The Right Speaker for your Blues Junior
Aftermarket speakers, like tubes, are not really a mod. But they do change the way your Blues Junior moves air and the tones that get emphasized. They may partially mask an amp’s flaws, but the right approach is to make the amp sound great first, then use the speaker to give it that final push in the tone direction you want to go. It should be your last mod, not your first. People who say that a new speaker has cured the Blues Junior’s inherent boxy tone simply haven’t heard a Blues Junior with proper tone stack and power supply mods.
See the bottom of the page for easy instructions on how to change the speaker.
My customers and I have collectively tried many different speakers, but I’ll limit my comments to speakers that I’ve spent some time with and have a feel for the tone.
Fender Special Design (stock speaker)
This is the stock speaker in all black and blonde Tolex Blues Juniors and old green board tweeds. The speaker is made by Eminence and it’s roughly equivalent to the Legend 125/1258. This speaker has been used in hundreds of thousands of Fender amps, including the Deluxe Reverb, Hot Rod Deluxe, Twin Reverb, Blues Deluxe, and many others. It’s a decent, all-around speaker. It doesn’t have the deepest bass, and the highs can sound kind of fizzy, but it’s well balanced. Many people decide to leave it alone after they do the mods. The “farty” tone in the bass of a stock Blues Junior is mostly due to poor design decisions in the amp, not flaws in the speaker. One surprising new observation about the stock speaker: The more power you give it, the better it sounds. My 5881-powered 25-watt Blues Junior has the stock speaker in it, and it sounds awesome. The Billm basic mods will go a long way to helping this speaker deliver.
Jensen C12N (stock in tweed limited edition and “NOS” models)
This reissue Jensen is built in Italy by Recoton. They’ve made an effort to capture some of the old “American sound” magic of the Jensens that were so popular in the 1960s, but they fall short in some significant areas. The C12N starts out well in the bass and transitions well to a smooth midrange, but this speaker can be downright shrill on the high end, especially with a Tele or Strat bridge pickup. On the plus side, the C12N cuts well in a band situtation and is less likely to be buried. It sounds better after a lengthy break-in period, but it’s definitely not my favorite speaker.
Eminence Texas Heat
The Texas Heat is one of the most popular of Eminence’s line of Patriot speakers, and for good reason. It has great tonal breadth, strong bass, prominent, slightly smoky mids, and a smooth top end. When The ToneQuest Report tested a bunch of the Patriots a couple of years ago, they reported that the Texas Heat improved every amp they tried it in–and they tried a lot. It’s more efficient than most other aftermarket speakers, so you get your 15 watts’ worth. The only criticism I have of the Texas Heat is that when playing clean, the highs can sound a bit disconnected from the rest of the tone, almost as if my high E string was connected to another, smaller speaker. It sounds better if you roll off the bass and boost the mids a bit to fill it in. And when you crank it, distortion tones are sweet, not spiky and harsh.
Eminence Cannabis Rex
The Cannabis Rex gets its name from its hemp cone. Hemp fibers strengthen the cone and impart a different flavor than typical paper cones. The cones are made for Eminence by Tone Tubby, the leader in hemp-cone speakers. This is the warm/clean jazz speaker! It’s a great clean speaker, but its cleans have that hemp cone personality–soft-edged, but not mushy. It handles overdrive and distortion very well when you push it. It’s very efficient, one of the loudest speakers you can put in an amp, and it pushes out pretty, round bass notes really well. The top end is very sweet, even forgiving. This speaker couldn’t make a harsh note if it tried and is beautifully balanced bottom to top. Super for creamy lead work.
Eminence Red White and Blues
If your idea of electric guitar is crisp, bright, staccato bursts, clear, sizzling chords, with lots of top-end sparkle and tight, tight bass, this is your speaker. One player’s “tight bass” is another’s “no bass,” however. So if you like booming lows that flap your pants legs, that you can feel in the soles of your feet, look elsewhere. This is a great lead guitar speaker for many kinds of rock, searing bright country, or to clean the mud off your humbucker tone.
