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Old 03-08-2018, 08:32 AM
ParisStarlight ParisStarlight is offline
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Default Swapped the speaker in Fender Ramparte, in shock

Well I found a used Eminence 1258 locally this week. I’ve long pondered replacing the stock speaker in my Fender Ramparte as it seems common consensus that it (and tubes, already replaced) are the weak point. I’ve hung onto the amp as it’s sounded like it had so much potential and a class a 6l6 amp isn’t a bad thing to have around. I was pretty anxious about the swap, the few threads I could find anywhere talked about the bolts and nuts not turning right and the process being a mess. Thankfully it all came apart, and went back together, like a breeze. I don’t think the bolts would last too many speaker swaps though....they felt like if I tightened anymore hey would just turn with the nut. It was an easy swap though, four screws to pull out the amp, then the four nuts on the speaker and sameto install. My almost three year old was in heaven helping with the socket wrench and screwdriver.

So the new speaker! It was a hardly used Eminence Legend 1258. It wasn’t necessarily my first choice, but at $25 I couldn’t say no. Once it was in and I plugged in the amp all I can say is wow. It sounds like a blanket was taken off the amp. The highs have a lot more clarity, the bass actually has definition. It makes the amp sound much more musical. The “gain” input was always muddy to my ears, now it sounds very useable. The “clean” input now sounds very Fendery and has a lot more headroom. With a simple speaker swap the amp sounds like what I always wanted it to and makes me pretty happy I kept it around.
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Old 03-08-2018, 11:37 AM
DukeX DukeX is offline
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Good for you, ParisStarlight. I'm not surprised. Those 1258's are highly regarded by a lot of players. Crazy good price, too!
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Old 03-08-2018, 11:40 AM
muscmp muscmp is offline
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it still may not be broken in yet so if you can, play your phone or stereo thru it when you are not using it. also, you may want to get some isolation washers from home depot to put between the speaker and the nut. they are neoprene on one side and metal on the other with the neoprene side down. i've done this on some of my speakers to eliminate possible vibration. make sure to take one of the nuts with you to get the right size. here is a link to one below.

play music!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...-202210306-_-N
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Old 03-08-2018, 11:48 AM
ParisStarlight ParisStarlight is offline
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Originally Posted by DukeX View Post
Good for you, ParisStarlight. I'm not surprised. Those 1258's are highly regarded by a lot of players. Crazy good price, too!
Thanks! Sounds like the 1258 is basically the Fender speaker. I’d buy another after hearing this one. Amazing sometimes how $25 can make something sound so much different, and better.
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Old 03-08-2018, 11:57 AM
ParisStarlight ParisStarlight is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by muscmp View Post
it still may not be broken in yet so if you can, play your phone or stereo thru it when you are not using it. also, you may want to get some isolation washers from home depot to put between the speaker and the nut. they are neoprene on one side and metal on the other with the neoprene side down. i've done this on some of my speakers to eliminate possible vibration. make sure to take one of the nuts with you to get the right size. here is a link to one below.

play music!

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...-202210306-_-N
Thanks a bunch for the tip! Looks like I’ll be running to Home Depot this weekend. I thought about running sound through it. Does it have to be loud to do it? I’ve never broken in a speaker other than just playing it. I really don’t believe it was used much, if at all. I got it in the original box with all paperwork and such.
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Old 03-08-2018, 01:50 PM
Paleolith54 Paleolith54 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ParisStarlight View Post
Thanks a bunch for the tip! Looks like I’ll be running to Home Depot this weekend. I thought about running sound through it. Does it have to be loud to do it? I’ve never broken in a speaker other than just playing it. I really don’t believe it was used much, if at all. I got it in the original box with all paperwork and such.
There are so many pieces of advice on how to do this. FWIW, when I broke in a new 2x12 cab, I basically followed the advice in the link. The only problem with playing random music through it is that you don't necessarily get enough of the right frequencies to break it in in a relatively short period. But no, you shouldn't need excessive volume.

http://celestion.com/speakerworld/gu...uitar_speaker/
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Old 03-08-2018, 02:12 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paleolith54 View Post
...you shouldn't need excessive volume...
But it's just so much fun when you do...
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Old 03-08-2018, 02:25 PM
Big Band Guitar Big Band Guitar is offline
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Default Change

When I change speakers or mount them in new boxes that I have built.

I replace the old bolts and nuts with #10-32 tee nuts in the baffle and 10#32 bolt + washers through every mounting hole in the speaker. If there not a hole in the baffle to match each mounting hole in the speaker I drill new ones.

I also tighten a little each in the star pattern till all are torqued the same.

A micrometer and a set of number drills keep the holes and tee nuts snug.
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Old 03-08-2018, 05:24 PM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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Speaker changes are something most guitars rarely do yet they can have the biggest impact on tone. We swap pickups, block trems, try different cables, true bypass pedals, etc but ignore speaker changes (other than changing cabs).

Glad to hear of your 'shock' .
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Old 03-08-2018, 09:15 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dru Edwards View Post
Speaker changes are something most guitarists rarely do yet they can have the biggest impact on tone...
Unless there's a compelling reason - shortage of funds/time, preserving vintage originality, or the original speaker(s) is really that good - that's the first mod I undertake on any amp...
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Old 03-08-2018, 11:38 PM
Jerry D Jerry D is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dru Edwards View Post
Speaker changes are something most guitars rarely do yet they can have the biggest impact on tone.
That's right. None of my guitars has ever changed out a speaker.
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Old 03-09-2018, 02:56 AM
Seagull S6 Seagull S6 is offline
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With stamped frame speaker you want to be careful about not over tightening the nuts because you can distort the basket.
My amps have the nuts with star washers on them and what I do for stamped frame speakers is use a deep socket without a ratchet and tighten all the nuts in a criss cross pattern until I can't turn the socket by hand any tighter and then tighten an additional 1/8 turn with the ratchet. Perfect torque and the speaker never rattles loose or buzzes.

Cool little amp. A 9 watt single 6L6 in Class A through a 12 inch speaker? It must sound like everything a Fender Champ tried to be and in it it's own right, a Fender Champ is a fantastic sounding amp. I'm sure that with the 75 watt rated Legend, cone breakup will never be a problem at any volume.

https://www.eminence.com/pdf/Legend_1258.pdf

Last edited by Seagull S6; 03-09-2018 at 03:02 AM.
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Old 03-09-2018, 10:26 AM
Big Band Guitar Big Band Guitar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Seagull S6 View Post
With stamped frame speaker you want to be careful about not over tightening the nuts because you can distort the basket.
My amps have the nuts with star washers on them and what I do for stamped frame speakers is use a deep socket without a ratchet and tighten all the nuts in a criss cross pattern until I can't turn the socket by hand any tighter and then tighten an additional 1/8 turn with the ratchet. Perfect torque and the speaker never rattles loose or buzzes.

Cool little amp. A 9 watt single 6L6 in Class A through a 12 inch speaker? It must sound like everything a Fender Champ tried to be and in it it's own right, a Fender Champ is a fantastic sounding amp. I'm sure that with the 75 watt rated Legend, cone breakup will never be a problem at any volume.

https://www.eminence.com/pdf/Legend_1258.pdf
Good advice.
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