This video is a good argument for a cab switcher. The Patriot sounded great with the rhythm playing and the Red Coat sounded great with the leads. They both lacked a bit on the opposite. I bet they would sound good together.
I think both speakers sound good but it depends on what sound you want. I love American (Fender) amps, so the Swamp Thang , with it's thick, warm sound sounds the best to me. After watching Shane's video where he put a Swamp Thang in his Blues Deluxe, I decided I'm going to put one of those bad boys in my own BD.
If I didn't know what speakers were being used in this shootout, I'd swear that the Red Coat was a 10". Thanks for the shootout. I love all the speaker choices that we have these days.
I recently upgraded an old 2x12 combo amp with a Swamp Thang and a Texas Heat speaker. Worked out great. Took an amp that sounded spiky at some frequencies and a little shrill overall and made it much friendlier. The ST also gave it tons of authority in the lows. I think there's no perfect solution for every situation. You have to look at the qualities you're trying to bring out of your rig. If you have a thin sounding rig, a speaker like the Swamp Thang is a great upgrade. If your amp is already rolled-off and bass-heavy, maybe a different speaker. I don't know if they still make the Tone Spotter, or if they call it something else now, but I think Eminence is a really cool company, and it's likely they have a speaker to fit most needs.
Doesn’t the Texas Heat have a much lower sensitivity rating than the Swamp Thang resulting in a volume imbalance? I was considering the same combination.
One thing you could do would be presenting and comparing neodynium guitar speakers. I think of the Jensen Tornado, the Eminence Tonkerlite and a Celestion in the same range for example.
The Tonespotter had great mid and high end complexity but is a bit anemic in the lows (though, it could just seem so compared to a Swamp Thang). I think it would benefit from being matched up to a speaker with more lows in a 2X12 configuration.
Swamp? Hm ... should be muddy and not clean ... i expected. WOW, your excellent demo just readjusted me, thanks a lot! These Eminence high efficiency speakers are becoming my favorites.
The Swamp Thang has a much "grittier" sound to it, even in clean mode. Sounds much better to me than the Tone Spotter, and I tend to like the British style speakers.
Swamp Thang. The only Celestion I've heard work in a Fender type amp (ofc this wasn't Fender but I'm looking to upgrade my Tweed Jnr) was a Vintage30. I know Shane doesn't like em but that ltd edition BJnr "Texas" had a Vintage 30 and sounds the bee's knees - with the right guitar(s) and the right pedals.
great comparison. I agree with a7marshal observation of your tone quality coming through. lots of these videos you can't tell the difference between things like speakers or pickups. but you can here. Nice!
Blue sounds scooped in this comparison. For a studio or band setting, it's red all the way. For playing alone in my living room, maybe the blue one has a shot, but in an ensemble, the guitar should not have that much bass. That's what bassists are for, doesn't everyone know that??
I can tell you went to some effort to get the sound quality and recording parameters as controlled as possible. The result is a very useful and entertaining comparison. Thanks! I have a '93 Blues Deluxe (all stock) and need to replace the speaker before I gig it. Did you end up keeping the Swamp Thang in your BD? From what I've seen and heard, I am leaning that direction --- would you recommend something else? We only do blues and blues/rock... Thanks again for the vids, they are helpful.
This may be inter-related to the guitar, but I thought that through the Swamp Thang the neck pickup's low end was muddy and/or overbearing. I have an underwound Lollar in my Historic LP Jr. that sounds full yet very detailed, and I wonder if the equivalent rhythm pickup might help out here.
Hi Shane! If you had just 1 amp to play and record several music styles... like rock, jazz, pop, blues, etc... wich kind speaker you would choose? American voiced or British voiced? I'm talking about a Peavey Classic 30... I want to replace de stock speaker but I'm wonderign wich kind of voice would be better to play and record almost all this music styles... What would be your choise? American or British?
well shane , swamp thang hands down total full tone , tone spotter has serious high end loses some of the guitars quality. you want a battle the heavey weights texas heat and the govenor , both eminence
(Please answer!) So I have a Paul Reed Smith 513 guitar and a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue (the $700-ish one) and it has the stock speaker in it. I play songs from bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers (my favorite band) Green Day and Nirvana (tied with Red Hot Chilis). I would like to know which of these speakers best fits my tone preference: Eminence Swamp Thang or Eminence Texas Heat. Also pretty sure that the Blues Deluxe Reissue is notorious for having spiky high sound. I think I'm slightly leaning towards the Swamp Thang (also want to mention that I don't play very much jazz and blues, the furthest I'll go is the strat tone of Jimi Hendrix. Thanks!
