Speaker replacement for Fender Blues Jr.?

[High Voltage]

Hey guys Im looking for something to replace the stock speaker. I want something that will stay as clean as possible for jazz with my 335. Im also trying to keep the cost somewhat low. Thanks

[johnh]

I have two - one with a G12H and one with an Emminence Swamp Thang. Both are excellent speakers - the Celestion gives a really nice smoky feel, I don't know how else to describe it.

The Swamp Thang is a much more transparent speaker, and is alos much louder sounding to my ears.

I'd heartily recommend either.

[traviswalk]

Anyone try a Tone Tubby in a Blues Jr. or is that like putting a Ferrari engine in a VW Bug? I'm also curious for a speaker suggestion and thank you for starting the thread!

[mgarrison99]

Check out the Jensen Mod 12-35 from Tube Depot. I had one of these in my Blues Jr. and loved the clean headroom. They are built not to sag (that is your tubes' job). At $32, it's almost too good not to try:

http://store.tubedepot.com/sp-jen-mod12-35.html

[6AM]

Warehouse British Lead 80. It's based on a Celestion Classic Lead 80. Nice low end and chimey highs. Great jazz speaker, and it's only $45!

http://www.warehousespeakers.com/ind...ARTNER=martkra

[madscientist]

I can highly recommend a Swamp Thang for a Blues Junior. It gives that little amp a lot more punch without having to do any serious mods. More bass, better lower mids, louder, cleaner.

seriously, it'll make a huge difference

[Gtrman100]

Before replacing the speaker, you might check out the Billm mods for the Blues Jr. I just did the Tone Stack, Twin, and power supply stiffening mods and they helped the character of the amp a lot. The bottom end is fuller, it has more headroom and not as boxy sounding. The total cost is about $15, and can be done in about 1 1/2 hours if you're handy with a soldering iron.

BTW, I also installed a Weber Beam blocker so it's not as beamy. I love the amp now.

[P90Nut]

I replaced the speaker in mine with a Celestion Greenback. I like it a lot. I play Blues rock, not jazz.

Good luck,


mark

[traviswalk]

So, essentially any speaker other than the stock speaker works for folks, which is good to know. In terms of the Billm mods, do you need to be proficient in draining caps, etc. or just soldering skills?

[SlideGuy123]

I went with an Eminence Texas Heat (but I first did several Billm mods and lived with the changes). There are lots of great suggestions for Blues Jr. speakers (I was torn between this one and the Swamp Thing). The TX Heat sounds a lot like the stock one, only... well, better -- that is, the lows are full, but don't flab out, mids are clear and strong, and the highs are definitely there, just not harsh anymore.

[Gtrman100]

So, essentially any speaker other than the stock speaker works for folks, which is good to know. In terms of the Billm mods, do you need to be proficient in draining caps, etc. or just soldering skills?

I guess it depends on if you like frizzy hair or not. LOL! If you've not had experience working with tube amps, have a tech do it, or go to the Hot Rod Deluxe mod site and learn how. You need a power resistor, and a volt meter, but the circuit has draining resistors in the power supply, and after a few minutes there should be little voltage on the electrolytics. But always check with a meter to make sure!

Most of the reason people replace the stock speaker is to get rid of the boxy low end, but the mods do it pretty well by themselves. Plus the tone stack mods make the tone control much more flexible in shaping the overall sound of the amp.

[SRVTWO]

I have an Eminence Govenor in my Blues Jr. Its a really good speaker (modeled after a Vintage 30) if not a little mid heavy but boosts you above the band very nicely. I am looking to try the Eminance Swamp Thang and the Cannibus Rex, have heard great things about both. The Cannibus Rex might be something to try in place of the Tone Tubby (a little cheaper too).
Mike

[High Voltage]

Thanks for the replies. Yes I have been checking out the BillM mods and I was planning on doing the tone stack, Twinstack, and adjustable bias mods. The main reason I wanted a speaker was for for volume and headroom. After reading this I thought that a replacement speaker would fix this.

So let's start: I brought a BJr because I wanted a small amp (20 years ago I had a Mesa Boogie that worked fine). So I looked for a true tube amp with a standard vintage circuit. (The BJr has only one FET-transistor for the FAT switch; that is OK because it is not in the signal path.) I have to gig with this amp, and I use it only for clean-sound with a Fender Stratocaster. For overdrive sound I use a Marshall pedal. The stock BJr sounds good, but it is too small sounding and not loud enough. So what is loud? OK, take a VOX AC30, it has 30 watts and two 12" Celestion speakers. Play it with the loudest clean sound possible. To get the same amount of volume with a stock BJr, you need about 4 of them. That is partially because of the less efficient speaker of the BJr. If you change the BJr speaker to the same Celestion you will need two BJrs to get the same loudness. That's the loudness you need to play clean solo guitar (Dire Straits, for example) together with a drummer of normal loudness and have a little headroom. Also don't believe that this amp is a versatile amp where you can get a dozens of different sounds, it has one sound -- that's all!!

Speaker
I decided to put in a better speaker, the best choice was an Electro Voice EVM 12L. This speaker does not have a distinctive sound of its own like a Celestion Blue Dog, but it is the loudest speaker you can get (as twice as loud as a normal Celestion) and works fine in a BJr. I brought a used one on eBay for $70. This speaker has a 4-inch voice coil and a huge magnet. It does not fit into a stock BJr; you have to pull the speaker baffle out and turn it over so the hole is on the opposite side. (remove the grille cover, the nuts, etc.) and then it works. On the grille cover I glued a round piece of cardboard (diameter 3") in front of the center of the speaker to avoid the high frequency beam. On the sides of the amp I mounted Fender tilt-back legs (14"), so you don't need a stand. I tried a stand-- too much treble. Don't forget amp corners! I covered the reverb spring with a piece of thick carpet. This cleans up the reverb and the whole amp a little. (Bill Machrone presented a reverb modification in the Fender Discussion Pages. I tried it, he had done a good job, it works fine but I don't like it. It's a personal taste; I like the stock reverb more.) Because this amp is a small but heavy beast, I removed the grip and a leather grip took place.

[edgewound]

Originally Posted by High Voltage

Speaker
I decided to put in a better speaker, the best choice was an Electro Voice EVM 12L. This speaker does not have a distinctive sound of its own like a Celestion Blue Dog, but it is the loudest speaker you can get (as twice as loud as a normal Celestion) and works fine in a BJr. I brought a used one on eBay for $70. This speaker has a 4-inch voice coil and a huge magnet..

Your taste in speakers is excellent! I use EVM12L with my Rivera Rake and Marshall JMP combo. I also like the JBL E120/K120/D120F

Actually the EVM12L has a 2 1/2 (2.4)" voice coil with a 4" dome. The JBL E/K/D120 has a 4"(3.910") voice coil and can get even a little cleaner than the EV but with a bit more bottom end. The E120 has more magnetic strength and a bit more midrange than the D/K120. It also weighs about 10 pounds more too, due to it's being a big ceramic disc rather than alnico.

Once you go with one of those premium guitar speakers it's hard to go back to anything lesser.

I like your idea of the 3" disc to diffuse the beaming...I've been meaning to try that.

[High Voltage]

Oh sorry that wasnt actually me. The bottom two paragraphs are taken from a link on the BillM page.