What are your favorite guitar speakers, and why?

**jzucker** · 03-01-2019, 07:10 PM

Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar

Decades ago, I had the idea to build hi fi speakers.

I got a small paperback book on the subject. It had an explanation of the engineering issues including free air resonance of the speaker and nomographs for ported and unported designs.

It made the point that the speaker and cabinet have to be compatible with each other to get optimum sound.

That brings me to this thread. How can you talk about a favorite speaker outside of the context of the cabinet?

i think in many cases, folks are using them in infinite baffle designs and in the jazz case, smaller cabs. I think the mojolite 1x12 is probably pretty typical. Similar in size (teeny bit bigger) than the quilter blockdock cab.

Obviously, even in an infinite baffle, the larger cab with have more spread and sound a little bigger...

**rpjazzguitar** · 03-01-2019, 07:54 PM

Originally Posted by jzucker

i think in many cases, folks are using them in infinite baffle designs and in the jazz case, smaller cabs. I think the mojolite 1x12 is probably pretty typical. Similar in size (teeny bit bigger) than the quilter blockdock cab.

Obviously, even in an infinite baffle, the larger cab with have more spread and sound a little bigger...

Does this mean that you can swap a few speakers in and out of the same cabinet and rate them accurately?

Or might the ratings change if you used a different cabinet?

**neatomic** · 03-01-2019, 08:36 PM

just for info...vintage alnico jbl's always used pulp/paper cones...what some people do is replace the original style aluminum dust cap covers with paper cap covers...some say it cuts down a bit of the sizzle...but that has nothing to do with the cone material!

cheers

**jzucker** · 03-01-2019, 09:58 PM

Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar

Does this mean that you can swap a few speakers in and out of the same cabinet and rate them accurately?

Or might the ratings change if you used a different cabinet?

it takes less than 5 minutes to change the speaker in my quilter blockdock cab so yes, very easy to swap and rate them.

I don't think the ratings would change, i think it's all relative. With infinite baffle (open back) the design of the cabinet effects the speaker's response very little. I have experience that with a proper closed and ported design, the effects of the neo speaker can be minimized (crossover helps too) but with open back, I haven't experienced drastic differences in speaker behavior from one cab to another.

There might be certain things that become exacerbated as you move to a bigger cabinet however. For example, with my mojolite 1x12 cab, the ET90 exaggerated all the wrong low end frequencies and caused my archtops to feedback. If you put it in a bigger cab, the effect would be more pronounced.

**Hammertone** · 03-01-2019, 10:02 PM

I like red speakers.

**Litterick** · 03-01-2019, 11:02 PM

What are your favorite guitar speakers, and why?-fender-12f-jpeg

One like this. Made by Electro-Voice. A 200W speaker in a 22W amp.

**Litterick** · 03-01-2019, 11:23 PM

Originally Posted by neatomic

just for info...vintage alnico jbl's always used pulp/paper cones...what some people do is replace the original style aluminum dust cap covers with paper cap covers...some say it cuts down a bit of the sizzle...but that has nothing to do with the cone material!

Conversely, the Fender-branded speakers made by Electro-Voice had aluminium covers rather than the usual EV paper dust caps. I suppose this was done to increase the brightness.

**neatomic** · 03-02-2019, 12:02 AM

^ but that came way later!!! jbl was first by years..when it was leo...fender was just making the most of it later..post cbs... with ev...(tho i can't even recall picturing those speakers)

when you look at bands from the 60's using fender amps..you can always see that aluminum cap shining thru the grill cloth...immediate brand identification!!

cheers

**Litterick** · 03-02-2019, 01:06 AM

Yes, but my observation was simply that Fender (more precisely, Paul Rivera, who was responsible for amps at that time) added an aluminium cover to a speaker that usually had a paper cover. I believe Electro-Voice used paper to reduce brightness, and I suppose Fender used aluminium to increase it.

**maggles55** · 03-02-2019, 01:13 AM

Originally Posted by jzucker

With infinite baffle (open back) the design of the cabinet effects the speaker's response very little.

Yes, this is correct, but FYI, an open back cabinet is a finite baffle. Infinite baffle means the back of the speaker is completely separated from the front and both sides are exposed to an unrestricted volume. An open back cab meets the second criteria, not the first (that is, keeping one side completely separate from the other....like Trump wants to build).

