I play through a Tubemeister 36 closed back combo with the Chinese V30 (8 ohm). I like some of the "bite" of the V30 but it is a bit too harsh and requires me to keep the "high" EQ knob turned WAY down on both clean and dirty settings. I already replaced the stock power tubes with Sovtek EL84's and the 12ax7 preamps with a mix of Sovtek & Ruby, as recommended by Doug's Tubes.
I play a mix of original and cover music (straight up rock and roll) and I use all 3 channels of my amp regularly as a result- there is some fairly heavy riffing but no Chugga Chugga dub-step stuff and no 7 string/baritone... just a straight up PRS Custom 24 with HFS humbuckers and a Fender Strat Deluxe with NS3's.
I like a British/Marshall flavor to my tone, AKA 1960A cabinets... I even had a Peavey 412 MS with Sheffields that sounded pretty good. I also mainly use the 5W and 18W settings on the amp so i can crank the power section at lower volumes, rarely do i need the 36W setting.
Originally I was thinking of just swapping the V30 for the Veteran 30 to try and tame the harshness... but I saw mentions in the blog of using the Reaper in a tubemeister 18 so now i am unsure which way to go (mine has more wattage so they may not work?). i also saw the recommended combination of the ET-65 & Vet 30 as "the best"... so what to do?
In an ideal world i would replace the speaker in the combo and be done. However, I would consider adding a second speaker into the mix to achieve tonal nirvana. Which leads to open v closed back, 1x12 v 2x12, ported v unported, etc etc, and what combination of all these details might achieve my goal... warm punchy cleans, gritty AC/DC crunch, and blistering EVH leads.
thoughts and recommendations GREATLY appreciated
Also, my amp is rated for 8-16ohms at the speaker output, so I would probably replace the 8ohm with a 16ohm in case i want to parallel another speaker/ cabinet.
Yea man ... I hear ya on that amp!
My #1 choice for you would be the Reaper HP ... #2 would be the ET65. Either will make that a TOTALLY new amp!
Tube changes might change your tone by 2%-10% ... the speaker change will be more like 50-60%!
thanks! would those two speakers work well together, say in (2) separate paralleled 1x12 cabs or combined in a 2x12 set up?
thanks! would you agree that the 16ohm would be ok just in case i want to parallel another cabinet or speaker down the road? Just want to make sure that won't affect my amp output etc... I know the amp is fine seeing the 16ohm load but i "think" that it may have some impact on output volume maybe?
Seems like the amp is equally happy with 8 or 16 ohm ... but since they ship with an 8 ... I'd stick with an 8-ohm UNLESS you do plan to add another cab ... then I'd go with a pair of 16s.
And yes, those two speakers play well together!
Just ordered the 8 ohm reaper hp. Can't wait to try it out and will let you know how it goes.
I got the new speaker Thursday and have been playing through it yesterday and today. The Reaper HP definitely tames some of the harshness out of the TubeMeister, but the amp is still fairly bright. However, I can at least turn up the treble knobs on the EQ's some where as before they were turned down almost completely to zero. This speaker also seems much more responsive to the tone knobs on both my PRS and Strat, and the clean channel it is definitely WAY warmer and smoother than the V 30. Overall so far I like the speaker, but would actually still consider a different option if it could tame a little bit more of the brightness out of the amp. The Reaper is definitely a big step in the right direction overall and I will be curious to see how much more I like it after it breaks in some.
Hi Jamey, 3 years on what are your thoughts on the reaper?
Hi Jamey, 3 years on what are your thoughts on the reaper?