Eminence Private Jack

N/A, it's a speaker!

Sounds great! I'm running it in a custom built,closed back, oversized cabinet. My experience with Eminence speakers is that it is essential to break them in! Otherwise, you don't get a good representation of their tone. I've used the Private Jack with my custom built 30 watt 6V6 quad, and a custom built 15 watt 6V6 amp. Both amps are all tube, and are very dynamic, definately not high gain. I plan to pair this speaker up with a GB128 in a 2 x 12 cab. Overall I'm very satisfied, and will purchase more of these for my customers. Oh yeah, It's my belief that your tone is the summation of all your gear! There's only one Greenback, so If that's what your after don't buy something different, and then bitch about it!

Never had a problem with Eminence products!

N/A

Great speaker, but understanding the voicing of your amplifier is more important when speaker shopping.

well its a cool red color,and its 16ohms,great U.S.A quality not from china everyone know that! replacing a blue not so marvelous speaker on a peavey classic 30. awesome sounding amp!

The private jack is replacing a peavey blue marvel speaker on my Peavey classic 30 1x12. I think the blue marvel is a ok speaker but not something to brag about. the private jack on the other hand has some well balance definition I think this is a perfect match for the classic 30 specialy when playing blues,funk,rock,or harder heavier rock type which I play every weekend. when on the clean channel it kinda gives it a chime and sparkle on the 2 and 4 position on my phat strat type guitar.but not annoying,it has sweet highs,warm mids,not over powering its well controled.where as the blue not so marvelous speaker gives my clean channel a nasaly tone no matter what I do with the eq on the amp. Now when switching to the drive/distortion channel it has a massive sound and well balance of everything. the lows push tight and big but not a chunky metal type lows where it starts to fart out its there when you play chunky rythm but its not too pronounced. the mids are well balance and define,and I think this is the main strenght of the private jack which gives an amp a massive sound without disappearing in the mix. when my bass player who has a five string hits a lot of the low end I dont disappear anymore,and it does not make my amp sound nasaly anymore. this is a problem for the peavey classic series its an annoying nasaly mids. but the private jack holds its own extremely well on the mids,its nice and warm specialy at band volume levels where everything is crankin,it makes the amp sound massive on the drive/distortion channel,open chords and chunky rythm sound massive. I'm very impress with sound dispersion of the classic 30 1x12 with private jack speakers in them.its hard to believe that a change of speakers makes a huge difference in tone. and its second strenght is sweet high's not ear splitting high's. when playing solo's whether shred or albert king type it cuts and you will be heard. better have good chops cause these speaker will embarasse you if you aint got it!

eminence has a excellent track record. I'm a former amp/mixer tech for carvin and they check the boat loads of eminence before installing in the cabinets and there's only a 2% failure rate per every 200. 50% of the 2% failure rate is shipping damage. no worry's

very fast response and great guys to deal with!

overall a well balance speaker an all around,all season,all terrain for those low watt tube amps. now I know how great my peavey classic 30 sounds. now I wonder how my peavey classic 50 2x12 sounds with two Private Jacks....hummmm!wink wink

Basic 12" 8 ohm speaker.

This speaker replaces an Eminence Tonespotter which is a decent speaker, but not one I've grown fond of. I am using the PJ with a Cannibis Rex each in its own open back cabinet, but connected together in a 2X12 configuration running out of a 18 watt tube amplifier. Both my HB and single coil guitars sound great through these speakers.

I found the Tonespotter high end to be too brittle sounding while the Private Jack has a nice smooth tone with nice highs, but without the shrill. These two speakers complement each other well and sound great for just about any genre of music.

I have not reason to doubt the reliability of the speaker. Never had any issue with any Eminence speaker

I like the sound of this speaker and would even consider using two of them in a 2x12 cabinet as oppose to having mixed two different speakers. However, I like the more pronounced bass tone I get from the Cannibis in conjunction with this speaker. I think this speaker works well either in a 1x12 or 2x12 configuration.

