The Steel Guitar Forum

Just purchased a peavy classic 20 amp. Any recommendations for 12 inch speaker replacement. Thanks in advance Jim

Correction : It has a 10 inch speaker. Weber recommends the Ceramic California with an aluminum dome. Any thoughts Maybe i should be using a solid state amp? Jim

James,

Check out Jupiter Condenser speakers. I have heard very good things about them. Tells us more about what you play so we can comment more knowledgably about which amp might be better for you.

Gary

I play a Hudson non pedal steel. Thanks Jim

Jim,

I like the sound of a small tube amp with a 10" speaker for non-pedal steel guitar. It does seem to me though that there is a lot less room for error when making changes to major components like the speaker. That being said I use a Fender Blues Junior that I have modified quite a bit, but I had the help of someone who really knows their stuff and I couldn't be happier. I don't know much about your 20 watt Peavey Classic but my Fender was rated at 15 watts prior to doing the mods and it was pretty darn loud. There may be some advantage in switching to a solid state amp, particularly if you need more power and light weight. The Milkman or Quilter I bet would sound great. Years ago I use to love the sound of JBL's with the aluminum dust caps - I believe that is what Weber tries to compare their Cali speaker to - still I would be cautious about using a modern, 10" speaker with an aluminum dust cap. I guess I haven't given you many answers, just some more stuff to think about. By the way in cases where I don't think my Fender amp will do the job I use an old Music Man HD 130 with two 10" alnico speakers and it sounds great too.

Good luck,

Gary Meixner

Jim,

A good place to start would be to identify what you don't like about the speaker that's in there. Is it too bright, or too dull-sounding, does it break up too easily, etc. Then look at speaker descriptions for something that leans in the direction you want. If it's too bright look for a warmer speaker. Too dull, try a brighter one. For more clean headroom look for high efficiency. For less midrange find a speaker with more of a "scooped" sound. Googling "classic 20 speaker" might lead you to some helpful discussions on guitar forums such as the TDPRI that could help narrow your search.

I recently bought a used Blues Junior III with a modified tone stack. It came with an Eminence Wizard speaker in it. That's a very bright speaker, and the BJIII is a bright amp, and the combination was way too bright with very little bottom. After some research I replaced the speaker with a Cannabis Rex, and now the amp sounds much more balanced.

Thanks so much for you're thoughts.I guess i should try to figure out what exactly i am looking for. The amp sounds pretty good now i thought maybe a speaker that is for steel might be warmer. Again Thanks Jim

after a google search i found that the no name speaker is a blue marvel and after a Tung Sol tube swap amp sounds very good. Thanks so much for the info. Jim