Tone Tubby Speakers Hempcone Speaker

I have four 10" Tone Tubby hempcones 2 Ceramic, 2 Alnico mounted in 2 2x10 cabinets.
Impedance: 16 Ohms
Alnico: 40 watts 8 bolt with 5" bell cover, 22 Oz Magnet. Copperclad aluminum edgewound coil.
Ceramic: 40 watts 8 bolt 42 Oz Magnet

mostly Les Paul type guitars, Humbuckers and P90s 1 Tele, Super Strat, 1 hardtail Strat, 1 SG. I'm using three amps. A Marshall JTM45 head, a modded Valve Junior head, and a Marshall AVT50H.

One word describes the sound of a hempcone speaker. S M O O T H w/ no flub and no mud.

These appear to be built on Eminence frames, seem as rugged as any.

I've heard that Brown Sound has good support.

The two cabs are wired parallel 8 ohms, w/ 1 alnico and 1 ceramic in each. These will handle some power, but also sound well with the Junior. Had some issues matching up speakers with the JTM. This solved it and is a good replacement for the original cabs. Very Marshally and British, Fenders or HBs. With P90s the sound is quite thick. These are the best speakers I've ever owned, but at this price, they should be.

Don't think there is a speaker for everybody. Certainly, everybody wouldn't like smooth, and these aren't jangley like the Fender reissue speakers. However, if you haven't experienced a hempcone speaker you should at least try them. Started out with a Lil' Buddy and I've used the Cannabis Rex (both have Brown Sound hempcones) and was just floored. There is no flub or mud. Now I've moved up to real thing, and this is my speaker.

I have Tone Tubby speakers in 3 of my amps: A 66' Fender Blackface Deluxe Reverb; A 66' Fender Blackface Super Reverb; and a red tolex repro Marshall Bluesbreaker 2x12 cabinet with a custom built Marshall 18 watt clone chassis. I play blues and classic rock and these amps with the tone tubby's are par excellence for those particular jobs.

I have an alnico 12" tone tubby hempcone speaker in my 66' Deluxe Reverb with Tung Sol 6V6's JJ 5Y3GT and Groove Tube preamp tubes. After speaker break in (to loosen up the cone) my buddy and refurbisher of said amp says "it's the best amp I've ever heard" and thats over Blackface and Silverface Super Reverb amps that he's been able to compare with. I had A Broun Sound recone a 12" Celestion Greenback 25 watt speaker and a 12" Vox Silver Alnico 25 watt speaker with hempcones, both of which speakers I installed in a red tolex Marshall 2x12 "Bluesbreaker" repro combo, with a Marshall 18 watt repro chassis. My most recent application of Tone Tubby's, is 2-10" Ceramic Hempcone's and 2-10 Alnico Hempcone's in my 66' Fender Blackface Super Reverb. This amp has Groove Tubes 6L6's Sylvania GZ34 vintage NOS preamp tubes, and a Silverface Super Reverb pan. I tried something different however, in that I have a ceramic up top behind the power transformer and an alnico to the right of it on top. Below the ceramic I have the alnico, and to the right of that on bottom is the other ceramic speaker (in a X pattern) to give tight bass below and above with the alnico sweetness above and below as well. This has to be the best absolutely the best Fender clean, powerful bottom, deep lush reverb, that I've ever heard (and the 10"s haven't even been broken in yet).

No problems thus far, if there were, the guys at A Broun Sound are great to deal with regarding recone issues.

Samey Samey as reliability.

Great guys to deal with, it's too bad that the Alnico 12" and 10"s are not cheaper as I'd have them in a few more of my 4x12 and 4x10 configuration amps. So for value I'd have to say the Alnico versions are like buying Gold BUT Celestion Gold's and Blue's are no different pricewise, and I'd have to honestly say that the Tone Tubby's win out here.

Tone Tubby - Hemp Cone
40 watts on Valve amplification. 80 watts on Semiconductor amps.
60 Oz Ceramic Magnet.
Green color with Solder tag terminal connections.
12.8 Lbs.
Standard one-way driver

'The 12" Tone Tubby 40/40 is an answer to the much needed Ceramic style
12" guitar speaker. Superior tone, no cone cry, just full great tone.'

There is a trick to these speakers ... Break them in!!!
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When I first got the Tone Tubby, I put it right into my Rect-o-verb ... yukkk! No bottom, shrill sounding. It would have been OK for EVH riffs, but that's it. So, I put it in a single 12" sealed cabinet and played it on the back-side of the stage for several gigs (and lots of practices). Banged a Bass through it for a little while. After several hours of use, it loosened up. One year later, I put it back in my Rect-o-verb. WOW! what a difference! Warm, no ice-pick in the ear tones. Great clean, great distorted. I re-tube fairly regularly always using the same tube types and plate current(s). So, it's not the tubes that made the difference.

So far so good. Everything I've read, says this speaker is rated for 40 watts but some nut tried 60 and 75 and didn't blow it. I wouldn't try that (nor would I recommend doing so), but it tells me the rating seems to be conservative.

Any time I've called them, which was mostly when I was trying to understand the best speaker for an open back, 50 Watt combo, they were very helpful and willing to work through the questions I had to help me get the tone(s) I was looking for.

I hesitated on buying this speaker because I thought,'oh Crate uses them, and they aren't exactly high end amps'. But being open minded, and always looking to improve tone, I tried it and am VERY happy I did.

I own Vintage 30's, G75T's, EV's and a few other speakers. A Tone Tubby is worth adding to the list of some of my favorite speakers.

My biggest kudos are for the removal of the ice-pick in the ear tone I get in some models of EV (not all). Celestions are great speakers also, but some can be harsh (again depending on the model). The Tone Tubby isn't 'Dark' sounding, but it has a nice warmth and my amp can supply enough high end if I do want it to be ear piercing (like for recording). This speaker still allows you to cut through the mix with the rest of the band (I play with a 6 piece), and still give you the tones,clean and overdriven, that you need.

Has the right features: great sound and a great look.

Swapped this into my Deluxe Reverb RI and that amp has gone from pretty good sounding to oh my, wow-sounding. Any harshness in the treble area is gone. With the volume around 4-5, it sounds just so sweet, articulate and full with just the right amount of edge. Roll the volume up to 8 and it sings. Nicely compressed overdriven tones abound and pick attack is translated beautifully. Playing an 80's USA Tele with standard P/U's, no effects (waste o' time). For me, perfect...

Note: It is of the utmost importance that TT's be WELL broken in. They sound not very good otherwise (as do most speakers).

