Which speakers are you using now?

[DejavuDave]

I have to admit that I have never experimented much with speakers and have usually just played what's in the cab I ended up with. I've always given more attention to the guitar and amp. I'm sadly inexperienced with speakers, but I am very curious now and ready to start experimenting. Everything that pertains to guitar tone is subjective, of course. Instead of looking for specific recommendations, I thought it would be more interesting simply to ask:

Which speakers are you currently using?

Of course, this is meaningless without additional information, so:

What cab are they in? Which amp are you using? Which guitars? What kind of music do you play? And, if you like, explain why you like this current combination. You might also specify whether you prefer one speaker over another for recording vs. live performance.

Come on, kick start some interest...

[rockon1]

Rivera Chubster/ G12H-30
Peavey 112E cab loaded with G12H-30
Peavey 112E cab loaded with Celestion Relic 30 (for darker tones)
Crate V32 /Eminence Tonespotter
Peavey Ultra 112 /Relic 30

[Boogs]

In my signature, plus a 1x12 with a Weber Ceramic Chicago, an Eminence Cannabis Rex looking for an amp to call home, and a Valve Junior I picked up for a giggle.

My favorite 12" speakers now are...in order, believe it or not... the Weber 12A125, the Chicago, the Rex, the Weber Blue Dog ceramic, Eminence's Legend GB12, and the Emi's Wizard and Stonehenge from the Redcoat series.

Why I like these speakers is beyond my understanding. I could come up with adjectives all day, but what it comes down to is just the "character" of them. I have tried these, and many others in a variety of amps, and while one speaker may favor a certain amp, my order of preference remains mostly true. The 12A125 always seems like a joy to play through no matter what it comes from, but especially with tweed-style amps.

There's no way around experimenting in my opinion. I read and read and read before buying any of the speakers I've bought (and sold, for the most part), and it still came down to experimentation, and buying/selling. And breaking new speakers in...ugh, that's the part I hate most!

[unvs]

1971 Marshall Tremolo 50w -> Marshall 4x12 w/G12H30s
Fuchs TDS 50w -> Swanson 2x12 oval back w/Scholz
Silverface Fender Super Reverb w/CTS

Next up are some Scumbacks for the Marshall!

[JubileeMan 2555]

EVM12Ls - 68 Twin

EVM10Ms - 67 Super

EVM15L - Vibroverb Copy (coming this week)


...can you tell I like EV speakers?

[Zuper]

TopHat Emplexador into Soldano 4x12 or Marshall 2x12. I play rock and blues/rock. I was pretty set on the Eminence V12/Celestion G12H30 combo until I recently tried Tone Tubby Ceramics (thanks to GAT). The TTs are so smooth and sweet, without the mid-hump. The more I play through them, the more I love 'em.

[giggedy]

my main setup is '94 strat w/humbucker in the bridge>byoc ultimate fuzz>byoc wah>analogman ts9/silver>analogman mini bi-comp>dd-20>drri w/eminence cr speaker. I play jamband stuff mixed with electronic sounds w/the dd-20. i like to have clean sounds, but also do scorching, soaring leads all mixed in with the improvising. i like the cr much better over the stock. it is not so bright, the smoky description really is true. i wish the bass was a little tighter, and the headroom a little more, but it is a drri. the sound is great, but I think I might need another amp for clean sounds. ideally I'll have another amp for the cleans by the end of summer. I'm first going for a twin, but I'm going to be doing a lot of research to see if there's an amp that I can use to get a good clean and overdriven sound out of. I'm thinking a fuchs. I really want to get an amp that I can use for the rest of my life and be happy with for many years to come. the drri does that, but I just need more headroom. I'll always keep this amp for practices, i love it.

[mountain blues]

Two Rock / K&M / Bassman — Tone Tubby Alnico & Tone Tubby Ceramic

Fargen Dual Classic — V30 & G12H30

Fargen Epic 30 DC — two Celestion Blues

Victoria Bandmaster — one RI P10R, two Weber P10Q's

Uncle Spot Custom Super — two Weber P10Q's, two C10Q's

[jrigg]

'74 50watt Marshall > 55hz G12H30 pre-rolas
18 watt Marshall clone > 75hz G12H30 pre-rola
'62 Brown Deluxe > G12H30 Anni

[DejavuDave]

Originally Posted by mountain blues

Two Rock / K&M / Bassman — Tone Tubby Alnico & Tone Tubby Ceramic

Fargen Dual Classic — V30 & G12H30

Fargen Epic 30 DC — two Celestion Blues

Victoria Bandmaster — one RI P10R, two Weber P10Q's

Uncle Spot Custom Super — two Weber P10Q's, two C10Q's

A lot of diversity there, mountain blues. Can you characterize how these combinations compare to one another?

