What speaker for a 5e3?

[Mudder]

I have a 5e3 and am not entirely happy with the tone. It currently has a Texas Heat in it, and it sounds a bit too middy, sort of dense/thick. Overdrive is nice and creamy but I'd like cleans to have more sparkle, lust be more clean. I have an Eminence Delta Pro sitting here, but I'd be open to other suggestions as well. Would a Jensen style speaker get me there? I've been eyeing a Weber 12a150a for example.

 

[ledzep618]

I dont think you can beat a Cele Blue in a 5E3. The Cannabis Rex is a good match too.

 

[bluesjuke]

I do use the Jensen Reissues in both of mine, a P12Q in one , and a P12N in the other.
THese speakers are great across the frequency spectrum.

They have to break in first and the change in them from new is quite astounding.

 

[slider313]

The Jensen P12Q, P12P or P12N all sound great with that circuit.

 

[Onioner]

A blue is pretty cool. Mine is a Weber.

The 12a125a is great for the vintage American vibe.

I love the dt10s I'm using, but they're pretty far off the beaten path. Not very sparkly either.

I also very much like the grey wolf i have, which has great sparkle, but is pretty mid focused.

 

[zacmac]

I went through what you have gone through and finally realized that what you want is not the strong point of that amp. 5E3's are not going to give you classic fender cleans and at the time, that was what Leo was chasing (which is what he did with blackfaces). You are heading in the right direction with a speaker that will break up less but 5E3's are midrange heavy and rockin. try a different rectofier that will give you more clean headroom and use a boost pedal to bump you up to the drive that 5E3's are known for. This will allow you to keep your high end vs rolling back the volume to clean up which looses it.

These worked for me until I decided that a brown deluxe and a deluxe reverb were the route to go vs tweed. brownies have all of the bark of tweeds with a tighter less flubby low end and cleans that remind me of blackfaces but with more midrange girth and a slight tweed punch

This may not be what you want to hear but I have gone through the transition and ended up cutting loose my tweed

 

[aaronz28]

i have an original 1959 P12 that was reconned by Orange County -
it sounds absolutely killer -
i found an original cone for my 1959 Tweed - so i'm keeping that one in there.

let em know if you are interested

 

[sideman]

The Jensen P12Q, P12P or P12N all sound great with that circuit.

Agreed. I also like the Celestion Blue. Did not like the Weber alnicos I tried in other amps and am not going back there.

 

[OCDuff]

I'm with Zac Mac. That said, the best speaker I've put in a 5E3 was a Weber P12RT. I believe it is now the 12a100t. It's a 15 watt speaker - you won't blow it in that amp. In fact, I think that over speaker ing a 5e3 really kills the vintage vibe. The lower wattage speaker handling really has a nice light touch to the way the cone and speaker responds to the amp.

All in all, that speaker above got closest to what Id heard of vintage 5e3s. There needs to be a little cheapness to the sound. A lightness. It's gotta breathe. Tha said I'm sure a Celestion Blue would sound fab. But that gets too far, in my mind, from the Fender sound.

I never found the 5e3 to totally blow me away. It didn't have the magical top end. Brownies have all those tweed mids but are more refined, tighter. Blackfaces will get you all that sparkle and chime. Plug into the normal channel of a good DR clone, turn it up with a Celestion Blue, roll back the to e, and it's just perfect: rich, focused, compressed, with a touch of grit and a natural presence.

 

[jetlag]

P12Qs and P12Ps can give you nice sparkly cleans in a 5E3 but only at lower levels. P12Ns and celestion blues will hold together alot longer. Between the two, and depending on the (jensen) reconer, I would say the blue is a little brighter and louder up to its threshold of breakup compared to a P12N. Then once the speakers break up their distortion tones are certainly different - the whole british vs american thing. It really boils down to trying stuff to see what works for you. Qs and Ps are cool for around the house and studio use, blues and Ns best when playing in rooms with drummers. Another nice speaker in 5E3s are old C 12Ns.

 

[Bryce_dude13]

I have a new Jensen C12N in my clone. Sounds great. And it's surprisingly loud as well. I was able to play moderately clean with a full band. But when it does break up, the low end holds up very nicely.

 

[big mike]

Scumback J75

 

[Scottone]

I really like the Tungsten Amps T12Q speaker, which is made by Weber. I also have one in my '67 Traynor GuitarMate and it sounds really nice.

 

[VintageKnob]

+1 on the weber 12A125-A, from what Jim at Lil Dawg told me, they were designed for the 5E3. With special attention to the bottom end, no flub without sounding stiff.
I crank my deluxe on 12 all the time and it sounds great.

- D

 

[iim7v7im7]

I have a 5e3 and am not entirely happy with the tone. It currently has a Texas Heat in it, and it sounds a bit too middy, sort of dense/thick. Overdrive is nice and creamy but I'd like cleans to have more sparkle, lust be more clean. I have an Eminence Delta Pro sitting here, but I'd be open to other suggestions as well. Would a Jensen style speaker get me there? I've been eyeing a Weber 12a150a for example.

Here what has worked for me:

1) Use a speaker in the spirit of a Tweed 5E3 but with a larger voice coil and power rating (Weber, 25w, no-dope, 12A150). It still breaks up smoothly but holds out a bit longer and doesn't compress quite as much.

2) I had a deeper cabinet built (10-1/2" vs. 9-1/2") which helps with cabinet resonance and projection IMO.

3) I installed what is known a humbucker mod (Bruce Collins kit) that has a switchable toggle switch. The 5E3 sounded great with my Tele but would be a bit muddy for my tastes with humbucker based guitars. This switch helps a lot.