Jensen Speaker, Green, 12-Inch (P12Q8)

Sounded better than expected

I've been a Vox player for most of my guitar life, which means that for the most part, my choices of speakers were Celestion or speakers that are trying to be Celestion, like Scumback or Weber British Series. More specifically, I swear by the Celestion Alnico Blue, or Gold if I have more than 15 watts. But this year, I've been getting into Fender amps, and so here's my story with the '65 Princeton and Deluxe Reverb reissues.The Jensen P12Q came on the special edition 12" Princeton Reverb that I purchased from Guitar Center, and because I read lots of specs sheets and saw the puny magnet and efficiency ratings and read too many forum posts saying Jensen reissues are trash, I was prepared to hate the speaker. But to my surprise, I didn't. The amp sounded just the right amount of spark for my rhythm tone, and then cranking it or hitting it with a boost gave me beautiful sustain. But because I am a tinkerer, I tried different speakers out. I tried the G12 Neo Creamback, Eminence Red Fang, and Celestion Alnico Blue. Nope, the P12Q went back in every time. Same story with the '65 Deluxe Reverb.I am now convinced that what I like about these particular amps is actually the combination of amp and speaker because honestly, I'm not really sure I like these Fender amps with other types of speakers in them. I tried a '68 DRRI a couple years ago with the Celestion V-type in it (also tried a Scumnico), and thought it was a bit awful for my tastes, too bright, too clean, and this is despite the fact that '68 DRRI supposedly breaks up way faster. This is just one person's opinion of amp tone. but for me, the P12Q is the only speaker I've tried that makes the Princeton or Deluxe Reissue usable for me. It's really P12 or bust for me because these amps really sound amazing once they got this puppy in there. There's a chance that a similar speaker like Weber 12A125 or 12A150 would please me equally, too, but there's no need to find out for me.So after this whole boring story, the point is I absolutely love the Jensen P12Q reissue in these Fender amps. I think it's a truly wonderful speaker. It's a nice bright sound, not a whole lot of bass, but enough in a band context. It's several dB less efficient than the most efficient Eminence or Celestions, so you can run the amp hotter without being louder. But what you can't read from the specs sheet necessarily is that it breaks up quicker, too. Compared to a Neo Creamback, Eminence Red Fang Alnico, or Alnico Blue, it seems like it breaks up a couple notches earlier in the volume knob. Combine that with the low efficiency rating, and it means if I had to put an arbitrary number on it, I think this speaker makes my Fender amps break up about 2-3 times faster and controls their volume, too, which I think is a good thing. These Fender combo cabinets are very small and I feel like overly efficient speakers give them way too much sound energy for their size. Perhaps this is why Vox amps sound so good with these same speakers I hate in the Fender: Vox amps are gigantic for their wattage.As an aside, I find it funny that some people want to put efficient speakers in their amps, and then the same people ask about using attenuators because they want more breakup at lower volumes. Just put a P12Q in there and you've got a well behaved amp! I can put my amp at 4 and start to get just a bit of crunch going with this speaker, then hit a boost to push it over the top. If you need a louder or cleaner sound, just use another cabinet or amp. If you're someone who gets all of the tone from your pedals, maybe get a louder and cleaner speaker to make a more neutral pedal platform, but I feel like, no disrespect, but you're wasting the potential of an amp like the Princeton or Deluxe Reverb if you're not letting the tubes provide most of your tone. I mean, you can use a Tube Screamer or a clean boost or a treble booster, but you can use dirt pedals in a way that doesn't take the amp out of the equation.There is one other pleasant side effect of using a Jensen P12Q that I haven't even mentioned yet. It makes your amp physically more pleasant to carry because the P12Q is very light. I have installed tilt-back legs on my amps which adds a little bit to the weight, but even then, my Deluxe is only 38 pounds with this speaker, my Princeton is 33. I can carry my pedalboard, two guitars in gig bags, and my amp in one trip and not be out of breath.I can't vouch for what this speaker sounds in anything other than a Fender, but right now, I honestly don't know why you'd consider anything other than a Fender w/ a Jensen. (OK, I guess a Marshall or Vox w/ a Celestion is a good sound, too.)

Put two in my Fender "The Twin."They have a richness the factory speakers lacked and a well-rounded tone. They're bright without being shrill. Warm without being boom-y.Still breaking them in so I haven't pushed them hard yet.I put five stars for "Value for money" but these aren't the value model. These are ones you buy if you have the money to spend and they truly are worth it.

I have been using this speaker in a 1-12 oversized cabinet for several months now. This is an american voiced speaker with a nice alnico compression. Great for blues and old school rock tones. Especially with older Fender amps. This speaker needs plenty of break in time to smooth out and sounds its best.