SuperChampXD Tubes and Speaker Swaps

[SuperChampXD]

Seems everyone is lovin their XD these days. I made some simple changes and now mine just screams. First off changed the tubes and rebiased. I changed the Russian 6v6s for JJ 6v6s and rebiased to 50 mv. I swapped out the existing 12ax7 for a NOS Mullard that I had.

I also did a speaker swap. At first I put in a Celestion G10 Limited Edition. It was reasonable sounding but it could not really get the Fender sound and it did not sound all that good at low volume. It wasn't doin it for me. I really spent some time researching and ending up ordering a Weber Vintage Series 10F125P. I have been a happy camper ever since. This is a super match for the XD. This projects a loud open airy Fender sound. All the modeled sounds sound super too. Low volume sounds great, high volume even better. It is loud and projects a nice bass as well.

What I learned is there is a big difference between doped and undoped speakers. This cannot be understated. The stock factory speaker was heavily doped, the G10 was heavily doped, the Weber had no doping at all. I have no idea if the Rajun Cajon is doped (most likey) or if the Jensen is doped...but if you have never experienced a non doped speaker...you will hear it. It is pretty.

Also the Weber 10F125P is a great match for another reason...I ordered the 20 watt rated speaker. Lower wattage rated speakers will have lighter cones and thus have a tendency to be more sensitive.

The result of these two things, lack of dope and a light weight cone...needless to say this thing jangles. It picks up every nuance of your playing style. It is dynamic and loud. It sounds great as a vintage modeled Fender or Marshall Plexi. Thats a wide sweep of tone. For those of you who are not quite sold on the Rajun Cajon...the Weber 10F125P is a worthly alternative.

I brought mine to the local blues jam I regularly attend...and my SuperchampXD simply had plenty of punch...I played a very clean Fender Blackface setting no. 4. on channel 2.

[richey88]

I have put a new speaker in mine Jensen MOD, don't laugh it's paid for :p and just learned how to check the bias: http://www.agileguitarforum.com/view....php?tid=11815

Mine was starting to sound a little lacklustre (been gigging it hard for 2.5 yrs) so I go and check it out and find it was biased at about 28mV. I cranked that blue knob up to the reccommended (BillM?) mV of 40mV and I can hold off on new tubes fro a while! Cool. I do gig mine through larger cabs (2x12 at the moment), but LOVE this amp!

[SuperChampXD]

The bias on these amps is very easy to check and adjust. 28 mV is very low. 40 mV is the Fender spec with existing E-H tube set. Which Jensen Mod speaker did you end up with?

[Aengland77]

mine, has quit working on me, again for the 2nd or 3rd time.
its been gigged and pushed pretty hard a few times
and i had it retubed and biased earlier this year.
my channel switch doesn't even work, and no sound comes out at all.

ill probably keep it so that later on, when i have the money, i can mod it.
i love the little amp to pieces, but i feel like its time to move on.

[richey88]

Originally Posted by SuperChampXD

The bias on these amps is very easy to check and adjust. 28 mV is very low. 40 mV is the Fender spec with existing E-H tube set. Which Jensen Mod speaker did you end up with?

The 10-35. It's not bad (anything I think is better than the stock toy speaker), and as I gig thru a bigger cab (Celestion G12-75's, gotta use a dirt pedal to get any, uh, dirt) for home. I just can't gig with a 10", gotta get more air moving. It really did make a difference bumping it up to 40mV. Sparkly!! I wonder, could 2.5 yrs moving it around, vibrations from the external cab cause the screw to move inside there? Or was it biased cold out of the box to prolong tube life? As much as I use it, I don't really have a problem buying new tubes every 18 mos. or so....I like it hot!!

[RubyRae]

JJ's made a great difference in my VCXD. I plan on using e stock speaker for a while.
If I get some money, i may get a Weber for it, or another decent 8". But the stock really puts out in my opinion. For 5 watts, the vibro champ xd cranks with goodness, with plenty of tweakability on tone. Best 200$ amp you can get new.

[SuperChampXD]

Originally Posted by Aengland77

mine, has quit working on me, again for the 2nd or 3rd time.
its been gigged and pushed pretty hard a few times
and i had it retubed and biased earlier this year.
my channel switch doesn't even work, and no sound comes out at all.

My guess is that your amp is an easy fix. Probably a cold solder joint somewhere. Turn it on...do all the tubes light up? Bang on it kind a hard on top a few times with your hand...does it make any noise or even come back to life? If it does its most likely a cold solder joint. These are easy fixes.

