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Are those green PIO caps the old USSR military spec jobbies ?

Yep. 015uF.

Mike Clayton wrote:

Conway wrote:Looks like a twin brother to mine (speaker is the only thing different). I'm sure you'll enjoy it Laurie.

What speaker did you end up with?

Celestion Creamback Neo. Sounds great and makes the amp very light.

I also now have an 8 ohm Alnico Cream in my main 1x12 cab, need to try the Tweed through that. Which raises a question, you can no doubt answer Mike. The extension speaker jack doesn't turn off the internal speaker, does it? So it would be 2 speakers running in parallel and two 8 ohm speakers would make a 4 ohm load, correct? But the Tweed is designed to cope with this mismatch???

By the way Mike, if you want a Jensen C12N for another build, let me know - do you a good deal on it.

Conway wrote:

Mike Clayton wrote:

Conway wrote:Looks like a twin brother to mine (speaker is the only thing different). I'm sure you'll enjoy it Laurie.

What speaker did you end up with?

Celestion Creamback Neo. Sounds great and makes the amp very light.

I also now have an 8 ohm Alnico Cream in my main 1x12 cab, need to try the Tweed through that. Which raises a question, you can no doubt answer Mike. The extension speaker jack doesn't turn off the internal speaker, does it? So it would be 2 speakers running in parallel and two 8 ohm speakers would make a 4 ohm load, correct? But the Tweed is designed to cope with this mismatch???

Never tried that speaker - are they "British" voiced?

The extension speaker jack is just a parallel wired jack for a second speaker and doesn't turn the main speaker off. Your first (or a single) speaker must be plugged into the main speaker jack for things to work. Your 5E3 has an 8-ohm OT (as is standard on Fender 5E3s). So ideally you need a (total) 8 ohm speaker load for the best impedance matching (which means optimum power/tone transfer from OT to speaker with minimal heating & flyback voltage). So, a single 8-ohm speaker or 2 x 16 ohm speakers in parallel or 2 x 4 ohm speakers in series is ideal. The tweed is not designed to cope with a mismatch but there is much on the internet about what you can get away with on valve guitar amps! And if you are not running it at full power then the load on the OT is reduced, ergo the risk of buggering the OT. FWIW I avoid speaker impedance mismatches on valve amps. And you can get a multi impedance OT for the the 5E3 if you want or need it!

Conway wrote:By the way Mike, if you want a Jensen C12N for another build, let me know - do you a good deal on it.

Cheers - will keep it in mind if someone is after a "Neil Young" 5E3!

Mike Clayton wrote:Never tried that speaker - are they "British" voiced?

The extension speaker jack is just a parallel wired jack for a second speaker and doesn't turn the main speaker off. Your first (or a single) speaker must be plugged into the main speaker jack for things to work. Your 5E3 has an 8-ohm OT (as is standard on Fender 5E3s). So ideally you need a (total) 8 ohm speaker load for the best impedance matching (which means optimum power/tone transfer from OT to speaker with minimal heating & flyback voltage). So, a single 8-ohm speaker or 2 x 16 ohm speakers in parallel or 2 x 4 ohm speakers in series is ideal. The tweed is not designed to cope with a mismatch but there is much on the internet about what you can get away with on valve guitar amps! And if you are not running it at full power then the load on the OT is reduced, ergo the risk of buggering the OT. FWIW I avoid speaker impedance mismatches on valve amps. And you can get a multi impedance OT for the the 5E3 if you want or need it!

Yes, I guess the Creamback is British voiced but the tweediness still shines through. I think my ear is attuned to the school of Vox via Celestion Cream speakers because that's what I mainly play and like.

Re. the extension speaker - most of what I've read online says that, while two 16 ohm speakers in parallel would be the ideal, obviously you've got an internal 8 ohm speaker to start with and the 5E3 circuit was designed to allow for another 8 ohm extension speaker being plugged in. Haven't tried it yet but I probably will. Will also try plugging my Alnico Cream cab into the main speaker jack on its own.

Mike Clayton wrote:

Conway wrote:By the way Mike, if you want a Jensen C12N for another build, let me know - do you a good deal on it.

Cheers - will keep it in mind if someone is after a "Neil Young" 5E3!

That is for real. I just don't play much Neil Young.

I see you've just posted a video of a tweed with Celestion blue on the trademe thread. Well, there you've got an absolutely classic Vox style speaker with the tweed.

Conway wrote:I see you've just posted a video of a tweed with Celestion blue on the trademe thread. Well, there you've got an absolutely classic Vox style speaker with the tweed.

It's all a matter of taste - no right or wrong!

Bg wrote:Mine still haven't figured out the bell push by the security gate is not connected to anything

Excellent.

Mike Clayton wrote:

Conway wrote:I see you've just posted a video of a tweed with Celestion blue on the trademe thread. Well, there you've got an absolutely classic Vox style speaker with the tweed.

It's all a matter of taste - no right or wrong!

I use an Alnico Gold in a 1x12 Cab with my 5e3 and it sounds great to me, but I also favour more Chimey tones so take that with a grain of salt. I have a pair of small 6” speakers (Eminence ceramic and Weber Alnico) hiding in the head and that has a very boxy champ type vibe, which is also really cool! I’ve even used just the head at band practices with a drummer and it cuts through really really well!

Good idea! Have you compared Celestion Blue to Gold?

Mike Clayton wrote:Good idea! Have you compared Celestion Blue to Gold?

Not for my amp I haven’t. I did try an original 50s 5e3 which had been upgraded with a Blue and I thought it sounded really good.
Although my amp had a mod to reduce the bass a bit before I got it, so the original sounded like it had more bass than mine, not sure if that’s the speaker or circuit.

I've got a Mesa Wideboy (dimensioned) 112 cab with an Eminence Legend 1258 which is great for the cleans. But I would love to try a Celestion Blue in that cab (or a Gold - the higher wattage handling appeals). Just weighing it all up!