So I Got the Fender Super Six Head...

[iwantanorangeamp]

....and now I need a cab to go with it. I've pretty much decided that I want either a 2x10 or a 2x12, but I really have no idea what speakers to pair with a Fender. Since the head is 100w, I need two 50w speakers that can be wired to 4 ohms. I know a lot of new Fenders ship with Jensens, and I've heard really good things about Scumbacks, but they're also really hard to come by. What do you guys suggest?

[Neiloler]

I'd recommend checking out Weber or Eminence.

I'd shoot an e-mail to Ted Weber over at Weber, that man knows speakers like nobody's biz. You can suggest a tone you'd like and he can help nail speakers you'd like (and he doesn't just recommend his own speakers if you let him know you'd like to see some comparable speakers from different brands).


Oh, and congrats on the amp! I bet that thing is a beast!

You could always go with something from Avatar, they've got some great deals on cabs that would look great with your Fender head!

[Knuckle Bones]

Jensen P12N without a bell...50 watts

http://www.usspeaker.com/jensen%20p12n-1.htm

That's what I have in my 65 Deluxe and it's flat out awesome!

[buzzbomb]

Weber, they have some AlNiCo's for a reasonable price if that is your thing. I used them is some Fender knock off home builds and they sounded great. I'm not sure about wattage range though, you would have to check. I've never tried their ceramics.

[sesroh]

See if you can find an old silverface fender cab (the tall one). Would go with it very nicely. Some came with JBLs (awesome), some came with oxfords, and some came with Utah. If you like the vintage tone there wouldn't be any need to switch out speakers. I have one with Utahs. People seem to put down the Utah speakers but I think they sound good unless you're a total tone snob.

[Andy H.]

....and now I need a cab to go with it. I've pretty much decided that I want either a 2x10 or a 2x12, but I really have no idea what speakers to pair with a Fender. Since the head is 100w, I need two 50w speakers that can be wired to 4 ohms. I know a lot of new Fenders ship with Jensens, and I've heard really good things about Scumbacks, but they're also really hard to come by. What do you guys suggest?

You need at least 100w handling. If buying Celestions which are always conservatively rated than 100w total rating would do. If buying anything else I'd say you definitely need higher rated drivers, say 75W each minimum.

Unlike Celestions most speakers are rated for the actual power they will handle. Celestions are rated to handle an amp of the same clean power rating, meaning that they'll also cope when the amp is cranked and putting out significantly more than that much power...


Oh and shouldn't you be running six speakers with that head?


Andy.

[iwantanorangeamp]

Thanks for all the replies so far, guys.

Neil, I'll have to send Ted an email and see what he prescribes speaker wise. Also, is there a particular Eminence speaker you'd recommend?

Sesroh, if one of the old Fender cabs with the JBLs came along on Craigslist, I'd be all over it, but I haven't had any luck yet.

KB and BB, alnicos are awesome, but I'd probably need six of them to handle the amp's wattage and I'm trying to get a more portable rig together

Andy, I was hoping someone would chime in about the wattage, that's probably a good idea to try and get a conservative power rating.

[Knuckle Bones]

KB and BB, alnicos are awesome, but I'd probably need six of them to handle the amp's wattage and I'm trying to get a more portable rig together

No sir....P12Ns are 50watts and 100watts peak...two of them and you are golden.

[TheOrangeJuicer]

You need at least 100w handling. ...
Andy.

I agree with Andy (as usual). All respectable mfrs pair their more powerful amps with speakers of roughly twice the rating of their amplifiers output. My vote is for a pair of Jensen Neo 100s. They will rock your world.

[Neiloler]

I also read recently over on the Weber forums a post where someone pointed out that all the "classic" blackface designs and such were done with Ceramic speakers. I haven't verified it, so don't bite my head off if it's totally not true, but it made me think. AlNiCo may be the bee's knees, but it may not be OEM on some of the classic amps we revere as tone central.

Something that made me think at least.

[TheOrangeJuicer]

I also read recently over on the Weber forums a post where someone pointed out that all the "classic" blackface designs and such were done with Ceramic speakers. I haven't verified it, so don't bite my head off if it's totally not true, but it made me think. AlNiCo may be the bee's knees, but it may not be OEM on some of the classic amps we revere as tone central.

Something that made me think at least.

The Blackface amps used a lot of different speakers. Originally it had the Jensen C12N speakers, which are heavy ceramic types. then they used CTS, Oxford, JBL by special order as they were expensive, etc. these were '60s amps.

The Silverface used even more varieties including Utahs. These were '70s amps.

It was the Tweed amps that used AlNiCo speakers and these were all tube, including rectification, '50s amps.

I like the new Jensen Neo speakers as replacements in a Twin as they sound great (a little warmer and more AlNiCo like than the ceramics) and they shed quite a few pounds off of the amp, which is a help as it can be a back breaker. The Jensen C12K is still available and sounds very good although it retains all of that weight and is a little crunchier sounding. It is a 60w speaker and is used effectively in both blackface and silverface amps. It is possible to blow them or other similarly rated (such as the original 50w C12N) when using distortion through a cranked Twin though due to the rating and the Neo 100 speakers can handle that better. Cranking a Twin with a pedal in front will get you bounced outta most places though!

[Neiloler]

Haha, I was going to say, crank a twin with a drive pedal in front and you'd better be playing an arena! Jensen makes some good looking speakers, that's fo sho.

[sesroh]

The Silverface used even more varieties including Utahs. These were '70s amps.

Pretty sure Fender only used Utah in the late 60s. but yeah, silverface.
After that they used the blue labelled fender cts speakers and JBLs as the upgrade.




anyway,
Not sure what you're using the amp for, but I have a super six that I run at half power using just two 6L6s. Sounds much better at lower volumes and breaks up better at high volumes.

[Neiloler]

That's another option too, to run it at half power. It'll still be plenty of power (I think at least) for just about any gig.

[guitarmy50]

Very cool! How did you get ahold of a Super Six head? I've never seen that...one of my all time favorite Fender amps, but I would never lug a 6x10 around.