I guess I can depend on it. Mine's a couple years old and making no weird noises. The construction quality is on-point all around, so it seems solid.

I hear they're nice, but no experience personally.

15 years of my life have been spent with my Telecaster. I've had loads of other gear, as has everyone else. This has been my only setup for the last couple years, and isn't changing any time soon. Everybody that plays DRRI's says the stock speaker (Jensen ceramic) needs to go. I think it was a fine speaker, but really emphasized the harshness at higher volumes. I played an EV in here before I got the TT, just because I had it. It wasn't different enough to warrent a separate opinion from the Jensen, so, well...

10", Hemp Cone, AlNiCo

I build speaker cabinets as a serious hobby so I spend a lot of time comparing different speakers. I wanted to find a speaker with good rock sounds that sounded big, full and warm. I tested the Tone Tubby against both the Alnico and Ceramic Jensen 10s, a speaker out of a Laney 4 X 10" cab, a Weber, Silver Ten Ceramic and a Weber, Blue Pup ceramic. All the speakers were thououghly broken in, as was the Tone Tubby. It is useless to try to evaluate speakers without breaking them in. Most of the testing was done with an Emery Superbaby and an early JCM 800 50 watt amp. Of all the speakers tested, the TT was definitely my least favorite. With the Emery, all the speakers, with the exception of the TT sounded best with the tone knob somewhere around straight up. With the TT it had to be set to at least 3/4 the way up to get the right trebble and by then the bass had gone away. I could never use this speaker with amps without separate trebble and bass controls. I got better results with the Marshall but still found the speaker to be over-compressed, dull, lifeless, with no sparkle at all and constricted. It sounded like a packing blanket had been put over the cabinet. This is not an exaggeration. To make matters worse, the high frequencies shot straight forward with extremely narrow dispersion, much more so than any of the other speakers. I basically had to play directly in front of the cab. I feel bad giving anything a 1 but it says 1 if you can't stand the sounds and I can't stand the sound.

To give you a sense of my taste in speakers, my favorite 12" speakers are The Celestion Blue, Celestion G12-65 and Weber Blue Dog AlNiCoFor cleaner Fenderish amps, I like JBL D120s and EV FORCE speakers.

I have been playing guitars and have owned at least 40 amps since my first Deluxe Reverb in 1964.

I feel that the 10" Tone Tubby Hemp Cone, AlNiCo is a very limited speaker. I love dark, thick tones but this was just over the top. I don't mind spending money for great equipment but it is a very poor value at $259.00. I also felt that all the other speakers were at least as good if not better and that both Webers, especially the Blue Pup at $90.00 walked all over it in every category.

To be fair, I have no direct opinion of the 12" version and hear from people I know who have them. My understanding from them is they really only come into their own when in cabinets with a small rear port and when played at very high volume, which I don't do.

10" Ceramic Hempcone Speaker

This has been the single biggest improvement I've done for my amp, a custom vibrolux reverb. I chose these mostly because I didn't have the coin for the Alnicos. The fact that they are more efficient than the Alnicos was also a plus. I can only speak from my experience but these speakers sound amazing. The tone is just sick! I plan on putting them in my Super next. Truly an exceptional product for me!

No problems to report, beautiful build quality.

I've been playing 25 years. I'd spec these in any amp I use. I love 'em.

dude its a speaker

very sick sound. hemp. kimock digs em. You should hear em in my leslie.

um these speakers are little beasts. I cant bust em, ive played all kinds of octave pedals through them and even played my bass through my guitar amp for a couple hours one night, i know thats a big no no but hell its my shit, and it still rips, i actually think that may have helped break them in alot, not that they dont sound good out of the box after they loosen up they sound 5 times more incredible, i can tell through recordings a month ago when i got them.

i dunno im sure anyone who invented the hempcone speaker is probably pretty cool though.

i have played for 17 years and i got the 2 tone tubbies to replace my jensen p12s i had one in a peavey classic 30 combo amp and i put one in my leslie, which sounds sick. I also have a sunn 200s that i like to use as a guitar amp, something about 60 watts out of 6v6 just sounds so damn warm and creamy. And when i use my budda zen drive through the sunn and the tt's i get some of the straightest sound i have ever heard in my life. I like to play blues, jazz, rock, and alot of jam band stuff. I also own a blonde 79 strat, a semi hollow raven west rg450, a hollow body kay SG, a schecter diamond series bass, and an alembic epic bass, i have every mutron pedal except the octave divider and the green ringer, and the budda pedal which i believe i already mentioned. I cant wait for the tt bass 15's to come out so i can stick em in my 200s cab. exellent job to tone tubby I am very impressed.

well first i gotta say to the guy a couple submissions above me that, hello! you gotta let the friggin speakers get broken in before they are gunna sound good. especially if you are using an 18 watt budda to drive 80 watts worth of speakers. Of course its gunna sound like crap idiot your amps to puss to handle the speakers. But yeah, sorry, these are speakers and speakers dont really have features mine are alnico magged 12's and they sound bad ass and theyr red thats cool to.

Wow.. I can get just about any tone i want from these freakin speakers. I new i would love them after i saw kimock play out of them back in january and. i play a blonde 69 strat with lace holygrail single coils, a raven west rg450 semi hollow, a koa gibson sg full hollow body, and an alembic explorer body. All humbucks except strat. I get the tones i want when i want. I play clean with cranked reverb and i also like to play dirty but not metal dirty, think jerry garcia meets jimi hendrix. The tubbers sound fat as hell no matter what i do to them. I have two TT alnicos 12's under my two-rock custom reverb, and i also have 1 alnico and 1 he1 tt in my peavey classic 50 all sounding sick.I cant wait to try out the super bass boys in my bass amp and when the new 15's and neo's come out, ill probably have to own those to.

Of course theyr reliable, havent you seen the sticker with the ripped muscle on the back? But hell they are speakers and alnico is known not to hold its magnetism for longer than 10 or so years but usually thats something you know before you drop 3 bills on a speaker. I havent had a problem with mine.

Well when i put the new tubbiez in my classic 50, i accidentally dropped one of them while i was lifting it off the speaker braket and punched 4 nice little holes through 1 of the the brand new $300 speakers and i called ole buddy at tone tubby and they replaced it free of charge. you dont get much better than that, i mean i t was my stupid fault.

great speakers buy some.

