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1967 Fender Deluxe Reverb: Quest for the Best Replacement Speaker!
Today I went on one of my most extensive tone quests yet, seeking out a love-mate for my new favorite amp, the ’67 Deluxe Reverb featured in last weeks blog. I want to be able to box and store the original light duty Oxford 12K5 speaker and preserve it’s vintage value, plus maybe find a speaker with a little more oomph, to give the amp good gigeable volume, and clean headroom (ever elusive in 2-6V6 amps).
I decided to try ALL the WGS models I suspected may be a good match, plus quite a large variety of vintage models by various makers. Wow, every amp is different! Some of the results were just as I suspected, others were not. The Video of my exploits is nearly a full hour long, so make a fresh pot of coffee and join me for a magical mystery tour of tone. I seriously need YOUR input on this one, so P-L-E-A-S-E post you comments.
Spoiler Alert!!! If you don’t want to sit through the whole 55-minute video, here is the nitty gritty:
Retro 30: Sounded HUGE, but a little too “modern” without enough vintage midrange warmth for me.
Blackhawk: Sooo sweet, but not enough sparkle and spank for the classic Deluxe Reverb tone.
G12C: VERY nice with sparkle & spank for days, maybe just a bit too much for me.
G12C/S: Nice vintage tweed tone, but too dark and smoky for the Deluxe Reverb.
New WGS light 12: EXACTLY (!!) like the 46 year old original.
Green Beret: it was awesome! probably tied for second place!! Like the original on steroids.
ET65: My old DR fav does not disappoint! Beautiful, this may be #1.
Reaper (30): Very good match just a tad more presence than the ET65, also a #1 contender!
Vintage Jensen P12Q: Sweet, but just a little too much upper-mid bite for this amp.
Fender/Eminence Alnico: Same as the Jensen, only a little worse.
Vintage Oxford 12T6: Though bigger and healthier, it didn’t quite sound as sweet as the amps stock 12K5.
Vintage EV Force 12: Won the award for most surprising. Actually sounded nice and vintage; too vintage even, actually very warm and tweedy, in stark contrast to it’s massive look!
The ultimate winner? Too close to call, so I need YOUR input. Please post your thoughts here as a comment. Maybe if we put our heads together we can figure this one out.
Here is that epic video!
See ya all next week!
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