Breaking in is hard to do

[misterwhizzy]

That reference dates me, I know.

I just put a new Vintage 30 in my cabinet to replace an Eminence Governor, and the brightness is killing me. What's the best way to break in a speaker?

 

[beaubrummels]

I leaned my guitar against the cab and let it feedback for a couple hours after leaving the room. Occisionally I would wedge my pick into different strings to get it to feedback at different frequencies for an hour at a time or so. I've also pumped white noise/static into them for 30 minutes at a time, checking the sound in between. (I did this with a Vintage 30 'historic/anniversary' and with one of the greenback models - either a Hendrix 50hz or Historic whatever it was.)

 

[jeremy]

i hitch mine up to a stereo. a few hours at low volume, then louder for a few more, then loud for a few more.

 

[Bogner]

You can certainly do what has already been mentioned. To me, I just crank up and play. I have heard of all kinds of things from applying chemicals to the cone to tapping the paper with a rubber mallet to the various nuances of different kinds of noises for extended periods of time. The key is movement so whatever you choose should certainly help make a difference. I still think you need to play them in addition to the other options listed here and above to make it all real.

 

[ehdwuld]

I like the stereo idea

 

[FuseG4]

I find that any speaker I've owned is "most of the way there" after about an hour or two of loud playing... After that the change is more subtle

if you can automate the process safely I don't see why not e.g. playing the stereo through them

I've done that but these days I just play the sucker, good luck

 

[Erlend_G]

when I unpacked and turned on my Blackstar combo for the first time- I was so dissapointed with the sound;

i turned the amp off, got drunk- and decided to send it back the next day.

...but after having owned it now since April, the sound has changed alot! I think this is because of the speaker. It's much more open and "natural" sounding now, and the woofy lows are gone. .

Because of this experience, I think "breaking in" speakers is very important.

-Erl

 

[idsnowdog]

That reference dates me, I know.

I just put a new Vintage 30 in my cabinet to replace an Eminence Governor, and the brightness is killing me. What's the best way to break in a speaker?

I bought a set of Electro-Harmonix speakers and they were heavily doped and took a long time to break in. I hooked up my laptop to my little battery powered Fender amp and ran 12 hour loops of frequency sweeps and colored noise through the speakers at around 90db. Another thing that I found that was extremely useful was to use an online tone generator and tune it to the resonant frequency of the speaker and then run a variety of wave forms through it. Most guitar speakers have a 70-85hz resonant frequency. I let it run for a week and afterwards they were far better sounding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUxQ3O7h69M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D7IZQzCqNk&t=6s
https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/

 

[Adieu]

Yup you can use a solid state stereo

Ohms don't much matter, and neither does wattage (just don't put it on full volume)

 

[Securb]

I use my looper and like Jeremy, I get progressively louder.

 

[Lewguitar]

Even broken in, a Vintage 30 is a bright speaker. Kind of like a JB pickup. Not really sparkley bright but it has a sound that really penetrates the ear drums.

IMO they sound best in a 4 x 12 sealed Marshall type cab.

I used to use one in my Deluxe Reverb and eventually decided enough was enough and switched to a G12H30.

Not saying it's bad speaker. Just that it wore on my ears after a while and I found I was more comfortable with something else.

 

[beaubrummels]

Even broken in, a Vintage 30 is a bright speaker. Kind of like a JB pickup. Not really sparkley bright but it has a sound that really penetrates the ear drums.

IMO they sound best in a 4 x 12 sealed Marshall type cab.

I used to use one in my Deluxe Reverb and eventually decided enough was enough and switched to a G12H30.

Not saying it's bad speaker. Just that it wore on my ears after a while and I found I was more comfortable with something else.

I totally agree with this. Those speakers were engineered expecting to be used in certain cabs of the day. I was using an open-back Randall 1x12 cab as an extension cab and had to put a playwood back on it to enclose it before it sounded sweet and right with a V30. I tried other G12s in there, standard greenback, G12H30, the Hendrix 50hz one, etc. They really need an enclosed cab. I think the back pressure fixes the settling time of the magnet/cone to even out the EQ.

 

[ehdwuld]

I bought a set of Electro-Harmonix speakers and they were heavily doped and took a long time to break in. I hooked up my laptop to my little battery powered Fender amp and ran 12 hour loops of frequency sweeps and colored noise through the speakers at around 90db. Another thing that I found that was extremely useful was to use an online tone generator and tune it to the resonant frequency of the speaker and then run a variety of wave forms through it. Most guitar speakers have a 70-85hz resonant frequency. I let it run for a week and afterwards they were far better sounding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUxQ3O7h69M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D7IZQzCqNk&t=6s
https://www.szynalski.com/tone-generator/

I got one of the EHX speakers
I like it a lot
Half the price of the EMINENCE

 

[80's_Metal]

I've always favored changing my eq to cut some of the brightness out and cranking it up and playing the hell out of it for a couple weeks. As you notice the speaker mellowing a bit, you can adjust your eq back to normalish.

The louder and longer you play, the quicker the speaker breaks in. You can also drop a blanket over the face of the cabinet to cut the volume on the room.

That's just the way I do it. The aforementioned techniques work well too.

And V30'S in my opinion cut through the mix more than just about any other commonly used speaker, so it will always sound a bit bright, brash, and harsh. But they do mellow out quite a bit from new

 

[idsnowdog]

I got one of the EHX speakers
I like it a lot
Half the price of the EMINENCE

I bought the 75w model because its specs were very close to the Celestion 75w creamback. Whether they sound the same I can't say but they do sound good. Just over-doped in comparison to Celestions.

 

[ehdwuld]

Mine is the 8ohm 75wayt as well

I think I want it in my belair mixed with the original Carvin vintage series

 

[Demanic]

When you get new speakers, play them. Lots. Play them as loud as you can manage. The various tracks and videos can be helpful. But really, if you can just crank them and let 'er rip, isn't that the most enjoyable way?
Sure, maybe they will be harsh (but I may like harsh?) to start, but it's like polishing something, just keep working it.

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