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77 Fender Twin Speaker Question


Jesse Screed

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Happy New Year,

Just found a 77 Fender Twin on the cheap,  I have read up a bit on it, so I know all the complaints about UL and Master Volume pot, but it was cheap.  I had it checked by a tech and just the speaker issue, which only real reveals itself when I plug a bass in to it, or push gently on the cone (I hear the scratch), don't really notice it with my guitar plugged in.

Anyway, it has Gauss Speakers in it.  They look like this

https://reverb.com/item/121611-fender-gauss-pair-ps-12-70-s-fender-orange-twin-reverb

One of them is either blown or the voice coil has come off center,  

My questions are

1. Is it worth repairing the speaker?

2. Should I just replace the speaker?

3. Should I replace both speakers?

4. If repair, where?

5.  If replace, with what?

8th Street Music is having a 20% off sale and I could get a pretty good deal on some Celestians, or I could go look around for a used cabinet with speakers. 

Anybody care to add their two cents?

The amp is 125 watts, weighs close to that in pounds, can blow down the walls of Jericho when turned up, but it is mine and I love it.

Thanks

 

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Jesse,
That transformer set is a "beast" and will deliver a HUGE clean sine wave.
The equivalent Bassman (UL taps) was still "clean" at 120 watts into a 100 watt power soak.
The cooling fan on the soak was "screaming" so I "woke" up and backed off; I have no idea
how much clean headroom was left!
Choose your speakers carefully, that's a lot of power!
I'm a "pre-Rola" snob so I can't comment on current production.
Although I've had some luck with the Greenback 25's; Vintage 30's not so much.
But none of those would would work without a couple of 4x12 boxes, so...
Rick Beato has a video up running various heads into several different cabinets.
I think one was loaded with G12-75's maybe, and Rick and the gang seemed pretty
happy with that speaker set up; you'd be right on the edge with a pair of those.
Pull those UL taps and re-wire the output stage and this transformer set is a "bomb".
You get a "thumb you in the chest" monster, that's what I did with the Bassman 135.
The only "issue" with Fender Master Volume models in the 70's is the pre-amp is so
"clean" there is nothing to "Master". I "fixed" that on the re-build as well...

Tom

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I have the same amp. Mine has OEM versions of EVm12 L 's.  They will make your amp feel like it's  dbl the weight though. Unfortunately, my amp needs to see a pro for repairs. It was a basket case and I chose to do a full re-cap and tube which got it functioning - but it has some distortion to it now and I'm not savvy enough with repairs to bring it back to spec. They are amazing amps when working correctly.  Congrats.  Oh, and the current internet puffery about converting it to black face specs and bypassing the master volume and changing the BIAS circuits is garbage. IMHO  - Keep it original if you can.

 

I've done a few speaker re-cones and it's an interesting project if you're into that sort of thing. They're not difficult to do yourself. I think it would be worth re coning the gauss.

 

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14 hours ago, Jesse Screed said:

which only real reveals itself when I plug a bass in to it, or push gently on the cone (I hear the scratch), don't really notice it with my guitar plugged in.

I would focus here and consider how you intend to use it, and if "don't really notice" truly applies. With a little time, you may turn "don't really notice" to "don't really care" or simply see it as how the amp is. Bass puts out far more power than higher frequencies, so a simple cone resolution may be the real answer to consider, but I would get some time under your belt with it first to see if it is really necessary, especially if it requires running at high output to notice.

If it truly becomes an issue, you will want to make the same changes to both speakers, be it re-coning as RBH mentioned (I have never done this myself either, but may very well be preferred) or replacement. Only consideration with replacement is to make sure that the speakers can handle the power (I have always done 3x the RMS on a channel for the speaker to anticipate peaks, but that suddenly is not cheap and won't keep it vintage).

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