avoiding breakup...

[aen]

So I ahve this silverface twin.  sounds perfect at bedroom levels (yes, it is possible)  but once I'm at stage volume (competing with the drummer/other guitarist, feedback on demand by way of distortion pedal) it farts an awful lot if i have the bass up past 4 or so.  I'm after more bass response, and generally less breakup at (apparently) outrageous volumes.

The local tech suggested getting Electro voice speakers, with some outragous (400W?) power handling.  ANy experience with these or other "less distorty" speakers?  I also think i might be after Bass amp speakers, casue they would be more accepting of my lwo frequency love....

[rabidhamster]

I played guitar through bass speakers for a while, and it was great, except the high-end could be a little fatiguing with distortion pedals into em.  I couldnt really dial that out without making the sound muddy though.  Actually, now that I think of it, those were hartke speakers.  Ive also played guitar through Eminence speakers, 10s, 12s and 15s, all in the same line as the 10s used in Ampeg SVTs and they sounded great and not overly harsh. 

[evoluzione]

You could try switching from ECC83's in the 1st and 2nd pre-amp valve positions for ECC81 or ECC82. They have slightly less gain characteristics. They wouldn't drive the output stage as hard and should give you better EQ control as higher volumes, you would also get less distortion.
However, if you speakers are not up to the job nothing will cure the fartiness you are experiencing at high volumes.
Further to that you could fit a crossover circuit to the speakers.....this would require a lot of trial and error experimentation.

[sookwinder]

followinjg on from evoluzione's posting :

You could try switching from ECC83's in the 1st and 2nd pre-amp valve positions for ECC81 or ECC82.

ie.  rather than having a 12AX7 valve, try a 12AY7 or a 12AT7 valve and it will take a lot more volume before the tube breaks up.

[Sauerkraut]

How about replacing the 2 12" speakers with a single 15"? I have the same problem: I want to get more bass response out of a late 70's Twin. I still have 2*12" though, has anyone tried putting in a 15" before?

[Orang Goreng]

Well, I have a late '70s Vibrosonic Reverb, which basically is a twin with a 15" (the amps are identical). The bass response is excellent, the amp even handles the low freqs from the combo organ exceptionally well.

[aen]

sounds interesting, I'll have to do some price comparisons...

[i love sharin foo]

If you are mainly wanting a better bass response, then yeah, a 15 (or two ) would be ideal. If you are just wanting to avoid speaker cone distortion, then I would definitely look into getting ahold of a set of EVs. Do they make 15s? I've never looked into them much, so I'm not sure. If they do, a pair of those would be a really nice setup. I bet they reproduce all the lows super clearly. They do weight a ton though.

Justin

[aen]

I'm not looking for more bass, that's for sure!  Especially with my big muff clone on.  I just want speakers that won't wimp out on the bass at higher levels.  Weight is not a huge issue, going form a peavey half stack to a combo is quite a relief...

[glimmertwin]

Sounds like you just need some speakers that don't fart out as much.  You don't have to take it to an extreme either - just get something a little better rated than what you have.  The SF twins are known to have crappy speaker distortion with the bass up(Utah speakers I think)...  I would call one of the larger speaker dealers on the net(maybe Ted Weber) and ask what they recommend as I think your complaint is probably pretty common.  You should be able to coax a reasonable amount of bass response without speaker distortion out of a pair of 12s.

Another thing to take note of...you would be suprised how much cabinet dimensions play a role in increasing bass response.  I have  a Bad Cat that has a single 12: and a slightly different dimensioned cabinet than most single 12" cabs and it really does an excellent job of making a tight & punchy sound with plenty of lows....

[Vinkie]

followinjg on from evoluzione's posting :

You could try switching from ECC83's in the 1st and 2nd pre-amp valve positions for ECC81 or ECC82.

ie.  rather than having a 12AX7 valve, try a 12AY7 or a 12AT7 valve and it will take a lot more volume before the tube breaks up.

5751's are also a good 12AX7 substitute if you need to lower gain a bit (it has about 70% of the 12AX7 gain). NOS's are still affordable and quite easy to find. I used 12AT7's before but they (well, at least the ones I got) didn't like the abuse of my pedal booster much. The 5751's however do fine and last long.

Better speakers could help alot too, I wouldn't go for EV's or bass speakers 'though but, like Glimmertwin said, search for similar spec'd replacements.

[aen]

I was doing some ultra delayed supa low tuned stuff last night, and when i let my low B ring, it would go from a consistent tone to a LUDLUDLUDLUDLUD

in kind of a cool way.