Speaker recommendations welcomed...

[Eric]

Good day all,

 

I just acquired a 1983 Fender Super Champ, all original, excellent condition for an amp of its age. I think for the money it's a very nice combination of features and sound. But there is an improvement I'd like to pursue...isn't there always...

 

The sound from this little amp is very clean and detailed...and "Fender-y". There is a good amount of high end, almost too much...but that seems to be a feature of the design, not the original speaker. The only problem with all of this boils down to the amount of bass and volume available. Of bass there is just not much and the total amount of volume is limited.

 

As a point of comparison I ran the output of the Champ into a cab mounted 12 inch Celestion G 12 H (made in England in case that might matter). Goodness, what a difference; I now had all the bass and volume that I could ever want.

 

However, all of the clean and "charm" of the amp totally disappeared. That's probably not a surprise to many of you but it was a disappointment to me as I had been told that Celestions mated well with Fenders (and it did, just not in the way I was hoping for).

 

So the $64,000 question is this...what might be some 12 inch alternatives for me to consider? At the end of the day I'm looking to retain that Fender sound but add in the bass and volume that cannot be had with the stock speaker.

 

Thank you very much in advance for any help or suggestions,

 

Eric

[kbp810]

If you can live with the added weight... the EVM 12 is one of my all time favorite speaker ; it will project loud and clear.

 

Unless I am mixing speakers for variation, I often lean towards efficient speakers that do not tend to add their own color to the sound.

[111518]

I'm also a fan of EV's, but I recently put a Weber 12F150 (50w, light dope) in a DRRI, and I find it a huge improvement over the stock speaker --hard to describe, but more articulate. For the moment, my speaker for Fender-style amps.

[barrymclark]

Too add to the confusion, I am a HUGE fan of Eminence voice.

 

This is one of those things where you gotta research, get a one of a few brands/models and see what works for you.

[yoslate]

Too add to the confusion, I am a HUGE fan of Eminence voice.

 

This is one of those things where you gotta research, get a one of a few brands/models and see what works for you.

 

Absolutely!!! Spent an hour-and-a-half yesterday, plugging and playing my new Kustom '36 Coupe, which, ironically has a "special design" Eminence in it, into at least eight other Eminence speakers, plus a handful of Jensens. Friend of mine has a repair business, and he sells speakers. In his shop he has "The Tone Lounge," which consists of a listening room with a literal wall of speakers, each in its own enclosure, with a quarter-inch jack. Long speaker cable into your amp, then just plug the other end into one speaker after another, to A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J'ing...them, narrowing your choices, until you find the one which suits you. How much fun is that!!!? The point is, my amp was set, then left. All of the speakers were receiving identical input. The differences among the speakers were quite striking! Some of my favorites, which I have in almost all of my amps, sounded completely unacceptable in the Kustom. Some I've dismissed out of hand before, sounded great in it.

[DetroitBlues]

Wow, that would be great to try out your favorite amp on a wall of speakers. The Fender Super Champ is supposed to be one of the best post 60's amps made. The designer was someone who ended up starting their own amp company, I'm thinking Riveria?

[rjsanders]

here's a helpful-looking site in Denmark: http://www.superchamp.dk/frame.htm

 

neat amp, by all accounts. i always wanted to try one. enjoy

[rjsanders]

Wow, that would be great to try out your favorite amp on a wall of speakers. The Fender Super Champ is supposed to be one of the best post 60's amps made. The designer was someone who ended up starting their own amp company, I'm thinking Riveria?

 

yeahman. Paul Rivera -> http://www.rivera.com

[pushover]

Wow, that would be great to try out your favorite amp on a wall of speakers. The Fender Super Champ is supposed to be one of the best post 60's amps made. The designer was someone who ended up starting their own amp company, I'm thinking Riveria?

 

IMHO speakers are one of those items that really impact the total sound equation. To me the same amp can sound totally different through different speakers, and auditioning all of the speaker combinations is just not a realistic option. The trick to getting what you like is to learn how to describe the sound you like, so that others more knowledgeable can make pertinent suggestions of speakers that might sound like what you like, rather than just are ones that they like.

 

I have 2x12 cab from Avatar, and as you know, you can buy a cab from them and get whatever speaker mix you want to put in it. I remember being impressed being on the phone with them discussing cab and speaker options having them tease some details out of me to help me select the right cab (closed versus open back) and some speakers I was likely to enjoy. It was their expertise that got me something that I am very happy with.

 

I think I mentioned this once before but there is a John Cleese show out there that describes wine. It's surprisingly un-funny for John Cleese but the bottom line, is to learn the lingo to describe what you like so a waiter or proprietor can help you get one you like. The same thing applies to sounds. Do you hate things that are muddy? You like screeching highs? full body mids? I'm not sure I have the lingo myself, but there are people who do, who can help. Maybe you should just call Avatar and let them do their thing.

 

[pushover]

 

yeahman. Paul Rivera -> http://www.rivera.com

 

I remember him.. 'Aint he the one who had the midnight ride.. Yelling.. "THE BRITISH ARE COMING! THE BRITISH ARE COMING!"

 

I think by the end of it his voice was so shot he was motivated to build a good amplifier so as to be more prepared for the next time..

[rjsanders]

 

I remember him.. 'Aint he the one who had the midnight ride.. Yelling.. "THE BRITISH ARE COMING! THE BRITISH ARE COMING!"

 

I think by the end of it his voice was so shot he was motivated to build a good amplifier so as to be more prepared for the next time..

 

may be why so many of his models have two channels: one Brit, one Yank