Fender 12" Standard Replacement Speakers (OEM) - Your thoughts!

[cmattdabrat]

OK, I'm in the process of choosing some speakers for my 2x12 closed back cabinet. My questions is how good are the quality / sound of these speakers? What would you compare them to? Are they junk or a good speaker for someone building an amp on a budget, or should I save a little more for something like eminence? I'm looking for all around speakers.



http://www.musiciansfriend.com/produ...ker?sku=660182

Thanks,
Matt

P.S. Did a search and didn't come up with any reviews about it.

[cbarrow7625]

I don't know for sure, but from the look of the baskets and the labels on the magnets I would say that it is very likely that those speakers are already made by Eminence (OEM for Fender, of course).

For my "all around" closed back 2x12" I ended up putting in one Alnico Jensen 12" and one Celestion Green back. For me, the combination has a "best of both worlds flavor". The Jensen is well-suited for cleans & smooth overdrive while the celestion adds a bit of growl & bite for heavy overdrive / lead guitar.

Mixing a pair of guitar speakers in a cabinet can often give you a much more complex, robust sound. All of the good & bad traits of the drivers are melded together to end up with a nice comprimise.

Sorry, this doesn't directly answer your question but maybe it can help guide you. I think most stock Fender speakers are "OK", certainly not great but I have heard much worse (including some Eminence). I actually got to visit the Guitar Speaker Listening Room at the Eminence factory last year and run through all of the guitar speakers they make. There are a lot of varieties to choose from (many of them not necessarily my taste) but it was really hard to gauge because I didn't have my own amp & guitar to play through. From what I could tell though, their marketing descriptions for each speaker seemed fairly accurate to what I heard.

Chris

[tubeswell]

I don't know for sure, but from the look of the baskets and the labels on the magnets I would say that it is very likely that those speakers are already made by Eminence (OEM for Fender, of course).

Yeah those labels are a dead-cert giveaway. If they've got a number beginning with a '67' on them, then they are definitely OEM by eminence.

(Having said that, the basket on the alnico one looks like a celestion basket, but the sticker still looks like an emi sticker)

[Brad1]

Soooo, which one do you actually get when you order from that link? At least 2 different speakers...one part number, description and price?

Something is screwy, there.

Brad1

[J M Fahey]

They ARE Eminences.
The black water-based oven-cured paint (cataphoresis), the magnet labels , and the strengthening "bumps" on the basket ribs are typical. A 67 something code doesn?t hurt either!
The Eminence line is *very* wide, the ones selected by Fender are "middle of the road" pricewise, and usually sound good.

[mikeboone]

Go to Avatar Speakers. He sells Celestions for a VERY reasonable price.

He also has what he calls a "Hellatone" which is slightly broken in Celestions that are very nice. You can get a Hellatone 60, which is a Vintage 30 for $88.00 to your door, Or you can get the plain ole Vintage 30 for the same price.

As for the Fender, it is likely a Eminence Legend 1258. Which is what Fender uses alot ie, HR Deluxe/DeVille and others. I got that directly from the cross reference guide on their web site. its a pretty good sounding speaker, decent low end repsose for heavy rock.

As for buying from Musicians Friend as a direct replacement, you may not get that Eminence speaker but any OEM equivalent they have on the shelf.

So, I have one Hellatone 60 (Vintage 30) and one of the Eminence straight out of a HR Deluxe and it is a killer combination for the money.

www.avatarspeakers.com

Dave is a super nice guy.