To create an infinite baffle for testing, some manufacturers create a good sized, sealed room and mount the speaker on the wall so the front fires into the room for measurements and the rear is completely separate and isolated.

**neatomic** · 03-02-2019, 01:20 AM

Originally Posted by Litterick

Yes, but my observation was simply that Fender (more precisely, Paul Rivera, who was responsible for amps at that time) added an aluminium cover to a speaker that usually had a paper cover. I believe Electro-Voice used paper to reduce brightness, and I suppose Fender used aluminium to increase it.

yeah ok...rivera era is later(80's)...but yeah i get it...i played some fender rivera combo's but didnt remember the dust caps...sure rivera was trying to recapture some of the vibe of the original jbls

fender riveras were always a bit harsh for me..but i've heard others play them wonderfully

cheers

**Gitfiddler** · 03-02-2019, 02:04 AM

Originally Posted by Litterick

One like this. Made by Electro-Voice. A 200W speaker in a 22W amp.

I agree 100%...and with the aluminum dust cap too! And this baby ain't harsh. It's sweeeet!

**Litterick** · 03-02-2019, 02:46 AM

Looking good.

**P.J.** · 03-03-2019, 09:48 AM

I like Celestion Blues, Greenbacks, and Vintage 30's as well as Eminence's Cannabis Rex.

**omphalopsychos** · 03-03-2019, 12:31 PM

Has anyone ever compared Weber's H dustcap to their standard? I have an H dustcap on a 10a150 in my PRRI, which is a very bright amp. It couldn't sound any better. However, I picked the H dustcap on a whim.

**ThatRhythmMan** · 03-03-2019, 02:52 PM

I have the H dust caps on both 12A150 speakers in my custom tweed Bassman 212 combo made by Michael Clark. I love them in this amp.

**lammie200** · 03-03-2019, 03:45 PM

I had Weber do the H dust cap on mine, too. Good idea for a jazz tone IMHO.

**Litterick** · 03-03-2019, 04:26 PM

Is the H dust cap aluminium?

**lammie200** · 03-03-2019, 04:41 PM

On Webers it is paper or hemp if you choose the hemp option if I am not mistaken.

**jbear** · 03-04-2019, 12:30 PM

I like...
-EM12L in 1x12 w/ Ceriatone OTS (one EV isn't too bad for weight). Ford-style stuff mostly (semis, LPs, and Teles), but you can get some awesome Strat tones too. It's great for straight jazz as well (175). Greenbacks are also very sweet with this one.
-WGS ET 65 w/ DRRI. Jazz and blues are great through this. Dirty jazz stuff is especially nice with this speaker.
-Greenback w/ Suhr Badger 18...fusion/blues mostly.
-Creambacks in 2x10 w/ Dr. Remedy (although I like it even better with the 1x12 Greenback cab). Fusion/blues spoken here as well.
-WGS ET 65 w/ Hot Rod Deluxe. This does just about anything pretty well. Great pedal platform. It's modded, so...stock...might be flubby in the bass department.
-C. Rex w/ Blues Jr. BF mod. Awesome for...blues. Does Jazz pretty nicely. This speaker is awesome for removing ice picks.
-Just traded an ugly-a** green/gold LP studio (looked like a 90's Camry) for a Supersonic 60. It has a Rock n' Roll Dr. speaker in there now. It came with that but I can find nothing about it on line. I haven't had enough time on it to make an observation. So...don't know what's going in there ultimately. Right now it's getting overhauled...dude treated it like s**t. Foil-over-the-fuse level s**t. Holla if you have any ideas.
-Peavy Delta Blues 1x15...no label on the speaker, so...don't know what it is but it sounds really good for blues and rock, although...not as much bass as I would expect from a 15, so...who knows what I'll do with it. I think it could be an awesome Jazz amp with a different speaker...someday. Anyone with a favorite 15"...say something.
-Put my SuperChamp XD chassis in a Princeton 1x12 cab with a Judy Box Bad Betty...it's a pretty sweet speaker. Has a Greenback flavor with it's own thing (sorta like the ET65 does). It's just a mess-around amp, so...it doesn't have to be a superstar. It's a lot nicer than it's pricepoint, that's for sure!
I will say that in different cabs...the whole picture changes. Well...some of the picture. Every once and a while, I'll put a speaker I love into something and...yuck. It's the other way around too. I've been put off by some speakers that ended up being champs in the right element.