One nice-touch feature is the rubber protecter surronding the ceramic magnet. The red paint is nice, too... The 50 watt rating is a plus if you're comparing it to a Greenback.

I'm using two of Jacks in a 2 x 12 Ampeg cabinet from their early 90's Lee Jackson line - nice desgn of medicre construction.

I play a ZZ-top meets Iggy and Stooges style of rock. The Jacks word really nice for this and will inhabit this cab for a while.

I've use this cab with two UK Vintage 30's, one UK Greenback with a Vintage 30, a Greenback with an Eminence Screamin' Eagle, and a Greenback with a Reverend AllTone 1250.

The Jack's have top-end definition like the Vintage 30 but are not harsh (like the V30). They have more definition than my UK Greenback but have similar mid-scoop characteristics. The low end response is similar to the Greenback, maybe a bit stronger but not by much.

Surprisingly, they sound a lot like the Screamin' Eagle, a speaker from Eminence's Jensen-like Patriot line.

The biggest difference to the Celestions is they're louder. This works well for me because my primary amp is a only 17 watts (EL84s).

Like most speakers, they need to be broken in.

I give them a 9 b/c they're balanced. They'd be perfect if they had *slightly* tighter, louder bass.

Eminence products are rated conservatively and stand up to abuse, period.

Eminence's product support people reply quickly. I've never had a warranty issue, though...

Excellent value. Balanced sound in the same league as a Greenback. Great, if you don't require a ton of bass.

12" speaker from the Red Coat (British-sounding) series, available in 8 or 16 ohms, with a medium/large 38 oz. magnet, 8 mounting holes, and a 50 Watt power rating. Moderately heavy doping. There are foam-rubber gaskets on the front and back of the speaker (for front- or rear-mounting) as well as a black rubber protector around the magnet. The bright red textured paint on the speaker frame is cool but screams "look at me."

I used this speaker in the Epiphone Valve Jr. 1x12 semi-open-back extension cabinet to replace the hard and punchy-sounding Lady Luck speaker--also an Eminence, but more cheaply built--that came in the cab. I mostly used the Valve Jr. 5-watt head with it, but would also run the cab from my Peavey TransTube Studio Pro solid-state combo for comparison. Guitars are a pretty standard setup Strat and Tele.

Extremely warm and full low end with transparent and clear bell-like mids and highs. Very musical, warm, and woody. The low end is so rich and full (keep in mind I'm using a mostly-closed open back 1x12 cabinet) that I'd swear I was hearing a 4x12. Like being surrounded by the sound, rather than the speaker aiming the sound at you. Eminence says it has a tight low end, which I disagree with, but it's not really uncontrolled or flabby. I'd simply say it's very open-sounding, not tight and focused.

It's supposed to be a Greenback clone, which it is but without any harshness of the Celestion re-issue version. It is vintage sounding, in fact when played clean it's almost reminiscent of an AlNiCo Blue. But with a good bit of distortion (classic rock, not nu-metal) it thickens up and leans toward the more modern Vintage 30 sound. Not quite versatile enough to tackle the California-clean Fender sound, but the Vox-type jangly cleans are outstanding. I would suggest checking this speaker out if you're looking at the Celestion G12H-30--same overall balance but the Private Jack doesn't get as much aggressive grind in the upper mids. A beautiful speaker for classic rock, blues, or down 'n' dirty southern rock.

The Patriot and Red Coat speakers seem to have very high quality and consistency across both lines. I've never experienced a problem with any of the Eminence speakers that I have/had.

Never needed to contact them about a problem, but I've emailed them a few times about product information and always received a prompt response.

I think this is a highly under-rated speaker and I sorely miss not having it anymore. (I sold the amp head and needed money more than an extra extension cabinet.) I really miss having those room-filling lows and rich warmth. I definitely plan to get another one in the future???in fact, I want to mix it with a Red Fang in an open-back 2x12 for the ultimate Vox/Bluesbreaker cabinet.