Eminence Swamp Thang
There’s nothing swampy about the Swamp Thang–this is the loudest, cleanest speaker in Eminence’s lineup, but its response is tilted towards the bass side. Eminence calls the treble response moderate, but I find its highs more prominent than the Texas Heat’s. It produces big, round lows, even in the BJr’s small cabinet. The magnet is huge and it will add noticeable weight to your BJr. It might hit an aftermarket, larger output transformer like the Heyboer I use. You can probably spin the baffle 180 degrees to place it at the lower right instead of upper left (from the back) for clearance. I use the Swamp Thang on my test bench because it’s so clean (I want to hear the amp, not the speaker) and the moderate highs keep the ice pick tones out of my ears. The Swamp Thang is not a truly neutral speaker; it adds a warm, woodwind-like undertone.
Eminence GB12/GB128
This speaker from the Legend line is Eminence’s take on the famous Celestion Greenback. It’s an improved, affordable Greenback, with great, deep, lows, that classic British smoky tone, bass that manages to be fat and round-toned without being overpowering, strong mids, and nicely restrained highs. It may be one of the best speakers you can buy for blues tone.
Eminence Wizard
I don’t see many British-voiced Eminence speakers in Blues Juniors, but this one is pretty interesting. The bass is firm, with an aggressive edge to it, not round like the Cannabis Rex, GB128, or even the Jensen C12K. The highs are bright and crisp, also with an aggressive edge to them, like the Red White and Blues, but with more bass. And in true British fashion, the midrange is colored, too. Not smoky, like a Greenback, but an interesting, textured tone, rich with harmonics. This is a very efficient, loud speaker and if your Blues Junior is getting buried, this might just be the thing to unearth it. If you like mellow, stay away. If you like to peel their eyelids back with your bridge pickup or put a serious edge on your neck or ‘bucker tone, this one’s for you.
Celestion Greenback
The Greenback (G12M) has always been a good choice for the Blues Junior. It’s a bit quieter than some of the newer designs, but the classic, warm British tone is there in spades. This is the speaker that defined “smoky,” that coloration of midrange tones sought after by blues and blues rock soloists. A classic.
Celestion Vintage 30
The V30 was one of the tone pillars of the classic rock era: huge, powerful mids and early breakup. Four of these in a half stack and you were on your way to rock god status. But they were often tempered in half stacks by a pair of Greenbacks to fill out the bottom end. The V30 has less bass and less treble than the stock Special Design speaker. Fender chose the V30 for the Texas Red special edition of the Blues Junior and you can hear the difference right away. It’s a standout for lead guitar and for rhythm guitar that stays out of the way of the bass player. If you like thumpy bass or need clean headroom, look elsewhere. Some players say they get more clean headroom with the V30, but I think that’s because the mids are prominent and that’s the most sensitive area of our hearing, so it sounds louder.
Jensen C12K
The C12K is Fender’s current choice for the Deluxe Reverb reissue. It sounds somewhat like the Texas Heat, but much more restrained in the highs, maybe even a little dull-sounding, a little more color in the mids, maybe a little dirtier in the bass. But there’s an impressive amount of bass on tap; with a bit of roundness, like the Cannabis Rex. It’s like a rude version of the Swamp Thang, but the ST is a much better speaker overall. This is a loud, efficient speaker. Like the Swamp Thang or Wizard, you’ll feel the increase in weight because of the huge magnet. Compared to many other speakers, the C12K sounds kind of lifeless. It properly tames the highs of the Deluxe Reverb, but doesn’t bring much to the party.
Weber California
The California is Weber’s clean-and-loud speaker, patterned after the great JBL D120. Like the Swamp Thang, it does what the amp tells it to do, but it’s more balanced in tone and brighter. It’s available with an aluminum dust cap, like the original JBLs, but don’t go there! It’ll be way too bright and beamy.
Weber 12F150
The 12F150 is Weber’s idea of what a vintage, US-made C12N would sound like if it were offered today. It gets that brash voice-of-rock ‘n’ roll American tone right, and it’s a popular choice among rock and blues players. Bass is solid, mids are somewhat scooped, highs are bright and clear. One potential point of confusion: the many choices of cone and doping options can greatly change the tone. So two players comparing their 12F150s may almost be discussing apples and oranges. A call or email to Weber’s tech staff will get you the right ingredients for your tone, though.
