Grateful Dead Music Forum

I play with a group that plays a lot of varied music which includes a lot of GD songs. I get by with a Strat and a 335 through a 68 reissue deluxe reverb that's been retubed, for dead stuff but would like to get a little closer to jerry's tone. I was thinking about a speaker change in my DRRI to something like a Beyma Liberty. The problem is that from what I can tell these would be great for cleans or very light breakup, but for anything higher gain these probably would sound much worse than the Celestion I have now. Then it hit me, what if I made a 1x12 extension cab using the Beyma speaker and ran the DRRI speaker output to something like a Cabbone to switch between the current amp speaker and the extension depending on what I was playing. Does this sound like an idea worth merit, and would it get me a close approximation of Jerry's tone? Thoughts?

Many factors to consider. Speaker is only one piece of the puzzle. More info is needed...

ace

mkaufman wrote:Many factors to consider. Speaker is only one piece of the puzzle. More info is needed...

As I mentioned I'm running either my Strat or 335 into a Deluxe Reverb 68 Silverface reissue, Don't use many pedals for the GD stuff other than a little occasional delay and Mu-Tron when needed. I am not trying to get an exacting duplication, just closer than what I have now, especially in the bass register. Just wondering, given this setup, how much difference will a E120 clone in a cabinet help. If there are other factors your looking for just let me know what they are, but this is the current rig so I'm not sure what else would be pertinent. Thanks.

Not sure what Celestion you currently have, but most likely going from it to a Beyma will be night and day different IMO. Will it take you into JerryLand bliss? Not fully, but a heck of a lot closer than the Celestion would. I have two beyma's and they do a pretty good job of being an e120 clone. Big wattage, efficient and the aluminum dust cap zing. I would part with one of mine possibly, though im not sure where your located. Good luck!

Gr8fulCadi wrote:Not sure what Celestion you currently have, but most likely going from it to a Beyma will be night and day different IMO. Will it take you into JerryLand bliss? Not fully, but a heck of a lot closer than the Celestion would. I have two beyma's and they do a pretty good job of being an e120 clone. Big wattage, efficient and the aluminum dust cap zing. I would part with one of mine possibly, though im not sure where your located. Good luck!

Thanks for the input. I am in California. If your looking to get rid of one of the Beyma's I might be interested. Rather have one thats broken in.

I'd start with your extension cab idea with a JBL K120. I'd also strongly consider getting a waldo buffer for your strat. this is assuming most of the dead tunes are played through it.

I'd also be interested in what you meant by getting closer in the bass register. Most folks going for Jerry's sound tend to move away from the low end in a big way.

[quote="Bigfoot Co."]I'd start with your extension cab idea with a JBL K120. I'd also strongly consider getting a waldo buffer for your strat. this is assuming most of the dead tunes are played through it.

I'd also be interested in what you meant by getting closer in the bass register. Most folks going for Jerry's sound tend to move away from the low end in a big way.[/quote]

I was just leary of getting an old used k120 since it's hard to tell what shape it's in, and I've heard horror stories. That's why I was thinking of going with the beyma.

By Jerry's bass tones I meant the trebly clear tone he gets out of his bass strings. I remember being amazed by those tones at one of the shows at the Greek theater in Berkeley in the mid 80's and being mesmerized by it. I certainly didn't mean bass heavy tones as I'm a treble head to be sure.

The Wald buffer, JBL/Beyma, bass on 0'ish will 'help' yield that low string spank, for the most part.
Don't overlook new strings!!!! They do wonders on that lower string sizzle.
New strings and the buffer are pretty big influences with that actually.

Gr8fulCadi wrote:The Wald buffer, JBL/Beyma, bass on 0'ish will 'help' yield that low string spank, for the most part.
Don't overlook new strings!!!! They do wonders on that lower string sizzle.
New strings and the buffer are pretty big influences with that actually.

I have an Effectrode fire bottle first in my pedal chain which is a buffer/ tube based boost. I know it's not the same buffer Jerry had on his strat but I'm hoping it can fill a similar role, so I'm going to see how that works before getting something else. It's an always on pedal when I play single coils and really works well win triggering my Mu-Tron

If you want a drop in solution for your Strat look into the Alembic Blaster (Stratoblaster). All of Waldo's buffers are top notch as well and they go in all my guitars. The Alembic however comes with a drop in replacement for your Strat output jack/plate and has an on/off switch as an well. So you'll maintain your factory look and playability for a non dedicated Jerry guitar.

Another thing to consider is that a Deluxe Reverb just doesn't have the headroom of a Twin or the same sparkly sound of a 6L6 Fender.

Adamas picks! Huge tone enhancer! Mod the tone stack in the deluxe to two .022's. Those two changes will help get you a much more tight, woody, spank on your low notes.

Reverb is a small factor that hasn't been brought up yet.
I was always...my whole life of playing guitar.... a reverb on 2-3 guy. For Jerry stuff I have it at about 5.

The Deluxe has killer reverb ... much better than my Vibrolux. That may be true on the sparkle issue with the Deluxe. I have found that if you're not going full-on balls-out to re-create the exact tone, a good Fender amp with the front end pushed a little bit (either via hot pickups or a clean boost) can get you in the ballpark if you are adopting some of the stylistic things that Jerry did -- hybrid flatpick/fingerpicking, vibrato, snapping certain notes, particularly on the low strings. I did a gig right after a fairly major snowstorm a few years back where loading in over the snowdrifts was going to be a bear, so I left the Tiger and big rig at home, grabbed my Vibrolux reissue in one hand (stock speakers) and a PRS Custom 24 in the other, and using the bridge humbucker on the PRS to push the Vibrolux got a pretty satisfying tone out of it with just reverb. I have a short clip somewhere if you want to hear it.

Regarding the K-120 I don't think that recone kit has been available for years, and for a long time they were just reconing them with E-120 kits, so chances are it could already be an E-120 in K-120 guise. I don't know that a Deluxe is going to have the juice to really move an E-120 but others may have tried.

zambiland wrote:Another thing to consider is that a Deluxe Reverb just doesn't have the headroom of a Twin or the same sparkly sound of a 6L6 Fender.

Agreed. but it is sweet cleans - more more chime than authority, IMO.

Another thing to consider is your stage volumes. i know folks swear by speaker breakup, but you likely aren't getting that from a DR unless it's cranked which would require significant volume and a large stage.

I agree with the statement to look reverb. Original DR's are good. Not so much the RI. I'd suggestion looking into a something like this that has a lexicon setting:
http://digitech.com/en-US/products/polara