kurtlives wrote:
I use a Swamp Thang and Tonker (Fane type speaker?) in an oversized 212 and really like the tone's it provides.
Gotta check out the rest of their list to see what's interesting. Anyone tried a Rajun Cajun?
Wow, your post seems so familiar, that I'm almost certain I replied to it, but I can't see a response. So here goes...
Years ago, when I actually owned a Fender Cyber-Twin, I loathed the Celestion G12T-100 (or whatever tehy were called) speakers it had. After a bunch of poking around the web, I bought that exact same combination of Eminence speakers. I wanted that sort of multiple personality amp to have a nice, solid foundation for pseudo-classic American and British tones. I loved those speakers. It wasn't the world's greatest amp, but it was such a more enjoyable amp with those speakers in it. I was kind of bummed when I sold the amp and lost the speakers in the deal. Later, I had a Cyber-Twin SE, and I tried to recreate the same vibe with the lighter neodymium versions of those speaker (sort of): Tonkerlite and Lil' Texas. It wasn't close to being the same thing.
It seems that all of the good things that the Swamp Thang or Tonker provides seem to blend well with it's partner's best features. You will never, ever be lacking in bass with a Swamp Thang, but you could also never call it a dark speaker, because it has a nice, Fendery (i.e. Jensen-ish I suppose) top end too. The Tonker adds on a tighter bottom with a big, round middle, but none of that Celestion-ish spikyness. Great combo.
Regarding your question, I have a Ragin Cajun. My first amp ever was a Fender Super Champ purchased new back in 1984 or so. I sold it after a decade, but then missed it and found another super clean one on Ebay a few years ago. About the only thing wrong with it (other than the expense of the 6C10 tubes!) is the stock speaker. Given that amp's circuit, the little cabinent and the fact that it has a single 10" speaker, the last thing it needs is a thin-sounding speaker. Basically, the amp has a bunch of factors that stack up to equal lack of bass. Again, I poked around the net for a while, then bought a Ragin Cajun for it - in no small part due to my prior satisfaction with the Swamp Thang and Tonker. I had that speaker in that amp for a year, and it did exactly what I wanted. It sort of rounded out the bottom end and made the amp more practical. It obviously didn't and couldn't make it a "boomy" amp, but it did more or less preserve most of the Blackface vibe (cleans) while providing a nice supporting bottom end. Very nice.
That said, I've since taken that speaker out and thrown a Red Coat Ramrod in there. I did it for a couple reasons, but one was a desire to see how fun I could make the dirty tones with a more Brit inspired speaker. I don't think the Ramrod is fully broken in, so I can't really say if it was a good idea or not. The jury is still out ...
Where'd the Ragin Cajun go? I stuck it into a Lopoline open-back 2x10 that I use with my Allen Old Flame (BF Super Reverb-ish head). I tried to recreate some of the mixed speaker glory I had with my Tonker and Swamp Thang, but sort of missed the mark on with my Tonkerlite and Lil' Texas. I wanted a more or less American speaker (BF Super Reverb, after all) vibe. I paired the Ragin Cajun with a Copperhead. For the moment, I've been playing that cab with each speaker wired to its own jack and running the speaker out from the amp into a little A-B box I built. It's amazing how different the two speakers sound. For one, the Ragin Cajin is noticably louder. As far as overall EQ, the Copperhead has more of a Jensen vibe in that it has a solid bottom end and a sparkly top. The Ragin Cajun has about the same bottom, but definitely more lower-mid and mids in general to sort of have a more rounded type of sound. Amazingly different speakers both clean and dirty. Pretty weird when you consider that both are 10" ceramic magnet speakers from Eminence's Patriot line, and neither is specifically voiced to be a one trick sort of oddball pony (like the uber dark Delta Demon).
I want to be sure the Copperhead is totally broken in before I make any complete decisions, but so far, it's been eye-opening. It's so fun A-B-ing the two speakers that I'm loathe to rewire the cab to it's normal configuration of both speakers in parallel.
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