NAD DRRI update

Hey all,

This is an update on the Fender 65' Deluxe Reverb Reissue acquired back in June. This has received a fair amount of playing time since purchase and a few changes since it came home. After some research I replaced the Groove Tube 6V6's with JJ's and that tightened it up some, got a Fender REV/VIB foot pedal that to replace the generic one it came with and improved both effects switching, but the BIG CHANGE was today with the a speaker change. Put in a Electro-Voice SRO 12/L Coffee Can Alnico and this is the big 6V6 sparkle I was looking for. This speaker had a re-cone by the good folks at Weber a while back but they did a great job.

This added three things: volume, sparkle and weight. Only a little heavier but huge improvement on the tone. Anyone interested in doing this with your DRRI it is a fairly tight fit and I had to remove the baffle for replacement, so took a little longer but very well worth the time and $. If you can find an old EV SRO Alnico speaker you might find a new amp friend.

Here is the before and after glamour shots



Speaker pics

I am not familiar with that speaker. How old is it? Are they valuable?
I have an old Mesa Son of Boogie that came with a Fender 12f which upon research is an EV speaker and some fetch a decent price it seems. It is an impressive speaker with lots of presence and clarity. I almost wonder if for my taste something warmer or more prone to breakup might be better but I'm also reluctant to change it because it's so good at what it does.

This one is from the 60's, they stopped making the SRO alnico in 1968 I have read, but I they made the ceramic version in the 70's. These were in many Twin Reverbs. Jerry Garcia was known to use the SRO's before going to JBL E120 speakers and other JBL's. I have a EV 12L in a Fender Blues Deluxe, another great improvement. You can find EV 12L varieties on the interweb, SRO's a little harder to come by, and they will run $150 - 300 depending on the day and seller. Valuable, I don't know but the price keeps going up. I would not go for the Zak Wylde 300Watt based on what I have read. Other similar options I looked at were the Weber California and older JBL 120's (E and K), and don't forget EV is selling the 12L again. Mesa Boogie has a history with EV and you can look up the model letters/numbers and see exactly what speaker is used.

I specifically went for the low breakup in these two amps. Other amps for more breakup. After a few months I can say this speaker is still a huge improvement over the standard Fender speaker. Louder yes, but more musical and fuller. like you said "presence and clarity" is a good description As always YMMV.