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  #1  
Old 09-09-2017, 06:35 PM
Hurricane Bob Hurricane Bob is offline
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Default speaker for Ampeg Jet II

looking for replacement speaker in a J12-R Ampeg Jet II reissue. I only have 4.8 inches of clearance in this little amp, that's 121mm which limits my choices:

1. Celestion V Type
2. Celestion 70/80
3. Eminence Legend 1275
4. Eminence Patriot Black Powder--(discontinued?)
5.Weber F 100--(discontinued?)
6. Reverend All tone 1250

any help would be appreciated, I play rock, blues, and jazz,
my budget is around $100.00, thanks---
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  #2  
Old 09-10-2017, 10:32 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Check out the neodymium-magnet offerings from Eminence (Lil' Texas/Tonkerlite), right on your $100 budget; although they're officially listed @ 5.1" depth the magnet assembly is substantially smaller than a traditional ceramic speaker, and just based on visual estimation should shave at least an inch off the total depth where it's needed most. Fellow Ampeg guy here, BTW - still own an original top-panel Rocket (no 'verb) from 1964 - and I'd stay with an American-voiced speaker, especially with the EL84 power tubes they used in the reissue 15W Jets...
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Old 09-10-2017, 03:20 PM
TNO TNO is offline
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Lil' Texas is a nice speaker for clean Jensen tones.
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Old 09-11-2017, 08:33 AM
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I have the same amp. I replaced that crapy stock speaker with the stock Fender speaker from a Hot Rod Deluxe amp. Cant remember the exact name of the speaker.

I cant believe they would use such a sub-standard speaker in those amps. Replacing it with anything results in a huge improvement in tone.
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Old 09-11-2017, 09:21 AM
Hurricane Bob Hurricane Bob is offline
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Had a STS speaker in there for 15 years, don't know who makes them but too much mids and no highs. Running it right now through a cabinet with 2 Peavy Scorpions that sounds amazing but I am not lugging all of this to a gig.
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  #6  
Old 09-11-2017, 10:20 AM
Hurricane Bob Hurricane Bob is offline
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Thanks Steve for the recommendation, need to sell my Jenson C12K if anyone is interested--before I buy a new one. How about the Weber DT12?

https://www.tedweber.com/dt12#
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Old 09-11-2017, 12:21 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hurricane Bob View Post
...Running it right now through a cabinet with 2 Peavey Scorpions that sounds amazing...
Forget any Brit-voiced stuff - if you like what you hear you need an "American" speaker, period; BTW, those Scorpions are way better than most people give them credit for - almost like a budget JBL/EV - they were always the first mod I made on any Peavey amp I ever owned and, quite frankly, if you can make it fit you might want to consider installing a current model in your Ampeg. FYI this one's actually the old '80s Scorpion Plus - heavier magnet, Kevlar cone - under a different name (the "SP" designation gives it away - the original "S" is long since discontinued), and although it's nowhere near as efficient it'll fatten up your low end like an Eminence Swamp Thang (my first choice, if you can make it work). Really did wonders for my mid-80's Studio Pro 40 and Bandit 65 FWIW, and I used the 10" version in my '90s Studio Pro 110 "roadtrip" amp (kept it in the trunk, brought a solidbody electric for unplugged hotel-room practice, and sat in with local bands where/whenever possible)...
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Old 09-11-2017, 04:24 PM
Hurricane Bob Hurricane Bob is offline
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So the Weber DT12 is a Brit- voiced speaker? I am all confused now, what about the Eminence Lil Texas? My cabinet has one speaker that's a Scorpion Plus and the other one is just a Scorpion, and yes its got that funky fat sound ripping through it. I gigged it a lot with my Music Man HD-130 head for years after my cabinet with JBL E-120s were stolen from my car, don't miss lugging that beast around.
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Old 09-11-2017, 07:04 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Never played/heard a Weber DT12 so I can't say - I was addressing my comments to your observations about the Peavey Scorpion - but as TNO mentioned the Lil' Texas gives you Jensen-style tones, to which I'll add that it does so with higher efficiency and far-lighter weight than your comparably power-rated C12K. In the big picture it all depends on what you want out of your amp: if you're using it as a (relatively) low-volume OD screamer you might want something with quick breakup and lower efficiency (which appear to be the Weber's selling points); if, however, you want that classic Ampeg high-headroom/"big clean" tone that made these amps the darlings of NYC club/studio musicians in the early/mid-60's, you'll need a high-efficiency "American-voiced" speaker - and IME nobody does those better than Eminence...