I have these speakers in 4 of my cabs or amps. I have a tone tubby 2x12 cab, 1x12 cab and in 2 of my blackface Fender Deluxe's 66. I think you can use these speakers for any style of music. They now have at least 3 voicings to choose from the H1E being the most common. I have 3 of the H1E's and 1 of the original H1's.

These are probably the best speakers ever made, and they are made with amazing quality by John Harrison and crew over at Tone Tubbby headquarters. The speakers are very warm and rich, with NO CONE CRY or weird harmonics coming out at loud volumes. The one thing you must do with these speakers is break them in a lot to really hear what they can do. Out of the box they will sound tight and not have enought treble. At first I wasn't sure what to think about them due to the constricted kind of sound. I played the speaker for about a month off and on, and then one day when I was playing I realized how open and flat out beautiful my guitar was sounding, it was like I was listening into the amp, and the amp had a 3d kind of sound. This has happened with every tone tubby I own, and in every amp I have put them in. It just takes a while for this speaker to break in, so don't judge it to early.... give it time. So my advice is play them long and hard, and don't even think of forming an opinion before you have given the speaker time to do its thing.... break in is critical. Now I would not even think of getting another speaker for any of my gear, this one is just where its at. The alnico breaks up a little sooner than the ceramic, and the ceramic is slightly tighter in sound, but both are the best. So choose the one you want, you can't go wrong.

Built with amazing quality and should last a very long time.

John and Charlie run a first rate business as well as being 2 of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. If you could wish success on someone, I can say that these guys deserve it. They will help you and work with you on your needs, and they are totally honest and trustworthy. Give them a call, you will not regret it.

This is just the best speaker ever, so I think that enough said. Other speakers just sound thin compared to this one. We are living in the new golden age of speakers.

Hempconed Celestion Vintage 30, with all them paper-coned limitations purged!

Celestion's engineers used 80s-era computer research to create a driver which they hoped would replicate Alnico Blue tonality, whilst being able to withstand greater wattage. A fat midrange & inherent creamy distortion when pushed, however, gave V30s their own unique harmonically-historical flavour. For vintage hi-fiers, V30s gave their solid-state units a complementary valvesque vibe. Even with that fat midrange, though, V30s were extremely unforgiving of their sonic source. If ya had challenging-to-da-ear amp tone, puss-league pickups, fat-fry-special strings, or a balsa wood copy, them V30s spared not a single nuance. Local techs have noted that almost all V30 complaints were actually amp-related technical travails. They have also noted that current V30s have a thinner tone than their 20th-century ancestors. So, for roughly $10 or so more than a standard V30, plus shipping, ya can get a Brown Soun hemp-reconed 70 watt cab-version V30, & finally hear that alnico-alchemy Celestions' engineers originally intended. That hemp cone also means ya gotta push yer amp harder to enter that distortion zone(perhaps the major paper-coned V30 complaint, along with cone cry). Which means more clean-n-clear headroom for that glorious alnicoesque tone. Hemp coned V30s added that missing ingredient to a Line 6 Spider II 30 & Peavey Transformer 112. Wired in series, hemp coned V30s converted a Fender FM-212R into a portable mini-stack. That sloppy 212R bottom wuz absorbed & transformed into full-fledged thunder when needed. Those maligned over-drive channels became polyphonic putty. Even the mid-contour Boogied to a Recto vibe. Betcha Slash has converted his V30s to hemp cone. Guitars are an Yngwie-ized Fender 50th-Anniversary Squire Strat, 77 Ibanez Les Paul Custom copy(with Dimarzio PAF & PAF Pro pickups), & Mexican Jazz Bass. Oh yeah bass heads, hemp coned V30s got that Rodney O-Joe Cooley everlastin' bass-type bottom.

About the only way to blow these pups iz to wire them directly into an a.c. plug. If ya got a reliable solid-state amp, but it's still missin' sum'pin, ya owes it to yerself to try a hemp-coned V30.

Brown Soun's crew are extremely professional, courteous, & knowledgable. They were also extremely papa-proud of their cabs' appearance in Vintage Guitar's March 2006 cover-story article on Carlos Santana. Brown Soun can be reached @ www.abrown.com.

Hemp coned V30s fulfill that 80s-envisioned alnico alchemy. Seductive tone that's damn near abuse-proof. Warms up solid state amps. Remember, modeling circuitry alone can't deliver "tube tone". Toss that stock speaker, pop in a hemp coned V30, & adjust yer chin strap.

I was researching the best alnico speakers in the world, Then I came across "THE TONE TUBBY ALNICO 12 W/ HEMP CONE". i JUST HAD TO TRY IT.
I placed my order w/ charlie; excellent person to deal with /very knowledgable,took 2+ weeks to recev. Hey, they guys know tone. All their speakers are made custom for YOU!!!. I was excited to get it. immediately, i replaced the speaker in my Crate Vc50 1x12 from a slight upgrade from a stock emience, to a Clestion Vintage 30 , to A tone tubby Alnico 12. Beatiful. Better than Sex! 40 watts. no problem hemp cone smokes!!!!!!!!!!! blows away a cel blue 15 watt

I use the crate vc50 for blue/ blue/rock, jazz, fusion etc. I play a gibson goltop leaspaul 30th anniversary. It has the 57 classic humbuckers, This guitar is from 1987. the pickups were wound slightly conservative like the T humbuckers from around 1970-1974. 7.25k neck, 7.43 on treble. smooth. the axe is already 18 years young so the alnico II magnets yield smooth vivacious sweet output. Think Warren haynes when with dickey betts /Alman Bros from 94-99.
In fact, since The Tone Quest report has done a writeup on these speakers., Everyone has gone nuts and wants one. My advice, Leave your wives, get divorced and take all your hard earned cash and buy Tone Tubby! She'll be your new buddy!

vevy reliable. A Bround soun reports 40 watts on Tube amplification and 50 watts rms with solid state. Keep in mind Rms: "ROOT MEAN sQUARED" IS a tern used for actual power rating that a speaker can use constantly without stressing the cone/vioce coil. average power dissipation. rms = .7071 divided by peak power.

very helpful, Charlie, Great warranty, I'm sure but have not inquired.

best of the best. Alnico magnet compresses nicely, The lows, / lower mids growl and project with definition. Remembet the into/lick to Led Zep's "THE LEMON SONG", well There you have It, Even without effects.

Alnico Magnet, Hempcone, 12 inch

You can get almost any sound out of this speaker you want. They do sound a bit muddy at first. But once they break in you get all the sounds you could ever dream of. I put this in a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue and the result is "night" and "day". This speaker took all the nasty "shrill" highend out of this amp, And replaced it with something wonderful.

