New love affair with Mark V Combo, Jensen Black Bird

[bandit2013]

The Jensen Blackbird is a great performer. It can handle the 90W amp quite well but does have it's short comings similar to the MC90. It will not flub out but will bark at you if the bass is a bit too much for the volume setting. Keep it at 45W and no problem but pushing the envelope seems to freak it out a bit. I really do like this speaker but have returned back to the EV. In comparison, they basically sound the same, there is a slight tone difference as I feel the blackbird has a bit more presence in the lower mids where as the EV has a slight shift in the higher mid range, if this makes any sense or not. I will be installing the blackbird into a smaller practice amp (Carvin V3MC) since it is much lighter than the Carvin 100W clone of the V30. It does not matter much that the EV is a heavy weight speaker, the Mark V is heavy enough even without a speaker in it so the extra weight does not seem to make any difference.

The Jensen Jet Blackbird is a great speaker, but driving it close to is maximum rating probably is not a good thing. The 300Watt EVM12L black label on the other hand will dish out what ever you put into it, and if you so desire you can crank it up as far as you dare. I figured it would be just a matter of time that I would gravitate back to the EV in the Mark V combo. It sounds very close to the blackbird on the clean channel but lacks that shimmering chime and luscious singing vibe that is awesome for some blues. After installing the EV, I really do not notice much of a difference.

 

[bandit2013]

Hmm, I have been here before. Have the EV installed and I do not like it. Looks like the Jensen has to come out of the V3MC and be returned to a better place, the Mark V. I may have said they sound very close, well they do but the Jensen Blackbird sounds better. Round 2 with the same speaker, should have left it where it was since the paper gasket is no longer the same as it was when I first installed it. :roll: No big deal, should sound just as good.

 

[bandit2013]

Why change back to the Jensen Blackbird, the EV just seems too sterile. I actually felt annoyed just to play the Mark V with the EV. The blackbird just makes me feel happy, yes, that is odd but it does. It is sort of like hearing the greatest power tubes with complex 3d like gain characteristics. I actually missed the Jensen speaker. Usually I try something and then go back to EV but this time, I wan the other speaker and not the EV. What would make things even better, another cab with the Jensen in it. Perhaps it is time to ditch the oversized 1x12, sell the EV's and get a Mesa 1x12 open back cab to install another Jensen Blackbird.

 

[BlackBoxy]

alnico magnet can only be compared to alnico magnet speakers !

not fan of Jensen, would be great to compare it with a king, the D120 F.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EBrzgAhlG8

 

[bandit2013]

I was not trying to compare the speaker based on its driver, just what sounded the best to my ears. The Jensen Jet Blackbird does have a similar tone to the EV but by no means do they sound the same. I found the Blackbird more pleasing to listen too from clean to high gain where the EV just paled in comparison and sounded sterile. I could not get the Blackbird to sound fizzy with the Mark V. The video of the D120F sounded fizzy, that just may be the amp that is driving it. Perhaps that is too old school for me. If I wanted a fizzy tone, I could have just stayed with the MC90. I wanted power and the capability to get a nice acoustic tone on the clean, to liquid blues sounds, all the way up to power house metal head banging grind, and to top it off, minimal amount of speaker breakup, I want the grinding tone coming from the amp and not be caused by speaker breakup. At one point in my life I believed the EV to the staple just for what I described. Well, that staple got a little rusty after I installed the Blackbird, now that it is broken in or close to break in, it just keeps sounding better. So far, this is the first speaker that ever put a smile on my face and I am not one that smiles often. Before the Blackbird, I was willing to get rid of the Mark V. Now it has become one of my favorite amps. Funny, I have not touched the Roadster half stack or my RA100 half stack since. I did recently get an RA100 combo and installed the Celestion G12H75 Cream backs, that combo is awesome but yet I am spending more time with the Mark V as if it was new to me.

 

[BlackBoxy]

Bandit, what 's wonder me is that Mark V with a C90 could be fizzy compared to alnico magnet speaker renewed widly in the world for thier trebley fizzy tone of the 70's as Vox brit rock years !

you are right, only ears drive what you need, happy for you for the blackbird, i agree the EV is way too sterile for me too , exepted high loaded live!

Fane released this,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5rWfMLKFXE

get a try

 

[bandit2013]

Unfortunately, I cannot find a resource for FANE in usa. I did have one a few years ago when I bought the FANE Studio 12L which I thought was a really great British toned speaker comparable to the EV but not sterile in character. However, like the EV you really had to drive the speaker to appreciate its character.

Come to think of it, I can get a fizzy tone at low volume with the Black Bird as I had noticed this recently. I have also changed reamp and power tubes before this so may be part of the fizziness (I finally put my NOS 1990 Svetlana GT tubes to retirement, awesome tubes and hated to see go, now I have the last build SED on board). I have been pushing the single Jensen Black Bird almost to its limits, does not seem to be fizzy on the clean channel but on CH2 and CH3 it is. This was not there prior to tube changes. May need to roll a few tubes as I was having difficulty sorting my preamp tubes (some were noisy).

