MAN my amp is loud now.

[elenore19]

So I had a chance to play in a big room today practicing with a group. Turned it up to 6 and I couldn't stand it at all. That was on the distortion channel. I turned the clean to 4 and it was Hella loud.

I have a SCXD. I upgraded speaker to the Eminence Rajin' Cajun. And it's Tons louder. At least it sure seems.

Just thought I'd share my excitement.

(yes, loud is good for me.)

So I'm convinced that my little 15watt amp could definitely hold up at a gig where it isn't mic'd. (I play a lot of those types)


So woopee!
If you have a SCXD. I'd Highly recommend the speaker upgrade. Tone quality increases fantastically as well as loudness.



Elliot

[Gear_Junky]

Originally Posted by elenore19

So I had a chance to play in a big room today practicing with a group. Turned it up to 6 and I couldn't stand it at all. That was on the distortion channel. I turned the clean to 4 and it was Hella loud.

question is: did you try that same room/loudness with the stock speaker? sounds like maybe not?

mine was plenty loud stock too. enough to shake walls on 5. the "drive" knob sure adds more volume on distorted voicings.

i upgraded my speaker mostly for tone.

this doesn't mean that a speaker upgrade isn't louder. it just isn't that dramatic

from what i read the RC is worth about 1 notch on the volume knob. that's quite a bit. but not dramatic.

[soundchaser59]

I just cant justify the amp purchase, though, unless I can get it in 1x12 instead of 1x10. 10 inch speakers are nice, but they just dont cut the must-turd for me in a group sound.

Is there a 1x12 SCXD?

[Thurgood]

Gald to read that you are gettin what you nned. The more I hear about the scxd the more I want one but budget doesn't allow. Been thinkin about cahngin some speakers myself. but if I need to shake walls. Marshall. btw, big Fender fan also. I want a greenback loaded cab. Be well All.

[Gear_Junky]

Originally Posted by soundchaser59

Is there a 1x12 SCXD?

not yet

but it can drive a cabinet very nicely. a cabinet of your choice

perhaps one day we'll see SCXD head and SCXD combos of other configurations. personally, i think, if they ever come out, they'll be more expensive.

[elenore19]

Originally Posted by Gear_Junky

question is: did you try that same room/loudness with the stock speaker? sounds like maybe not?

mine was plenty loud stock too. enough to shake walls on 5. the "drive" knob sure adds more volume on distorted voicings.

i upgraded my speaker mostly for tone.

this doesn't mean that a speaker upgrade isn't louder. it just isn't that dramatic

from what i read the RC is worth about 1 notch on the volume knob. that's quite a bit. but not dramatic.

Nah, I haven't. And also the fact that I haven't cranked my amp for ages. This was the first time in about well...2 months. So my opinion is skewed. But tone is better. And in all honesty, it does sound a Lot louder. But that could be the room I suppose. I didn't really think it through. Just noticed that it didn't take much at all to really get this thing loud.

[Gear_Junky]

Originally Posted by elenore19

But tone is better.

i never questioned that, man

And in all honesty, it does sound a Lot louder. But that could be the room I suppose. I didn't really think it through. Just noticed that it didn't take much at all to really get this thing loud.

well, it's really the fact that you cranked it, isn't it?

glad you're enjoying it.

[elenore19]

Originally Posted by Gear_Junky

well, it's really the fact that you cranked it, isn't it?

glad you're enjoying it.

Yeah. I still want to crank channel one to see where the speaker breaks up. I bet it'll sound amazing. But seriously 4 was WAY too much. Definitely would need some heavy duty ear plugs to test it out.

[TelePaul]

Elenore, gee I think you're swell
And you really do me well
You're my pride and joy, et cetera
Elenore, can I take the time
To ask you to speak your mind
Tell me that you love me better

[Anfontan]

Originally Posted by elenore19

So I had a chance to play in a big room today practicing with a group. Turned it up to 6 and I couldn't stand it at all. That was on the distortion channel. I turned the clean to 4 and it was Hella loud.

