GUITAR SPEAKER TONE CENTER
ANTHONY “BIG TONY” LUCAS
Speaker Selection Explained
I’m often asked, “What is the best speaker
for this amp, playing style or artist’s tone?”
“Best” is very subjective! My token answer is
always, “What characteristics are important to
you to improve your tone?” If you need help
choosing the right speaker then seeking advice
from your favorite tone guru may be the way
to go. This might be someone who has heard
a lot of speaker and amp combinations and
can suggest the most
appropriate speaker
based on your style
and desires. However,
I challenge you to
listen to your current
speaker(s) more critically. Determine specifically what you want
to change about your
tone. Then decide
what speaker(s) might
be most appropriate.
around the apex just above the spider to find
the circumference. Then divide by 3. 14 to
calculate the diameter. The cone and spider
neck were also a part of your measurement
and must be taken in account. You will need to
round down to the closest voice coil size mentioned above.
The larger a voice coil diameter, the larger
sized. I often hear, “I don’t want a ‘boomy’
or ‘woofy’ bass.” That’s a legitimate concern,
but you should have multiple choices within
a certain voice coil range. All your choices
with a larger voice diameter should produce
more bass than what you currently use, but
they won’t all have the same amount. One
with a wider frequency range will sound less
defined on the low end. More aggressive highs
and mids will tame the
amount of low end you
hear because your ear
will interpret more of
a full spectrum sound.
Use the voice coil size
as a starting point. Then
compare further specifi-
cations and characteris-
tics that appeal to you.
There is a lot of misunderstanding about
what specifications
and characteristics to
compare. This month
and next, I will offer
you some tips on how
to choose appropriate
speaker upgrades for
specific areas of your
tone. We will start with
the low end.
Figure 1
One of the most common things I hear is, “My
low end is flabby/muddy so I need to get a
speaker with less low end.” Actually, you need
a speaker with more low end. Your bass sounds
poor because the speaker is not responding
well to the rest of your tone chain. If you use
a speaker with more low end definition it will
sound cleaner and more controlled. There are
several specifications worth considering for a
speaker with better low end. However, making
a comparison may be impossible if information
on your current speaker is not readily available.
the mass of the piston. This basically shifts or
narrows the frequency response. The result
is more low end and less top end extension,
while power handling also increases. Some
players are skeptical of using higher powered speakers with smaller powered amps.
Remember, you should consider the SPL rating. This represents the output measured at 1
watt, 1 meter from a microphone. It gives you
an indication of how loud the speaker will be.
Guitar speakers are typically abundant in SPL
and don’t require much power to push them
effectively or to make them loud.
Another way to judge
the low end response
is to compare magnet
size and the Qts parameter. A smaller magnet
increases the Qts. A
higher Qts theoretically
should lend more bass.
The key to make this
comparison relative is to
ensure other details are
similar. You can’t simply
choose the speaker
with the highest Qts
and assume it produces
the most bass. Make sure to compare speakers with the same voice coil diameter, similar
response curves and maintain other specifications are fairly similar. Then it’s safe to assume
that a smaller magnet and higher Qts will produce more bass.
I hope this gives you some ideas on how to
achieve cleaner, more articulate bass. Next
month we will talk about the mids, highs and
break-up characteristics.
Consider using a speaker with a larger voice
coil diameter. You can measure this if you don’t
already know what you have. Voice coil diameters on guitar speakers are typically 1”, 1. 25”,
1. 5”, 1. 75” or 2”. In order to find the diameter
of the voice coil, measure at the cone’s apex
(see figure 1). Take a string and wrap it tightly
Some players opposed to larger voice coil
guitar speakers, specifically 2” voice coil
speakers and above, feel they sound sterile.
That’s simply a preference — some will like
it, some won’t.
Others worry that their bass will be too empha-
Anthony “Big Tony” Lucas
is a guitarist and Senior Lab Technician at Eminence
Speaker LLC, where he specializes in guitar-speaker
design and customer support. Big Tony has been with
Eminence for over 10 years and is responsible for many
well-known guitar speaker designs.
