Speakers for a 1974 Fender Twin Reverb?

Scott Parker · From: Bay Area, CA

In a week or two I should receive my first pedal steel, and plan on playing it through an old 1974 Fender Twin I have. Just got the Twin out of the shop and got it tuned up and gone through, and the tech says it's an amazing sounding Twin. I scored it in a trade with the intent of using it for pedal steel. It actually has the original Oxford speakers in it that sound great with a 6-string electric believe it or not, and the tech and I agreed, and he said despite their age there's no need to replace them.

I was wondering, those of you who use old Silverface Twins, what speakers are you running in your amps?

FWIW, I'll be playing a very nicely maintained and in excellent working order '78 Sho-Bud Pro 111 Custom through it. Way more guitar than I'll ever need, especially as a beginner, but I got a great deal on it that I could not pass up. Plus it has the mojo and wasn't much more than the other new, single neck steel I was considering.

John Goux · From: California, USA

The classic combination is Twin with 2-12" JBLs. (Lloyd Green and Tom Brumley.) but that makes for a heavy amp. Many steel players like 1-15". For modern replacements, you have lighter options in speakers with Neo magnets. Whether they sound as good is a subject of widely differing opinions.

Your Oxfords are nice sounding speakers for guitar, pleasant in the living room and creamy when overdriven. You may enjoy them for steel as well, depending on taste.
Many Twins were shipped with Jensen C12N. They stay clean a bit longer than Oxfords but are still more forgiving(to the back and ears)than the cleaner brighter JBLs.

Speakers are one of the most individual choices you will make in your sound chain so opinions will vary greatly. If you have a way to audition different speakers, that would be an effective way to help you choose.
John

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

The Oxfords, for me, have way too much mid range. The most common stock speaker in the new era Twins as well as many other Fender amps has been the Gold Label Fender Eminence speakers, they can lean towards harsh if you drive the treble but overall they are pretty good . Night and day from the Oxfords. I use these Fender Emmi's in each my amps . Very consistent.

As stated, speakers are the one thing that can and will change the amp 180 degrees.!
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Dave Campbell · From: Nova Scotia, Canada

i have a twin of the same vintage. it had an original oxford (or utah) in it, and the other speaker was an emminence red white and blue. i had trouble dialing in the sound i was looking for, so now i'm running it with a 15" altec 418b, and it sounds just right.

Jean-Sebastien Gauthier · From: Quebec, Canada

I tried a 15" and didn't like it, but I'm very old school and don't like modern sound, to me the best sound I can get with my 1971 twin is with 2 JBL k120 but it's very heavy and loud so I put the amp in a head cab, remove 2 power tube and use a 1x12 cab with a JBL k120, it sound great and is portable, loud enough for bars, with just 2 power tube I can the perfect tone for me with volume at 3-4

Edward Rhea · From: Medford Oklahoma, USA

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=299149
Here's a great deal on some Altec's that will sound awesome, in your twin reverb, and a great guy to deal with!

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

My slightly newer Ultralinear Twin had its speakers replaced with Eminence Legend E-M12G.
Most of my living room videos are at reduced volume.
This one has the Ultralinear Twin given some room to breathe. The playing starts about 1:15
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Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

If they sound good for guitar now, then I suggest you just play it as-is for a while. You're just starting - I would spend the time practicing instead of diddling with speakers.

In general, those old Oxfords in a Twin Reverb sound just fine for guitar - you've already ascertained that - and I don't think there's such a big difference at low practice volume between them and any one of a number of heavier-duty options you might want to think about after you have woodshedded enough be able to make any type of finer pedal steel 'tone determination'. You may even ultimately prefer them.

FWIW - there are different ranges of Oxfords used in old Fender amps. I've played some that were great and others that weren't so great. Tonally, the good Oxfords are one of my favorite speakers for guitar/steel double-duty, as long as I'm not trying to move a lot of air. Same thing with the heavier-duty Jensens and Utahs. If it sounds good, it is good.

Lane Gray · From: Topeka, KS

Oops. Forgot the link
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VOnjXoHvOng
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2 pedal steels, a lapStrat, and an 8-string Dobro (and 3 ukes)
More amps than guitars, and not many effects

Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

When I ordered my Fender twin in 1967, I ordered it with JBLs and , to this day, I believe that was the right decision! Very Happy

Don Mogle · From: Round Rock, TX, USA

Scott,

I've been using a Twin Reverb at church for a couple weeks. It has 12" Celestion Vintage 30s in it. However, I've unplugged the 12" speakers and drive a pair of 8-ohm 15" JBL K-130s. To me, they sound terrific.