I have a SCXD. I upgraded speaker to the Eminence Rajin' Cajun. And it's Tons louder. At least it sure seems.

Just thought I'd share my excitement.

(yes, loud is good for me.)

So I'm convinced that my little 15watt amp could definitely hold up at a gig where it isn't mic'd. (I play a lot of those types)


So woopee!
If you have a SCXD. I'd Highly recommend the speaker upgrade. Tone quality increases fantastically as well as loudness.



Elliot

Yeah, I upgraded one of my 15 watt tube amps to a 10" Eminence alcino Red Fang recently and did a before and after recording with the settings unchanged. There looked to be 3 to 5 dB higher output between the stock and the new speaker. Tonewise there is a much better low-end and crisper highs, it would definitely hold it's own in a club gig with a moderately loud drummer.

[ranjam]

If you can find the speaker spec's listed on the manufacturer's web site, do the math. A Deluxe Reverb with a Red Fang works better than Viagra for me . But here is the poop;

1. Speaker efficiency is rated as a dB level with 1-watt input measured at 1 meter.
2. A 3dB increase in efficiency is the equivalent of doubling the power to the speaker.
3. Not all speakers are efficient, and many 'cheap' speakers waste a lot of the sound you give it as heat.

As a poor example, but the math works beautifully, goes like this; a 100-watt amplifier with a speaker rated for 93dB will sound exactly as loud as a 50-watt amplifier with a speaker rated for 96dB, all else being equal. What I do, and recommend to anyone who cannot outrun me, is base the speaker choice on the amplifier wattage and what the other band members say about your stage volume. Is your Twin Reverb causing the other band members to threaten you with physical harm if you do not turn the !@#$ down? Get less efficient speakers, such as the Jensen Mod 12-50, rated for 94dB. You will lose anywhere from 3dB up to a whopping 8dB! But it may save you. Have a Deluxe Reverb you really want for stage use? Try a Red Fang, rated for 102dB!
Chances are you swapped a low efficiency speaker for a high efficiency speaker. The Ragin' Cajun is rated for 100dB. Now a 15-watt amplifier will cut through the band like a Ginsu knife. Even though it's a Fender, they may have cut a corner or two with that 'Special Design' speaker.

[Gear_Junky]

ranjam, diagnose me: i picked Jensen p10r for my SCXD.

[Anfontan]

Here is a follow up to the Red Fang speaker post. Both solos are back to back with a few seconds of silence in between-first is the stock speaker then the Red Fang. A Fender Strat with a GFS Retrotron bridge pickup is used in both solos-the Red Fang is substantially louder.
The screen shot shows the actual waveform amplitude difference.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6943942

[Gear_Junky]

Originally Posted by Anfontan

Here is a follow up to the Red Fang speaker post. Both solos are back to back with a few seconds of silence in between-first is the stock speaker then the Red Fang. A Fender Strat with a GFS Retrotron bridge pickup is used in both solos-the Red Fang is substantially louder.
The screen shot shows the actual waveform amplitude difference.

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6943942

interesting. what amp?

[Anfontan]

Originally Posted by Gear_Junky

interesting. what amp?

It's a Johnson Laredo T-25 R-a nice little tube amp with a single channel and reverb, 3 band EQ, an effects loop, 10" speaker. I think it's the company that made the J-Station and the Johnson Millenium modelling amps.

Here is a link to one..
http://www.fretstore.com/detail.aspx?ID=468

[elenore19]

Originally Posted by ranjam

If you can find the speaker spec's listed on the manufacturer's web site, do the math. A Deluxe Reverb with a Red Fang works better than Viagra for me . But here is the poop;

1. Speaker efficiency is rated as a dB level with 1-watt input measured at 1 meter.
2. A 3dB increase in efficiency is the equivalent of doubling the power to the speaker.
3. Not all speakers are efficient, and many 'cheap' speakers waste a lot of the sound you give it as heat.

