Speaker recommendation for S.O.B. 60 watt combo

[mbmesa]

I have a black SOB 60 watt combo from 1983 and it has the black shadow speaker in it. I never warmed up to the sound of that speaker. For me the midrange was/is too harsh and it sounds cold. I was thinking of changing it out for a Celestion of some kind. Perhaps something Mesa uses these days for their new combos.

I guess you can think of this amp as a very poor man's Mark I. (Two inputs, two preamp gain knobs and a master. No graphic EQ or reverb)

The type of music it will be used for is Rock and Blues (no metal). What type of Celestion (or other) would you recommend ?

 

[zebpedersen]

What 'Black Shadow' speaker is it? (Black Shadow is a branding for various OEM speakers that Boogie have used for 30 years)

 

[mbmesa]

Its the EV rebranded one they were using in the early days. This amp was available with a choice of Celestion or EV/Black Shadow. I have the EV/Black Shadow. To my ears it has a very clinical sound. Harsh and brittle in the midrange. Sounds OK for snappy/jangly clean tones but as soon as you put any overdrive it brings out the brittleness. The more grit you dial in , the harsher and more brittle it gets.

 

[stokes]

Very possible the cold/brittle tone is a product of the tubes and/or bias of the output tubes,not the speaker.The EV is a very good speaker that pretty much gives you exactly what the amp puts out.What tubes do you have in it?

 

[fishyfishfish]

Try the Cele-branded Black Shadow. I felt the same with my EV so I put the EV in the 1X12 extension and the C90 in the Mark III combo and it did the trick. Another thing I am doing is experimenting with WGS 65's and 75's, but I will get back to you when my ears stop ringing

 

[mbmesa]

The tubes I have in there are all MesaBoogie tubes. The 12AX7s are also marked "Russian 2" and the 12AT7 has no additional marking. The 6L6s are STR 440's and have matching code/color on the box marked Yellow. I guess i could try Tung-Sol reissues or JJs in V1 and V2 and see if it warms up a little. Which Celestion of the current series would be the best fit ? (Heritage, Classic, other ?)