Not to get too far OT, but if you fall in the latter camp (as I do) a good set of tubes should take those reissue Diamond Blue amps deep into Linden (NJ) territory:

http://www.thetubestore.com/Shop-by-...remium-Package

I'm using these in my Bugera V22, and with an Eminence Swamp Thang speaker and a mild rebias I've got a '66 Gemini II/B-12XT "key club" tone-clone that'll hang with my blackface Super Reverb and Frontman 212R in the volume department (what I said about speaker efficiency, in a more-compact package; never got to pick one up while they were still in production, but I'm willing to bet this would be a fabulous plug-&-play setup in a Jet J-12T...
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Old 09-12-2017, 08:55 AM
Hurricane Bob Hurricane Bob is offline
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Yes, I am looking for good clean sounds, BTW those tubes look killer. I am running JJ's right now and keep burning em up. Will the Lil' Texas give me enough bass? Read that about neodymium speakers. How about an Eminence Black Powder? Maybe a new Scorpion--It would be nice to get more volume out of this amp, had the resistor and the ribbon cable upgraded with point to point soldering.
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  #11  
Old 09-12-2017, 07:25 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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In order:
  • Sounds like you're a real Ampeg guy at heart as well as a mod junkie, and I'd recommend searching out and playing some good original blue-check amps from the '63-67 period (if you haven't already done so) - find out first-hand what the buzz is all about, and use those as your tone model...
  • Since you seem to know something about amps I'll assume either you or your tech checked to see that everything is in order, particularly in terms of power tube bias (don't recall if the reissue Jets were cathode/fixed/variable bias) - that said, JJ's aren't my favorites when it comes to either tone or longevity; FYI the Preferred Series tubes are NOS pre-Glasnost Soviet mil-spec issue, I use them in both my Bugeras - six years in the V22 with no signs of quitting - and if they were good enough for Andropov and Gorbachev to use in their MIG fighter-jets, they're more than good enough for your Jet...
  • "Enough bass" is a subjective judgment that only you can make - suffice it to say that TNO's assessment is accurate to my ears, so if you like the "tight" low end of the C-Series Jensens you'll probably be a happy man; if you need something "bigger" sounding with less breakup there's the Cannabis Rex or (my fave) Swamp Thang (FYI the Black Powder is discontinued), which raises the issue of clearance - I'd go to the Eminence website and listen (with some good headphones) to the sound samples to help narrow down your choices, which leads me to:
  • If you want to squeeze more volume (as well as tone) out of your 15-watter as quickly and painlessly as possible, look for the most efficient (dB/W/M) speaker you can find that meets your tonal requirements (and fits in your cabinet) - refer to my prior comments about the Swamp Thang, and keep in mind that we're talking about a 22W 1x12" (think Deluxe Reverb) that'll keep pace with two of the more powerful production combos out there; your needs and tonal Holy Grail may (and probably do) vary, but the principles are the same - I have no doubt that your signature sound is out there, and for less money/time/effort than you think...
Enjoy the search, and good luck...
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  #12  
Old 09-13-2017, 09:38 AM
Hurricane Bob Hurricane Bob is offline
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Some great information here Steve, thanks for responding. The Cannabis Rex and Swamp thing wont fit in the Jet, gonna try the Lil Texas and see what happens. Had my Keyboard player/ engineer do the work on the Jet, he had one, and so did his friend. All three had broken down so he got the schematics and fixed them. Got a chance to A/B the difference between the 3, all had different tubes and speakers, the best sounding one had some sort of Marshal Celestion in it.
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  #13  
Old 09-13-2017, 10:33 AM
Hurricane Bob Hurricane Bob is offline
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My Ampeg Jet II running through 2 Scorpion speakers with my Strat and effects;

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Old 09-14-2017, 11:55 AM
maxtheaxe maxtheaxe is offline
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FWIW, you mentioned the Celestion 'V-Type'...I have this speaker in one of my amps and really like it, but it is a more 'British' style speaker, very similar to a V30 but with a tighter low-end. Celestion also has an equivalent 'A-Type' which is supposed to be a more "American-voiced" speaker...I've never played through one, but it might be a better alternative if you're looking for that big, clean "Ampeg" sound. I believe these are both 70watt speakers.
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Old 09-14-2017, 02:30 PM
Hurricane Bob Hurricane Bob is offline
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Thanks for the info, but my Jet cant fit the V type or A type, only 4.8' clearance. I do have a Carvin Cab that can fit anything right now, the sky's the limit for this one, maybe the A type with a Swamp Thing.
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