Don't know, They look very solid though.

Haven't had to deal with yet. Something tells me that I won't!

I have been playing for about 15 years now and have tried the Celestion Blues, Greens, and about everything else in between. If it were stolen I would replace it. I don't hate anything about his speaker. I bought this amp as a last resort for my Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue. I'm glad I did because that amp would have gone back to the store if I didn't find this treasure of a speaker.

Celestion V30 reconed with ABrown Hemp cone.
Shares a 2x12 Peavey half-back cab with a Weber ceramic Silver Bell.
Hemp/V30 is in the upper half-open section.
Powered by a Reinowatt (Keith Reinneger-built 60wt). Sort-of a Plexi with a gain boost. Also a '78 2203 with a mild gain/fat boost.
Guitars: 2 Ibanez Lawsuit Destroyers (one with a Floyd and an SD Custom Custom, the other a Screamin' Demon), Greco Les Paul, Mexi Strat, and a Warmout Tele Thinline with SD Mini-Humbuckers.

I had 2 of these last year that lived in an Orange 4x12 with 2 Silver Bells. In that cab, they pushed too much low-mid and bass.
BUT!! In a 2x12, this thing is AMAZING! Nice low-mids, top end is pretty, and lives happily with the Silver Bell. Has nice 'texture' to the breakup when pushed. And, it can get LOUD! I actually enjoy playing through this cab more than any of my 4x12s. It's Great; seriously.
And, when you go back to the cab to get feedback, it's VERY pleasing!! It's like itn knows the overtone you're looking for.

I can really push this thing volume-wise and it never seems out of control.
Supposedly, you can really beat these things, and they'll keep going. I'm really not into speaker abuse, but with this one, you could get away with it, I think. I play at medium volumes primarily. I'm a Classic Rock , '80s, and Blues Rock kinda guy.

Charlie at ABrown is a great guy. They posted a review I emailed him the next day.

The only caveat I would offer is that they may not work for you in a large volume 4x12 cab. Notice that ABrowns 4x12s are a little on the small side. Try 'em and see what you think. Actually a 4x12 loaded with them would do wonders for a dropped D kinda guy. They'd save you $$ on Ex-lax in a 4x12 anyway.

Great sound.

This is one more follow-up to my two earlier reviews. After combining an Eminence Red Coat Private Jack (paper cone speaker) with an Eminence Patriot Cannabis Rex (hemp cone speaker), I decided to pull the Private Jack and replace it with another Cannabis Rex. So now I have two cabinets, each with the 2x12 configuration, and all four speakers now have hempcones -- two Eminence Cannabis Rex and two Tone Tubby Alnicos. Combining the Cannabis Rex speakers using ceramic magnets with the Tone Tubby Alnicos delivers silky smooth overdrive and sparkling cleans. Welcome to hot tone, guys:)

Works great.

Always pick up the phone. Nuff said!

Go for the gusto and get hempcone speakers in your cabinets.

Bought used on Ebay and in mint condition. Hemp cone, older Weber basket (from the blue dog line), and Alnico speaker.

Killer sound. I've been going the route of boutique amps and now I've ventured to boutique speakers. I'm using it with a Fuchs OD 50 amp and the complexity, smoothness, and rich harmonic tone are incredible. My fav speaker before was a Eminence V12 (V30 clone, but smoother and less bright)but I was getting tired of the "british" crunch tone. In comparison, the Tone Tubbys are clearer without the high end "annoyance" that most paper speakers have. The most comparable speaker is the Weber Michigan that I have used with this amp also, but the Weber misses the "complexity" of the hemp cone Tone Tubby. Just as smooth though. Both are excellent speakers to showcase the Fuchs incredible touch sensitivity and complex overdrive. The Tone Tubby's just have a bit more "spice" and complex tone.

At first they might sound a bit "dull" to your ears, that's because we've been accustomed to the overall high end harshness that paper cones have. As your ears get used to it, you find that you can push your amp's tone controls more to get those elusive, silky sounds such as Santana, Gibbons, and Clapton have. They used the TT speakers and for good reason. I'm glad I took a chance and swooped these off of Ebay.

Seems to be built well.

Ive been playing for close to 30 years. Last year I went through the boutique phase of finding the right amp for my style of playing and found it with the Fuchs OD Supreme. The past year I've been searching high and low for the best speaker (for me) to compliment my tone, phrasing, and the amps overall flavor. I've gone though Celestions, numerous Webers and Eminences speakers (Patriot, Legend, and Red Coat series), Reverend, and now the Tone Tubby. I also have a TT Ceramic Hemp cone coming in. I might pair that with my Weber Michigan 12" in a 2 x 12 cab. They are expensive, but worth it (the Tone Tubbies).

I've had this product for about 5 minutes now and it really is the bee's knees! It cost me a fortune but I don't resent that because so far, it's great! I'll never ever use anything else because these things are built to last.

The distortion is very brutal, I call it Attilla the Hun.

So far, so good - 5 minutes!

Fabulous, they answered the phone and suggested I upgrade if it breaks down in the next 10 minutes.. Tha's what I call service. They just love to talk guitar tone and prices!

If it was stolen I probably buy it again, if I could find the person who stole it and pay him the money he's asking. I can't wait to own this product longer so I can know more about it. Hang on, though, I think it might be starting to crackle and hiss... I'm getting rid!
Anyone want to buy? the WOW factor - AWESOME tone! Why am I getting rid?

Made November, 2004. Playing through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe - replacing the stock Eminence speaker in it, which, in my opinion, is like going from generic tires on a car to high-performance racing tires.

Using this amp daily for gigs. And hey, it's made out of hemp - I give it a 10 for creativity!

Using it with my G&L S-500 and GMP PawnShop -> Ernie Ball Volume Pedal -> Boss V-Wah -> Analog Man TubeScreamer Silver Mod -> Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor -> Yamaha Magic Stomp (for effects). Speaker isn't noisy, however, there is a lot more hiss produced naturally - it sounds lovely (could be the amp!)

Speaker makes the biggest different in tone, sensistivity, and performance. The Eminence, in my opinion, was not doing the job. You can definitely tell a difference in the low end! Not breaking up and nasty sounding, especially on the distortion channel.

Used it for approximately 4 days - have really just broken it in, but every time I play it, it sounds more buttery and rich. I'll let you know if it breaks down, however, knowing the reliability of A Brown Soun, if it doesn, I'm not worried about getting it fixed.

