Tone Tubby speaker opinions please

They weren't my cup of tea, broke up too early for me, I needed a really clean spank, and this didn't do it for me . . . but I now know why Santana uses these, they totally fit with his tone . . .

Not to spam, but I've got 2x10 alnico's for sale if your interested, email me . . .

 

Hey Scott,

I have the original Paper cone, and the later hemp cone 12 inchers. My G12H30s KILL them. The Alnico Blues smoke them. (Especially the hemps ) My EVS eat them alive. My Eminence 10s destroy them.

Thats my opinion anyway. The paper cones are good for ONE THING only IMO. Dark, smooth overdrive. Forget about any type of cleans or chime with them though.

We disagree on a lot of things. I do not think this would be one of them.

 

I agree.

 

Scott,
I THINK the H1 E is what I had. I sold it to Bob Sterner, so he could tell you. (I bought it from Steve Snider, so maybe he would remember as well.) Anyway, that had an extended REAL upper end, while the high mids remained dark. I think Matt McCloskey said it sounded like a woofer and a kazoo, and that is actually a very accurate description of the way i heard it. No matter how you spell it out, they are the strangest sounding speakers I have ever heard. I liked the paper cones the most, and darken a bright amp they will! So will throwing a dense blanket over a good speaker. I would say try greenbacks. IMO, stay away from Tubbies unless you can try them first.

 

i've got a pair of 10" Hemp's coming my way. i'll let you know SCW.

 

i use a single 10" ceramic TT hemp cone in a handbuilt amp from the 70's with a small koa cabinet
always wanted that amp to sound bigger and it's pretty bright
started back then with a JBL F series with paper dust cover and i've tried
stock fender, 3 kinds of Eminence(before they had names)Celestion, and EV
the Tone Tubby acomplished what everything else couldn't
opened the amp up and tamed the brightness
the speaker is from the 1st run of ceramic 10s/not doped
break in time made a hugh difference

 

And I thank you sir!! How go's it man? Truthfully, I have found that the mistake that most folk's make with the TT's ( hemp ) is not allowing them to break in properly...it took at least THREE times the normal break in for the TT's to calm down, once accomplished, for me, my favorite speaker.Warm, extremely well defind upper mid girth/chime, no lack of high's. By the way, apart from the forementioned user( Santana ), Mark Karan's favorite speaker, Jimmy Herring's favorite speaker. Steve Kimock's ( well...sometimes at least!! ) favorite speaker. Now to be fair, I know and cross path's with these folk's all the time. More objectively, at Scott Lerner's tone fest of over a year ago now, the rig that had ALL jaw's dropping was my nicely dialed in TR Topaz into my WELL broken in TT 2-12" cab. No lack of high's or defined upper mid definition...quite the contrary. Now having said this, I have in my possession a new pair of TT's that I popped into a TR SIG cab...and I understand what you guy's are saying....buzzy top end, woofy low end...NOT BROKEN IN YET. Most folk's , I believe, gave up on them WAY before they were able to truely flower and do what they were designed to do. I believe that one rather respected amplifier manufactuer ( 65 amps ) think's enough of them to offer tham as stock. Clearly also, as some have objected to, I kinda like the attenuated "beamyness high's " in TT's...kinda like a Tonespotter or a 1265 or Beamblockers, high's never seem to be lacking in any of my gig rig's ( TR SIG or Bruno Cow's ) anyway. Different strokes I guess. Bob

 

Agreed on the break-in. My TT ceramic 12" took a long time. Now it sounds very nice (though not as sweet as my Blues).

 

FWIW, I had the opposite issue with the Tubbies. After initial break in, it was kind of nice. Tamed high end but still realistic sounding. A buddy heard it and bought 10's for his VibroKing. They wouldn't fit in the top slot as the magnet cover was too deep, but worked great in that amp. Taming the top end just enough.

But when mine fully broke in, I hated it. I love the woofer and kazzoo comment. I'd add that it sounded like a kazzoo blown too hard.

I think one of the bits with these speakers is not to drive them too hard. Folks who use them in multiples seem to have better results.

 

I pounded a pair of alnico hemp cones for a week (in an 18 watt amp) before they started to sound ok. By the end of the week I was really liking them a lot. I now have a pair of alnico paper cones that seem ok and partially broken in (at least). No problem with lack of brightness with these puppies. The are not as bright as the blues but that is not an bad thing for some amps. The speakers certainly have a voice and response of their own. Nice complex mids and very responsive.

They do not sound as good as a blue and a weber silverbell for the super chimey tones as you might get from a matchless lightning. They are good for a lot of other stuff though.

 

Bob which TT's do you have?

 

Actually all of my TT's are the H1's, have not yet tried the H1E's . B

 

Have not tried a single one I like, broken in or not, they have that odd midrange, like it is missing something.
I like my G12H's alot more, even my hated V30's gets more love.

 

I have three 2x12 cabs of 12" Alnico TT. Obviously I like them. I break them in with a Variac makes short work of it. They are warm smooth have lots of harmonics and detail. I think they work great with my Trainwreck Express clone and my MKIIC+. One thing I like is it allows you to push your amp a bit harder especially the treble makes the harmonics really jump.

 

Glad it made it OK

I've got another one if your interested . . .