Weber 12A125
I was prepared to dislike the 12A125 based on my experience with other light-coned alnico speakers: no bass, early, unharmonic breakup, etc. I tried it in an unmodded Blues Junior and was unimpressed. But after the mods, the 12A125 really surprised me. If you’re looking for a fast, responsive, bright speaker that just oozes Fender “spank,” this is your speaker. It’s bright, like the Eminence Red White and Blues, but it has a nice, crisp bass, like a tenor who can hit clean, clear low notes, not a deep-voiced baritone. This is an inspiring speaker for bright, clean playing–I heard things from my Tele bridge pickup that I don’t think I’ve heard with any other speaker. The highs get great support from the mids, but the voice is pure American, not a hint of British smoke or thickness. Yes, you can go too far with the bright stuff and make it painful, but that’s what tone controls are for. I had a harder time finding a good overdrive tone with this speaker because it doesn’t like complexity. I had my best results starting with the tone controls off and either the bass or the mids up full. then dial in just enough of the others so it doesn’t sound thin or muffled. Get one of these, plus the basic mods, and kick some Deluxe Reverb ass! This speaker is everything the Jensen P12R wished it was.
Jensen P12R
Fender chose this speaker for the Relic Blues Junior version. The Relic looks like it was made in the 1950s and lived a very hard life, complete with rust, stains, cat-clawed grille cloth, and tattered tweed. The P12R sounds like it’s from the 1950s too… kind of like an old table radio. This speaker makes the Blues Junior sound like a kazoo on steroids: squawky, nasal, thin, and weak. If you like that old-timey sound, you’ve found it. For the rest of us, yuk.
Speakers that Don’t Fit:
Eminence Red Fang
Tone Tubby Alnico
Celestion Alnico Blue (sometimes juuuust barely fits!)
Weber Blue Dog (seen ‘em fit, seen ‘em hit the chassis)
How to Change the Speaker
1. Leave the back on the chassis.
2. Remove the screw that holds the reverb wires to the side of the cab.
3. Unplug the reverb wires. Note that the red plug is towards the middle of the amp.
4. Unplug the speaker.
5. Lay the amp on its back.
6. Remove the two side screws and remove the two top screws.
7. Reach under and hold the back panel down as you lift the cabinet off the chassis. THIS DOES NOT EXPOSE ANY ELECTRONICS OR HIGH VOLTAGES.
8. Remove the old speaker.
9. Replace with the new the speaker. When tightening, just use enough force on the screws to lightly compress the gasket. If you make it crusher-tight, you’ll distort the frame and maybe ruin the speaker.
10. move the plug to the new speaker. The red dot goes on the + terminal. Reassemble in reverse order.
Thanks Everyone!!! This website is sooo helpful. I just wanted to say when I first got my blues junior I liked it (or wanted to like it), but was disappointed when the bass sounds crapped out, I really wanted to leave the volume on 12 but it rattled, I wanted to play more aggressive and faster but it couldn’t handle it. I first (just with my hands) adjusted the metal plate with springs under the output tubes so the tubes sat in there nicely to get rid of that awful glassy-meta sound, that helped but it still didn’t perform. Then thanks to this website I narrowed it down to getting the eminence Texas Heat. WOW!! Now this is Exactly the amp I’ve Been Looking For. That Texas Heat tightened everything up. I love My blues Junior now. The texas Heat sounds a little different in tone (I think better) But the performance is so much better, more precise. I turned Vol. to 12 like I wanted & got that dirty classic rock/ bluesy sound, roll back the vol. on the guitar and I’ve got a nice chimey clean sound. I ‘m not sure but I think the Texas Heat gave me a little volume too, I only had the master at 4 and stuff in my home was rattling. I’m glad I only paid $70 for the texas heat I was thinking of more expensive celestions (because I like Rock) but the Texas Heat Totally came through for me.
Question: My groove tubes are new, would different tubes like JJ (output) or mullard (V1)- would that give me more performance or is that a waste of money? My tubes work good but would different brands be better???
thanks.
The differences in tubes are a lot smaller than most people would have you believe. Fresh tubes always sound better than older ones, so when they start sounding dull, compare them to a fresh set and decide whether you can live with the old ones a little longer or if it’s time for a change. JJs are the best EL84s. I use EH 12AX7s, but I actually like the Fender/Sovtek/Groove Tubes OK. I also like the Mullard and Tung-Sol reissues.
