The Angry Possum
Tele-Holic
I really dig my Frontman 25R Amp. Can anyone advise If there is a good replacement speaker for this amp at or around $50. Is it worth upgrading. Etc. Please feel free to share your personal info.
Upgrading My Frontman 25R Speaker
- Thread starter The Angry Possum
- Start date
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JayFreddy
Poster Extraordinaire
I taught lessons on one of these for years and it never let me down.
I stumbled across a used one in a pawn shop for $50, bought it right away.
If I had to replace the speaker, I would be looking at a Jensen Mod 10-35.
https://www.jensentone.com/mod-series/mod-10-35
I stumbled across a used one in a pawn shop for $50, bought it right away.
If I had to replace the speaker, I would be looking at a Jensen Mod 10-35.
https://www.jensentone.com/mod-series/mod-10-35
guitarmikey
Tele-Afflicted
Ira7
Doctor of Teleocity
It’s a great f*****g little amp.
I have the Champion 110, which is the model before it. These things are incredibly mid-scooped, and for pure Fender clean, it’s like Bass 1, Middle 10, Treble 3.
I swapped the reverb tank on mine, and put a Jensen C10R in there, although most people that go Jensen use the K version.
I know the Ragin’ Cajun is a no-lose speaker ever...it’s fantastic...but since I wanted pure clean out of this, I went conservative and traditional.
I’ve been looking to pick up as many of these damn little amps as I can, but they’re getting harder to find and people are asking too much.
I have the Champion 110, which is the model before it. These things are incredibly mid-scooped, and for pure Fender clean, it’s like Bass 1, Middle 10, Treble 3.
I swapped the reverb tank on mine, and put a Jensen C10R in there, although most people that go Jensen use the K version.
I know the Ragin’ Cajun is a no-lose speaker ever...it’s fantastic...but since I wanted pure clean out of this, I went conservative and traditional.
I’ve been looking to pick up as many of these damn little amps as I can, but they’re getting harder to find and people are asking too much.
JustABluesGuy
Poster Extraordinaire
The first electric amp I owned was an FM15R and it was quite decent, and never gave me any problems. I remember it having nice cleans. I wasn’t thrilled by the distortion.
I don’t remember what happened to it. I probably gave it to my nephew or brother...
I don’t remember what happened to it. I probably gave it to my nephew or brother...
strat a various
Friend of Leo's
The stock speaker in those is the best part of that amp ... I'd keep the speaker and run a tube amp through it.
SolidSteak
Friend of Leo's
The stock speaker is pretty good already IMO. You can upgrade the speaker with a more efficient one to make it louder though I think.
Here is a demo with an Eminence Ragin Cajun:
Here is a demo with an Eminence Ragin Cajun:
So here was my plan. I was going to take the electronics out and put in a tube amp. Sort of a cross between a Fender and Marshall, 6V6 P-P output, stick with SS reverb. Strip the grill cloth and vinyl from the cabinet. Make a lightweight pine cabinet and cover with the Frontman's vinyl. Upgrade the speaker. A lightweight sleeper amp for my niece's husband.
But I turned it on and, works great. Sounds pretty good clean. Certainly not the amp I was going to build but good enough to practice with around the house. I can't chop it up. I do have to do something about the distortion, maybe stick a tube or two in the drive channel.
But I turned it on and, works great. Sounds pretty good clean. Certainly not the amp I was going to build but good enough to practice with around the house. I can't chop it up. I do have to do something about the distortion, maybe stick a tube or two in the drive channel.
I have two. I put an Eminence Copperhead in one, and a 16-ohm Eminence 1058 Legend in the other, and added an external speaker jack (I have a couple of 16 ohm cabs). Either speaker can be had for 60-70 bucks. Happy with both, but the 16-ohm guy running another cab sounds LOVELY.
Since my new acquisition of my new amp I have spent time listening to the distortion boost on the amp, the sound of it on YouTube, I think it sucks. I have also been looking over the schematic of the amp and comparing it to the other SS amps with a distortion section and the sound of the other amps. I came up with some ideas that might make the clipping circuit tolerable. The F25r has a 3.3k resistor in series with the drive IC which then feeds the diodes to ground. The Deluxe 90 has the same arrangement but only in the 'more boost' mode. In its 'normal boost' mode it has a 33k resistor in series with the diodes. I found I liked the normal mode but did not like the more boost setting. The F25r also has a 0.1uF cap before the volume pot and a 0.068uF after the pot. All the other amps use a 2.2uF cap after the distortion circuit. Might not sound as thin with a larger cap. Would be cool if the distortion could be 'fixed' with a couple of part changes.
I "fixed" mine by just turning the "gain" knob down to "2"...
Dadzmad
Tele-Meister
I've got a Champion 110 and put a WGS Veteran 10" along with a Mod 3 spring reverb $17. The speaker was a great improvement. I usually have the gain channel and the reverb just cracked.
These are great little amps that are easy to pack around, are louder than they should be but also turn down well. For some reason the Champion 110 sounds the best with single coil Fender guitars - who would have thought?
These are great little amps that are easy to pack around, are louder than they should be but also turn down well. For some reason the Champion 110 sounds the best with single coil Fender guitars - who would have thought?
Count
Friend of Leo's
The distortion channel is not the best on the 25R but as has been posted already it is ok on low gain. The clean channel though is terrific. I just use the clean channel with a Moen Deep Blue pedal, works beautifully. As for the speaker, play with the tone controls for a while and you might find that you don’t need a speaker change.
Dadzmad
Tele-Meister
I am curious, what cab layout / speaker size work well for you folks with these amps
The Angry Possum
Tele-Holic
Ive pondered the idea of the clean channel sound with a good overdrive distortion pedal as well. More of the likes of a tube screamer or mxr etc. I gotta try that, good idea. Thanks
The Angry Possum
Tele-Holic
And fwiw, my friend gave me an 8 ohm Fane Speaker. Yeah gave it to me.. Gonna swap it out maybe later today. Thanks for all the awesome ideas.
Had some time to twiddle some knobs. If I were to take the amp somewhere I would like a better speaker, defiantly a weak point but at home practice levels not too bad. I set the distortion channel to equal the same gain and loudness of the normal channel and you can easily hear the bandwidth limiting they did on it. Might be good for higher gain stuff but I like the edge of breakup and a bit beyond and the sound is honky sounding. First thing will be to increase the first capacitor size.
Ira7
Doctor of Teleocity
I meant the C10N, not K.
I use one of the older versions for keyboards. The Fender Special Design Speaker sounds fine for my use.
