Which WGS for Blues Jnr? Reaper/Veteran/G12C?? | Warehouse Guitar Speakers
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Which WGS for Blues Jnr? Reaper/Veteran/G12C??

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mfinucane1
08/19/2013 10:26am

Hi Folks

I have a quick question re an appropriate speaker upgrade for a Blues Junior II (stock).

I have recently traded in my larger amps ... Marshall Super Bass + 1976 4*12 with Celestion GB) and my silver face twin, (not sure what vintage, but it had what looked like generic eminence speakers in it (probabaly repalcements) and was quite battered but played beautifully.

In their place, I now have a Marshall Class 5 and a Blues Jnr. I just don't need the volume or weight any more, sad to see the big guys go, but there comes a time ;-) While the Class 5 is pretty good stock, I feel the Blues Jnr could have a little more of that sparkle or presence - It just feels a tad flat to me. The BJ will be my main gigging amp (small pubs/cafes) whilst the Class 5 is really for fun and recording. I play mainly 60/70s classic rock/pop/jazz/folk and key touch points in terms a description of the general tones I am trying to capture with the BJ  range from Mark Knoppfler (solo years) - Ryan Adams - Allmans - Ry Cooder - Later Beatles Era (Let it Be/Abbey Road) - Stones - Joe Walsh/Eagles - Kinks - Steely Dan  - The Band/R Robertson - Richard Thompson - Calexico - Even some Zep and AC/DC.

To that end, I have a range of pedals to get those various flavours (Analogman BC108 - Way Huge Red Llama - Wampler PlexiDrive and 57 Tweed. one of the things I am wary of is ending up with a speaker with too much hi end sizzle that turns the fuzz & Red Llama into a stack of bees. Currently, they sound really god thru the Marshall, and pretty good but a little 'dead' thru the Blues Jnr.

I'm looking for a speaker with a good broad range that offers a big, full sound with good clarity, but which doesn't get lost in the mix in a live scenario. I really like the demos I have heard of the Reaper, Veteran and the G12C but have the following concerns about each, which is why I ma looking for guidance. 

  1. Reaper: I really like the overall balance and think it had a good full sound in the lower mid-range. My main concern is that it doesn't have enough mid-range or sparkle to stand out in a live or band context
  2. G12C: Again, I like the broad range of the speaker and it appears to make up for the sparkle over the Reaper, but possibly at the expense of low end girth and may just be a bit to spikey on the high end
  3. Veteran: I really like the brightness and the way this speaker seems to allow notes to jump out at you. My concern would be that it may just have too much of a mid- hump and end up sounding like a cocked Wah with not really oomph in the lower end response. I am also concerned that it may render the fuzz & Red Llama a bit to fizzy - as may the G12C.

I am only pointing out my concerns over each of the speakers so you get an appreciation of what the key ingredients wold be when it comes to making a choice. I have conclusively settled on WGS and one of these three speakers as they sound best from all the YT videos i have heard. Gearmanndude uses a veteran from his Pro Junior rehouses in the Mojotone cab and it sounded awesome, as do all the others on Vaughn's videos, which have pretty much informed my choice.

Any advice and / or opinion would be very gratefully received.

Many thanks in advance ...

 

VAUGHN SKOW
08/21/2013 9:46am

Thought I answered this a few days back ...

Anyway ... ET65 ... for sure & for certain!

mfinucane1
08/24/2013 5:47am

Thanks for the feedback! One small issue, all the distributor locally are out of stock of the 65 and I'm under pressure to get this done in the next week or two. Given the absence or non availability of the 65, I've kind of narrowed it down to either the:

1. Reaper

2. Reaper HP

3. Liberator.

 

which would be best for multi functional use and particularly for filling out the lower registers (girth) without being overly shrill in the high end?

