Photo of the Day
BTD
BTD
Shoutbox

sysmalakian: Birthday month starts now!
363 days ago

diceophonic: Vampiro Classics 2024 reissue
344 days ago

SabedLeepski: Sunburn Surf Fest for some scorching hot surf music: https://sunb...
301 days ago

skeeter: I know a Polish sound guy.
229 days ago

skeeter: I know a Czech one too!
229 days ago

PatGall: Surfybear metal settings
149 days ago

Pyronauts: Happy Tanks-Kicking!
127 days ago

midwestsurfguy: Merry Christmas!
95 days ago

sysmalakian: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
89 days ago

SabedLeepski: Surfin‘ Europe, for surf (related) gigs and events in Europe Big Razz https://sunb...
50 days ago

Please login or register to shout.

Current Polls

No polls at this time. Check out our past polls.

Current Contests

No contests at this time. Check out our past contests.

Donations

Help us meet our monthly goal:

100%

100%

Donate Now

Cake March Birthdays Cake
SG101 Banner

SurfGuitar101 Forums » Gear »

Permalink It's a big NO for me on the Swamp Thang.

New Topic
Page 1 of 1

So I thought I was upgrading the speaker in my Blues Jr II for surf music from the stock "Fender made for....", with a Eminence Swamp Thang after reading maybe the wrong articles. Turns out the Swamp Thang is very loud and too piercing on the higher end. Could not seem to get the volume down low enough and yet retain some of the mellow quality.
Would a Cannabis Rex be any better??

Some useful info here: http://billmaudio.com/wp/?page_id=295

https://zakandthekrakens.bandcamp.com/
https://www.dirtyfuse.com

Actually, I reviewed Bill's writeup before purchasing it.
I must be missing something.

Give them some time to break in. Speakers need some times to develop their sound. Seems like a 'straight out of the box' problem to me.
If you still don't like them after they're broken in, I'd suggest you get a JBL, Weber or Warehouse speaker. Might suit the surf style a little better.

The Hicadoolas

Yes. I haven't heard the Swamp Thing but I put a Cannabis Rex in my Blues Jr and it sounds real good, smooth and warm and louder I think. I just happened on the speaker for $50, I wasn't looking for it but then I saw BillM recommends it for that amp. I take it out once a week and many guitarists have used it, I get lots of positive comments, I guess a lot of players don't expect a Blues Jr to sound very good. I use it for everything.

bbqbrisket wrote:

So I thought I was upgrading the speaker in my Blues Jr II for surf music from the stock "Fender made for....", with a Eminence Swamp Thang after reading maybe the wrong articles. Turns out the Swamp Thang is very loud and too piercing on the higher end. Could not seem to get the volume down low enough and yet retain some of the mellow quality.

I had a Swamp Thing in my Deluxe Reverb RI for a while, but didn't like it. I think it's too powerful of a speaker for a small-wattage, open-backed combo amp. I have one also in a small closed back cab, and it sounds much better there when played with either my Bandmaster or Gomez Surfer amp (though I pretty much never use that cab). My guess is that it's a speaker designed for higher-wattage closed-back-cab uses. Does anybody successfuly use it in a small combo amp?

Ivan
Lords of Atlantis on Facebook
The Madeira Official Website
The Madeira on Facebook
The Blair-Pongracic Band on Facebook
The Space Cossacks on Facebook
The Madeira Channel on YouTube

About the loudness, I guess the C-Rex would be more or less the same since they have almost the same sensitivity (101.8db and 102db) and very similar freq. response curves. If it's too loud for your uses, you should look into less efficient speakers.

About the piercing highs, what guitar are you playing through it? Doesn't the treble knob help?

FWIW I'm using a C-Rex in a DRRI (which are notoriously icepicky amps) with very good results. The stock Jensen was ok as well, no problem with the highs.

https://zakandthekrakens.bandcamp.com/
https://www.dirtyfuse.com

Last edited: Mar 26, 2014 12:05:22

About the piercing highs, what guitar are you playing through it? Doesn't the treble knob help?

Gretsch Electromatic

I put a Cannabis Rex in my '60 Gibson Ranger, the poor man's tweed Deluxe. WAY better than the vintage Jensen AlNiCo that had gone senile over the last half century (talk about high icepick+ low fart-out). It is a highly efficient speaker and is plenty loud, clean, clear and transparent. Still not good for jazz chords because the amp's rather dirty (tweed circuit design). But I think this little combo will be getting a lot more use now that speaker can take aggressive playing – should be loud enough for a combo.

Squink Out!

The Swamp Thang really works well for me in a Mojotone Lite open back 1x12 with my Quilter 101R. Best sounding speaker for that amp that I have found for playing surf, and I have tried quite a few. Plus, at 150 watts I'm much less likely to blow the ST speaker than a 50-75 watt C12N variant with this loud little solid state amp. The ST works very well for me with this amp.

I'm a big Swamp Thang fan ...I got them as a match for some JBLs in loudness , used in a big bandmaster cabinet along with an SFTR ..huge sound . I also put some in a MusicMan 130 amp that needed some speaks , also huge sounding . But those amps really have some watts and I needed speakers that could hold up .
I've tried a Marshall head into the Bandmaster cab and it sounds amazing as well , rich strong bottom end that works perfectly with distorted power chords without farting out . its almost better than my marshal 4-12s for this use .
If the treble is too much for you , turn it down ..it will mellow some after burn in but as they say ..you can turn down the treble if its too much but you cant turn it up if its not there to begin with .
Of course sound is an different thing to each of us , what you love I might not and vice versa .

The Swamp Thang also sounds great for surf with my Bandmaster Reverb paired with a Legend 1518. Those two speakers together sound wonderful with the 40 watt BR.

I tried the Swamp Thang with my Princeton non-reverb and I have other speakers that sound better. The Princeton non-reverb has much less treble without the reverb in the circuit so it needs a brighter speaker.

Overall, it depends upon the amp you pair it with. I think it works best with a brighter amp or paired with brighter speakers.

Last edited: Dec 21, 2021 09:54:31

I've had two. One for a Fender Supersonic 22, which was a vast improvement over the stock speaker. Essentially a repeat situation with a Mustang III. It is not a super bright speaker, but it is clear as a bell and can handle all of your low end needs. It is not an all cabinets all the time speaker. But in the right situation and when headroom is a priority, you can consider this a recommendation.

mj
bent playing for benter results
Do not attempt to adjust your TV set.
https://www.facebook.com/Bass-VI-Explorers-Club-179437279151035/
https://www.facebook.com/Lost-Planet-Shamen-366987463657230/

Cool

This is the only speaker that I have found that pairs well with the 103.4 decibel Legend 1518. It even adds bass and fills the sound out more than two 1518s. So, with my 4 ohm Bandmaster Reverb, a 1518 and a Swamp Thang sound the best to me.

Page 1 of 1
Top