'65 Fender Bassman Large 2X12 Cabinet Speaker Recommendations

[Stromberg]

I've had a pretty lucky couple of weeks recently. My friend decided to let go of his '65 Bassman piggyback and I picked it up for a pretty nice price. The head was completely original except for a replaced cap on the rectifier board and a 3-prong grounded cord that I had put in it for him a few years ago. Its tube chart sticker has an OB date code (Feb 1965) and says AB864. But it's actually one of the rare AA165 transition circuit heads that CBS produced for a short time after acquiring Fender in 1965. (Score!) It actually played pretty well, with some fairly minor (but irritating) hiss, hum, pops and crackles typical of capacitors that were way beyond their intended lifespan. Instead of putting it in the closet for historical value, I recapped it. The lytics were replaced with F&T's and Atoms, and the brown turds and ceramic discs were replaced with SoZos, Jupiters, and silver micas. (I kept all of the original parts, except for the spent Astron lytics, and left the blue molded tone caps alone.) AND WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT!!! The amp sounds incredible now -- dead silent when the guitar volume knob is rolled off, with that sought-after round, creamy slightly pushed clean tone, and loads of extremely articulate distortion when overdriven or fed with analog distortion pedals. Perfect tone IMHO.

The speaker cab is another story. It came with 2011 Jensen C12Ns in it. These are the correct modern replacements for the amp if you are tuned in to the Jensen school of thought. I listen to my ears instead of my imagination, and think that the C12Ns sound pretty bad. My friend claimed that he had the "original" speakers, and that they just needed to be re-coned. Turned out that these were roached 1972 warranty replacement Jensen Vibrantos, very common, and one was physically damaged beyond repair. They went out in the garbage with the Astrons.

I played the head through my Mesa Celestion Vintage 30 2X12 and it really sounds great, I have to admit. And man does that cab put out the bass frequencies!! Cleanest thumping bass that I've ever heard from a guitar. Nothing comes even close. But I don't necessarily need THAT sound -- My JTM45 reissue head is meant for that cab, and I'm looking for a 4-ohm setup that takes the Bassman to the next level. I'd like to accentuate the unique clean tones, while also having a well-balanced very hot distortion at the press of a pedal button. I'm leaning towards speakers with alnico mags, maybe Celestion alnico golds? The Tone Tubby Purple Haze sound freakin amazing on You Tube, but I can't justify their price - the Golds are bad enough! The G12H-30's aren't bad either, but seem to be a bit flat compared to the Golds (and aren't Alnico, if I understand them correctly).

Any advice from the Community of Tone Gurus out there?

 

[Stromberg]

Well, I was hoping for a few opinions, but found a gently used pair of Celestion Golds on eBay for a price that I couldn't resist, so that's what I'll try out. I'll post again once I give them a try to let you know my impression. I'll try out a few simple things with them, like taking the back off of the cabinet, maybe roll them into the Mesa Rectifier box, play them with my JTM45, try out driving them with my restored/ converted Stromberg AU-57, and whatever else I can think of. I think that I'm gonna learn a lot about speakers. Lol

[Stromberg]

The Celestion Golds are the perfect choice for a 65 bassman blackface and 2X12 closed-back piggyback cab. They sing with a rich clarity that is unparalleled. They purr with an organic smoothness that's incredible under slight overdrive. And they howl like demons when hit with full-on 12AX7 Blackstar Metal Distortion. Not even a trace of doubt that these were the right choice. Hope this thread helps someone else someday!

[BetterOffShred]

That's a lot of buzz-words!   Glad you found a set that sounds good.  I've always wanted a 2x12 to run my Bassman through, but I just never have gotten one.   Thanks for the tip!
-Brett