Best 12" speaker for ODS and Open or Closed-Back Cab

[jelle]

G25m sounds just great if you have old ones....I am not a fan of the new ones....

Beware of cranking a 50w amp on two g25m's....I'd use a 4x12 if I'd turn the masters up.

[hipbluescat]

Any body had any comments on the Altec 417 series two with a card board cone ?

[fredy]

this is a bit of i hijack, but i have a spare, new, greenback that i was thinking about using in a 2x12, what would go well with it? i would like to use celestion because they are cheap here in England, in fact, their factory is not far from where i live.

[908ssp]

I'm partial to alnico speakers for my Glaswerks. I think they add to the smoothness and warmth rather than fight it like so many ceramic speakers. Fane makes a 100 watt alnico that sounds very good for a 1x12 but my favorite is two Tone Tubbys a H1E and a H1DD. The pair is only rated for 80 watts they stand up to that pretty easy and if you're using you master volume you'll be safe.

[jaysg]

Any body had any comments on the Altec 417 series two with a card board cone ?

Card board cone? The four I had were built with aluminum dust covers, if that's what you're thinking about. Some time ago, I was interested in the EV-12L, so I took a 1-12 Altec to a Boogie shop and A/B'd it with the Boogie Thiele cab. I couldn't crank it, but at reasonable volume, I really couldn't tell the difference, so I didn't buy any of the EVs.

[skyboltone]

Any body had any comments on the Altec 417 series two with a card board cone ?

Card board cone? The four I had were built with aluminum dust covers, if that's what you're thinking about. Some time ago, I was interested in the EV-12L, so I took a 1-12 Altec to a Boogie shop and A/B'd it with the Boogie Thiele cab. I couldn't crank it, but at reasonable volume, I really couldn't tell the difference, so I didn't buy any of the EVs.

The original 417, no suffix, had a paper dust cover. I have one in 16 ohms.

[odourboy]

Lost all self control and decided to just go ahead and order a Tonkerlite.

RJ - have you got your's yet? Anything to report?

Cheers, B.

Odourboy... I just won a TonkerLite on an EBAY auction so I'll let you know how it sounds when it gets here and I try it out. 1x12 combo that doesn't break your back... I'm all for it!.

I studied up on these speakers and the other neodymium magnet 12" speakers and they all get pretty good reviews. One common theme is that they don't tend to color the amp tone too much (like an alnico does). However, they do seem to get good full tone and they are apparently pretty efficient.

The only time I've seen anything specifically written about a tonkerlite is in this thread a few notes earlier.

I really wanted to try the Emimence Lil Texas - it sounded like it really favored my tone preferences, but the tonkerlite came up as a good buy for me first. Eventually I'd like to hear them all:

TonkerLite
Lil' Texas
Jensen Neo
Celestion Century

The Jensen Neo gets rave reviews all over the net and I know one guy using the Celestion Century and he says it is the best pure sound 12" speaker he has ever used.

We should start to get some more data on them as a few of us try them in an ODS.

rj

[doveman]

I ordered a Celestion G12-65 for my Brown Note D'Lite 22. Reviews and many clips seem pretty good for these.

I have an EVM-12L that's about 25 years old. I think it may be just a little nasal run at such low volumes. Maybe it's just my speaker. Either way I'll report back when I get a chance to try it.

[phsyconoodler]

Nice blues music Doveman.

[makrisp]

My top two choices:

1) EVM 12L
2) EMI RWB

[Pete]

I've been using a couple of the 12-65s for almost a year now, in various cabs. I really like them with the D type amp. I recently noticed what might be considered cone cry (not sure if thats what you call it, never heard it before). I'm surprised because I have never heard of anyone else ever reporting this with the 12-65.

I have 4 or 5 old EVM12Ls and have always liked them and used them for many years. Now that I have spent some time with the 12-65 I find I prefer it. It seems to diminish a peak in the upper frequency that really mates well with these amps. Something the EV does not do quite as well.

I ordered a Celestion G12-65 for my Brown Note D'Lite 22. Reviews and many clips seem pretty good for these.

I have an EVM-12L that's about 25 years old. I think it may be just a little nasal run at such low volumes. Maybe it's just my speaker. Either way I'll report back when I get a chance to try it.

[RJ Guitars]

Lost all self control and decided to just go ahead and order a Tonkerlite.

RJ - have you got your's yet? Anything to report?

The Tonkerlite arrived Friday... They are definitely cool... Feels like a feather. I wrangled some time on Saturday to get installed before my regular Sunday gig.

I had removed an EV12L - a real heavyweight contender and a good speaker itself but they are very different sounding. I'd say the better attributes of the EV is that it is clear, bright, efficient. Good honk if I back the high frequency stuff way off. Otherwise it seemed the OD seemed a bit too much nasal and a tendency toward buzzyness.

The Tonkerlite has a great clean tone, although it seems it might tend to break up pretty early (which I kinda liked). In the OD it really seemed to work well. Very smooth sweet distortion and took away a lot of the buzzy tone that I've been working out of my amp since I finished it.

I haven't tried the "Holy Grail" Celestion G12-65, so I don't know how it compares to that, but I am quite pleased with it so far... only a few hours on it now so time will tell.

rj

[stelligan]

RJ Guitars,

That's encouraging news, but not for my pocketbook!! I've been contemplating one of these ever since I played through one of heisthl's TweedyVerb amps with a Tonkerlite installed. Great sounding combo. You'll have to report back after you spend some time with it. Very curious to see how it performs in a more conventional d-style amp. Thanks for the info!!

Dave

[RJ Guitars]

I've tried the Tonkerlite with three different guitars now and have about 4 or 5 hours total time with it.

Les Paul Standard - Sounds Awesome

G&L BLuesboy - Sounds Great

Stratocaster - Sounds good - I'm becoming a believer that the ODS has to be tweaked a little different for a strat.

All the guitars actually sound pretty good, but the Les Paul makes the most of things in my opinion... of course it has been my favorite guitar for quite a while now.

I like the Tonkerlite more all the time. What is becoming increasingly clear is that it substantially attenuates or ignores the real high frequency stuff. This is probably most noticeable because I'm comparing it to the EV12L. The end result is that I'm getting this unbuzzy smooth sound in the clean channel and a great smooth overdrive channel that has me considering turning up my OD pot a notch or two... I initially set it kinda low to avoid the fuzz out sorta tone.

What is that resistor network on the side? A built in Air-Brake". Here is a link to that discussion - https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.php?p=46789#46789

rj

[drpastorbob]

I too have departed from the mainstream and have installed an Eminence Legend 1218 into a single 12 Lopo open-back cab. I like the sound - not as smooth as most are describing, but it has a good blues bite to it. So far it sounds a bit brighter than what I hear in most of the posts. I will have to record something soon and compare to dogears, etc. Anyone else have experience with this speaker?

To give a reference point though, I played yesterday with a friends son who was using the standard cranked Blues Jr., tube screamer/wah, start combo. I was using a Tele and was surprised at how mid-rangey my amp was in comparision to that setup even after thinking my sound right now is bright compared to dogears, etc. My amp has a good "growl", but my ears still seem more tuned to the fender tone somehow.

I know this is out of context, but I scored a 64' Bandmaster head and cab on Friday that also sounds great. I played the ODS thru that cab and did not like the sound. The 1218 was much louder and had better definition.

In a few minutes I'll be off the listen to RJ Guitars' Tonkerlite....

Bob