Wearing in speakers
Sat, 09/24/2011 - 00:19
Hi Skip,
OK. I have a '59 reissue Bassman with overdriven tubes. I've heard it can be good for the tone to have one with speakers that are broken in. Any ideas on how to do this or do I just need to loan it to a guitar buddy for a few months and let him put some miles on it?
-Taylor
Hello Taylor- Old, well-used speakers can sound different than new speakers. As a speaker is used, the paper gets a little softer and more flexible. This gives more apparent low-end to the tone.
Some tone-nuts actually put various concoctions on the paper to soften it. Some even use a signal generator to put constant sound into the speakers for days or months (that would really make you popular with your neighbors!). However, I say that there are MANY things that affect tone, and artificially "aging" speakers is one I wouldn't worry about. Play the amp as much as you can, and let your guitar buddy find his own cool amp to play.
P.S. I'm not sure what you mean by "overdriven tubes." Do you mean lower-gain substitutes for the 12AX7's?
Skip Simmons