Speaker swap question

[sam]

Hi GLDPR's,

Need expertise from the club.

I am looking to do a speaker upgrade on my Fender Blues Deluxe and am choosing between a Electro Voice 12L, Eminence EM12 or Eminence EM12 anyone with experience with these please let me know likes and dislikes.

My intent is to get a better clean tone, understanding these are pretty neutral speakers. The EVM 12L is a long time standard (my primary choice) and the new EVM 12L classic sounds very close to the original. The Eminence EM12 is very close based on video clips, and the EM12N is the neo lighter version.

I could just buy a Twin Reverb or Pro Reverb but not sure I want to go through hassle of getting rid of the Blues Deluxe. It has all the Fromel mods and a new MOD reverb tank so it gets played and I do like the sound. Just typical tinkering I guess.

[Elwood]

Wish I could help more, but I only have an EV12L, and I see it as a compliment to
overdriven tones with it's strong midrange band...I don't think of it when the term
sparkle or clean is used.

How hard will you be pushing it? Cleans at high volumes might take extra considerations.

How about a Jensen?
My other fave is the 35th anniv. G12-30H Celestions..they have a nice 'sparkle'.

Johan Segeborn's Youtube channel has loads (no pun intended) of speaker comparisons(and no commercials!!)...maybe he looks at the eminence in one.

I'll stay tuned to learn from others here too.

Happy hunting

[sam]

Elwood,

Ya know, the Jensen C12N was on the list as well. Anything but the generic speaker I’ve lived with. Will look at G12 30H oo.

Not expecting “sparkle” too much, just closer to the BF or SF fender sound. Also wont push way hard as this amp is typically country, alt country, but just toning down the tweed.

YouTube videos can do so much, just need to roll the dice probably.

[ieso]

Anybody put a Celestion Gold in this type of amp?

[Fumble fingers]

I just converted my two 1x12 cabs to EVM 12L's and love them , bought a group of three off of CL , one was reconed and haven't tried it yet , I put one in a Carvin convertible 1x12 cab and the other in a Orange PPC 112 , by far my favorite single speaker , I like a lot of speakers when paired up but not as much when installed as a single but the EVM12L's are fabulous , I have no experience with the Eminence but love the EV's

[sam]

Eric, sounds like I may be on the right track. Should be picking up an EVM12L today or tomorrow. As long as it matches description I hope to have some feedback this weekend.

After thinking that I was looking at other speakers that were chasing an EVM12L it makes more since to get the real deal.

[sam]

Howdy campers,

It has been a few weeks since installing a EVM 12L in my Fender Blues Deluxe and I can only say this is very fine sounding amp now.

First a review of pre-EVM amp. This is the 1994 USA tweed Blues Deluxe model. Known for huge volume jump and average tone. So, I put an 12AY7 in V1 for a cleaner tone and a bigger sweep of the gain and volume controls. Had tons of mods done by amp guru, i.e. BillM and Fromel type mods and these put the amp in a whole new light. I was actually playing it some now. (a back up to Mesa Boogie Lonestar Special really) Still wasn't quite right. Reverb tank is notoriously bad in these, so replaced with a MOD 4BB3C1B and that was MUCH better, but still felt like I wanted a bigger clean and tighter tone.

Enter EVM 12L - First off, it is a heavy bastid now, but worth every ounce added. The one I found was from a 1985 Son of Boogie amp and had a heat sink, which I removed. It might have fit but I have heard more users say just get rid of it, as it milks some of the speaker benefits. Was a tight fit over the reverb tank but all screws lined up and she was ready to go. All the talk of neutral tone and no color is pretty true, this is a full range speaker. Finally was getting the Fender sound I was looking for. No buzz, fuzz, crackle, or farts to be found. Kind of a Pro Reverb / Twin sound that is sweet to my ears. Flubby low end is gone and raspy overdrive pedals (RAT) are pushing truer sound. The drive channel on these amps has no drive, but now at least the boost sounds better, and maybe a little more "drive". Pedals in general seem to sound better as well, and chicken picken is sharper.

Was in LA last week and played a George Bensen Hard Rock Deluxe with the Jensen C12K 100 watt, and while this does sound good, not quite as good as the EVM 12L to me.

Elwood, after reading some reviews, I will look at G12 30H for my Boogie Studio 22+. Mine doesn't have the EQ so the Jensen is reported to work well in these.

Final notes - EVM 12L changed this Blues Deluxe for the better and now I can skip the weight room, just gotta move this amp around the room a few times.

Now everyone go hunting for old EVM 12L's looking for a new home!

Pictures for proof. May take the back off for another shot as well.

[Elwood]

Thanks for the follow-up, it's an art matching multiple non-linear functions.
e.g. I find it strange how V30's are good for metal...on their own they are sorta honky,
but in context with a high gain amp...it works.

Now everyone go hunting for old EVM 12L's looking for a new home!

Check the ceilings of old navy swimming pools...my buddy scored over 20 EVM 12L's when they
did a remodel.

cheers

[tomanche]

I have an '83 Music Man 112 RD 100 that came equipped with the EV-12L. Like you say, it's loud and clean and neutral, and it will withstand anything you can throw at it. The amp weighs 57 lbs with it---and it's a compact amp (though MM made strong chassis). By comparing weights listed in the catalog, I estimated that the EV speaker weighed 10 pounds more than the more conventional Music Man branded speaker in the 65 watt model.

[sam]

Elwood - in the words of our favorite Larry the Cable Guy, “I don’t care what you say, that’s funny”! I will go check ceilings this weekend for sure. What did he do with them all?

tomanche - glad to hear someone else with the same experience. I will weigh mine this weekend. Their was a 112 RD listed locally a while back and I was tempted for but thought I’d spend money on a speaker and other stuff.

[Elwood]

What did he do with them all?

He reconed a good amount of them (he was a JBL speaker tech in the 70's),
and we would sell them on ebay and a few locally. I still have one.
I'm sure there a dozen still stashed somewere, Doug passed away a few years ago.

There must be more EVL's in industrial installions out there

cheers