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Help needed

First of all, there seem to be a bewildering array of different speakers out there - even within a particular brand - and the wattages vary widely too.

First the watts - I figure that should be easy enough with a 1x12 cabinet, as I need as many watts as my amp puts out plus some to make sure I get no speeaker distortion??

However, what brands are good (for the money, of course)... and ... within each brand what are the better choices? I'd like something really quite clear - I don't like gritty edgy guitar sounds.

Cheers

ah again, not neccesarily. I think you can generally get away with a speaker that is about 75% your amp output - but I would need to check on this. As you never play at max output constantly (perhaps you could with a compressor/expander) To play safe though, yes go for the same output as your amp. Don't forget you can damage a speaker just as easily by underpowering it

Eminence have a very good reputation, you can find a lot of info about them if you google

A website I found listed an eminence speaker as an alternative to a discontinued JBL speaker actually. I'd not heaerd of them before.

they're big in bass circles we are far more discerning about our pure tone than guitarists...

"we" is it? So you'll be flicking off that LP soon then? - you know, seeing as you're a bassist, and don't need a dirty old lead guitar.

bluesgeek wrote:they're big in bass circles we are far more discerning about our pure tone than guitarists...

You read here first folks.

nah I'll probably just hang onto it and put it on the wall and reminesce/bore anyone who will listen

bluesgeek wrote:nah I'll probably just hang onto it and put it on the wall and reminesce/bore anyone who will listen

shame you stopped playing. You had that Peter Green thing all sorted

yeah I know mate, still when there are two much greater guitar talents in the group.....

bluesgeek wrote:yeah I know mate, still when there are two much greater guitar talents in the group.....

kick them out and be the diva!

angry_young_poet wrote:

bluesgeek wrote:yeah I know mate, still when there are two much greater guitar talents in the group.....

kick them out and be the diva!

Na. then he will be stuck with the ones he loves

bluesgeek wrote:I think you can generally get away with a speaker that is about 75% your amp output - but I would need to check on this.

Your amp can put out quite a bit more instantaneous power than what it is rated at, so I think you're asking for trouble by going less or even the same as your amps rated average output.

Some brands to look out for are Celestion, Eminence, Jensen, and Weber. I probably missed a few...

If vintage tone (Fender-ish) is what you're after, Jensen or Weber with AlNiCo magnet would be the ones to go for in my opinion.

For more modern sounds, Celestion seems to be popular.

yep there are two schools of thought on this one :p I can only go by what I've read on the audio forums - and it does usually end up in pitched battles

Tsuken, if you like smooth, non-speaker generated distortion, go for one of the more modern designed speakers from Eminence or Celestion maybe. Ceraminc too possibly, as opposed to AlNiCo for the magnet. Maybe a second hand EV - they used to be great.

Of course, the original amps (Vox's, Marshalls, Fenders etc) had speakers that actually broke up and contributed to that mush adored sound. I have 2 combo's and head/bin arrangement and all have only slightly higher rating wattage than the amp. Actually, my 12 wat Trace Elliott has a Vinatge 30 in it and the amp can still make the speaker break up.

This raises another question. Do metal players use speakers that will also distort, or do they get all of their distortion from the amp/pedals setup and simply accurately project from a hugely powerful and stable speaker setup?

Have a read here:

http://www.webervst.com/sptalk.html