New in 2008, 12" British-voiced speaker, features per other reviews, and (if you're curious) per Eminece's very comprehensive website.

Music: Blues-based rock, forays into country-punk, played either clean or with an overdrive pedal. I installed this in a a Koch Studiotone (20-watt, 2x EL84, 1x12 combo) which has a 2-stage overdrive circuit plus a short-spring reverb tank.

The PJ's a pretty nice-looking unit, painted in a distinctive red with a Union Jack sticker over the magnet. Comes with a couple of novelty items -- two Union Jack picks, and an "Eminence Inside" plate which you can stick onto your amp if that sort of thing appeals to you. Other than that, it's a speaker.

I usually use single-coil pickups. One is a 1985-ish DiMarzio (maybe an old Fat Strat?) and the others include GFS Greybottoms and Vintage Overwound models. I have a J. Vaughn Strat loaded with the stock Tex-Mex p/u's, plus a medium output Stewart MacDonald Golden Age in the bridge. Most of these pickups are fairly hot (8.5-10k ohms) and can trend towards bright. I don't use pedals, but I will use the built-in extra gain-stage boost on the amp, on occasions when I want a more modern or heavy sound.

The Studiotone is extremely versatile by design; it's capable of producing tones which, depending upon the settings, can suggest Fender, Vox, and Marshall. After a couple of months, however, I decided that the speaker was not as good as the amp.

The stock VG12-60, built for Koch by SICA, was making my bridge pickups sound a little too bright on the clean channel and harsh / peaky / spitty on the overdriven settings. I wanted to smooth out all frequencies -- especially the highs -- and to hopefully bring out a bit more "chime" from the amp. The other pickups didn't sound as lively as they did through my Princeton Reverb, either, so I knew I was missing some of the Studiotone's versatility.

Installation was decidedly NOT a drop-fit; in fact, it was a bit of a bear. The screw holes and the frame diameter did not match (that's my fault for not measuring.) To make matters worse, the Koch is built like a brick shithouse. It has cages surrounding the tubes, threaded speaker bolts at 4 of the 8 screw positions, and speaker wires soldered onto the speaker lugs. Eventually I got the SICA out and the PJ in, and fired her up. By now I was REALLY hoping that I wouldn't need to go through another dissasembly / reassembly cycle.

Verdict: Pretty much did exactly what I wanted. Smooth across all frequencies, no peaky treble frequencies spiking through my skull, and a nice chime. The bass is a little softer than I'm used to (I'm more accustomed to American-voiced 6L6/6V6 tightness) but it's not
so soft as to be squishy, so it's a nice extra flavor. Played clean, the amp is now much more Vox-like than before. Overdriven, with the mid-frequency shift punched in, the amp suggests the old Marshall combo sound. And it still does the small-combo silverface Fender thing to some degree, without the unwanted glassiness.

The most impressive change I've noticed is the increase in overall smoothness. Playing with staggered single-coils, there will always be the issue of volume differences between adjacent strings, but this speaker / amp combination seems to compensate for that somewhat by eliminating harsh peaks which can make notes on the unwound strings leap out.

I should note (and this was totally unexpected) that he PJ makes the short-pan reverb on the Studiotone sound 100% better. Again because of the peaks in the old speaker, the reverb had sounded ringy and hashy before the swap. I had figured that it was just a typical small 'verb with a less-than-awesome circuit design. Now I can actually use the 'verb, and it's acceptably smooth. I hadn't even considered that possibility. Live and learn.

It's rated 50 watts, and I'm using it in a 20-watt combo which seldom gets cranked, so it should outlive me.

Never dealt w/ Eminence. I like the fact that they're building the stuff in the USA.

Whoever did their web page did a nice job; I've now made two well-informed replacement speaker choices by using the site's sound clip comparisons. Check it out.