As a poor example, but the math works beautifully, goes like this; a 100-watt amplifier with a speaker rated for 93dB will sound exactly as loud as a 50-watt amplifier with a speaker rated for 96dB, all else being equal. What I do, and recommend to anyone who cannot outrun me, is base the speaker choice on the amplifier wattage and what the other band members say about your stage volume. Is your Twin Reverb causing the other band members to threaten you with physical harm if you do not turn the !@#$ down? Get less efficient speakers, such as the Jensen Mod 12-50, rated for 94dB. You will lose anywhere from 3dB up to a whopping 8dB! But it may save you. Have a Deluxe Reverb you really want for stage use? Try a Red Fang, rated for 102dB!
Chances are you swapped a low efficiency speaker for a high efficiency speaker. The Ragin' Cajun is rated for 100dB. Now a 15-watt amplifier will cut through the band like a Ginsu knife. Even though it's a Fender, they may have cut a corner or two with that 'Special Design' speaker.

So. How do I find out what the Special Design speakers output is rated at?

[elenore19]

Alright, So I've been searching around googling and what not. Found one person saying "I've heard it 'guesstimated' that stock is about 90db."

So 90db to 100 db. Is that like 3 times the volume then? That just doesn't seem right. But is it?!

[Anfontan]

Originally Posted by elenore19

Alright, So I've been searching around googling and what not. Found one person saying "I've heard it 'guesstimated' that stock is about 90db."

So 90db to 100 db. Is that like 3 times the volume then? That just doesn't seem right. But is it?!

That is basically how the formula works! Your mileage will vary of course tho....
1. Speaker efficiency is rated as a dB level with 1-watt input measured at 1 meter.
2. A 3dB increase in efficiency is the equivalent of doubling the power to the speaker.
3. Not all speakers are efficient, and many 'cheap' speakers waste a lot of the sound you give it as heat.

Just check out the screen shot I posted and the difference in the peaks from the stock to the Red Fang-or the volume difference in the sound clip..

[ranjam]

Originally Posted by elenore19

Alright, So I've been searching around googling and what not. Found one person saying "I've heard it 'guesstimated' that stock is about 90db."

So 90db to 100 db. Is that like 3 times the volume then? That just doesn't seem right. But is it?!

I ain't exactly sure. I thought the stock speaker might be about 94dB, but again, I don't know for certain. If it was 90dB, the extra 10dB of the Ragin' Cajun would make it exactly twice as loud as the stock speaker. If it is 94dB, the extra 6dB is the equivalent of having an amplifier with four times the power.
An old college professor used to tell us to think of dB's as 'dogs barking' . He would say that two dogs barking are not twice as loud as one dog barking. They may be twice as annoying, but they are not twice as loud. The dB scale is actually a ratio, so it has no unit of measurement by itself. And to be a ratio, you need to compare two voltages/currents/etc. using the same unit scale. With power, you need to raise '10' to the power that is equivalent to the difference in Bels (dB/10). For voltages (which is basically 'volume'), you do 20log V1/V2, where V1 is the measured voltage, and V2 is the reference voltage. This could be input voltage, or the original speaker as a poor example.
Go to the Eminence, Jensen, or Celestion web site, and write some numbers down. Then decide how much stage volume, speaker break up, etc. you want/need. Now pick the best speaker for you. Simple, right?

[Gear_Junky]

love the barking dog analogy!

i'm sure that elenore's amp is now quite a bit louder, but ain't no way it's "twice" as loud

[elenore19]

Originally Posted by Gear_Junky

love the barking dog analogy!

i'm sure that elenore's amp is now quite a bit louder, but ain't no way it's "twice" as loud

Exactly. If it was twice as loud I'd blow my eardrums at 2. Sure would be fun to crank it to 10 of course

But I am curious as to what the actual difference is in terms of like "It's X times louder than the older speaker" But what Ramjam was saying just went WAY over my head, so I don't even know where to begin with that. So yeah. It's louder, I enjoy it. I Can't wait to gig with it.