Eminence Patriot Swamp Thang 12" Guitar Speaker, 150 Watts at 8 Ohms

These are my second pair of Eminence speakers. The first ones were a couple Redcoat Governor 16 ohm 12s that we’re running in a slant 412 cab with a couple of older Celestion G12t-75 speakers. They sounded good, but I wanted something to better complement the midrange of the Governors by bumping up and tightening the low end a little. Based on a few recommendations, I grabbed a pair of Swamp Thangs. Wow. Absolutely perfect pairing - and they’re not even broken in all the way yet. The low end, particularly on muted chugging styles, is more pronounced and tighter at the same time. The top end gained a little sparkle without any fizzy sound. Even clean and slightly crunchy sounds better. More full without any harshness. I wish I would have done this sooner. Couldn’t be any happier with the current setup and definitely recommend. I haven’t the slightest idea what the Swamp Thangs sounds like alone, probably still great. However, if you’re considering mixing these with some V30s, Governors or any of the other standard midrange-oriented staples of the 412 cab world, I think you’ll be very happy with a pair of Swamp Thangs.

I have been A/Bing the 12" Swamp Thang, Cannabis Rex and Celestion G12H 70th Anniversary in 3 Pre CBS Fender amps (black face Princeton Reverb, black face Vibrolux Reverb and brown Vibrolux) with 3 Fender guitars ('66 Telecaster, Nocaster relic, Esquire relic). I have not made up my mind as to which speaker to put in which amp but will say this- the Swamp Thang is an impressive speaker. It is efficient (loud), punchy (dynamic) and clean. It does not crap out on the bottom end and the highs come through with no clouding. I think it gives me everything the amp is putting out. The Princeton sounds bigger than it is and there's no fuzziness on the bottom end. The BF Vibrolux thinks it's a Twin Reverb (but in a good way!) and the brown face Vibrolux sounds like I hadn't heard it with the other speakers it's had in it over the decades (Altec, SRO, original Jensen). Now, do I love it? Yes and no. Being a Tele/Esquire player I love the clear bottom end the Tele puts out but it's ultimately important to not cause pain in the high end. The Swamp Thang is very open on the top. I love the tight bottom end. I kind of wish I could have the top end of the Cannabis Rex with the bottom end of the Swamp Thang. The Cannabis Rex has a lovely warm/softness. It softens the two black face amps nicely. It gets a little fuzzy on the bottom end with the Princeton Reverb. I might put the Swamp Thang in that one. I have to be careful with the tone knob on the Tele/Esquire. Chords ring out nicely. Leads on the unwound strings can be kind of bright. It makes the PR louder than any speaker I've had in it. If I was playing more country gigs (anybody playing dance gigs these days?) this would be a perfect match for the black face Vibrolux. It's loud and clean. For blues, r&b, r&r the Cannabis Rex is better. With the Swamp Thang in the brown face Vibrolux the tone controls become powerful. Once again, I have to be very careful with the treble knob. The Cannabis Rex in the brown Vibrolux is perhaps the warmest, softest amp I've ever heard; really sweet with a lot of character and personality. The Celestion is not bad by any means. Just much prefer the two Eminence speakers.

I absolutely love to tone of this speaker! I generally do clean stuff: jazz, blues and country mostly. This speaker provides a very full and rich tone for jazz. It also has a nice deep tone country leads, especially picked on the bass strings. With a tele or strat, this speaker does a good job taming any harsh highs so you can really dig in. It also brightens up reasonably well if your tone controls have the range; that's the nice thing about building your own amp. I especially like the way this speaker sounds with the '63 fender reverb tank and fuzz face distortion! The extra lows really fill out the sound with these effects in a way I didn't expect. If you play clean Jazz, country (Waylon, Cash, etc..) or just generally like a nice full clean sound, this if for you. If you're into heavier stuff, I'm sure you won't be disappointed with the mids and bass...this thing will melt your face. Currently, I'm using a home-built 100W transistor amp. Really, for cleans, the speaker is largely what defines your sound, and this speaker has a lot of character. Without question it was the right choice for my style and my amp!

I put this speaker in an iso cab that had a celestion v30 in it. I cannot believe how much clearer my tone is. Like a dull veil has been removed . I thought I'd be down grading. But very pleasantly surprised.

I have a hand wired Hoffman BLACKFACE DR and it had a 20 watt Celestion Greenback when I got it. I tried a 25 watt Weber 12F150 that sounded good at low volumes but anything past 4, the bass would get mushy. The Swamp Thang sounds fantastic right out of the box. At low volume, I can turn up the bass setting to 8-9 and get that rich deep bass that sounds so good with a Strat. At higher volumes I just turn the bass down to 4 or so and it remains tight. I was going to get a Celestion Redback, but at half the price, this speaker is fantastic. The highs come through clear but not ice pick at all. A telecaster simply sings through this amp speaker combo. +10 on the satisfied scale.