Company emailed me and let me know when it would ship, company emailed me tracking number, company has answered all of my inquiries in a prompt, acceptable manner.

$300 for a freaking speaker? That's crazy. Oh really, is it really? Think about all the crap you buy and then trade it all in and get one of these. It might be crazy to spend this much on a speaker, but having A/B'd it to a Weber and a Celestion Vintage 30, I'm pleased with my purchase.

I chose this speaker because of the article I read about it in Stereophile magazine. I mean, if Stereophile is on it, it's got to be cool (or at least new).

Fantastic value - a perfect 10 of a speaker in my opinion.

Hempcone 12" Alnico Magnet speaker....the largest and strongest Alnico magnet I've seen on a guitar speaker

I use it in a low power tweed twin with a Celestion V30 and the combo sounds great. The Tone Tubby is completely devoid of harshness, has a very complex midrange, and a big 'tubby' low end that the V30 doesn't have.

Haven't had any problems or signs of it farting out

Haven't really delt with them

Really what I needed for this amp and a good combo with the V30 (which adds a bit more top). Doesn't really sound like an old Jensen (which I normally gravitate to) but lacks the problems of those speakers.

This is an update to my earlier review.

After using the two 12 inch AlNiCo Tone Tubbys in the closed-back 2x12 cabinet (a Marshall 1936 cab), I decided to combine the use of this cabinet with an open-back cabinet that uses one Eminence Red Coat Private Jack 12" speaker and one Eminence Patriot Cannabis Rex 12" speaker. The Private Jack has a paper cone, and the Cannabis Rex has a hempcone. I think the Cannabis Rex hempcone is from A Brown Soun, the company that makes Tone Tubbys. So I'm now driving four 12" speakers, three of which have hempcones. The idea behind using these two cabinets is to provide for a little more upper midrange response. The two cabinets together sound awesome.

Another possibility would have been to put two of the Ceramic 12" Tone Tubbys in the open-back cabinet instead of the Eminence speakers. This would probably have sounded great too.

This is an expensive way to get great tone, but life is too short for compromises in the tone department, if you ask me:)

So far so good!

Remanufactured 1990s Celestion Vintage 30,12 inch 60 watt guitar speaker.
Reconed with hemp material by A Brown Soun,makers of Tone Tubby Hemp Cone Speakers.

I am currently running this speaker along with a Jensen 50 watt spkr in a Crate Blue Voodoo 60 watt 2x12 combo.Have played a wide variety of electric axes with this set up:Hendrix Strat,New Gibson SG faded,Ibanez USA,Hamer TLE,Zion Picasso and an old SD Curlee!Pick-ups in these guitars range from factory to Dimarzio,Bill Lawrence and Seymour Duncan JB humbuckers.It seems like this speaker really brings out the individual character of these guitars wood/pick-up combinations.They all pretty much sounded the same in the bridge position until I installed my Tone Tubby Vintage 30.Totally improved picking definition.Chords seem chunkier,leads barked out with with stronger melodic content and dynamics. It sounds like the mid tones of the original paper cone have been preserved with a sweeter high end and much tighter bottom than I'm used to hearing from marshall type amps.Very musical and capable of ANY kind of rock,metal or blues styles.The clean tones chime like bells in fact,I'm so tired of my Jensen doggin'this spkr in my combo amp that I'm going to order another hempcone!This way both speakers will be running at thirty watts apiece or,half power causing them to pull more harmonic distortion from the pre amp while still retaining plenty of "woodiness" in reserve.A Broun Soun informs me that this recone can easily handle 100 watts!!I was going to spend big bucks for a Marshall TSL122 or a DSL half stack but,one Tone Tubby Vin.30 and a couple of JJ/Tesla tubes later and my set up sounds like it went in for an expensive "Mod" no foolin'it's the the closest Ive ever come to that elusive "Brown Sound".

Short of firing a twelve gauge shotgun point blank into my amp grill,this thing should take loads of abuse.Ive thrown every kind of even/odd order distortion,clean channel string poppin',chicken pickin',Pete Townsend windmill power chords,Metallica speed riffage,volume cranked with presence knob off,mids and highs rolled back,bass near full in a 12-20 mph desert wind at 106 degrees for 5 hrs and accidentally kicked the power cord out and no odd buzz's!!
all this after three months of gig,party and home use with a parade new and vintage effects pedals dialed in on the fly sometimes with improper A.C.voltage loads.Oh!did I mention that by mistake,I ran the speaker at an improper ohm load with no damage caused?I love these speakers.If I ever run 4x12s they'll be loaded with these.

Charlie of Tone Tubby was very cool to me.Even though they were filling an order to recone all the monitor spkrs from Geoge Lucas Skywalker Ranch he still made sure I waited no more than one minute on hold just to take my humble,single speaker order.I think the warranty is two years but hey these are proffesional rock n' roll speakers,if the cone goes one day after the warranty I will be tickled shitty to pay for it.

Playing all kinds of styles for over twenty yrs.Mostly hard rock.I love just about everything about this product.When I first got it I was down in the dumps about my tone,my playing,my artistry and even my age(nevermind!)I didn't think much of this spkr at first.I thought I was a victim of new gear hype.Then my "cheap" bone started to ache and I got out my combo's original spkrs,changing out this speaker for that at different level settings,Vox wah vs.Cry Baby,amp dist against and with various boost pedals.Borrowed a cabinet with vintage 25's and went through the paces.I found myself amazed at my own playing at high volume through this one single addition to my set up and I don't even "get high" these Days.Other users of hemp cone spkrs and the company claim a break in period may be required.I find they just keep sounding better.

Brand new 2004 12 inch Tone Tubby. The main feature of this speaker is the hempcone, as opposed to an ordinary paper cone. And the AlNiCo (Aluminum Nickel Cobalt) magnet, which adds a lot of tone. Speakers with ceramic magnets are also available.

The speaker does need an "adjustment period", as mentioned below. One of the things to consider when you first hear a Tone Tubby is that the hempcone produces a unique sound that is quite different from a speaker with a paper cone. At first listen, you may think the speaker is dull, especially when compared to a Celestion Vintage 30. But after numerous A/B comparisons between the Tone Tubbys (two of which I have installed in a Marshall 1936 cabinet) and the Vintage 30s, I keep noticing that the Tone Tubbys produce a resonant sound practially devoid of any harshness, while the Vintage 30s always have a harsh "aftertaste". You will probably have to tweak your amp considerably to get the ideal Tone Tubby vibe, but in the end, patience will pay off and you'll hear some real "violin" woman tones there. Both clean and overdrive sounds are great. I had expected to have to use the Tone Tubbys in an open-back cabinet, but to my surprise the closed back cabinet sounded just fine. I'm running an ENGL Screamer 50 head into the 2x12 cabinet, which is a good way to get these speakers singing. The Tone Tubbys respond well to both single coil and humbucker pickups. A previous reviewer mentioned too much brightness with the H1E hempcone, which is the variety I'm using, but I haven't found that to be the case. Maybe that's because I'm using two speakers in a closed-back cabinet (instead of one speaker in an open-back cabinet), which definitely increases the lower midrange and bass response.