Hey Bill and all,
After spending hours and hours reading reviews, listening to samples on the net, talking to folks, and considering what I’m looking for in a speaker, yesterday I purchased and Eminence Texas Heat. I’m hopeful this will be the one, but we’ll see. Also, one of the things that was tough is many of the sound clips, videos, etc… or the speaker were done in basically “metal” amp set ups. I found a few that came close to my sound and setup, which helped, but it got me wondering, have you thought about putting up speaker samples on your site? I desperately wanted to hear a Texas Heat played through a Blues Junior (and with your mods), but couldn’t find one. Just a thought, and I’ll let everyone know how the speaker works out.
Paul
Bill,
I have a green board JR with basic mods,reverb fix,all JJ’s,and a Vintage 30 and this is my main amp,indoors or out,nothing comes close-thanks,
T
Greetings.
I haven’t seen anything about the Jensen P12N, which seems to have similar specs to the C12N…Any thoughts on this speaker? Will it fit in a Blues Jr? I’m playing through a Lacquered Tweed, and wondered how the AlNiCo magnet would affect the tone…
Great site, thanks!
S
Perhaps someone who has tried the P12N can comment. Alnico speakers generally have less bass and more compression than their ceramic equivalents.
Hey Bill,
Great site, I’m considering your green board mod kit. I have 25yrs of playing fenders and gotta tell you, I just made two seperate sealed boxes loaded with Jensen MOD 35watt speakers and am using the BJr as a head only (making the case now)…..Those MODs sound so great, I really love the break up, and the crystal clear highs.
Just wanted to throw that out there, the Jensen MODs are kick ass with the BJr…
Hey all,
Got my Celestion Texas Heat put in my Bill M modded Blues Junior (not actually by Bill, but his basic mod kit), and I couldn’t be happier! Just an amazing speaker. If you’re looking for an absolute blues monster, put the Texas Heat in your Blues Junior! The one thing I’d say is that if you’re into a really “clean” tone, then the Texas Heat may not be for you as it provides a really nice, smooth overdriven type tone even at lower volumes. However, if you’re looking for “that” blues tone, you absolutely cannot beat a Blues Junior with a Texas Heat, especially for the money! I’m into my two Blues Juniors for waaay less than I paid for my one Fender Bassman, and the Bassman is now busy gathering dust. I cannot recommend the Texas Heat enought for anyone looking to upgrade their speaker in a Blues Junior!
Paul
After putting a Tone Tubby Ceramic Hemp cone speaker in my old Mesa MkIIb (bought in 1980 built for me in their basement) I decided to replace the Weber 12F150(light dope) in my billm modified Blues Jr. with the Eminence Cannabis Rex. I have gone back to playing Jazz and I have to say, you are absolutely correct. The Weber is a fine speaker, but the Eminence really makes it sing. I am absolutely sold on the hemp cone speakers and will use them no matter what style of music I am called to play. They just have more of what it is I want from a guitar speaker. Sweeter highs, fuller overall sound, they speak with authority and conviction. Hands down…hemp is the way to go.
In bigger amps I would probably go with the Tone Tubby…they got the huge bottom end along with rich mids and sweet highs. But in the Blues Jr. get the Cannabis Rex. You won’t regret it! But when installing the Eminence Cannabis Rex, be extra careful to not over tighten the speaker screws! I swear I didn’t, I only tightened ’till they stopped turning, but what happened was distortion on the low notes, below the 5th fret/ 6th string. I went back and loosened them and all is good now. This speaker seems more sensitive to mounting issues than any I’ve dealt with before. Other than that, it is my favorite choice for the Blues Jr. Seriously, you should try one!
Hey BillM……great site! I hope to do some mods to my Blues Jr soon.
My Blues Jr has the cream mother board, and suspect its 2-4 years old. Sounds good, but I cannot get that Fender clean sound out of it. Its like a constant low level distortion no matter what I do with the volume & master fat switch etc…its always there. I just replaced the 12AX7s and they did basically nothing to fix the problem, although the amp sounds a little better. I’ve listened to numerous clips of clean, crisp sound from Blues Jr’s and I know this is not right. I’m thinking of taking 2 10″s that are 16ohm out of my 210R and wiring them in parallel for an 8ohm load just to test, but I just want to make sure I will not do any damage….any feedback to point me in the right direction would be appreciated.