I have more gear than I need, more than I want to admit to myself, and WAY more than I'd ever admit to my wife. I'm still learning as I go about how each component of the signal chain affects the others.

I've never used Celestions (I've been mainly a Fender amp guy for 30 years) so I can't make a comparison between the PJ and a Greenback. I will say, however, that the Private Jack is definitely a very good-sounding speaker in its own right. If you're considering a British-voiced speaker, it deserves at least a listen using Eminence's website sound clip page.

Overall, it was well worth the installation headaches; the amp has a whole lot more character now, for a modest $85.00 investment

A very solid value.

nothing really to add regarding "features."

Overall the Private Jack has a balanced sound. Nothing too dramatic about highs, lows, mids, etc. I use it in a 1x12 open back cabinet. Lows are punchy enough and not too loose, which makes it ok for open back cabs. In a closed back cab it would be tighter and punchier, at the expense of some highs and the even sound dispersement of the open back, but that's a whole other discussion.
Highs are smooth, it tamed the harsh nature of the lead channel of my amp. Mids are definitely there but it's not too thick sounding.
Breakup seems to be later than a greenback, but it does start to break up at band level volumes. I'm using it with a 35 watt Mesa Maverick head, so I'm not hitting it too hard (RMS rating is for 50 watts). Distortion and cleans are both nice.

Seems fine after about 6 months.

I bought the Private Jack used, though in the past I've contacted Eminence and they seem to be pretty responsive and professional.

I'm happy with it and it's going to stay in my cab. I prefer it over The Tonker, which had a bigger low end and thicker mids but also some harshness to the top end which I didn't care for. I recommend the Private Jack for guitarists who aren't going to use a ton of bass and distortion. It is suited for both open and closed back cabs. There's going to be some break-up too, which again may or may not be to your liking. It should be a fine speaker for blues, jazz, classic rock, etc. Not so much for metal though.

8ohms, Private Jack

I use the private jack mixed in a cabinate in an X pattern with 2 Governors these speakers arent quite as loud and cutting as the governors and used in this context they sit behind the governors slightly warming the sound up adding some nice compression due to them only being 50watts compared to the 75watt governors, this makes for a really great Brown Sound that has that squishy feel.

I've mic'ed up these speakers seperate to the Governors and they've got a really nice warm bite with plenty of sizzle in the high end I really like the sound of these.

I've been playing around 13 years, I've owned Celestion Vintage 30's G12T-75, G12T-100.. and the Red Coat series are fantastic.

If i lost my cab i'd replace it with the same speakers again.
I love the squishy slightly compressed sweet sounding high end and the way the low end responds tightly but still has this vintage "thud" that I really like on percussive lead playing and dynamics.

-About 3 months old
-16 ohm version 70Hz to 5.5kHz response and 38oz magnet
-rated at 50 watts power

Here's the basic personality of the private jack speaker.It has tight low end.Handles high gain/distortion really well.And perhaps does a better distortion sound than clean. The mids are focused and hte high end is bright.Brighter than the Governor but not grainy or harsh.It handles almost as much power as a Celestion V30 and only breaks up a little sooner

-I have played through greenback cabs as well as many other speakers/cabs. I can't say that the private jack sounds like a greenback.The PJ is its own thing. The private jack handles more power than a Celestion greenback and this makes a large difference in the perceived tone of the speaker.

- To me , the private jack actually is best described as a Eminence Governor that breaks up sooner and is brighter. And basically, the private jack is smoother than a greenback.The Private Jack doesnt' have the same rash sounding high end as the greenback

-My best advice for someone speaker shopping is to consider the wattage rating and basic tone.Then think about the cabinet it will be going into and if you need the cabinet for close micing or only for room sound

-The Private jack definitely has a british sound butis smoother than the Graanback and handles more power.The low end is very tight and the mids are controlled and the highs are bright but not grainy.This speaker is working well for me in my studio. I close mic it for recording. In a live scenario, the harsh greenback can actually sound nice once the sound diffuses out into the room or club's space.So you have to consider the way you use something as much as the actual product you use. Go with the private jack if you want more headroom and more smoothness.Go with the greenback if you want a raunchier tone, or need a brighter sound in a big room/venue

Seems to be solidly built and I have seen other eminence loaded cabs around that are still working after many years.

