single 12" speaker for 6V6 plexi

[pjd3]

Hi,

If you played in cover bands that did alot of 60's, 70's and 80's classic rock (usual suspects, AC/DC, Hendrix, ZZtop, etc..),
What speaker(s) would you be considering for a single 12" - It will actually be a 2 x 12" with one american speaker coming from a Fenderamp, and one British speaker coming from a 6V6 plexi. The British type speaker powered by the 6V6 plexi is the one I'm referring to in this post.

It would be nice to have a decent cleanish tone available as well as a usable good classic grind for the heavier material. I won't be playing any metal or shred for this rig.

Also, what are your recommedations for power handling for a 20 watt 6V6 plexi? Is it better to have say, a 30 - 35 watt to push the speaker a bit? My bands play at moderate stage volume. Our drummer has a digital Roland set so we get to keep the stage volume fairly reasonable - its loud but not ear bending.

Thanks! Suggestions invited

[sluckey]

I have a Sunn Solaris 2 x 12 cab loaded with a pair of Celestion Heritage G12H speakers. One is 55Hz and the other is 75Hz. Plenty of British sound with this amp.

[pjd3]

Hey thanks Sluckey, if you had to choose either the 55hz or 75hz for my application as described above, which one would you pick to better cover those bases? Say, from the general audience perspective rather than your personal taste?.

Thanks,

Phil PJD3

[sluckey]

I believe the 55 is a bass speaker so I would choose the 75 for a single speaker. I have no clue how it will sound with the Fender speaker. Just try it and see.

[Colossal]

A friend had a 16ohm 55Hz Heritage G12H30 in an 18W and it was very British sounding, as Steve said. That speaker had that Hendrixy vibe, if you know what I mean. It's a thing those speakers do. Sounded very good!

[pjd3]

Just to clarify, the plan is to have the 6V6 plexi head go to a single British speaker, and the single channel Fender head I just built will go to its own American speaker that will be in the same cabinet as the British speaker. I thought for stage ergonomics and set up time that might be a good idea.

The guy at Rawcabs can make a 2 x 12" cab with one speaker closed back and the other speaker open. Just seemed like something worth trying out. Then of course there would be an A/B switch to either route the guitar to the plexi or the Fender, each with thier own speaker.

I have this crazy idea of using that Jensen transformer (JT-11-FL) thats designed for converting speaker level to line level. The plan is to tap off the British speaker - line level into an FX device and into the "low" Fender input. That way, I'd get different time based effects on each of the amps. So yeah, I would be asking alot from a single British speaker, one that would sound acceptable in a variety of Marshally genres across the decades. The Celestion G12H - Heritage is getting my attention. And whatever sounds Hendrixy I'm all for. My favorite guitar tones of all time are all over Electric Ladyland. I personally like the sound of Greenbacks, but, they always sound like a Greenback! Which may not end up being a bad thing at all.

Thanks guys,
Phil PJD3

[maint_tech]

Boy if I ever wanted a speaker phase reversal switch (or 2) this would be the application for it.

[pjd3]

Oh Yeah, going to want to scope things out on this one. The good thing is that the direct guitar signal will only ever be going to one speaker at a time so in that case, phase may not matter. The only exception to that rule would be the "FX only" going to the input on the Fender when the Plexi is active. The FX signal will be "FX only", reverb/chorus/delay and the like and would likely be de-correlated with the direct signal, anyways. But, I'll want to know how all phase plays out. I'm collecting components now for a Low distortion sine wave generator so I can see all this stuff nice n clear.

It will all happen one step at a time. Ha, its going to have to.

Thanks,
Phil PJD3

[Scumback Speakers]

I had a client over to get speakers two weeks back, and he tried my dual 6V6 amp with an H75-PVC 65w Scumback and my LP replica (w/real PAF's). Within 30 seconds he had Zep's "Ramble On" dialed in and making me jealous. I told him he couldn't come back unless he showed me all the chords.

I hate it when someone 1/2 your age plays songs you should know with your gear and makes you realize you need to practice. Sheesh! LOL

[pjd3]

Hey Mr Scumback and thanks for coming by!

I have spent sometime looking at Scumback speakers and they are very much contenders. The various 60 watt models have caught my attention and I will take a close look at your recommendation. I had to wonder however that if my 6V6 Plexi is about 20 watts, then what advantage or disadvantage would there be to either having a 25-30 watt or, moving up to the nice selection of 50-60 watt speakers.

Are you able to comment on a perceived performance difference one might experience between the 2 power power ranges?
I just had to wonder if a 30 watt would get pushed a little more and bring some more "stuff" to the sound. Of course, I would expect a 60 watt to hold up to loud cleans better than a 25-30 watt but, haven't got to live that difference as of yet.

Thank you for your input and recommendations. I will take a close listen to that model you commented on.

Phil Donovan

[Scumback Speakers]

Phil,
There's very little difference between the H75-PVC 25w (Kraft paper voice coil) and the 65w (nomex heat treated voice coil) once they are broken in. I do 30 hours of break in here before they ship, so that's about 90-95% of the break in before it ships.

Most clients hear no difference in tone, some say it's like splitting hairs over the differences, and a few think there's a tiny bit more bottom end to the Kraft (not heat treated) voice coil than the nomex.

With a 20w Plexi type amp, you'll be able to fry the 25w Kraft coil version with the amp cranked or a boost/fuzz/etc added. So I wouldn't go with the 25w unless you're going to have two. As your amp is going to have two different speakers for essentially two different amps/tones, it's prudent to go with the 65w model.

Breakup is going to be the same because the cone is the same, the only difference is the power handling, and MAYBE a hair more bass on the 25w version.

Jim

[pjd3]

Thank you Jim, thats good info to know. I would't have been able to figure that out myself.

I'll do some good listening to those speakers,

Best,
Phil PJD3

[MakerDP]

Love my Scumback and love my WGS speakers. Can't go wrong either way IMO.

[Colossal]

Love my Scumback and love my WGS speakers. Can't go wrong either way IMO.

I agree. I have both the 65W H and M75-PVCs and they sound very close to the 30W G12H30s and 20W G12M respectively. FWIW, I even tried the pair of M75s wired to 8R with a Dumble build recently and they sounded great.

[pjd3]

Thanks guys, I have done some good listening and have found a few contenders from Celestion, WGS and Scumback, even Eminence seemed to have one or two at least checking out.

Just learning about the history, models and versions of Celestions alone as well as listening been very interesting for sure. and, I have alot more listening to do which I'm looking forward to. Its a great quest. I"m amazed at both the differences and the similarities between all the British speakers. For some reason, I find them more interesting to compare than with the American speakers. I hear alot of different sonic "stuff" in the British voices. Now, to see how close I can get to finding a speaker that I think will best cover 2-3 decades of marshally tones with a decent level of satisfaction.

And I was surprised the guy from Scumback recommended the 65 watt version in fear that my 20 watt plexi could fire up a 25 watt. Maybe it could on a bad night. Or a too good night!

Thanks again guys,

Phil PJD3