Make Your Reissue ROCK!

Hi everybody!  Several of last week’s testimonials were by folks who had purchased modern reproductions of classic amps.  As folks warm-up to the sound of vintage tube amps (sorry, couldn’t help the pun), both Fender and Vox have re-issued some of their most sought after models.  As long as we don’t get into a big discussion on point-to-point hand wiring and stuff like that, I think we can all agree that the modern repros are some pretty decent amps.  The weak link, as is usually the case these days, is that they cut corners on the speakers included with the amps.  I want to start out with a testimonial that emphasizes just what I’m talking about.

Jacob Pidduck's very cool Vox/Ric rig.

 

From Jacob Pidduck:

Hi, I recently managed to save for my dream rig, a dream that I've had since I was 12, (now 38!) A Rickenbacker 330 and a Vox AC30, I wanted a British AC30 but unfortunately the only secondhand one I could find in my price range was a 1982 model fitted with blue Vox labeled Fane speakers which do not do this amp justice. So at this moment in time I have just stumbled across your fantastic website whilst drooling over replacement speakers that maybe I'll be able to afford by the time I'm 58. This amp is crying out for a speaker upgrade!

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Much of the magic of the original Vox AC30’s came from those wonderful original Alnico Blues fitted inside them.  The modern Blues are very good speakers, but nowhere as sweet as an original 1960’s to early 70’s model.  The new ones are more brittle and sterile sounding.  Our WGS Black & Blue Alnico is the closest thing you’ll find to an original, never used Celestion Blue from 1969.  These speakers will make your newer AC 30 (orAC15) sound like the real deal.  A little pricy, yes, but look at it this way:  You’ll end up with an amp that sounds scarily close to an original AC30 with the original blues in it ... for a lot less dough.

 

Fender’s modern repros are also crying out for speaker upgrades that will meet or beat the speaker found in the originals.  The Deluxe Reverb reissue is a prime example.  Put a G12C in it, and you’ll hear what Leo intended a blackface Deluxe to sound like. 

  Deluxe Reverb reissue

 

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I’m going to end this blog with some comments from Mike Clark:

I decided to purchase a Fender Super Sonic, which is a pretty powerful amp (maybe 50W I think). The speaker that came in it was a Hellatone 30.

I played it a few times at the house and then took it out to my next gig. After the amp warms up, it starts giving a very loud and very obnoxious sound when played aggressively. I sounded like speaker noise but was not sure.

I took it to 2 different amp techs that checked it out and could not find anything wrong. Then finally the 2^nd amp tech asked me if I knew that it only had a 30 watt speaker in it. At that point, I had no clue, since it was purchased as a new amp, I figured it should have the correct matched speaker for the combo. I really don’t know if this is the speaker that was supposed to be in the amp or if somehow, they just put the wrong one in it. The amp tech said that the speaker is more than likely the root of the problem.

So, from a friend’s recommendation, I ordered a British Lead 80 speaker from Warehouse Guitar Speakers. After installing it myself, I plugged the amp in and ... WOW! This amp sounded better than ever before and after playing on it for a solid hour, all noises were gone.

I’ve played this amp a few times a week for months now ... Perfect.     Never a noise.   Never a quiver. Just tons and tons of tone the amp was built to deliver.  (Hey! That rhymes! J)

Since then, I purchased another British Lead 80 and put it in my ‘70’s Music Man RD112 Fifty and again, the amp was a completely different sounding amp. All the "muddy" overtones and "floppy" bass response was gone. This had made a good amp much better. (and much louder too).

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I really like what Fender is trying to accomplish with the super-sonic, but they have played around with several OEM speaker models, none of which do the amp justice.  It’s nice to hear that the addition of a great speaker enables this amp deliver on it promise!  Oh, and those old MusicMan amps are real gems, I think they will be the next big thing in vintage amps.  Some of them left the factory with really great sounding speakers, and some did not, plus the years can be hard on a speaker.  Isn’t it cool that a simple switch to a superior quality speaker can so totally transform an amp!  Again, Leo would be proud.

Until next week...    -Vaughn-

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