Eminence customer support responds ot emails adn phone calls.This is rare. And htey are willing to answer questions. I assume that they get hte same questions on a daily basis and seem to be patient in answering all of them. They also back their product very well.

-I have quite a few amps. I have a Mesa Mark 3 head, and a rack system with a Mesa Quad preamp, Mesa triaxis preamp, Suhr CAE 3+ se preamp and VHT 2502 power amp. Other units in the rack are Rocktron Guitar Silencer, Rocktron Intellifex,Sylsonic line mixer and Sylsonic Custom Power Supply.

-I have two Mesa 2x12 closed back recto cabinets and also have the Suhr CAA 2x12 cabinet.I am testing everything in the Suhr cabinet.the speaker is fairly well broken in as I bought it used. Still needs more break in I think.

-I can be reached through my website which is www.paulsecondino.com

About 9 months old.

50 watts. 16 ohm.

I have this in a 2x12 Combo with a Gorvernor.
They work well together. I also put it in my
1x12 cab & it sounds great. I know these are designed
to be like Greenbacks, I can't really tell since I
no longer have any Greenbacks.
They do Breakup early & the louder you drive them
the tighter they get. You can't say that about Greenbacks.

I'm sold on Eminence!

Great Support.

All my Cab's & Combo's have been switched from
Celestion to Eminence over the past Year. I bought
a pair of Governors & I was hooked.
Celestions are still great speakers, just not for me.
I got tired of V30's & Greenbacks Mids farting out.
And lacking definition in the Low-End.

I'm a Hard Rock, Punk Rock guy. I also like a nice round
warm tone from my speakers. If you're slightly unhappy with
your speakers make a change. There's a ton of info &
options out there.

Private Jacks are Great Speakers.

Basic Private Jack Speaker....It's Red!! You know the rest.

Mounted in a Mesa Boogie 22+ w/ JJ tubes. SOunds much smoother than the original Black shadow from Mesa. Straight bolt-in, installed in less than 10 minutes. Broke in gradually and after about 2 hrs tried a bit of volume. Clean is awesome...everywhere. Bass, mids, and highs; all shine w/ this spkr. Drive channel...just took some tweaking time. Everything you could want tonewise. Just play with the knobs until you get what you want...EXACTLY what you want! I use a Gibson 355 and a Boss OD-3 from time to time. Couldn't be more pleased....Can't help but wonder about how a Canabis Rex might sound....Hmmmm.

Really too soon to tell. Got the speaker from Bernie @ BLT; great help there. I really don't know what I would complain about.

see above...

Been playing a LOOOONG time (30+ years). I've used SS Marshalls for years w/ Celestions. This is kinda fun for me at this point. I've pared my axes down to just my 355 and a very few pedals (usually none), and a smaller amp (Mesa 22+). I'm really happy w/ my sound at present. This speaker was a great upgrade to the overall character of my little Mesa amp.

2 inch guitar speaker in the british "GREENBACK" tradition.
50 watts power handling. Ribed british style cone and small mesh dustcap. This a ceramic magnet speaker.

In the past I have been critical of eminence speakers, as I have strongly disliked their reissue jensens...

***the previous poster noted that in his test these speakers sounded thin with no bottom end ????? I would suggest he wire them properly in phase, then make his comments!!!!****

Mounted this unit in a open back 2-12 cab, each speaker wired seperately to aid in A vs B evaluation. Test amps included a traynor YBA-1 and a fender princeton, and a variety of other stuff. Comparison speakers included a vox alnico, em Red Fang, celestion vintage 30, gk85 and a couple of original greenback & blackback celestions.
To begin with this speaker is right in the celestion ballpark, if you are looking for a decent speaker at around 50 watts price alone
makes this a winner right off. This speaker sounds just lke the celestions I was comparing it to, and the differences are minor so you may just want to go out and buy one/some.

