Re: My new amp!

[Randy Lilleston <randyl@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> Sounds cool.  Can somebody tell me about Jensen speakers?  Carvin' catalog
> raves about them being used in their new vintage-style amps. What's the
> deal?

Jensen speakers - anyway, the old "blue frame" and "gold frame" ones 
common on many Fenders of the '50s and '60s, as well as many other amps - 
have a terrific, warm distortion tone that's perfect for harp. I 
currently have a cabinet with two 10" gold Jensens that were pulled from 
an old Silvertone 6X10 cabinet. They sound fabulous, but one's about to 
blow (a common problem with the low-wattage Jensens).
 There are at least a couple of speakers on the market today that sound 
very similar, and that don't have nearly the blowout problems. They are 
the Kendrick 10" speaker (used in many of its amps and sold separately as 
well) and the Mojotone 10" speaker (look in Vintage Guitar mag for 
suppliers). I've heard the Kendrick in a silverface Fender Vibrolux 
Reverb and thought it nailed the Jensen tone.
 BTW, the speakers that come with the current Fender Bassman reissues are 
a chief reason, IMHO, that the reissues sound harsher than the original. 
Alnico magnets seem to sound "harsher" when they're new and it's a fact 
that they lose their magnetic ability over time (one ad I saw recently 
claimed alnico had a magnetic half-life of approx. 30 years, meaning it 
loses half its magnetic strength every 30 years). The cones are stiff at 
first, too, like any new speaker. My Bassman speakers started sounding 
much better after about four months of regular use.