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Amp speaker upgrade question

DK Sears

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I have had a Soldano Astroverb for a few years and I have been pretty happy with it for the most part.  It does have a small quirk that it gets a little farty sounding at times.  I was wondering if a speaker change would help this issue.  It has the original Eminence Legend speaker in it still.  I am considering swapping it out for a Celestion G12 Century Vintage.  I play mostly classic rock tones in the context of a christian rock band as well as in a worship service setting.  Any other suggestions?

I am also considering this change in my Mesa Stiletto Ace.
 
Hey - lovely amp - is this the 16 or is it the 50w version?  Is it a combo?  If so...

As is the case with many combos in general (the Mesa MK series being one exception that comes to mind) the limitations imposed by the cabinet design and the manufacturers' choice of speakers are usually the achilles heel.  Your legend is a 100w + rated speaker, so I highly doubt you are overdriving it. 

Under what conditions is she getting flubulous?  High volume?  Where are the tone controls and gain controls set?  What guitar are you running with your amp?  Also, EL84s in general do get a bit flabby at higher volume, so while I wouldn't quite rule that out.

I owned a Stiletto Deuce II and ran it through a 412 with G12K100s.  One of the sweetest amps I ever owned and I regret getting rid of it. 


DK Sears said:
I have had a Soldano Astroverb for a few years and I have been pretty happy with it for the most part.  It does have a small quirk that it gets a little farty sounding at times.  I was wondering if a speaker change would help this issue.  It has the original Eminence Legend speaker in it still.  I am considering swapping it out for a Celestion G12 Century Vintage.  I play mostly classic rock tones in the context of a christian rock band as well as in a worship service setting.  Any other suggestions?

I am also considering this change in my Mesa Stiletto Ace.
 
A speaker change will help a lot, speakers make a difference. If you like a warm smooth sound I suggest this http://www.jensentone.com/speaker/12_blackbird For a more raw classic rock sound and lower cost check Celestions G12-65, Creamback, Lynchback or WGS ET65, Liberator 80. I don't recommend any speaker with less than 50 watts handling.
 
Thanks, everyone.

The Astroverb is the 20 watt version.  The Stiletto is my 50 watter for larger gigs.

The Astroverb gets flubby mostly at with the gain up and the tone controls set scooped.  I use a variety of guitars with it from my custom Warmoth Tele to my Jacksons' and my LP.

Hmm.  I always read that EL84's got brittle sounding with high volume.

It's rare that I use that set up anymore on the Soldano anyway.  Most of the time, now, I set it clean and use my MXR CB '78 Distortion and CB Overdrive for distortion sounds, both of these have been great sounding pedals with both amps (I use them with the Mesa to get the more vintage crunch tone for a third choice between the clean and ultra high gain lead channel).

I am really happy with both amps, but like everyone else I looking to improve everywhere I can.  I have been wondering about the G12 Century for a while, especially with the near 10 pound weight savings, especially on the Mesa Boogie.

:rock-on:
 
Yeah, that's what you are looking at my friend - your hitting the ceiling on that 20w power section.  There are a couple areas where you can address this issue with limited to moderate success.

If you are wanting more volume, you will need to go into a better speaker (or pair of).  The general consensus is that the stock Eminence designed speaker is the achilles heel. You need to find not only the correct impedance match, but wattage range. You need to find the most efficient speaker you can to maximize your rig.  You might find that a pair of Greenbacks would do you right if you were willing to go into an external cab setup.  While not the most efficient, they are low wattage woofs that sound damned tasty for the style you are going for. 

Another thing you can do is to simply turn the gain and bass down.  EL84s don't cope well with heavy bass and will shitee the sheets (in the vernacular) with too much gain/bass. 

If you are feeling frisky, you can dig up the schematic of that amp and see where those 6BQ5s are sitting with respect to volts on the pins.  Most designers run these hot, but some run them cold for longer life at the expense of headroom and tone. 

For a bolt on solution that involves only a few wires, you can look at a slightly larger output transformer.  Some of that flub might be from a saturated OT. You'd have to check the chassis to see if there's room for the iron.  This solution is more speculative.

The easiest thing for you to adjust is your expectations haha.  She's a lil' sweet amp.  I loved my Boogie DC-3 head - and intentionally bought it in that format, as I liked the idea of using different cabs as needed.  It wouldn't be too much work to transform that combo into a head - chances are you could slip that chassis into one of their head shells.. 

She would sound phenomenal through a 4x12, but there, too, you will see that you hit the ceiling really quickly.  It's just a bit louder before you reach it.
 
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