These are so Creamy I'm going to have to have a cholesterol test!!!

Now for the nitty gritty, I love celestions and have a good selection of them to use. The Jack was both warmer and sweeter than almost every comparison speaker I threw at it. The closest in character was the Red Fang, which I like a lot and now have several. The cheif difference between the Fang and the Jack is the nature of pick attack under overdrive, the Fang sweetly spits the note out with a kind of BRIAN MAY (queen) attack, the Jack has another character more reminiscent of the attack heard on the Bluesbreaker album, in fact the Jack reminds me of the best set of 20 watt greenies I ever heard. Those Greens were purchased by a buddy and he is "nuts" about them. I have been looking for a set of 20 watt celestion greenbacks for years, and have had no luck. Since these are 50 watts I will use a pair in a 2-12 box for portable speaker for my 100 watt marshalls.
In comparison with the vintage 30 and other celestions the vintage 30 seemed trashy and harsh in the top end. The private Jack were most like my oldest set of greens with a very dark and muted top, Fizz was just not there...of course some people may like those extra "scratchy bits" on top.
When using my Les Paul with 50's wiring good pickups and an aluminum stop tail thru a "fake" bluesbreaker nail that sound. Add a Fuzzface and its tres hombres time ...

These are just a blast and worth the $$$
These are an out of the park home run!

Should be reliable they are conservatively rated and well made.

A buddy e-mailed the designer a while ago and he responded right away telling him about other new models arriving soon.

A great alternative to hunting for and blowing up vinatge celestions. A better alternative than chinese made "british" speakers. (yes people in china deserve jobs too, but celestion is messing with their ICON status as the british sound !!!)

I used to hoard vintage celestions because they were the sound I wanted and nothing new was good enough, these might be better.

I did this test as a favour for a friend now I'm stuck these are great ...

Eminence Private Jack
12" speaker 16ohms @50watts/100watts max. Light weight Ceramic magnet
I play a Les Paul/Ibanez/Custom/ETC No into effets. I like My articulate Clean as well as Hi Gain sound. I use some effects sometimes when needed. But that's it. I play mostly classic rock. But also play country/jazz/blues and Hard rock;) Tubes all the way.

I play boutique amps. Ans I am very anal about my sound. I had a pair of Greenback caddy corner in my cabinet. With a pair od Vintage 30"s in the other caddy corner. I took the Vintage 30"s out because I heard so much about how the Private Jack was to be the exchange for the Greenback but with more power capabilities. So I put my greenbacks on one side and the private jacks on the other side. And proceeded to alternate between speakers and channels. I have to say. They have the basic Greenback sound. But loose quite a bit in low end resonance. When I crank the green backs in clean or hi gain. My cabinet resonates amazing with the greenbacks. But with the Private Jacks empties out. It's kind of like putting sound to a speaker in your hands and then putting it into a box or cabinet. The sound difference is much difference. The frequencies are simillar. But the greenback to me sound much thicker and warmer than the Eminence Privat Jack.

Never had and issues here.

Never had to deal with them

Use Celestions. Or if you have the money or avalability. Try as many speakers as you can with the playing styles you are comfortable with. Then decide on your sound. Somewhere we all hit the quest for tone. When it's your turn you will understand.

16 ohms, 50 watts RMS (100 peak) 1.75 copper voice coil. Small dust cap. 38oz ceramic magnet. 101 dB efficiency. Rubber magnet cover ring.