Just as you say, I can hear the propensity to break up along the whole range of the Tone Spotter from clean to dirty. That sort of thing just doesn't appeal to me. I bought an Eminence Legend 1058 for my Fender practice amp. It's reputed to be the preferred modern-day replacement for a vintage blackface era Jensen. Just personal aesthetics, I guess.
Have you tried the legend 1218? What are your thoughts on it - smoothness of highs, warmth, etc? Is it like the swamp thang or a more of harshness to it like british type speaker?
For me, it's the Swamp Thang, hands down: fuller, warmer compared to the TS--which was thin and fizzier sounding on the od tones. Upper-mid emphasis? Anyway, not as pleasing to this ear.
I don't think I did a comparison video between them. The Swamp thang is more Fender while the Texas Heat takes out a little bit of high end but has more mids. Both are nice. :-) ua-cam.com/video/UutsVW23ksk/v-deo.html This was the video that sold me both there's some cunchy blues stuff in there too. The clean tones are awesome on the Swamp thang as it has little to no speaker distortion.
Thanks! Did you find the sounds in the video you linked to be accurately matching what you heard in-person? I'm trying to thicken-up my boxy Blues Jr, but I also need to cut through a band with a horn section. I'm wondering whether the boosted mids of the TH will be more useful than the boosted presence of the ST. Thanks again!
Yes, but the texas heat speaker in person has more tops in my particular amp/eq setting. Both are great man but if I was putting one in a blues junior I would go for the swamp thang it would turn it mighty and much louder too.
I ended up putting a Texas Heat in last weekend (could get one new for about $30 less than the Swamp Thang). Definitely less high end than with the Jensen C12N. Waiting to see how it cuts through the mix at band practice next week. The TH does provide plenty of low end. My Blues Jr already has the BillM basic mods, so with the TH, I'm turning the bass down to around 8 anyway. Any more low end and it would probably get muddy once in a bigger room with the reverberations of the stage. If the TH is lacking too much presence, I'll definitely look into a Swamp Thang, though I'm worried the latter may then be lacking in high mids. Such a delicate balance. Thanks for the responses and insight, Shane!
The Swamp thang cuts a mix no problems it just doesn't have the obviousness of it. I barely run my bass on 2-3 on a Swamp thang and you run the mids up a bit you should be fine. Swamp thang for more tops 100%
+anton hermosa I can't remember mate sorry as I've had it for so long. Some shop in Melbourne, Australia in the city area somewhere. The cool thing was that t-shirt print of the ghost used to glow in the dark too! :)
Love the video. More people should do speaker shootouts.
Put both in a 2X12 = Enjoy life.
Please.
Gotta love the presence of the tone spotter and the sweet lows of the swamp thang. I'd say 2x12 with one of each :)
This video is a good argument for a cab switcher. The Patriot sounded great with the rhythm playing and the Red Coat sounded great with the leads. They both lacked a bit on the opposite.
I bet they would sound good together.
Sir Bergs Agreed :-)
I think both speakers sound good but it depends on what sound you want. I love American (Fender) amps, so the Swamp
Thang , with it's thick, warm sound sounds the best to me. After watching Shane's video where he put a Swamp Thang in his Blues Deluxe, I decided I'm going to put one of those bad boys in my own BD.
Love the low end on the Swamp Thang. I bought one for my cheap line6 combo and it's really brought it to life.
This has to be one of the best services for UA-cam and musicians. Red coat tobespotter was better to me but I really dig both.
If I didn't know what speakers were being used in this shootout, I'd swear that the Red Coat was a 10". Thanks for the shootout. I love all the speaker choices that we have these days.
I recently upgraded an old 2x12 combo amp with a Swamp Thang and a Texas Heat speaker. Worked out great. Took an amp that sounded spiky at some frequencies and a little shrill overall and made it much friendlier. The ST also gave it tons of authority in the lows. I think there's no perfect solution for every situation. You have to look at the qualities you're trying to bring out of your rig. If you have a thin sounding rig, a speaker like the Swamp Thang is a great upgrade. If your amp is already rolled-off and bass-heavy, maybe a different speaker. I don't know if they still make the Tone Spotter, or if they call it something else now, but I think Eminence is a really cool company, and it's likely they have a speaker to fit most needs.
Doesn’t the Texas Heat have a much lower sensitivity rating than the Swamp Thang resulting in a volume imbalance? I was considering the same combination.
