New Cali-Tweed 4:40 head owner looking for speaker recco's

[doublescale1]

I just traded in my trusty old mid-90's Victoria Double Deluxe for a Cali-Tweed 4:40 head. I have a 27" wide Mesa 1X12, the one they made for the Lone Star Classic head, that I'm plugging the Cali-Tweed head into now. I do have a Jensen N12-100 I could put in that cab. Looking for any other suggestions on a great speaker-mate for that head. Thanks in advance for any recco's.

 

[doublescale1]

Really - no one's got any opinions on speakers for the CaliTweed 440 head. I have an old 27" wide Mesa 1X12 open back from that was made for the Lone Star Classic head, with it's stock C90 that I'm running the 440 head through because I already own it. Should I get a Blackbird Jensen for that cab? Are the Blackbird and the C90 that far apart? Would a Neo Celestion Creamback be something to consider? I already have one of those as well. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I think the head sounds very good with the C90, but would the Blackbird be a noticeable upgrade? If you have any experience with different speakers for the CaliTweed 440 head please chime in. Thanks in advance.

 

[bandit2013]

Yeah, the forums are a bit slow. Depends on what it is really. I just saw your post and thought I could share my experience with the Cali-tweed.

The best sounding speaker with this amp is the Jensen Jet Blackbird 100W ALNICO. I bought the combo version but also have a widebody open back 112 cab and several others with various speakers. Ran the Cali-tweed into a C90 speaker. Was not impressed. Too bright in tone. Swapped it out with an EVM12L Classic. Different. Still bright. Ran it into a V30 loaded vertical 212 cab. Again bright. The combo speaker (Jensen Black Bird) sounded the best. I also had a Jensen Blackbird that I patiently did the break-in process with a Mark V combo. Took several months for it to sound good with any amount of gain. Loaded that up in the widebody 112 cab (open back) and it was amazing. Combined that with the combo speaker at 4 ohms, and it was the best overall sound. I had to order a matching 112 cali-tweed cab to go with it. It does take time to break-in the speaker before the higher frequencies come out. I have not had a better sounding speaker combination other than the Jensen Blackbird. I did try a Celestion Creme ALNICO 90W as well. Not bad but had too much treble roll off. In order to get the Blackbird to fit, you need to remove the bell cover off of the magnet. Center image was when I tried the Blackbird mounted in a compact widebody open back 112 cab. Since I did not want to go through the break-in process twice with the Blackbird, I waited for the cali-tweed extension cab to arrive.

The Blackbird is so different than the C90. Much warmer tone and bell like chime you get after breaking in is unmatched. So far it is the best sounding speaker I have ever heard for clean amp tones. Nothing will come close. No fear, if you decide to run the Cali-tweed with pedals, it sounds awesome with the Blackbird.

 

[doublescale1]

bandit2013 thanks so much for your input - very helpful. I think I'm going to have to go ahead and get a Blackbird 100 for the old Lone Star Classic 27" wide 1X12 cab I have and I can see how you had to take the bell cover off. Here's my 440 head with that cab and it's stock C90 - it sounds ok but I have been keeping the Treb down around 11'o'clock. looking forward to getting the Blackbird in that cab.

 

[SteveB]

I agree with Bandit's comments. I own a California Tweed combo, and also a Mesa compact widebody cab with the C90 speaker, which I use in tandem with an Express combo. I tried the cab with the CT, on its own and in tandem with the combo, and didn't care for it. Someday I would like to buy a CT1x12 extension cabinet and run it with the combo. I noticed that Mesa has changed the Blackbird speaker specs to a 40W. I think the one in my combo is 100W.

 

[GJgo]

The Jensen Blackbird (40 or 100) that comes in the combo is fantastic with that amp. I'd just get a CT 112 cab with one in it & call it done.

 

[vrodder1]

I checked with Jensen, and the BB40 & the BB100 they sell separately are exactly the same as what Mesa uses. Mesa does remove the bell housing. So if you have a cab you like, you can just purchase whichever speaker you want and use it in the cab. You can also put one of each in a 2x12.

I mention this because the CT cabinets can be hard to find.

 

[doublescale1]

So would the 40 watt Blackbird really be enough to handle the 440 head volume? 40 watt amp w/40 watt speaker kinda makes me a little nervous.

 

[SteveB]

Mesa is putting the 40 watt in the CT cabs and 4:40 combo, so they don't seem to be concerned about it.

 

[bandit2013]

I had not realized the Blackbird in the CT combo was 40W. Was not aware they made it in a 40W format. Since I got the extension cab shortly after I got the combo, they are the same speaker without the bell cover. The one I used in a Mark V90W was the 100W version. Took a very long time to break it in. I installed it in a widebody open-back 112 cab. Once I heard the two speakers loading the amp to 4 ohms, it made sense why Mesa did that with the 212 CT cabinet.

Interesting, I just checked the speakers in my combo and extension cab. Same speaker as the Blackbird 100W I removed the bell cover from. Large diameter and thick hockey puck magnet. Looks nothing like the images on Mesa's website or Jensen site for the 40W version. No square shaped loop.
I know for a fact this is the 100W blackbird.

This is how the combo was delivered. Magnet looks the same as the 100W blackbird above.

Here is a back shot of the extension cab and combo. Stock speakers as supplied by Mesa Boogie.

Tried to get a close up of the label that is on the speaker magnet. Could have been better if I removed the back panel.

https://www.jensentone.com/jet-series/12-blackbird-40
I guess I got lucky then. If it is 40W speaker, it has a huge magnet similar to the 100W version.
Not sure if Jensen will sell the speaker without the bell cover, once you remove it, there is no label on the magnet. Wonder how different the 40W sounds compared to the 100W version. At least the risk of overheating the 100W voice coil with a 40W amp will not happen anytime soon. For now, the stockers sound great as they have bloomed with more treble and sparkle. I no longer have to push the treble up on the amp.