Just got them in April 2004. So far, so good.

Both South Valley Vintage Sound and A Brown Soun answered e-mails promptly.

The best guitar speaker I've heard. If you get one, though, expect to hear unique tones that take time to adjust to.

Umm, it's red with a cool sticker.

I'm using an old (50 years old) Jansen Bassman head and a combo organ, not a guitar. I'd heard a lot about the dramatic break in, and I think there is some truth to it. I ran a sine wave through it for 4 or 5 hours and that did the job.
I can't add much to the other reviews, except to say: there is more bass, but it's creamy, like you're covering the floor of the club a foot deep. The treble differences were not as marked to my ear-perhaps because my previous speaker had a whizzer cone.
Other main yumminess? Projection! The sound is present, but doesn't drop off. Our saxophonist in the trio always used to moan at me to turn so he could hear the bass...we're all swimming in bass now.

No probs so far. Construction appears very solid.

Yeah! These dudes rock, or swing, if you're that way inclined.

I've been a professional musician for 10 years. I've played Mesa, Fender, Jansen, Roland, SWR, etc..Tone Tubby speakers are the best I've heard.
I reckon the combination of a detuned resonant cabinet, with a TT would pretty much guaruntee all the fatness of tone anyone could ask for.
I'm buying another.
Check out Londonpower.com for some fresh thinking on cabinet and amp design.

the only features i know of are the hemp cone and TONE.

i dont own one of these, but borrowed a DRRI w/ alnico HC for a recent gig. this amp was head and shoulders above any other DR i've played. i have a Vibro king w/ stock speakers and the DRRI was a real close 2nd.

although not cheap speakers, this made a huge improvement to the DRRI. fat bass response, no mud plenty of mid / high. the owner did comment that they take a while to break in. could be, havent tried new one, but the amp was on 5 w/ a gibson 335 and had plenty of stage volume and great tone.

It's a speaker, made from Hemp fibers, see Brown Soun website for details.

Used with a Fender Princeton Reverb II and PRS singlecut, and various Fender strats. Tone was very dark and woody to me. It personally wasn't my cup of tea but a lot of people like them so I tried it out? The notes weren't as pronounced and it seemed too mushy or buzzy, muddy, whatever word you choose to describe that sort of tone. Maybe it sounds better with other amps, I punctured the speaker and got rid of it and the amp.

Seems very realiable, I ruined it while removing it so like other speakers, it is not impervious to pointy objects.

Great people, I bought the speakers second hand and called or emailed Brown Soun several times with speady replies and helpful comments! They would've reconned the speaker if I had kept if for $50. Class A people.

I don't want to ruin this organizations scores so I'm not posting rating, which are subjective. Just because these speakers are not what I was after doesn't mean you won't like them. I preferred the stock speakers or Celestion Vintage 30's but that's my pref or maybe they just didn't vibe with the amp I was using?

As this is a speaker the only feature to speak of is the high quality red paint on the speaker frames. It is eye catching to say the least! As to it's versatility, I reserve judgement.

My gear consist of a Fender 5F6-A Bassman circuit of my own construction, housed in a Hamond chassis, utilizing Axiom Tone Clone power and output transformers.Premium parts were used throughout, to include Riken Ohm carbon film resisters, foil paper in oil power capacitors and copper foil paper in oil bypass and tone capacitors. Guitars are Fender 52 reissue Telecaster, 52? reisue Stratocaster and 62 reissue Gibson SG. I have installed Lindy Fralin pickups in these guitars. Pedals: 2xTS9 Tubescreamers modded to TS808 specs,Fulltone Fat Boost, Radial Tone Bone Hot British,EBS UniChorus and Ibenez Echomachine.I play rock and blues. Lets start at the start. I have tried many speakers in the past, and not many have I liked; Kendrick,Celestion,Eminence, Mojo tone etc. Then I tried Weber VST, a P10Q and a P10R. These speakers did not sound good at first, but they had something so I kept playing them. Well after about six months of playing they sounded awesome! Fast forward to Tone Tubby, I heard the Hype I bought the Hype. You know the syndrome. Eric plays them. I listened to the Clapton sound on the Tone Tuby site and was smitten. My buddy bought a 1x12 cab for his moded(I cathode biased the power tubes and added a midrange control among other things)Silver Face Princeton Reverb, so I had to get two TT 12s for my SF era Bassman cab. Put em in, turned up and uuuuugghhh. It was like hitting a brick wall. The initial string attack was all you got, then the note drops off the cliff. These speakers were Tiiiiiiiiiight. Well there was some cool lower mids, and the bass wasn't bad, but the speakers compressed the hell out of transients and there was no clang or upper end detail. Very dark. Zero sustain. The compression is most evident if you hit the strings hard. Anyway they still have this lower midrange girth and maintain complete composure with my amp on 10, so I just have to break them in. I wired my speakers in parallel,out phase(this cancels out some of the 60Hz tone that is heard)and hooked a 6.3 volt filament transformer to the speakers(lowerered the 120AC line voltage on the primary to 60VAC with my variac, just to be on the safe side)and let it hum for three hours while I was out. Night and day, much better when I returned. Still a bit tight, but the treble has shown up, and its really nice! I know this is going to sound stupid, but I believe these speakers will sound incredible when fully broken in. Further evidence reinforces my opinion. A friend of mine mentioned that the guitar player in his band got TT's. I asked about the break-in, he said they sucked at first but after several months they were great. So here is my opinion, right now after about maybe 5-6 hours break-in time these speakers are the best 12" speakers I have ever used, but they still sound a little contricted. As they loosen up they should come in nice. Their major asset is the mighty low mids, total absence of cone distortion artifacts, sweet but present highs, and complete composure under full power tube distortion. Also they are improving in the low volume distortion pedal driven zone. At first they did not want to play with a distortion pedal at low volumes, now it does a very impressive Marshall impersonation using the Tone Bone pedal, with Tscreamers and without. Clean low volume is much better nice with chords, single note playing still a little compressed. I will beat these speakers into submission until they give it all up! Bottom line: Great speaker, long break-in period, weird compression and not much fun to play at first, but perseverance has it's reward.