@@christophergarrido2802 I did notice that the ST had more oomph from that side, but that didn't seem to hurt the overall sound of the rig any.
One thing you could do would be presenting and comparing neodynium guitar speakers. I think of the Jensen Tornado, the Eminence Tonkerlite and a Celestion in the same range for example.
Swamp Thang--yes! Love that bridge pickup tone.
dnauheim Same it's my favorite speaker by a mile right now.
The Tonespotter had great mid and high end complexity but is a bit anemic in the lows (though, it could just seem so compared to a Swamp Thang). I think it would benefit from being matched up to a speaker with more lows in a 2X12 configuration.
Swamp? Hm ... should be muddy and not clean ... i expected. WOW, your excellent demo just readjusted me, thanks a lot! These Eminence high efficiency speakers are becoming my favorites.
Tone spotter sonds great in a darker amp when it is fully run in. I like the swamp Thang beeter with this setup.
The Swamp Thang has a much "grittier" sound to it, even in clean mode. Sounds much better to me than the Tone Spotter, and I tend to like the British style speakers.
I think the tone and punchiness of the swamp give it a much more vintage sound than the tone spotter
Put one of each in a 2x12 cab IMO
Swamp Thang.
The only Celestion I've heard work in a Fender type amp (ofc this wasn't Fender but I'm looking to upgrade my Tweed Jnr) was a Vintage30. I know Shane doesn't like em but that ltd edition BJnr "Texas" had a Vintage 30 and sounds the bee's knees - with the right guitar(s) and the right pedals.
great comparison. I agree with a7marshal observation of your tone quality coming through. lots of these videos you can't tell the difference between things like speakers or pickups. but you can here. Nice!
***** Thank you :)
Liking vox amp mainly it was no surprise I prefer the redcoat!
I'd love to try the Tone Spotter but they quit making it......
There is something I like in each speaker but with that said the dam Swamp Thang is a beast of a speaker...:-) I own 3 of them..:-)
a 2x12 with one of each would be great
Pe Peroni Oh yeah for sure! It would totally rock having a 2x12 with these speakers.
My vote goes to the Swamp Thang, I thought the Tone Spotter was thin
Blue sounds scooped in this comparison. For a studio or band setting, it's red all the way. For playing alone in my living room, maybe the blue one has a shot, but in an ensemble, the guitar should not have that much bass. That's what bassists are for, doesn't everyone know that??
I can tell you went to some effort to get the sound quality and recording parameters as controlled as possible. The result is a very useful and entertaining comparison. Thanks!
I have a '93 Blues Deluxe (all stock) and need to replace the speaker before I gig it. Did you end up keeping the Swamp Thang in your BD? From what I've seen and heard, I am leaning that direction --- would you recommend something else? We only do blues and blues/rock... Thanks again for the vids, they are helpful.
This may be inter-related to the guitar, but I thought that through the Swamp Thang the neck pickup's low end was muddy and/or overbearing.
I have an underwound Lollar in my Historic LP Jr. that sounds full yet very detailed, and I wonder if the equivalent rhythm pickup might help out here.
What would it sound like if you ran both speakers together as a 2x12 setup? very nice I am guessing
Terry O'Malley It would sound pretty awesome I reckon :)
I have a Tonespotter and Swamp Thang in a 2-12 cabinet. It’s the best of both in one cab. 👍
Hi man I really like your videos keep on going! A quick question are you left-handed?
He's in Australia. Everything is upside down, down under.
I like the blue one :)
Weird how a Canadian head can sound good with both American or British sounding speakers.
Hi Shane! If you had just 1 amp to play and record several music styles... like rock, jazz, pop, blues, etc... wich kind speaker you would choose? American voiced or British voiced? I'm talking about a Peavey Classic 30... I want to replace de stock speaker but I'm wonderign wich kind of voice would be better to play and record almost all this music styles...
What would be your choise? American or British?
well shane , swamp thang hands down total full tone , tone spotter has serious high end loses some of the guitars quality. you want a battle the heavey weights texas heat and the govenor , both eminence
(Please answer!) So I have a Paul Reed Smith 513 guitar and a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue (the $700-ish one) and it has the stock speaker in it. I play songs from bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers (my favorite band) Green Day and Nirvana (tied with Red Hot Chilis). I would like to know which of these speakers best fits my tone preference: Eminence Swamp Thang or Eminence Texas Heat. Also pretty sure that the Blues Deluxe Reissue is notorious for having spiky high sound. I think I'm slightly leaning towards the Swamp Thang (also want to mention that I don't play very much jazz and blues, the furthest I'll go is the strat tone of Jimi Hendrix. Thanks!