Thanks
You may be getting phase inverter oscillation. See here: http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=115.
I am interested in putting in an Emminence Cannabis Rex, as I also play jazz, and my amp already has the BillM mods. Would a 16 ohm speaker work OK in a Blues Jr?
A 16 ohm speaker just wastes power and creates heat in the output tubes. It’ll work OK, but it’s not optimal.
Hello All,
I am picking up my BJuinor today and what as inspired me to play more has bee Jack Johnson’s Surf sound. I know the tone and feel all comes from your playing, but I am lost as to what speaker I should buy to replace if one over the other is better for my music. Here is video on YouTube of the sound I am looking for. I value you opinion anyone, also about modding, should I just pick up the basic kit for the AMP?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krTlAZsL3UY&feature=fvst
The mods will do a lot more than a speaker swap for surf tone. So will a better reverb tank. Try the MOD or Belton tank from Antique Electronics.
Hey Bill, first of all, thanks for the amazing service to all of us tone hounds out here. I just bought a Blues Jr. that has your Twin Stack mod, and was hoping to approach the kinds of sparkling, chimey sounds my SG Standard gets through a ’65 Twin Reverb. Instead this BJ is is muddy and boxy. I think the culprit is the speaker, a mid-60s Oxford from an old Princeton, according to the seller. What’s the best replacement speaker to get closer to that Twin sparkle? I see you don’t like the Jensen C12K…maybe the Red White and Blues?
If it only has the TwinStack mod, it needs the basic kit at the very least to bring it up to snuff. An upgraded output transformer would also help it sound bigger. Those Oxfords weren’t so great, even back in the day. A RWB would be bright and chimey.
Hello Bill,
good afternoon from Italy . I want to know your opinion about original BJ speaker sobstitution with a Celestion G12T-75. I have not the possibility of the trie this speaker and I found a one for 100€ in a Musical Shop .
Many thanks and congratulation for this great site.
Robert
I have heard that it is a good speaker, but I have not used one myself, so I can’t give an opinion.
Hey Bill, just finished mod’n my BJ with just about all your mods. LOVE IT! Now the speaker. I’m looking for that clean tone while playing soft/normal, but that sweet breakup when you hit that hard note. I’ve heard the word ‘dynamic’ used to describe this. What speaker (if any) will help me with this. I have the Jensen special design speaker now. I also installed a Dr. Z Brake Lite Attenuator to play at lower volume. Some tone loss, but the amp is more ‘dynamic’ at bedroom volume. ANd it has a true bypass when I want to crank it up.
Thanks again for al your help & mods. Killer products!
Has any one tried a vintage 1968 Jensen C12N as opposed to the reissue currently offered?
I have a 1967 Jensen C12N with the curved seam cone,light dope,40 oz magnet,re-coned by Weber. This duplicates a vintage sound from mid 60′s era Fender amps. My amp has upgraded Heyboer transformer, high voltage mod,all basic mods,cathode follower mod, presence control,and is a 1995 green board. As far as speakers go I have tried the stock Eminence which sounded warm and smooth, Cannibus Rex which had better mids and bass and treble, Jensen Reissue C12N which has tight lows bright highs and weaker mids and the 67 Jensen C12N which is bright but very balanced in tone compared to the others. The speaker is a great fit for clean to slightly overdriven tones heard in the traditional Fender Blackface era. The speaker does not respond well to high volumes past 4 on master vol and volume past 6 without starting to fart out. I do not use this amp for stage use, so I am happy with the studio level tones. If you are gigging with your amp you might find the higher efficent speakers from Eminence to work better and handle more volume. I do like the speaker better than the others for my application and with the mods I have in a US green board. Your results could be very different depending on what version of Blues Jr. you have and what mods are done.
Hi
Is it OK to use a speaker extension cabinet as well as the installed combo speaker? I would like to use a 1 x 12 8ohm cabinet. Is it a case of paralleling up the original speaker? Great website for a super little amp.
Yes, the BJr can drive a 4 ohm load without problems.
