Mojotone 12” to 10” Baffle Converter, Eminence GA10-SC64, Jensen C10Q, Jensen C10R

I’ve owned a Roland Cube 60 modeling amp since 2004. I outgrew it once I started getting into playing though tube amps and VST amp modeling. I wanted to separate the amp into a head and cabinet so I could get more use out of the amp. Unfortunately I learned that the Cube 60 baffle cutout was too small for typical 12” speakers. The stock full range Roland Cube 12” speaker is a different shape than a typical 12” guitar speaker.

Roland Cube 60 Cabinet with
Mojotone 12” to 10” Baffle Converter.

I didn’t have a way to cleanly enlarge the hole in the baffle. The easiest option in my mind was to use the cabinet for a smaller 10” speaker. I ran across plywood baffle converters from J Design and Mojotone. I went with the Mojotone, since it was suited for front mounting of speakers. The Mojotone converter comes with 4 keps nuts to hold a 10” speaker onto the converter’s speaker mounting bolts. I bought some slightly longer M4x35mm bolts to mount the converter onto the Cube’s MDF baffle. The stock speaker mounting bolts are M4x25mm.

I will be trying out a Jensen C10Q and an Eminence GA10-SC64 in the cabinet. Based on my encouraging experiences with recording with the Jensen P10R speaker, I want to explore more flavors of 10" speakers with my 5F1/5F2A head and Pro Junior IV. 

If the cabinet records well and I can make some useful impulse responses out of it, then I plan on buying some more 10" speakers to rotate in and out. I will keep the metal grille off, so the front loading of speakers should lead to quick speaker swaps. I am hoping that the front porting and the inside insulation will not significantly impact the sound negatively in a close mic'd scenario.

Edit - 6/11/21 - I loaded the Eminence GA10-SC64 into the cabinet. I finger tightened the keps nuts of the baffle to secure the speaker. I got the feeling that the baffle is actually meant for rear loaded installations, but will proceed with using it as a front loaded cabinet.

Cabinet front loaded with speaker.

2021 Eminence GA10-SC64 Speaker. 

Jensen C10Q.

Edit - 06/25/21 - The GA10-SC64 is very different from the P10R. I am not familiar with the nuances of American-style speakers, since there aren’t as many online audio examples as the British-style speakers. The P10R works well with tweed overdrive, while the GA10-SC64 fares better with cleans for my usage. The GA10-SC64 is not harsh, even with a microphone pointed directly at the center of the dust cap. Blends of my GA10-SC64 and P10R IR captures are pleasing, as the speakers seem to be complementary. 

Capturing GA10-SC64 IRs with a Shure SM57.

The Cube 60 cabinet’s ports don’t seem to exert a negative influence on the sound, so I intend to continue to experiment with more 10” speakers. I would like to eventually try an Eminence Red Fang 10 and a hemp cone speaker, after I familiarize myself with the GA10-SC64 and C10Q.

Link to GA10-SC64 IRs

Edit - 8/29/21 - I swapped in the Jensen C10Q speaker to see how it compares to the GA10-SC64. The swap was quick and painless, as I originally anticipated with the front-loaded exposed baffle. The C10Q is brighter than the P10R and GA10-SC64.

Link to C10Q IRs

My plans to get a British-flavored 10” speaker with the Eminence Red Fang 10 were dashed when Eminence discontinued the model this summer.

While purchasing a small hardware order for my 5E3 build, I came across a deal on a Jensen C10R speaker at $41 on Tube Depot’s website.

My main interest is to see how this small magnet ceramic speaker compares with the Alnico P10R and larger magnet C10Q.

Link to C10R IRs

To be continued.

Malden Mozak, Bootstrap Pickups, Gotoh In-Tune Saddles

 

Bootstrap Pickups Original Recipe Set.

One of the projects that I have been putting off for a while is the installation of new pickups in my Malden Mozak offset tele-type guitar. It is my only Tele-type guitar, and my main reference for the Telecaster tone. The balance between the stock bridge and neck pickups was ultimately something that I thought could be improved on the guitar. The bridge position hit the front end of my amps in a pleasing way, but the neck position was dark and quiet.

Malden Mozak.

I bought a set of Bootstrap Original Recipe Alnico III pickups as a cost effective upgrade to the stock Alnico V pickups. It took about a month for me to get the pickups in the fall of 2020, and I knew that the wait times would only increase as the brand got more popular. The current price for these US-made pickups is still less than some import sets I was considering like the Tonerider Tele pickups. The DC resistance of the pickups are 6.32kohm for the bridge and 7.20kohm for the neck. I had forgotten that the DC resistance of the bridge pickup was lower than the neck pickup.

The Malden Mozak will be modified as follows:

• New pickups.
• 250K linear pots to replace stock 500K pots.
• 0.022uF Orange Drop capacitor.
• Gotoh In-Tune compensated brass saddles.
• New 3 way switch.

Edit: 5-14-21 - I recently completed the swap of the bridge and the pickups onto the Mozak. I got a a chance to measure the stock pickups by themselves, before I retire them in a storage bin. The stock bridge pickup's DC resistance was 7.78kohm and the neck pickup's resistance was 7.02kohm.

Bridge saddle swap prior to pickup swap.

I maintained the action and pickup heights to match the stock configuration, as they were within typical recommended values for Telecasters. I kept the old strings on throughout the installation, recording DIs to compare afterwards. I first replaced the bridge saddles with the Gotoh saddles. The Gotoh saddles seem to even out the guitar's sound. I set the intonation using the Cockos ReaTune plugin as my tuner. I was able to get within 1 cent on all strings, except for the A string being ~3 cents off. The stock saddles intonated fairly well in the past, but I think I got better results with the Gotoh saddles.

Part of the reason for putting off the project is the minor inconvenience of taking off the bridge to swap the bridge pickup. The stock guitar stayed in relatively good tuning for months at a time, and I was worried that I could not restore its stability with my skills. Time will tell. The installation ended up being a mostly painless swap, although it would've been much easier had I taken all the strings off. The pole pieces of the Bootstrap bridge pickup are flush with the pickup cover, while the stock pickup pieces are raised. The Bootstrap order came with several 1/4" length pieces of tubing to set pickup height, but I reused the stock springs to set the bridge pickup height at 3/32". 

After bridge saddle installation and pickup swap.

The stock neck pickup was supported with foam, so I had to cut 3/8" lengths of tubing to get the Bootstrap neck pickup to match the height. The stock neck pickup cover was curved to somewhat match the neck radius, while the Bootstrap neck cover is flat. I used the high and low E string heights to set the pickup height at 7/64".

Comparison of stock pickups vs Bootstrap pickups after pickup swap.

The component swaps were overall an upgrade to the existing hardware. The pickups are more balanced than stock, and the rest of the electronics are more in line with a typical modern telecaster.