Yes, definitely Greenback-inspired. Blends the best qualities of the re-issue G12M "Greenback" and the 70th Anniversary G12H. I'd say it's very close to the G12H, but it has slightly less high-mid "krrang", making it the warmest speaker I've ever heard.(and the G12H is about the thickest tone you can get) With overdrive, the highs are nice and gritty, but less sting than the G12H, making it a good speaker for high gain channels. Big bass.

Clean, the speaker is very warm and full, with a subtle chime. Again, the G12H has more sparkle (air) on the highs, but the Private Jack still breaths nicely, especially with single coils.

Pushing the clean channel, the bass breaks up smooth and "Green-like". Adding more volume and power tube overdrive, you get vintage British tone with a thick swelling of the lower frequencies.

The Private Jack is the perfect speaker for the Peavey Classic 30 EL84 1x12 combo.

Yup...

Yes...

Easy to find Jimi Hendrix, Zeppelin, & Brian May tones. It's a SUPER value for the money. I can't find anything wrong with it. I noticed a small ghost note when playing a high A, at high volume, but nothing that would drown out the original note. Looks awesome in an open-back cabinet. Neat finish matches the cool-looking, 6-spoke basket.

Eminence always seems to produce high quality guitar speakers with heavenly tone for reasonable money. For it's low-end breakup, thick, warm mid range and balanced highs, I give it a 10. Completely satisfied.

50 watts, 8 ohms. twelve inches and growing. medium weight magnet.

eureka! this speaker is a treat. run with an orange ad30, sg w/ duncan custom in the bridge, an orange rocker30, an ampeg sj12t. this is eminence's refreshing take on the celestion greenback. better handling, noticeable esp. in the bass. chimey and warm mids. the bass breaks up if pushed, but it seems more powerful. distorted, it sounds nice and hairy like grandma's old couch.

extremely durable and well built. you can stand on it.

don't see the need.

if you want some hairy metal tones you can nail blues stuff like clutch or get that heavy fizz like on some soulfly records. a standard workhorse speaker for rock that can probly take more punishment. i'm keeping this in a 1x12 orange cab to see.

The humble speaker with the big heart: I think a speaker can have a lot of features. My understanding is that this is Eminence's take on a Celestion Greenback which is one of my favorite speakers. It features a lower price, higher power handling (50w rms/100w peak), higher sensitivity (puts more power to sound), minimal cone-cry! It has a cool textured paint job, it's light weight and has an enchanting rubber ring that goes around the ceramic magnet to keep it from getting chipped or worse. It's made in the USA!

I'm hoping that everything I have to say would apply to anyone interested in the speaker that is not playing metal (hell modeling) music. I play mostly Funky Blues and R&B here in Texas. I own a lot of amps and speakers. The problem I have been having with Celestion speakers is centered mostly around power handling and cone-cry. I'm trying to tweak in the one 12" speaker combo approach using a Fender Deluxe Reverb, a Reverend Slingshot with P-90's and no pedals. Until I heard a good dose of cone-cry it was hard to understand what people were talking about. What is it? I still talk to people in high places that don't understand it. Cone-cry doesn't mean your speaker is blown. Here's my take on it: Cone-cry is a ghost note or a double note that happens only on certain notes (usually high notes). This is a lot more likely to happen if the outer edge of the speaker cone is not doped. Doping is the coating at the edge of the paper cone that prevents the paper from splitting, etc. over time. From my experience Celestions in general are more prone to cone-cry from some reason whether they are doped or not. Cone-cry is all about "how much" because if it's faint enough it's not going to bother anyone in the context of a band playing. I've heard it so bad that the ghost note is nearly as loud as the actual note you are playing. I guess some people like it but I think most don't. The Private Jack has much less cone-cry. I think you are also going to hear more cone-cry if you are pushing an amp without a pedal and going for more of a wide open power stage tone. That approach puts more stress on the speaker as it's being asked to reproduce all kinds of wild things from a tortured tube circuit...more harmonics, etc.

