Speaker suggestions for a Fender 5F2A Princeton

[Gary Meixner]

I built a Fender 5F2A Princeton amp to use with my Rickenbacher B6 and other lap steels - mostly Hawaiian instrumentals, swing tunes and some country blues. I haven't made the cabinet yet, or selected on a speaker and am wondering what my fellow steelers might suggest. I think an alnico speaker is probably best suited for this application but can't decide if I should stay with an 8", as the amp was originally designed to use or go with something larger. I have been looking at the usual makers, Weber, Jupiter and Eminence but perhaps there is another brand I should consider. I am not looking for speaker that goes immediately into breakup as some like to use for rock and blues tones - although this circuit really can't help itself when pushed. I am looking to get the most out of the Ricky B6 which has a warm, sweet, slightly compressed sound.

Thanks for the help.

Gary

[Tim Toberer]

I built this same circuit. It is my favorite amp and the tone which everything else is judged by. I first built a narrow panel big box cab for it which is basically a Fender Deluxe cab that I made to accommodate 8-10 or 12". I really like this setup because you can experiment. They all sound good, but this amp just seems right with a a smaller speaker. A 10" is a nice balance. I now have mine in a mini cabinet I designed to look like a head for my 15" TV front cabinet. The head fits a 6X9 perfectly. I wanted it to be really small and portable. I picked up an old Jensen 6x9 off Ebay for about $30. There is a lot written about these old 6x9s on the Telecaster forum. They are a bit quirky, but they really do sound great. I mostly chose it because it fits my cabinet head, but every timeI play it, I think of my favorite old guitar and steel recordings. With an archtop it can really nail the Tal Farlow tone or crank it a bit and you have Junior Barnard. As a bonus I can plug it into my 15" cabinet and it just sounds huge!
Here is a link few links to some of my projects including my Tweed cover tutorial if you need any help.
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viewtopic.php?t=384479

[Tim Whitlock]

I too play a Rick B6, through tweed Vibrolux and Tremolux clones. I've tried several speakers in each. I can't technically explain why, but alnico speakers sound and feel better to me. Maybe I just haven't found the right ceramic, but alnicos seem warmer and softer, especially on the top end. I've had to fight to avoid the dreaded icepick with the ceramics I have tried. I have an old 10" Fender blue alnico in the Vibrolux that is perfect. The Altec 417b I have in my Tremolux sounds good, but it's a bit too hi-fi. I will eventually trade it out for a Jensen P12N or Weber equivalent. All that being said, I think I would be looking at either a 10" or 15" alnico for a 5F2A circuit.

[Gary Meixner]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and photos. I was rummaging through my collection of gear and found 2, nice 10" alnico speakers that I pulled out of Music Man amp some years ago. I forgot I had these. They can handle much more power than is needed for this amp and I am not sure how that will effect tone response, but i think I will install one and see how it sounds. I will try to make a recording and share the results when I have the thing up and running.

Gary

[Karlis Abolins]

I built a hybrid 5F2/5F2A (it's a 5F2A with a choke up front). I have a Weber 10 inch speaker in it. The speaker is a 10 inch 10A125 30 watt unit that I had in a different cab that I no longer use. I think it is tighter than the 15 watt 10A100 that is probably more suited to the 5F2A but I don't want too much early breakup.

Karlis

[Tim Toberer]

The speaker is a 10 inch 10A125 30 watt

I have the 15A125. Really great speaker for tweed.

[Mike Christensen]

I play a 61 Brownface and put in a Celestion Gold G10. Have it broken in now. Way more mids and no icepickyness. Sounds big with delay or reverb. 45 watts so it doesnt distort as quickly. Spendy but nice. Happy Trails. MikeC

[Dave Grafe]

If you can find an old 8-ohm Altec 417 or JBL D120f/K120 either will help you get the very best from your cool custom amp. Both have outstanding clarity and smoothness throughout their response curves. The Altec has high end response nearly two octaves higher than "guitar" speakers from Eminence, Celestion, etc. with the JBL close behind. Due to their large voice coils (3" and 4" respectively) only vintage BW speakers come close in terms of efficiency i.e. loudness per watt, all three have their own distinctive tonalities and adherents, if you can find examples to hook up to your rig I heartily encourage you to do the homework to see which best serves you.

Forum member Jeffrey Maxwell is a super reconing guru, you might see if he knows of any available, or he can fix a trashed one if you can find it cheap, keep an eye on Reverb.com and Ebay, prices and conditions vary widely but IMHO the speaker is as important as what drives it so the speaker that pleases most is always a worthy investment.

[Michael Butler]

i have a 59 princeton that had a terrible speaker in it when i bought it. i bought a weber signature 8 and it sounds amazing. they have Bstock sales now and then where you get a discount. most are paint blemishes that you can't see.
play music!

[Gary Meixner]

Thank you so much for the input. I had some left over pine and baltic birch plywood in my shop and was able to build a cabinet that would accomodate an 8 or 10" speaker. I considered making the cabinet larger but in the end settled on a smaller box in order to use the material I had on hand. I finally had a chance to play the thing today and was completely knocked out by how good it sounds. I couldn't be happier.

The tone is warm, with solid bass and slightly enhanced mids. The highs are smooth and strong - not harsh at all. It could maybe use a little more sparkle in the upper end and that may come with a different speaker. Currently I am using a 10" Eminence speaker that came out of a Music Man HD 130. It is an alnico speaker rated at 75 watts (yikes) and was just reconed. I will have to see how it sounds after a few month of playing.

I can't believe I hadn't tried one of these amps before. I probably was concerned that it wouldn't have enough volume - this thing is loud, or that I would miss not having built in reverb. The sound is so rich and three dimensional, reverb is not all that neccessary. I have a Neuenaber Wet Reverb pedal, that I dont think is ideal for this application but can use for now until I find something better.

What really stands out about this amp is it is so responsive and every note has so much prescence. Even though the overall tone is warm, nothing is muddy. There is no hiding with this amp, everything played, both good and bad is heard. After about mid way it starts to breakup but the indiviual notes are still well articulated until about 7, at which point some of that chracter is lost.

I have a number of other amps that are fantastic, but to me they sound some somewhat neutal. This amp has a ton of character that you notice right away. It is probably not perfect for every situation but for what I am playing these days it may be ideal. Both my Rickenbacher B6 and Clinesmith sound absolutely luscious played through this thing.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I will try to make a recording soon to share.

Gary