As tough as they are to break-in the cones must be pretty tough. They took my amps 45 watts on ten for hours without breaking a sweat. I haven't had them long enough to rate their reliabity.

The people seem nice. The speakers arrived well packed and undamaged.

If they were stolen or lost I would buy them again.

Well, there has been a lot of press/hype on these (in fact, I put the first "review" for this speaker down below--this was before I tried the speaker, I just wanted to create a category to hear others opinions).
I tried the 12 inch ALnico Hempcone Tone Tubby. You can choose between Alnico and Ceramic, Paper and Hempcone, and 10 and 12 inch.

The short answer is there are 2 things I want to say: The people there are very helpful and I have nothing but good things to say about them. The second is that I was stunned at how bad it sounded with my Budda Superdrive 18 watt (tube) amp, and I returned the 1x12 cabinet. I am confident in my opinion, but I am not putting a bad numerical rating for 2 reasons: This product could work well for clean (ie country/ blues) type players, and the people there are really helpful and honest. I was conflicted as to even doing a review, but if I had more info before I got mine, I might have saved myself a lot of hassle.

The long answer is this (pasted from a website on Budda amps, where someone asked about Tone Tubbies--I gave my opinion as follows). I realize this is long, but I think it is worth it if you are going to pay $250 for a speaker (or $600 for a 1x12 cab). Also, Fat Sound Guitars (fatsoundguitars.com) is a dealer (I found out AFTER i returned mine) and had some similar opinions (they think it is mainly for clean players):


Very timely question. I bought a 1x12 cab
from A Brown Soun, with one of their
ToneTubby hempcones in it, to use as an
extension cab with my 1x12 Budda SD18.

Long story short, I waited 4 weeks to get it,
and once I did, knew I was going to take them
up on their return policy. Just shipped it back
today actually.

I do want to say that the folks there were
really nice, and while they wont pay for
shpping charges, they were honest about the
return (suggested changing speakers if I
wanted, but I wanted just to return it). They
were also (I dealt with Charlie) very wiling to
answer questions and so on. Charlie even
steered me to the 1x12 rather than the 2x12,
saying an 18 watt amp would not push a 2x12
as well. So I have really nothing but good to
say about the people there.

Also, the cab was solid quality, made out of
pine, very sturdy, looks good. I briefly
considered returning just the speaker, and
loading a celestion into it (on another thread I
just asked about celestions). However, I
would be paying $350 (plus shipping costs)
for an unloaded 1x12 cab with a semi open
back (they recommend that to let the tone
Tubby "breathe"), and I want more bass
response.

As for the main issue, the sound, well I am
certainly in the minority apparently--Santana
and Clapton use them, someone on this
board loves his, but all I can say is it was
immensely disappointing. The best I can say
is the clean side was very dark (when I said
this to them, they said they prefer to say "full")
. One good thing was I could CRANK my amp
on the clean side, and the sound just got
bigger. Most of the people on their website
have mp3s that have lower gain, kind of blues
type tones. I didn't find the tone to be great on
the clean side (not for $250/speaker) but it
was not bad, just different.
But man, the moment I switched to the drive
side, the sound was really trashy. I still can't
believe it. It made the Budda sound like a Rat
pedal with the distortion maxxed, or justa real
synthetic, ratty kind of distortion.
The speaker did have very good, big bass
response, and was pretty smooth on the clean
side. I talked to the company and played the
amp enough to tell it was not a blown
speaker. I even left a loop playing into the
amp to "break in " the speaker for a few hours.

Like with any piece of gear, the best thing is
to try it. If You areinterested, and especially
play more blues type stuff, i would order the
speaker (still have a 7 day return) and it only
takes a week to get it and you have a week to
try it out (assuiming you can solder in a new
speaker to your cab--I can't).

The second best thing (in my opinion) to
do--not as satisfying as playing one for
yourself, but less costly--is to talk to Mike at
Fat Sound Guitars. I am gettin gmy new 1x12
cab through them, and when I mentioned my
experience with the Tone Tubbies, he prett

You know, speakers will hold up unless you overload them. The Hempcone Tone Tubby can take 30 watts easily. SOmoene told me they use an 80 watt amp into 1 tone tubby--not recommended, but as long as you keep the master volume low, you would be ok. The cabinet was well made, and looked sharp. I really liked the cabinet. I think Mesa cabs are sturdier, but this one looked nicer and unless you really throw things around, would hold up fine. And like I said, the Hempcone makes for a tough speaker, you will not blow it. The only thing is, what good is reliabilty unless it sounds good?

Very helpful people. Really top-notch I thought. Like I said, I returned the cab (7 day return period) and Charlie (main guy I dealt with, super friendly before during and after the sale) did not hassle me about it at all--he was obviously disappointed, I think they take a lot of pride in their work and have had great feedback--Santana and Clapton use them! They would be a 10 in this category except that: they do not cover shipping costs (about $90 roundtrip) in their return policy, and will only send me a check (minor hassle) even though I paid with Visa. So I give a 9 not a 10 for those 2 reasons.

I've played 15 years. My gear (BUdda Superdrive 18 watt and Peavey WOlfgang and Music Man Axis Supersport, along with some high quality cables--which really make a difference!) is better than my playing. But I love music. If it were stolen, I would have just wanted my money back (which I am getting). I waited a month for it, I did a lot of research on it, I wished it had worked out. The best thing I can say about the PRODUCT is that it did not sound "bad" when mixed with my Budda Eminence speaker. But it did not really improve the sound either, other than adding more bass (and I have an EQ pedal for that already). And on it's own, sounded really bad I thought. I will be looking at 1x12 cabs, maybe Mesa or Bogner. Great people though. Maybe there will be a market for this type of sound, but it is certainly not for me.

Single 12" speaker. When I purchased the speaker there were only two variants of tone. Original and brighter. I have heard there is now a third variant but I can not confirm this. The web site said they have plans for future 10" speakers, that would be good. I give it a moderate rating because they need to expand the offerings by speaker size yet they offer three? variants of the 12". They are trying...

In order to simplifly my typing I am pasting the main text of a response I wrote on the ToneQuest discussion board on the subject of Tone Tubby speakers. www.tonequest.com Great site with good information based on a FANTASTIC publication for anyone seriously interested in informed opinions from thought leaders on tone. Here we go.

