Speaker selection for your amplifier

Testimonials

Sound Clips

Design Features

Price List

FAQ

Speaker Selection

I've been doing a lot of speaker research recently with Special Field Agent and Fat Dog amplifier expert Jimmie Meade of the Kansas City blues band Levee Town. Jimmie is the proud owner of four Fat Dog products, the 4A, the Classic 40, a 1A prototype, and a Signal Splitter. I respect Jimmie's opinion because in addition to being a great musician in a great band, and a conoisseur of tone, he also has played hundreds of gigs using Fat Dog amplifiers.

Using Jimmie's amplifiers as a test bed, we have tried several different types of speakers, and we have settled on the following combinations as standard equipment.

	Jensen MOD: This is a workhorse speaker with good tone at higher power ratings. The MOD has a bright, penetrating sound for great stage presence, and produces less feedback than some of the other speakers. The Classic 40 amp has one MOD in the mix to tame feedback and to create a diverse tonal range.
	Jensen Vintage ceramic: This classic honks, growls, and sings with a compressed, horn-like tone at high volume. It really cuts through the mix on stage. After trying at least 7 different Weber and Jensen speakers, we concluded that the Jensen Vintage ceramic has the most authoritative blues voice of them all! This speaker is featured prominently in the Class A amplifiers, where it really shines. The Model 1A relies on the C12R speaker for its penetrating growl. The Model 2A and 4A speaker cabinets are half ceramic and half alnico for the perfect mix.
	Jensen Vintage alnico: While the ceramic speakers are bright and brash, the alnico is more mellow and smooth. Combining the two types creates the perfect mix. In the Classic 40, the 35 watt P10Q is used for just the right level of speaker overdrive. The 25 watt P10R is a better match for the less powerful Class A power amps in the Models 2A and 4A.

Here's the speaker lineup by amplifier:

Model 1A	One C12R ceramic vintage style 12" speaker
Model 2A in a 2x10 cabinet	One C10R ceramic, one P10R alnico vintage style 10" speakers
Model 2A in a 2x12 cabinet	One C12R ceramic, one P12R alnico vintage style 12" speakers
Model 4A	Two C10R ceramic, two P10R alnico vintage style 10" speakers
Classic 40	Two P10Q alnico, one C10Q ceramic vintage style speakers, and one MOD 10-35

These speaker selections were chosen after extensive field testing at real gigs in real clubs, to provide you with the best amplifier tone as well as the most friendly feedback characteristics. The Jensen speakers used in Fat Dog amps have proved themselves the equal of any other brand of speaker. They take a bit of breaking in, but when they're ready they'll win a blind listening test easily.

Need more info? Contact Robert Reynolds: fatdogamps@harmonicagear.com