 

[bandit2013]

I do really like the Jensen Black Bird but it seems to have a similar character that the MC90 has with elevated volume. Bass barks out when palm muting. Does not seem to matter if I drop the bass on each channel I can get it to bark out a low note. Not exactly a fart like the V30 or C90. Well, I will be trying something different and see if that works out better. Celestion Cream 90W Alnico. Perhaps the Mark V may be too strong (more than likely the same case with the Jensen) but at least the smaller voice coil will address the bottom bark or fart? I am pursuing this for other reasons as I would like to give it a try in the RA100 but do not want to buy a pair of them at the moment as I have bonded with the G12H75 Creambacks. If the Celestion Cream 90W Alnico delivers then I may consider the change in the RA100 combo. Too bad the Mark V combo is not a 2x12 then the options for different speakers would be better. Not many speakers that can take the full power of the amp for a 1x12. When it comes in, I will report in a different post.

 

[bandit2013]

before I change out the Jensen, I will get some new tubes on order and do some recordings just for reference. I may install the EV and record the same before I get the Celestion Crème installed. I will probably have the speaker before the tubes.

 

[bandit2013]

The new speaker came in already: Celestion Cream 90W Alnico. I will not put it in yet until after my new tubes come in. I still want to get some reference recordings of the Jensen Jet Blackbird speaker. At the moment, I currently have Mesa power tubes installed which seem a bit too dark for the Mark V. I much prefer the SED or TAD 6L6GC, well this time I am getting the tube store "preferred series" 6L6GC which is the same tube as the TAD but different base plastic. Issue I had with the TAD is the guide pin breaks easily. So far the TAD is the best sounding tube close to the SED =c= 6L6GC. I was contemplating on the Tung Sol 7581A, perhaps next time. Reason for more recordings, I had dropped the bias too far on the previous recordings. Now that it is back up to where it needs to be, the amp sounds much better. Also the Jensen speaker was green when I made the recordings. Now has some break in time. So far the Jensen Jet blackbird is my favorite speaker for the Mark V. It can get very loud for a single speaker. There are some similar things to consider with the Jensen, higher volume, higher gain, dial down the bass a bit to keep the speaker from barking at you. Actually I found with less worn tubes it does not do it quite as easily. Actually now that there is competition in the room (a new boxed speaker waiting to be installed) it sounds even better.

Here is some speaker porn for those who like to see pictures of guitar guts.

 

[bandit2013]

I finally got the new tubes. I started with the preamp tubes first. This time I went with something different and decided on the JJ ECC803S which is a long plate version similar to the Mesa tube but with slightly reduced gain (these chime in at 93). I only bought 4 of these as I was unsure if I was going to like them or not. Also figured it was time to replace the Sovtek LPS as the ones I have are at least 2 or 3 years old. I also ordered 4 of the Svetlana 12AX7 as an alternative to the Tung Sol, EH or Mullard CV4004. I did experiment with a few combinations in the V3-V6 positions. I actually prefer the JJECC803S tubes. While I was deciding on the preamp tube arrangement, I had the SED =C= 6L6GC tubes on board that are close to retirement. I really liked the different character and overall tone I was getting with just the JJ ECC803S in V3, V4, V5, V6. CH3 never sounded better, there is a bit of compression but not so dramatic that I want to change something. I figures I would to a tube roll while I had power tubes that would be easy to remove as the case with the TAD 6L6GC-STR are a tight fit and easy to break the plastic key post, I wanted to dial in the preamp before installing the Preferred Series 6L6GC (very similar to the TAD tube with a few exceptions). Before I installed the new PS6L6GC I marked on the base where the tab was located on the center post on the side of the base just in case I snap it off during tube removal (past experience with the TAD since the tube is made by the same company Shuguang). I am blown away how much I like the Preferred Series 6L6GC tube. I could not get the Jensen speaker to bark at me. I tried my hardest to do it and it just did not happen. I will find it very hard to change the speaker to the Celestion Cream Alnico 90W. One reason I am reluctant to change the speaker is that I mounted the Jensen with thick rubber electrical tape that basically seals with a death grip. I may be able to remove it without harm to the speaker as the original paper seal has torn off (similar to the EV seal). I would prefer the rubber cork seal that is used by other speaker manufacturers as this provides a good dampening material between the speaker frame and baffle board. In the mean time, I rolled the RA100combo out of the studio so I could drive the two Celestion G12H75 creambacks which are similar to the Celestion Cream. Not bad.. I will get around to the speaker swap this coming weekend. I have also been considering leaving the Jensen where it is and get a Mesa widebody cab for the Celestion Cream. That way I will have options. I may just install the Celestion in my existing 1x12 cab but it is too deep and will enhance the bass response more than anything else. I would rather keep the EVM12L black label in that cab as I do use it with my other amps to extend the tonal range. What to do next? :x I really love the Jensen and would prefer to leave it where it is. Screw it, If I tear the cone off the frame I will order another one but would prefer to avoid doing this. I like the Jensen Jet Blackbird that much as it would warrant a replacement if I damage it.

 

[bandit2013]

I did not get around to recording the Jensen Blackbird with the new tubes. It did not sound that much different than the previous recording I made that was posted earlier in this thread somewhere. I have retired the speaker from the Mark V at the moment for another speaker that came in last week. The link on the Celestion Cream Alnico 90W is below. (for your reference, and if anybody is following this thread...) I doubt I will continue with this particular subject as I have moved on to something different.

http://forum.grailtone.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=71480