 

Thanks again for the feedback!!

cheers

m

 

 

mfinucane1
08/24/2013 10:54am

 

Which WGS cntd...
Think I may have posted this twice , apologies if I have ....
the et-65 is not in stock locally and I need to get the speaker in the next fortnight. 
Am going to go for one of  the following in its place :
1. Reaper
2. Reaper HP
3. Liberator
Am looking for decent girth (generous low end with good mid definition) and reasonably crisp on top without being overly shrill.
Think i'm leaning towards the Liberator, it being a slightly beefier version of the ET65. The Reaper sounds great but worried the Blues Jnr might bring out the harshness in it (???), hence the inclusion of the HP version (slightly more recessed higher registers)   but would value your opinion on which would work best in a Blues Jr for general classic rock stuff
Many thanks again
M

 

VAUGHN SKOW
08/24/2013 3:14pm

Well shoot! Too bad...

Any of the three you mention will be MUCH improved over the stock speaker.  I'd probably go with the Liberator out of that list ... mostly because I know that the heavy magnet speakers like the Reaper pretty much touch the tubes in a blues Jr ... The Liberator should give you just a little more clearance.

mfinucane1
09/14/2013 8:43am

 

Hi Folks – by means of an update... I ended up going with the G12C/S and thought I’d post a few thoughts about it.
As a caveat, and apologies in advance, words are likely to fail fail here with respect to trying to adequately and accurately describe what I hear, but I’ll do my best. …When I acquired the Blues Jnr, I felt it was a decent little amp and the variety of tones available was great. However, even tho the speaker it ships with isn’t as bad as some folks make it out to be, it definitely contributed to the slightly boxy/small amp sound and by comparison to the class5 and most crertainly the Slverface Twin I used to own, it did sound ‘small’ and a ‘papery’ as well as having what I can only describe as a glare in the upper mid-frequncies that just couldn't be dialled out. 
I was going to go for either the ET65 or the liberator but decided to stick with a more traditionally US voiced speaker and opted for the WGS G12C/S. I wanted to try to preserve what elements of ‘American’ tones exist in the Blues jnr but also felt the some of the top end might benefit with a bit of smoothing
Categorically, this speaker is a rock-solid improvement over the stock OEM eminence generic 12”speaker that ships with the blues Jnr. The amp no longer sounds as dimensionally small as it did previously (within reasonable constraints - it is still a small box after all and the laws of physics are always going to apply!) The speaker yields definite and noticeable gains with respect to bass, mids and treble but there is more to it than the simple frequency response improvements. If I were to be lazy, I would simply say that the WGS imparts vast improvements in terms of euphony over the stock speaker, but Its way mote than just that. There is a tangibility and near visceral quality to the sound that was simply missing with the stock speaker. The tone feels like it has a new weight and authority to it that was previously absent. It complements and enhances those American flavoured tones the amp is built to deliver but also helps to smooth out the inherent but vague shrillness that was present prior to the change. Pedals sound significantly better thru this speaker, particularly things like fuzz and some of my older vintage phase and chorus pedals sound naturally smoother without losing any of their definition. Perhaps the best way I can describe it would be to say that prior to the upgrade, I was always aware of the imperfections to the tone, now I simply just don't notice and can happily get on with just playing. Don’t get me wrong - this doesn't turn it magically into a twin or deluxe reverb, but in the context of a pub gig, I’m not so sure many folks would notice!! defintie improvement and a great match for the Blues Jnr. Highly recommended!!

 

VAUGHN SKOW
09/16/2013 9:40am

Thanks for taking the time to post your results here where we can ALL learn from them !

:-)

digsmithd
03/21/2015 7:39pm

I installed a reaper hp in my blues jr limited (brown tolex) and it fit as perfect as i could have hoped for...plenty of clearance from tubes...it really is a great sounding speaker in the bj as well...giving it some big,big notes that it never had with the stock jensen.

Has Solid lowend, mid is scooped (now) to my ears and thats coming in as speaker is breaking in.The high's are sweeter and has none of the shrill bite as well.My tele sounds really quite good through this thing...Its astounding the differance it has made,the only real test is to go play with others in a jam,band situation...i am recieving a c12cs soon and will try that too.

The reaper hp fits perfect though in this thing and might be staying in....fwiw.

*UPDATE*...for me the reaper hp is the winner in blues jr...my tele's tone is balanced and sweet...the c12cs was just a little to top heavy for me...nice and woody and twead like though,but the reaper hp has a little more modern tone and is scooped in the right area's.