[SuperChampXD]

Originally Posted by richey88

The 10-35. It's not bad (anything I think is better than the stock toy speaker), and as I gig thru a bigger cab (Celestion G12-75's, gotta use a dirt pedal to get any, uh, dirt) for home. I just can't gig with a 10", gotta get more air moving. It really did make a difference bumping it up to 40mV. Sparkly!! I wonder, could 2.5 yrs moving it around, vibrations from the external cab cause the screw to move inside there? Or was it biased cold out of the box to prolong tube life? As much as I use it, I don't really have a problem buying new tubes every 18 mos. or so....I like it hot!!

More than likely it was biased cold out of the box. You can easily push it up a bit more to even 45 mV. These things are biased on the low side by Fender.

[t-luxe]

A set of Tung-Sol RIs and a re-bias to 40mv(mine was set at 32mv when I got it) really woke mine up. I didn't really care for the RC in a friend's amp, so I went with an Emi Legend 1058 in mine. A significant volume boost over the stock speaker and still retains that Fender BF vibe.

[Aengland77]

Originally Posted by SuperChampXD

My guess is that your amp is an easy fix. Probably a cold solder joint somewhere. Turn it on...do all the tubes light up? Bang on it kind a hard on top a few times with your hand...does it make any noise or even come back to life? If it does its most likely a cold solder joint. These are easy fixes.

Yeah, i've done all of that. the tubes light up when its turned on, and they have the same, even glow. I've knocked on the top a few times too with no success. I'm not close to getting rid of it at all, but i feel a need/want for a more substantial/beefier amp!

[richey88]

Originally Posted by SuperChampXD

More than likely it was biased cold out of the box. You can easily push it up a bit more to even 45 mV. These things are biased on the low side by Fender.

Tho only thing; it seems like I had the blue screw pretty much "dimed": (twisted clockwise as far as it wanted to go, felt like there was a stopping point about 45mV so I backed it off a hair), anyone? I was using an analog multimeter but it seemed to be giving a fairly accurate reading. Anyhoo, the amp was butt-rockin at the gig last night. I was using it more as my personal monitor signal split by tuner to the SCXD and my other bigger amp.

I have heard elswhere that they are biased cold out of the box. Still, very happy with the amp (it was nice biased cold, but I've been driving it pretty hard so the tubes may be singing their swan song (stock EH's),

[elihu]

Good original post SuperchampXD...informative. Regarding your speaker choice; how's the bass on that 10F125P? I'm sure it's better than the stock speaker but for $5 more you could have gotten the 10F150P or T (rated at 25 watts if desired). BTW I love the Weber folks-multiple good experiences over the years.

[SuperChampXD]

Originally Posted by elihu

Good original post SuperchampXD...informative. Regarding your speaker choice; how's the bass on that 10F125P? I'm sure it's better than the stock speaker but for $5 more you could have gotten the 10F150P or T (rated at 25 watts if desired). BTW I love the Weber folks-multiple good experiences over the years.

True, but I really wanted to stay close to the amps output power however. This would keep the cone as light as possible. My goal was to stay away from speakers that are designed to handle high volume high power. By spec-ing the speaker to be close (just over) the amps rated power, the cone would be lighter. If you are going to play at high volume a lot then a speaker designed to handle that makes sense. I generally play at moderate or bedroom levels. If and when I do play at a loud volume I want the speaker to track the output signal with no speaker break up. I could have selected the Weber 10F100T for most of my playing and it would have been fine. The problem with this one is if I ever had the need to crank the amp the speaker would probably begin to break up at the 9 or 10 level as the stock speaker does. I could be wrong on this one though...it actually may hold up...the 10F100T is a well designed quality speaker.

There probably would a slight if any audible difference between the 10F125P and 10F150P speakers though. Its unlikely I will purchase the 10F150P to test the difference between the two. I am well pleased with the 10F125P. Its a great match for this amp. It works well for all the range of models on this thing.

My bias these days is to match the power of the speaker as closely as possible to the output power of the amp. This maximizes sensitivity thereby improving the player dynamics. I like to use all the sounds I can get out of an amp guitar combination.

As far as bass response is concerned...it seems to be balanced. Its there when you dial it in...at least as much as this cab size can do. Let me put it this way....I have not been displeased by lack of bass response.

[SuperChampXD]

Another point....that in the vintage days, speakers were closely matched to the amps power or were even under matched...making them easier to blow out as many did. And, I believe, in those vintage days speakers were not doped either. By installing a high wattage rating speaker in your cab, and by default those high wattage speakers will be heavily doped, you move away from the vintage way of doing things. You do lose some twang and sparkle in the process from the heavier cone windings and additional resistance to free cone movement presented by the dope.