[rwe333]

Eminence Red Fang in an Tone-Tools Legend 1x12 w/ a Martin Newall modded Traynor YBA-1

And soon, Eminence TonkerLites in a Tone-Tools FatCat 2x12 w/ a Martin Newall built Bandmaster-style head

Disclosure: I endorse both Eminence & Tone-Tools, plus Martin's a friend. OK?

[mountain blues]

Originally Posted by DejavuDave

A lot of diversity there, mountain blues. Can you characterize how these combinations compare to one another?

Obviously, I am a big fan of complementary speaker pairing so that each speaker fills out what the other lacks in either the frequency range or the compression range. I strive for a 'full-spectrum' eq in each pairing.

Being two ceramics, the V30 / G12H30 is a 'leaner' sound overall than the two Tone Tubbies, 'cause that Tone Tubby Alnico is a fat, warm, thick tone, even when balanced out by the TT Ceramic. Both of those pairings are in a separate 212 cab.

One way to really get a sense of the pairings is to listen to Ricker's V30 / G12H30 / Gold clip that he posted a few days ago. The Gold captures the kind of rich, broad-range warmth that the Tone Tubby pairing has, where the G12H30 is more like the tonality of the V30/G12 pairing.


The Celestion Blues, of course, are God's gift to speakers, and they are in the Epic 30 DC combo — a 4xEL84 amp with two channels: AC30ish and JTM45ish. They are a perfect full-spectrum speaker unto themselves, to me, and can handle everything from heartbreaking cleans to the raunchiest 'LaGrange' you can produce.


As far as the Bandmaster — pushed, the P10R goes into compression while the P10Q's hold the bass together and provide headroom. Best of both worlds.

Same with the Uncle Spot: besides the gorgeous 3D tone that comes from pairing PQ's and CQ's, the P's do their gorgeous alnico warmth while the C's hold a better headroom and overall definition of tone. You get a very layered and rich timbre overall.



Playing country, alt-country, blues and blues-rock, I ask a lot of my speakers: stunning cleans to complex, 3-dimensional overdrive. I am not a high-gain player at all.

Let me know if I can fill in anything else for you.

[DejavuDave]

Originally Posted by mountain blues

Let me know if I can fill in anything else for you.

That was excellent. Thanks.

[mad dog]

I've done a fair amount of speaker juggling lately. It is so worth the trouble ... makes really good amps even better. At the moment:

-- Sewell Wampus Cat, tweed pro type amp, came stock with a Weber Cali ceramic paper dome. Excellent choice, inspired really.
-- Gibson GA40 Les Paul, was so impressed with the Sewell, just put a Cali ceramic paper dome in there.
-- Twilighter 260, essentially a Magnatone 260 2x12. Put two Emi CRex in, can hardly believe the difference.
-- Magnatone M10A. Took out the vintage Jensen C12P, put in a CRex. Not broken in yet. Not sure if this one is working.
-- Clark Tyger. Swapped out two of the 3 Weber 10A125s for Emi copperheads. The CHs sound amazing.

I play lots of blues, roots type stuff, with lots of open tuning stuff, a fair amount of slide and lap steel. Though I love alnico tones, ceramics work much better for me live. Especially in matching up with compression rich tweed amps. Between Ted Weber and Eminence, I think we are living in a golden age of speakers.

[drbob1]

G12H30-112 Randall Cab with my Fuch ODS mod
Fane Ceramic Mesa 112 cab: Rubywreck
JBL E130: Crate Powerblock for bass or guitar
69 Bassman cab with alnico Utah from a Music Man and 30w Celestion (G12L) with 18w Farshall
Morin Preamp/Sansamp PSA1 into GT Dual 75 with El34 and 6550 into original Naylors and Ceramic Blue Dogs
64 AC30 into Alnico Blue Dogs (30w)
71 Superlead and 89 Park Rock Head into straight Marshall with 70 G12M25s and straight Orange with 71 G12H-30s
Alessandro Bloodhound and JCM800 into slant Marshall with G12M-65
Fuchs Mod and Lexicon 284 into older EV 12M