|
Author
|
Topic: Fender Champ Speaker Replacement
|
Derrick Mau
Member From: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
|
posted 26 July 2006 03:53 PM
profile
I have a 73' Silverface Fender Champ. Don't care much for the tone of the original speaker for non-pedal lap steel.
Tone was harsh, with too much presence.
Looking for a replacement speaker with a warm, smoother tone. Any suggestions?The label in the back of the amp says 6 watts, 3.2 ohms Looks like an 8 inch speaker. |
Ken Fox
Member From: Ray City, GA USA
|
posted 26 July 2006 06:34 PM
profile
Try Weber, they have a speaker for it.AlNiCo Sig 8
$35/-- For all Champs with 8" speaker, to replace Oxford 8EV, Chicago Jensen P8R, C8R.
8", 7oz AlNiCo plug magnet, 15 watt, 1" voice coil, straight cone.
Warm, crunchy, early breakup, compressed/fattened at high volume.
Will fit in tweed and early BF Champs. |
Rick Batey
Member From: England
|
posted 27 July 2006 04:04 AM
profile
I've heard good things of Ken's recommended alnico Weber Signature, though I haven't tried one personally. The $24 ceramics are supposed to be excellent, too. I once put an $80 Weber Vintage series 8" 3.2 ohm - the one with the big magnet cover - in my silverface Champ. It developed a bad buzz after a couple of hours of gentle breaking in and the company showed no interest in discussing it. [This message was edited by Rick Batey on 27 July 2006 at 04:05 AM.] [This message was edited by Rick Batey on 27 July 2006 at 04:06 AM.] |
Dave Mudgett
Member From: Central Pennsylvania, USA
|
posted 27 July 2006 06:25 AM
profile
It's possible to get a speaker similar to the original - alnico speaker, 4 ohms, early breakup, and so on. I think the one Ken suggests would probably be a good upgrade in that vein with a bit less bright tone.But to me, the Champ and Vibro Champ are such low powered amps that I want a speaker to be much more efficient, have good bass response, stay fairly clean until pushed hard, and be 4 ohms (which comes to around 3.2 ohms DC resistance). I usually prefer ceramic speakers in blackface and silverface amps - they are usually smoother, other factors being equal, to my tastes. I took the original speaker out of my silverface Vibrochamp and put in an Electro Harmonix replacement 8", 4-ohm, ceramic magnet speaker (equivalent of what they now market as the 8VR4) that I had lying around. It's quite a bit better, for my purposes, than the original - fairly smooth, not too bright, and doesn't flap out as much on the bottom end. But I still plan to put in something with more headroom, bottom end, and efficiency. But mine works OK and they run about $20. The Eminence Legend 875 is pretty good - a friend put one in his. It's pretty similar to the EH speaker, but seems to be quite a bit more expensive. Rick, which WeberVST model are you talking about? I am thinking about trying the 8F125. That model has a 30 oz ceramic magnet and they claim it's much more efficient and breaks up much later. This sounds perfect to me, but not if a Champ can blow them or cause them to buzz seriously, especially not for big bucks. WeberVST has a whole line of 8" 4-ohm speakers, with both alnico and ceramic speakers of different sizes. The website to compare these is here: https://weberspeakerscom.secure.powweb.com/weber/ |
Ken Fox
Member From: Ray City, GA USA
|
posted 27 July 2006 07:29 AM
profile
here are some more, all at Mojotone:Jensen P8R Speaker
- 8" Alnico
- 25 Watt
- 1" Voice Coil
- 4 OHM Made in Italy to the original Jensen specs! Price break when you purchase 4 or more. MOJO Item #4014101
1-800-927-6656 (MOJO)
Mojotone AV8C 4 Ohm 15-watt Speaker
$37.50 (each):
WEBER CERAMIC 8" 4 OHM
$35.00 (each):
|
mike nolan
Member From: Long Island City, NY USA
|
posted 27 July 2006 08:55 AM
profile
I have a SF Vibrochamp with a Weber vintage series 8F125... I like it. Loud and clean. I have 2 BF Vibrochamps that I bought for nothing because the baffles had been cut for 10 inch speakers... both of them have vintage series Weber alnico speakers. I use 'em in stereo for "acoustic pedal steel" gigs... great!
Order the 3.2 ohm speakers!!! |
Rick Batey
Member From: England
|
posted 27 July 2006 09:18 AM
profile
Dave, sorry, no idea what model my Weber Vintage is. It's in a box somewhere but I can't find it. It looks just like the current ones but it's white, not green. Weber have a decent reputation so I assume mine was a rare slip-up. In fact I seem to remember volunteering to ship it back to them for evaluation, but they didn't seem keen. Ho hum. |
Rick Batey
Member From: England
|
posted 27 July 2006 09:47 AM
profile
...just to add, I do find ceramics really suit some (not all) small combos. I have a custom job that's basically a single-ended class A Champ circuit but running one 6L6 to give about 10 watts. I A/B'd the ceramic Jensen P10R against the alnico P10Q and found the P10R slightly cleaner and more detailed, to my ears anyway. Funnily enough, though, for lap steel the '73 Champ is still the go-to amp! So Derrick, I'm sure any of the Webers or the 8" Jensens mentioned above would make an excellent replacement. FWIW I'd take a chance on the cheap ceramic Weber, but your ears may differ! |
Derrick Mau
Member From: Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
|
posted 27 July 2006 11:07 AM
profile
I was looking at the line of Weber speakers and noticed that they offer one with "early break up" and one model with a "late break up".Are the "early break up" speakers more suitable for rock guitar? I'm using this amp only for non-pedal lap steel. |
John Billings
Member From: Northfield Center, Ohio, USA
|
posted 27 July 2006 11:09 AM
profile
I had a 64 Vibro Champ. I tried the $80 Weber in it. It sounded terrible! Like someone had thrown a packing blanket over the amp! I then sold it to a friend, and it started rubbing after a week. I threw it out, got a 10" baffleboard from Rodgers, and put in a 10" speaker from Dr. Z that he had made for me in 4 ohms. A huge improvement! But I eventually returned the amp to stock, and sold it. Not enough clear volume for me. Bought a SF Princeton Reverb, converted it to 20 watts, 12" Celestion. Perfection! |
The Steel Guitar Forum
