to the front block.

 

[BygoneTones]

Looks good to me. Nice find. Check for recones though. Wiring not original.

 

[PaulHamwijk]

Thanks! The cones look good to me as well, all stamped on the same day as the "smudgy" stamped H seem to match

 

[PaulHamwijk]

Are the screws and handle original or should they be Philips screws and leather handles?

 

[BygoneTones]

What are the stickers on the speaker frames?

I would expect to see leather handles.

The screws on the left are very likely not original in my opinion. The ones on the right are closer to what Marshall might have used, but gut feeling is they are probably not original either. I doubt it's a deal breaker for anyone wanting to buy it.

I wonder what happened in the middle of the cab there? It looks as if it was partitioned with a piece of wood across the middle. It's got the Marshall glue and foam on the baffle there as if it left the factory like that? bit wierd.

 

[PaulHamwijk]

Dont understand what the stickers say, "SMAL"? Maybe they were stickered when put aside for this cab? They all have the same sticker. In the middle could have been a 4x4 from the baffle to the back? That seems missing.

 

[BygoneTones]

Yes the soundpost is missing, I missed that. Cabs in mid 65 did not have the horizontal bracing on the back of the baffle, that part is right. But this cab seems to have had something else there with foam attached to it. The tears in the foam at the sides look like the work of a previous owner trying to remove or install something. They would not be that sloppy at the Marshall factory.

I think Jono (music locker) had some speakers recently from 65 with those same stickers on them, I'll have to look on my phone. No idea what they mean, or whether they came from. I think Celestion themselves would be more likely to put an ink stamp there if they wanted to mark the speaker somehow, rather than use a sticker.

Interesting it still has the offset jack socket. Is the socket plate metal or plastic?

 

[PaulHamwijk]

Yes the soundpost is missing, I missed that. Cabs in mid 65 did not have the horizontal bracing on the back of the baffle, that part is right. But this cab seems to have had something else there with foam attached to it. The tears in the foam at the sides look like the work of a previous owner trying to remove or install something. They would not be that sloppy at the Marshall factory.

I think Jono (music locker) had some speakers recently from 65 with those same stickers on them, I'll have to look on my phone. No idea what they mean, or whether they came from. I think Celestion themselves would be more likely to put an ink stamp there if they wanted to mark the speaker somehow, rather than use a sticker.

Interesting it still has the offset jack socket. Is the socket plate metal or plastic?

jack socket plate is gone unfortunately, the studio I found them in changed it about 30 years ago for a DIN plug socket..