If you want to stay with 12" speakers in the existing cabinet, several people have given you some good options. If money is not a real issue, I bet a pair of Travis Toy 12" speakers would sound terrific. I don't know of anyone who has actually done this, but I'd bet it would be a combination hard to beat. Furthermore, the weight of the amp would probably decrease as well.

Hope you find the right combination that suits your ears.

Don

Justin Griffith · From: Taylor, Texas, USA

Let me start by saying i really don't like 12" speakers for steel. I have two Twins. One has 1 JBL D-130 and the other has 12" EV speakers. It weighs a ton though. Both amps sound great. If I had to choose, I'd go with the 1 JBL 15.
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Scott Parker · From: Bay Area, CA

I actually have a brand new set of Eminence Red White & Blues that I was considering dropping into the Twin, but that was when I was going to use it for just a 6-string electric guitar amp. I may just hold off and keep the stock speakers in there. My main goal right now is to just practice my @$s off, and not have to worry about lots of little details that don't really matter now. Believe me, I see it in the electric guitar world on forums all day long. Guys will worry about, and argue about the most insignificant details until they are blue i the face like which saddles are the best, which strings are the best, true bypass pedals, brand of cables, and in reality the one thing that will make a player sound better, regardless of the instrument is to practice it! We've all seen the guy who has all the nicest, most expensive, top of the line gear and sounds like garbage, and on the flip side I've seen guys playing Squires through cheap amps and sound incredible. Having 'the best' doesn't mean you're going to sound great, right? And let's just be honest, a Silverface Twin that's in tip top shape and a recent cap job that's been gone through by a great tech with Oxfords in it, even if they aren't the 'optimal' speaker for pedal steel is going to most likely sounds pretty darn good with a Sho-Bud Pro 111 Custom. The ONLY reason it won't sound good is because I'm the one who's playing it! But I guarantee if someone who knew what they were doing sat behind this rig it would sound pretty incredible!

Carl Mesrobian · From: Salem, Massachusetts, USA

Edward Rhea · From: Medford Oklahoma, USA

I agree Carl! I have'em in my Twin...they sound great!

Bryan Staddon · From: Buffalo,New York,

Here's my faves
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Mike Bowles · From: Princeton, West Virginia, USA

Bryan those are the same speakers I have in my twin they sound very good
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Bryan Staddon · From: Buffalo,New York,

Some gear heads have ocasionally looked at my speakers and muttered something about this or that and mentioned they were not very common JBLs with the fender logo on them or maybe it was because they are red , I don't really.know they just sound really good
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Erv Niehaus · From: Litchfield, MN, USA

Those are excellent JBL speakers, just painted a different color for Fender. Whoa!

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

Orange frame D120fs command the highest prices on Ebay. They are exactly what you want if doing a restoration of a vintage Twin Reverb and authenticity counts. Of course they are the same speaker as the grey frame version.
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Bryan Staddon · From: Buffalo,New York,

When I bought this twin I was lucky enough to have three to choose from, I set up all three right next to the others, they appeared to look the same, but it only took once around the loop to pick this one, I didn't even know the speakers were different at first but the sound of this was just excellent, I'm really into a totally clean strat sound on guitar and I guess a traditional Lloyd type sound on steel , this works for me
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Stephen Cowell · From: Round Rock, Texas, USA

IIRC the D120F (orange) JBL has a wider gap, you lose a dB in there somewhere... but they last longer, which is most important. Not exactly the same as the gray backs.
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Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

Didn't the gray speakers also come as D120Fs? I'm aware of a difference between a D120 and a D120F, but I've always been told all D120Fs are the same regardless of the color. I'm a fan of JBLs, but not an expert.
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Stephen Cowell · From: Round Rock, Texas, USA

Dave Mudgett · From: Central Pennsylvania and Gallatin, Tennessee

Yes, I have some orange-label, grey-frame D120F speakers in a Fred Justice 2x12 cab. They're great, I can't tell any difference from the orange-frame speakers, not that you'd necessarily be able to pick it out if there was a slight difference. Cosmetically, I actually prefer the grey-frame speakers, not that that matters. I always loved the way the orange speakers sounded, but not necessarily the way they looked. To each his own.

Re: my earlier post - I'm not saying speakers don't matter or that someone shouldn't change them. I'm just saying that I think a stock Twin Reverb with the regular stock Oxford/Jensen/Utah speakers is a perfectly fine pedal steel amp as-is, especially for someone starting out and spending all their time practicing in the woodshed.

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