I'm trying to nail down some new speakers for my "Blackfaced" Vintage 70's Fender Twin after discovering the stock speakers had been blown at some point.
I enjoyed the stock Blue Label Fender Speakers that the amp came with, but I always felt the speakers had a little bit to much low mids. Not sure if the speaker is alnico or ceramic.
I should also mention that my Twin has ALOT of bass. I usually don't turn the volume past 5. The bass control is usually around 3 and is plenty pronounced. Don't know if the speakers have something to do with this or not. I use pedals to get all my overdrive/distortion tones.
I play mostly ambient rock music with tons of reverb/delay, high octave Whammy and "shimmer" effects, and play a fair share of high distortion/big muff tone passages.
I'm looking for a speaker that can give me a great clean tone, no muddy-ness, pairs well with big muff style distortion, and allows higher octave sounds to be defined without sounding shrill.
Thank-you for any help!
P.S. I'm a University student on a budget. Kinda want to stay away from expensive AlNiCo's but if they can do what I want, I'll find a way.
I'm leaning hard towards a pair of G12C/S. Any thoughts?
"I'm looking for a speaker that can give me a great clean tone, no muddy-ness, pairs well with big muff style distortion, and allows higher octave sounds to be defined without sounding shrill."
That's a pair of ET65's FOR SURE! Don't second guess it, just go for it. (I've given this advice to folks who have put something ELSE in their twin ... and then come back & get the ET65 saying "shoulda listened the first time").
I think the G12C/S's would be way too bottom heavy given everything you have said.
Guess I'm going with the ET-65's. Will report back in a month or so with my thoughts.
If you're looking for mostly cleans, I would also consider the ET-90. It has the basic sound of the ET-65 but is more "high fidelity." That in no way implies that the 65 is lo-fi, but I have both speakers and the 90 has a touch more sparkle and generally a tighter sound due to the larger magnet structure.
Finally got the speakers on the 27th. Installed them right before band practice, and then gigged with them later o in the night.
All I can say is WOW.
I was hoping these would sound just as good as the original speakers but these are above and beyond. All my dirt pedals sound alot more spread out then clumped together if that makes any sense. I use a lot of trebely guitars which sounded shrill with the old speakers causing me to lessen the highs. This always made the amp sound laking. These speakers fixed that problem by taking a lot of the crappy high frquencies and keeping the musical ones. I can't get over how amazing this amp sounds now.
To me these speakers shouldn't be branded as British. It turns away to many Fender amp guys thinking they're gonna get a celestion voiced set that can't do cleans. These are perfect in a twin period. If you have a rig similar to mine, even better. Highly recomended.
Yes, I agree with the idea that they shouldn't be considered fully "British". I usually refer to them as having one foot on British soil ... and one firmly planted on "this side of the pond".
Thanks for taking the time to post your results!
Can two ET65 handle 135Watts from an ultralinear Silverface Twin? Or should I better take two ET90?
Yes.
I have a similar question along these lines. I have an early 70s Silverface Twin with some BF mods, adn the normal channel's tone stack has more tweed bassman values and a raw switch to lift it from the circuit. Also the the Master volume removed. I play mostly blues based rock and classic rock. I am torn on what to put in this beast....I love twins for what they are, but I would like to get closer to the sound in my head. Something with an aggressive mid-upper mid, tight focused bass, and slightly subdued highs to tame the ice pick highs that can sometimes be had with these amps. I am trying to avoid the Death Rays that my old twin was with the JBLs....Would the BLACKHAWK HP be a good choice or is the ET65, ET90 or WGS12 a better option...weight is not an issue as this thing stays in the studio and sometimes goes into an anvil case but it is a very stationary amp. Your input is greatly appreciated...
Guitars going into this rig are mostly my 89 LP standard with Gibson 57s a 72 LP deluxe with original minis, and an 82 LP XR2 with firebird pickups. And the occasional tele and strat but mostly the Gibsons.
Something with an aggressive mid-upper mid, tight focused bass, and slightly subdued highs to tame the ice pick highs that can sometimes be had with these amps. I am trying to avoid the Death Rays that my old twin was with the JBLs....
Gotcha ... I had a 135-watt Twin with JBS for many years as a kid!
The blackhawk Hp or ET65 are both EXCELLENT choices (nearly the same cone, just with ceramic or Alnico magnet).
Another very good choice IF you are willing to tame the top quite a lot would be a pair of The G12A/S smooth-cones ... and the orange will remind you of the look of the old Fender/JBL D120F's :-) But they sound MUCH mellower.
Overall, though, you can't beet the BH or ET65 in that amp!
Thanks Vaughn, I think I may lean towards the Blackhawk HPs but the ET65 seems interesting especially when paired with a Veteran 30....
I ended up going with the ET65s, I am so happy with these speakers. I have also used them with my daughters HT1 Blackstar, and my silverface vibrochamp....I am seriously thinking of putting a pair into a 2x12 open back cab for use around the studio, every amp I have run through these sounded great....from the Fender Vibro Champ, to the Carvin X-60 combo. Great speakers!!!
Makes sense to use a smooth sounding speaker with an SF Twin. I've read that CBS did not include the blocking distortion filter on the power section, so although the tube break up is more gradual, the high freq modulations can make them sound harsh. The ET65 isn't really a "tight" speaker due to the smaller magnet. You could increase the power section GNFB with a smaller value resister and/or use some tighter power tubes, like 5881 or the glorious Tung-Sol 7581A if you want to tighten the low end a bit.
Awesome, and thanks David for taking the time to come back and post your results here where we can ALL learn from them :-)