I read the post called ?Newbie Here?? and a couple of the threads asked about the Tone Tubby (TT) speaker manufactured by A Brown Soun (ABS). Since I purchased both the ?original? hemp cone (HC) and the ?new? HC I though I would post a couple of comments.

My rig is very simple. Fingers > Medium Pick> GHS Nickle Rockers (11-50), 2001 American Series hardtail Strat, cable (any one of the mid priced brand on sale?), Analog Man TS-9 with brown mod, 98 Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue (DRR, single 12? speaker). I play mostly blues and R&B in mid size or small venues.

The original HC is the darker of the two cones. Evidently some players felt it was to dark and so ABS made the new brighter HC (used a different enzyme on the hemp) to meet this customer demand. My view is that the darker HC matches up very well with a bright amp like my DRR. Of course this means the new HC with my DRR is too bright for me.

I A/B the two different HC?s after breaking them in for a couple of days. I adjusted the EQ to get to the sound I wanted as well as compared them to my old EQ settings on the DRR with the stock Jensen speaker. The process was that I played them at home, played them out, listened in the audience while others played them, let my amp tech and good player do the same thing. The three of us then compared notes and we all came to the same conclusion independently. Seems we all felt both HC?s have a place and both are noticeably better than the stock Jensen in the DRR. Also, we all agreed that the combination of the original HC with the DRR produced a profoundly great tone (remember for blues and R&B, IOHO). We felt the new HC also had great tone but was to bright when matched up with the amp but would be a good choice if you want to really cut. In summary, original HC with DRR was full but tight, focused, great great great mids and lows, really good highs. The new HC was the same except we could not EQ (with both amp and guitar) the ?brittle, harsh? cutting highs out without adversely affecting the lows and mids. Don?t get me wrong, some players like this. If your favor a maple neck tele, bridge pickup, treble up, then the new HC may be for you (think Albert Collins). If you favor a rosewood neck Strat in the neck position then the original HC may be for you (think SRV).

I ended up sending the new HC back to ABS and they gave great service and support. Kudos to them.

Following that posting someone asked me a question about combining both variants of the speaker in one cab as well as how did I compare the speakers. Here was my answer:

I ordered the new HC speaker first (just the speaker) and auditioned it for a couple of weeks. Basically I removed my existing single 12" from the DRR and then installed the new HC. Did this about 8 times and that was a drag what with all the mounting screws, cabinet back, etc... When I came to the conclusion that the amp/new HC was to bright I returned the new HC speaker and exchanged if for the original HC. Then basically just repeated the process with the original HC, which I ended up keeping.

I wish I had a 2x12 so that I could hear what that sounded like in various combinations (like the ZZ boys did in the recent Tone Quest article). But on the other hand at $200 each I can really only afford one HC anyway. Pity the 4x12 players.

Your comment about combing an original (darker) with a new (brighter) HC could very well be the right combination. It would be interesting to hear.

My view was that the installation of the original TT in the DRR took away about 5% of the signature fender "sparkle" or "jangle" or "brightness" (a

Hard to tell but I have pushed my DRR in combination with the Tube Screamer and had no hesitation. However my amp is only 22W's. But for the people who have played DRR's they will tell you it is LOUD beyond 3.5 on the volume. I have been at jam sessions where players I don't know wanted to use my amp with the TS-9 and I felt entirely comfortable with that as I can't imagine them blowing the cone. In the past I with the stock Jensen I would not have permitted them to use a TS-9 with my amp unless I knew them. That's kind of the standard rule.

Top rate, first class, I would sit on the curb and applaude as the TT team came marching down the street. When you get them on the phone you can tell they are really busy but they do take the time to fully answer your questions. Smart people, mostly players, great attitude..

My view has changed over the years. I have come to the conclusion that if forced to choose between a high end guitar and a low end amp or a visa versa I would most certainly put my money toward the high end amp. And, a large component of this is the speaker. At this time I would not be willing to part with the TT and rate it a 10 overall because for me the 12" speaker at $200 is a fantastic value. In all honesty we are talking about tone here so you have to keep in mind my rating is relative to what I play and what I like. This may be a 1 to someone else who plays straight ahead jass and wants the Beneditto pickup and Polytone amp thing happening. But for me, given what I play, this is the shit.

NOTE: This is the Tone Tubby Speaker by A Brown Soun. Specifically, their Hempcone speaker. I am in the market for new speakers, and do not have a review of this product, but am HOPING that Tone Tubby owners can comment on these speakers. They are now being used by both Santana and Eric Clapton, and I am sure that there are players out there who have this speaker and could give an informative review. Hoping to hear from them, this speaker has generated a lot of buzz (see tonetubby.com)
Speakers are expensive: $250 a speaker, or $600 for a 1x12 cabinet, $900 for a 2x12 cab, $1400 for a 4x12 cab.

As I said, I do not own the speaker (though I am looking at extension cabinets for my amp, and this is one of 3 speakers I am considering). The Hempcone is what everyone is talking about (the company said they sell more than 9 to 1 hemp vs. paper).

Supposedly they have offered 3 types of speaker, based on how bright it sounds. The standard speaker they offer is "medium" brightness. But again, I have not heard it, and am curious to hear from those that have the Hempcones.

Supposedly Hempcones are stronger and more reliable than papercones--their hempcones are rated at 40 watts vs. 25 watts for the same design in a paper cone. When I called, they said the hempcone may handle even more than 40 watts, but they had not tested it at higher power.

Very friendly and informative on the phone. I emailed first, but they said they prefer to talk on the phone. I give a 9 because even though I do not have a speaker from them, they were very informative and helpful (I even called back with more questions). Also, while they seem to think very highly of their product (and if Clapton and Santana like it, who wouldn;t), they did not sound like they were pushing me to buy one, they even said their speaker should not be in a closed back cabinet (whcih I said I wanted), or it woudl sound too tight. I can't give a 10 unless I have the product and they go out of their way to fix a problem or something.

NOTE: SPeakers are a 1 week wait (plus shipping time), cabinets take about a month (plus ship time). Their cabinets look really cool, but they all have a semi-open back (like an oval hole in the back, see it at tonetubby.com) Hope to hear from Tone Tubby owners!

Again, I do not have the speaker (yet) and have not heard it (save for the mp3s on their site). They have a growing reputation and seem to be the next new thing. They are not cheap, which either means they have the sound to back it up, or they won't be around for very long. I am betting they have the sound to back it up, but would like to hear firsthand from those with experience with them.