In looking at what few images of the front of Jensen speakers I could find on the web....I saw light doping. The Jensen line more likely would be closer to a vintage sound than an Eminence which uses heavier doping to protect the speaker surround from high volume use and cone cry problems encountered at those high volumes.

[red57strat]

I put a recent Jensen C10Q in mine (this speaker was well broken in, having spent a couple of years in my Princeton Reverb) and re-biased it. It sounds fantastic. Even the crunchy voices sound good.

I noticed that if I jam with my band, use a guitar with humbuckers and the volumes get above 5 or 6, the amp gets a bit harsh sounding by the end of the night. It seems to run out of headroom and distort in an unpleasant way.

[elihu]

Originally Posted by SuperChampXD

My bias these days is to match the power of the speaker as closely as possible to the output power of the amp. This maximizes sensitivity thereby improving the player dynamics. I like to use all the sounds I can get out of an amp guitar combination.

I see where you're coming from...makes sense. Teles are lively tone machines and it stands to reason to use a responsive amp/speaker to reinforce that. Good Fender guitar/amp setups have almost an acoustic guitar quality to me.


Thanks again.

[SuperChampXD]

Originally Posted by red57strat

I put a recent Jansen C10Q in mine (this speaker was well broken in, having spent a couple of years in my Princeton Reverb) and re-biased it. It sounds fantastic. Even the crunchy voices sound good.

I noticed that if I jam with my band, use a guitar with humbuckers and the volumes get above 5 or 6, the amp gets a bit harsh sounding by the end of the night. It seems to run out of headroom and distort in an unpleasant way.

This is an unusual problem. It shouldn't change at all but remain sounding like your original setup thought out the jam. If your happy when you turn it on then it should stay the same by the end of the night. I'm stumped.

[czech-one-2]

Originally Posted by red57strat

I put a recent Jensen C10Q in mine (this speaker was well broken in, having spent a couple of years in my Princeton Reverb) and re-biased it. It sounds fantastic. Even the crunchy voices sound good.

I noticed that if I jam with my band, use a guitar with humbuckers and the volumes get above 5 or 6, the amp gets a bit harsh sounding by the end of the night. It seems to run out of headroom and distort in an unpleasant way.

I'm not sure humbuckers + the SCXD is gonna be a match made in heaven,but I could be wrong [wouldnt be the first time either!]
Even the 35 watt c10q could run out of gas being hit with humbuckers. Maybe a more stout speaker like the 75 watt emi 105 would give you that little bit of extra headroom? I've rolled alot of tubes in mine ,and some of them just werent very musical when the amp is cranked. Without a tube tester,its hard to really know how strong or well matched your tubes really are.

[Chicago Slim]

Originally Posted by czech-one-2

I'm not sure humbuckers + the SCXD is gonna be a match made in heaven,but I could be wrong [wouldnt be the first time either!]
Even the 35 watt c10q could run out of gas being hit with humbuckers. Maybe a more stout speaker like the 75 watt emi 105 would give you that little bit of extra headroom? I've rolled alot of tubes in mine too,and some of them just werent very musical when the amp is cranked. Without a tube tester,its hard to really know how strong or well matched your tubes really are.

I play Retrotron and Gretsch humbuckers, and the SCXD sounds great for retro rockabilly. Love the Delay.

I have two SCXD's, one with a Jensen C10R, and one with an Eminence Legend 105. The Jensen retains all of the blackface chime. While the Legend 105 has more volume and headroom. But it's turned the SCXD into a super tweed. The added mid-range sounds good, and cuts through better. But, I really don't have the nice blackface sounds, anymore.

[czech-one-2]

Originally Posted by Chicago Slim

I play Retrotron and Gretsch humbuckers, and the SCXD sounds great for retro rockabilly. Love the Delay.

I have two SCXD's, one with a Jensen C10R, and one with an Eminence Legend 105. The Jensen retains all of the blackface chime. While the Legend 105 has more volume and headroom. But it's turned the SCXD into a super tweed. The added mid-range sounds good, and cuts through better. But, I really don't have the nice blackface sounds, anymore.

Well there you go,a side by side comparison no less!
Thanks for your SOUND advice Unfortunately,I just brought a 105 home yesterday,and its being broken in on my stereo as I type this.
I ran across this tone quest report on the 105[scroll down a bit on the pdf], http://www.tonequest.com/images/TQRApr10_Proof.pdf
and it sounded exactly like what I was looking for. I'll be popping it in tonight and we will see if it robs the blackface sparkle from the SCXD like the jensen neo did.I'm still hoping for the best. Honestly, I'm afraid I'm going to blow the stock speaker with the chicklet magnet running this thing at full bore for a two hour set.