“Eminence Swamp Thang
The magnet is huge and it will add noticeable weight to your BJr. It might hit an aftermarket, larger output transformer like the Heyboer I use. You can probably spin the baffle 180 degrees to place it at the lower right instead of upper left (from the back) for clearance.”
Has anybody actually tried this? I would really like to give Swanp Thang a whirl!
Use the TO20 output transformer and it won’t hit.
Thks Bill, already had the TO22 on order, and I almost always play through an extension cab.
Just FYI.
I tried putting a Swamp Thang in a BJr, and when installed normally it appears to just touch the TO22. So I rotated the speaker board not only 180 left to right (facing the amp), but also 180 degrees front to rear. I had to carefully remove the grill cloth (it’s glued and stapled), and shim out the previously front side of the speaker board about 3/16″ so the speaker would set flush, I used 3/16″ Masonite. Also needed to reverse the threaded nut inserts, I just threaded in a screw, and tapped them out. Used a C-clamp to press them back in. I needed 1/4″ longer 10-32 machine screws as well. And so far after carefully reattaching the grill cloth, there is apparently no ill effects.
I also moved the reverb tank from the left rear side of the amp to the right rear side of the amp, as the massive magnet of the Swamp Thang was distorting the springs while I was installing it. Maybe I should have tried in the original position, who knows how it would have sounded. LOL
And a side note, this reversal leaves the speaker grill cloth with no ‘spring’ to it. It just lays flat against the speaker board, except for right in front of the speaker. This may or may not affect durability.
YMMV
I own a PRRI and a green board Blues Jr and am going to to a fairly extensive mod on the BJ. I intend to use the PRRI as my open, creamy, warmer amp and the BJ as the (still rich) but more of a “cutting through the mix” amp. I play more “Americana” a blues, country and Jazz mix. Any suggestions on the right speaker? I like what you have to say about the Eminence Wizard but tend to stay away from the really aggressive (shrill) highs. I play two Gretsches with tv jones humbucker pickups (a baritone and a standard electric). Any thoughts?
Hi Bill,
i´ve tree questions:
1. i upgraded my BJ with Jensen c 12 N, does the TO 22 fit?
2. You recommend the to 22 for people, who use an external cabinet often or most time. does that mean, that the to 20 does sound better
without cabinet than the to 22 without cabinet too.
3. with the to 20: can i use an external 8 ohm cabinet parallel to my BJ with jensen c 12 n 8 ohm speaker so that i run 2 x 8 ohm?
thanks
günter
The TO22 will fit with the C12N, as I recall. If not, you just have to re-drill the holes and move it a little.
The TO20 and TO22 sound the same. The TO20 is less expensive and much easier to install because there is no 4/8 ohm switch.
The TO20 will run a 4 ohm load (2 x 8 ohm parallel) without problems. But if you run at full volume with a 4 ohm load, the TO22 is a better choice because it is more efficient and the output tubes run a bit cooler.
Greetings Bill,
I’m new to your website and just thought I’d toss in my 2 cents worth of Blues Jr. “stuff”.
I own a Blues Jr. with the cream colored board and I play harmonica through it, not guitar.
The two mods I made to my amp were replacing the original speaker with a Weber 12A150-0 with alnico magnet, no ribs, and no dope.
My second mod was replacing the output transformer with a Murcury Magnetics FBLJR-0.
I use a vintage Electro-Voice 605 mic which has volume control added to it.
I use the amp with the master turned up all the way and the volume knob turned up to about 4.
The amps now has a very nice sound and I’m pleased with the mods I made, even though they cost me a little over 300 hundred bucks to do.
Not sure how many people use the Blues Jr. for playing harp, but I happen to like it very much.
Thanks, Dan
Even if I didn’t sell a competing product, I’d consider the MM output transformer grossly overpriced. It sounds better than the stock transformer, however.
It sounds like you prefer clean tones for harp. Many of my harp customers seem to like more thickness, more distortion.
I have one of the Deco Tones (almost 2 years, purchased as NOS), and I dig it…but I’m not having much luck getting info on the stock speaker. The manual states,
“One 8Ω 12” Fender re-issue “Gold Label” speaker (P/N 037617)”
Any info on this speaker?
The Gold Label speaker is the Special Design, found in hundreds of thousands of Fender amps. It’s most similar to the Legend 1258.