I can see why you like the swamp thang :D
Just as you say, I can hear the propensity to break up along the whole range of the Tone Spotter from clean to dirty. That sort of thing just doesn't appeal to me. I bought an Eminence Legend 1058 for my Fender practice amp. It's reputed to be the preferred modern-day replacement for a vintage blackface era Jensen. Just personal aesthetics, I guess.
Swamp Thang = AM radio Tone Spotter = mono song on FM radio. How about one with The Wizard? :)
sidmalicious I'm not sure what you mean but all good :) lol
What are the radio bands like in Oz?
Sure I saw a recent clip from this bloke saying he's had enough of Eminence speakers? What happened?
Have you tried the legend 1218? What are your thoughts on it - smoothness of highs, warmth, etc? Is it like the swamp thang or a more of harshness to it like british type speaker?
For me, it's the Swamp Thang, hands down: fuller, warmer compared to the TS--which was thin and fizzier sounding on the od tones. Upper-mid emphasis? Anyway, not as pleasing to this ear.
I love that Thang
SwampThang kicks ass!!!
After watching this at leasrt 100 times (maybe), I come to this conclusion. I don't know. The scale tips toward the Swamp.
Have you compared the Swamp Thang to a Texas Heat? An demo or opinion on the latter? Thanks
I don't think I did a comparison video between them. The Swamp thang is more Fender while the Texas Heat takes out a little bit of high end but has more mids. Both are nice. :-) ua-cam.com/video/UutsVW23ksk/v-deo.html This was the video that sold me both there's some cunchy blues stuff in there too. The clean tones are awesome on the Swamp thang as it has little to no speaker distortion.
Thanks!
Did you find the sounds in the video you linked to be accurately matching what you heard in-person? I'm trying to thicken-up my boxy Blues Jr, but I also need to cut through a band with a horn section. I'm wondering whether the boosted mids of the TH will be more useful than the boosted presence of the ST. Thanks again!
Yes, but the texas heat speaker in person has more tops in my particular amp/eq setting. Both are great man but if I was putting one in a blues junior I would go for the swamp thang it would turn it mighty and much louder too.
I ended up putting a Texas Heat in last weekend (could get one new for about $30 less than the Swamp Thang). Definitely less high end than with the Jensen C12N. Waiting to see how it cuts through the mix at band practice next week. The TH does provide plenty of low end. My Blues Jr already has the BillM basic mods, so with the TH, I'm turning the bass down to around 8 anyway. Any more low end and it would probably get muddy once in a bigger room with the reverberations of the stage. If the TH is lacking too much presence, I'll definitely look into a Swamp Thang, though I'm worried the latter may then be lacking in high mids. Such a delicate balance. Thanks for the responses and insight, Shane!
The Swamp thang cuts a mix no problems it just doesn't have the obviousness of it. I barely run my bass on 2-3 on a Swamp thang and you run the mids up a bit you should be fine. Swamp thang for more tops 100%
Eminence. You go looking for a Celestion sound. Never really find that tone. Spend a load of money, then realise that you need to buy a celestion.
Ok Celestions are really great, but your axiom is wrong- not everybody goes looking for that type of sound.
A salute to the Patriot.
Got to love some p90s
Do these come in 10"s????
I have a sunn 6x10" cab I'd love to put 2- swampthangs in top and bottom and 2 of the reds in the middle
Can't find any videos on the patriot copperheads
Tone Spotter seemed to have much more definition and more was far more vibrant.. .
I thought the exact opposite. So it's all personal preferance, as usual. Or we all have hearing damage. Or both.
mAn Where did u buy ur shirt..
+anton hermosa I can't remember mate sorry as I've had it for so long. Some shop in Melbourne, Australia in the city area somewhere. The cool thing was that t-shirt print of the ghost used to glow in the dark too! :)
+intheblues thanks mate.. since u are lefty like me. im gonna subscribe ur channel. wear that shirt again on ur next review.. :-)
Use a pick.
use a pick not everyone uses fingers
"Spotted a tone" alright ... the "ice-pick-in-the-ear" tone. Ugh.
Pretty bad hum coming from those p90s
Yep, that's an unfortunate downside of P90s
Man why wouldn't you re-amp
i have 4 swamps better than the over rated crap
Eminence. You go looking for a Celestion sound. Never really find that tone. Spend a load of money, then realise that you need to buy a celestion.