Speaker Choice

I have a 1969 Traynor YGM-3 All tube amp...(1 channel) I think it is rated about 30 watts at 8 ohms.....

The problem I have is this..

Someone cut this combo amp in half and made it into a head.. and mated it up to a twin 12 inch Granet cabinet.. None of the original speakers are in this cabinet..

I was running a single JBL 200 watt 16 ohm monitor speaker for the last year (it was blown but worked not bad for guitar).. it finally gave up the ghost and farted out at practice..

I stole the G12T-75 4 ohm Celestion speaker out of my Marshall until I could get a new speaker..

The sound in 180 deg the opposite way the JBL was.. now it seems like the amp is working really hard.. and the tubes are a lot hotter than with the JBL.. it now has natural overdrive and now I have a dramatic change when I change pick-up setting.. Not that that's bad but I have to use effects to get a non-overdrive sound now..Is it because I'm running 4 ohms when it is rated for 8 ohm?

Is there a speaker better suited to these old tube amps.. I was thinking about a Celestion Classic 30 or something like that... can you give me some suggestions..?

The G12T seems better suited for punk or heavy music... I play classic rock and blues...I'm only gonna run one speaker in this cabinet ($$$$ is an issue)..

Help?

Check out Weber VST speakers.

I have an old Ampeg VT-40 that started life as a 4x10 combo. When I bought it from Torres Engineering as a scratch'n'dent special, it was flood damaged to the point that only the amp chassis was usable. I priced out a lot of 10" speakers, but I soon concluded that four of any brand of speaker was going to cost me a serious pile of coin. Then I remembered what it was like when I played an old Garnet BTO into a pair of JBL 2x15 cabs.

I spent some time reading through the customer feedback on the Weber site. The comments on the Ceramic California 15" with the paper voice-coil dome led me to decide to buy one of those instead of getting four 10" speakers. I exchanged a few e-mails with Ted Weber himself along the way to making that choice. It's refreshing to have the president of a major equipment manufacturer reply to your questions.

As I said earlier, my VT-40 was badly flood-damaged, so I had to make a new cab for it anyway. I redesigned it as a 1x15 combo. I still haven't got around to applying the Tolex, or making a proper grill for it.

I'm in no hurry to finish it. It sounds so good that I don't want to take it apart again!

My first 'real' amp was a Traynor I borrowed from a buddy. They're great amps that deserve good speakers. Browse through the user comments on the Weber site. I'm sure you'll find what you need. And I can personally vouch for the quality of the product.

I am open to any suggestions so I will check it out..thanks for your reply.

I'm also concerned about hurting the amp if I run a 4 ohm speaker when it is designed for a 8 ohm...

The Traynor is a great amp.. I would like to try a Garnet tube amp to try.. that's all that Randy Bachman from the Guess Who used..

Originally posted by Classic Jay
... I'm also concerned about hurting the amp if I run a 4 ohm speaker when it is designed for a 8 ohm...

Don't do it!!! :eek:

Load mismatch can fry the output transformer and the power tubes.

I had conflicting answers to that.. some say that it just makes the amp work harder creating the warm overdrive tone and the amp was probably designed for 4 ohm anyways even though everything I read said it is only 8 ohms...

Others respond like you did saying I will fry the amp...eventually

I played the whole show Saturday night without any problems..I did notice that near the end of the set.. the amp would loose a bit of volume and seemed to be more overdriven than when the amp came off stand by...

Originally posted by Classic Jay
... The sound is 180 deg the opposite way the JBL was.. now it seems like the amp is working really hard.. and [u]the tubes are a lot hotter[/u] than with the JBL..

It's your amp, but I think the risks are not worthwhile. You need an 8 Ohm speaker cabinet!