I'm taking a shine to Hemp! i.e. Bugera V5 Speaker Upgrade w 820H

[GAS Man]

Well, I'm not quite done with my install, but nearly done. I went through a phase of buying too many low-watt tube amps too fast, and when the Bugera V arrived, I thought it was "a purdy lil' thing", had an impressive amount of reverb in it for such a small affordable MIC amp (picked it up for $145 new), and it sounded a bit warmer/deeper than some of the other low watters I'd picked up, (e.g. the Peavey Royal 8) and then I put it aside for about 5 years. But I took it to jam one night in the loft bedroom at the home of one of my neighborhood band-mates (cuz they're into real low volume practices these days ) and I thought, "damn this thing sounds boxy". i.e. nasty boxy. I ended up facing it into a corner which really helped a bit to reflect the sound and also get some needed presence off the back of the speaker as well. So then I went through the online search for best upgrades. There's quite a few V5 upgrades mentioned out there (including Mercury transformers - seems pricey for such a cheapie ), but I decided the extra warmth of the hemp cone was warranted. Well, my new Eminence Patriot Series 820H arrived (8" 20W Hemp cone) a couple weeks ago, and I got ready to do the swap. My first installation hurdle was to find that the original speaker was soldered to the lead wires. So I then decided to finally buy my first wire stripper/crimper. [i'd spent my entire life doing that sort of thing (albeit - obviously not too often) with a pocket knife, cutter and pliers.] Then I went to the hardware store and got a few 0.25" female connectors. Got home and realized they were too big. So after another google hunt I ordered (overkill) fifty (i.e. more than a life-time supply for me) 0.205" connectors from Parts Express. Today, 5 days later the connectors arrived. Yay! So I'm connecting the new speaker into the cab and I found that one of the machine bolts can't quite connect to the set-nut threads to tighten down. The Eminence 820H has a thicker basket flange. But I was able to get 3 of the 4 bolts to bite so that was enough for a quick test drive.

 

Got to say, this thing now sounds pretty darn good for what it is. The extra warmth and depth was noticeable right off the bat, and some of the graininess of its OD tones are now muted. And it still has all the treble it needs. I was running the tone at 12 o'clock high, or more like 9 or 10 o'clock with full gain.

 

I'm thinking I'm going to like this amp now, that is, until the next "squirrel!" comes my way.

 

For those looking at upgrading a Bugera V5, mine is the earlier version with the stock red basket speaker - 4 ohms and 30 watts. The new speaker is also a 4 ohm and sounds about the same as far as db output. Needless to say, the Eminence speaker in heft feels more like a tank and the stock speaker more like a toy.

 

For those that have a Bugera V5 and are interested in upgrading, it's my understanding that the newer "Infinium" version is equipped with a new Blue "Turbosound" speaker that is better and does not need the upgrade as badly as the original V5 with the red basket speaker. You can read a bit about the differences here. http://www.ratvalveamps.com/bugera-v5-combo In that article, the author is suggesting a Celestion Eight - 15, but I wanted to go with more of an American bluesy than British chimey tone.

 

Well, with one more trip to the hardware store to find slightly longer Phillips head bolts, I should be done. I'll probably end up having to stack washers next. LOL

 

Hope you all enjoy your hemp too! Next up, I'm changing my Super Champ XD speaker to an Eminence Lil Buddy, i.e more hemp. That speaker just arrived 2 days ago. I believe I gave up way too soon on the SCXD's stock speaker, folks say that stock speaker really improves with break-in time. But I quickly replaced it with an Eminence Ragin Cajun. That speaker was touted by many reviews as "the" upgrade speaker for the Super Champ, but I finally listened to my ears and realized "hated it!" It just changes the sound too much. Too much bold mids and presence and loses that Fender tone of depth with some thunk. The RC seems to be a good choice if your main objective is more db and for some of the other higher gain modeled tones; but I wanted the dang thing to sound like a Fender Champ. Well, I had an Eminence Alnico 1028K laying around (just bought it one year due to a GAS tempting sale) and I've played that one for a bit. I have to say, there's some excellent qualities about that speaker, but I was running that amp with all the treble rolled off. It was just a bit too chimey-bright for that open back design (IMHO) but could do surprisingly well when really cranked. I understand the 1058 is a better choice for that reason, i.e. a bit more warmth and bass. Well, next up the Lil Buddy Super Champ install.

 

Peace out for now! I'll report back on the Super Champ install.

[DeepEnd]

That the sound of the amp improved when you aimed it at a corner means that you gave it some bottom end. I'm glad you found a speaker that works well with it. Happy New Speaker Day.

As for the wire stripper/crimper, I needed one of those years ago when I was in college but, as usual, I didn't know what they were called. I told dad what I needed to do and, sure enough, he had the right tool for the job. When I moved out on my own, I bought a cheap one but it does the job. Keep us posted on the Super Champ.

[*BLEEP*]

 

Eminence makes a lot of different great loudspeakers for guitar and bass. They also manufacture speakers for several amp manufacturers as well ( such as Fender ).

 

I noticed recently that Eminence has entered the automotive speaker market.

 

 

http://www.eminence.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

[GAS Man]

That the sound of the amp improved when you aimed it at a corner means that you gave it some bottom end. I'm glad you found a speaker that works well with it. Happy New Speaker Day.

...... Keep us posted on the Super Champ.

 

 

Thanks,

 

The 820H into the Bugera is much more of a "no-brainer" to me than the Lil' Buddy in the Super Champ XD. Just got that done this afternoon. It certainly added the warmth and the bottom end I was seeking from that amp. It does indeed have a "bigger" sound now. I ran it first through the first channel - Super Champ channel - and most of my more favorite models from the second channel.. I never needed any more than 7 (out of 10) for the bass, often times backing it down to between 6 to 5 to coax out more needed mid range. Any more than that, and the sound gets a bit more flabby, and the mids retreat creating a bit more "mud" to the tone - so around 7 was about the max bass setting.. The highs still all come through just fine, and although I was able to turn the amp's treble up a bit from having the 1028K in there (about 3 to 4 notches higher), I still didn't need the treble much higher than 4 or 5 with the reverb on. The spring reverb model on that amp also throws off a lot of trailing trebley "keering" tone, which can challenge adjusting the amps EQ levels if you have that spring reverb setting running. (The hall setting colors the tone less) I think the Lil Buddy is a good choice if you want more bottom end and warmth (maybe like the Ragin Cajun is a good choice for more dBs and mid presence/clarity) but I was feeling like the amp was again losing a good deal of its intended "Champ" character. There's something missing in the mids, I'm not sure whether its the upper or lower mids, or a bit of each, that my ears are missing; but I'll figure that out a bit later with my Boss EQ pedal in front. I'll also have to put my TS9 in front which I'm guessing will be a perfect compliment with the way the amp is sounding now. But there's something about the tone right now that makes me want to pull out my BBE Sonic Maximizer pedal to "remove the blanket". But I've only put about an hour or so into the new speaker, so we'll see how I feel about it as time goes on. I think it made the amp more stout and a better contender for jams with my band, so I may just leave it this way, but I think a different speaker would be better to preserve a more authentic "Champ" sound.

 

I'd be tempted to try the Eminence 1058 next. I have a felling that might be the Momma bear selection for Goldilocks, not too bright and easy to break up, but with more presence than the Lil' Buddy.

 

Thanks