Right out of the box the Private Jack sounds like it's had a few drinks and is ready to party. It's "open" and balance with a very musically extended high end. It think this would be a great replacement speaker for any 1-12" combo like a Fender Hotrod Deluxe, Blues Deluxe, Deluxe Reverb, Peavey Classic 30, Traynor YCV-40, etc. Sounds great clean, grinding or maxed out.

I haven't had the speaker long but Eminence speakers are known for being extremely reliable.

I've heard it's good but have never needed it which is even better.

I'm proud to be playing through speakers made in Eminence Kentucky. This speaker appears to be a big improvement on a great product that had some problems. Now the problems are gone and Eminence is selling them for a whole lot less. Celestions are assembled in China now from what I understand so it's nice to get something this good from the USA.

Same as what the other guy said. I wish I knew if the speaker was ceramic or alnico, I assume ceramic given the price. The guy at Avatar Speaker said it's Eminence's take on a Celestion Greenback. I installed it in my Fender Hot Rod Deluxe in place of the stock Eminence speaker. My HRDlx has Electro Harmonix tubes in it at the moment, previous power tubes were JJ.

The guy at Avatar Speaker said it's Eminence's take on a Celestion Greenback. My first impression was that it did have the somewhat woody and reedy quality that Celestion claims for the Greenback. It is a definite improvement over the stock speaker. I usually play a Rickenbacker 330 through this amp, playing the college-radio type of music mid-30's age guys play. I had been unhappy with the sound of the neck pickup of my guitar with the stock speaker, but the Private Jack seems to make the neck cleaner sounding. Eminence claims that it is a very balanced speaker, and I agree. The clean channel is smooth and the overdrive channels sound a LOT smoother with this speaker, though that also seems to depend on the tubes.

Got it about two months ago, no problems so far. I don't gig a ton with it, so I would expect it to last longer than me.

Been playing about 8 years. Own a Taylor acoustic, various pedals. I would probably try a different speaker if I had to replace it in the future, but I am satisfied with it for now. I really like the overall evenness of the sound and how it makes my Rick sound better. Don't hate anything about it, but I sometimes wish it did have a more distinctive character. I compared it to Celestion and Jensen models, but I didn't want to pay more for those brands made in China or Italy when I could pay less for American. I would have liked a Weber but don't want to pay the dollars. Take my review with a few grains of salt: I haven't played guitar for a long time, and I'm not that good of a player. The Fender Hot Rod is the only amp I've ever played, so I can't say how this speaker would work in anything else. I can surely say that for me the Private Jack is a sure improvement over the stock speaker in my amp.

Eminence Private Jack 12 Raw Frame Driver... "Thick and Smooth, With Lots Of Mids and Extended Highs. Very Well Balanced Speaker. Classic British Flavor." The New Red Coat Series Of Speakers By Eminence Incorporate British Cone Technology & Made In USA Manufacturing. The Private Jack Features A 12 Inch Driver, A Power Rating Of Up To 50 Watts (RMS) and A 38oz. Magnet.

Specifications: ? Power handling: 50 watts RMS/100 watts max ? VCdia: 1.75" ? Impedance: 8 ohms ? Frequency Range: 70-5,500 Hz ? SPL: 101 dB ? Dimensions: A: 12.02", B: 10.97", C: 5.1".
Application: 12" Open or Closed Back
Configuration: 1, 2, or 4 x 12"
Thick and smooth, with lots of mids and extended highs. Very well balanced speaker.
Genre of Music: Classic British tone for Blues, Indie, Jazz

It all started with the British Invasion. That unmistakable sound that took America by storm from across the Atlantic to right in your face. And now Eminence puts it within easy reach with the new Red Coat series of guitar amp speakers. Engineered and manufactured in the U.S. with cones straight from England...making it easy to "Pick Your Sound." Seven-year manufacturer's warranty.

? pri'vate jack n. namesake of the famous British canine and one of the most recognized British tones for guitar.