Is the Jensen Nighthawk the Ultimate Sleeper Speaker? Demo & IRs

If you want a Nighthawk, here's an affiliate link to TAD:
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Today I take a look of my favourite Jensen Speaker
Here are the free IRs:
www.dropbox.co...
Timestamps:
00:37 Intro & Test Setup
02:25 Kreative Devices
03:05 Nighthawk Reference Spot
10:29 Nighthawk Sweetspot
14:01 Room Sounds
14:50 Final Thoughts
Gear used:
PRS CE24, Charvel Socal with Seymour Duncan Blackened Black Winters, Fender Eric Johnson Strat
Maxon OD808X
EVH 5150 III 50w
Marshall 1960AV
Hesu Wizard 1x12
Jensen Nighthawk (8) Celestion G12 Vintage 30 from 2000 (8)
Shure SM57s
Austrian Audio OC818
RND 511 Preamps
Audient ID44 mk2
Kreative Devices G16
Reaper

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

So, what do you think? Check the free IRs here: www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/8o6zx5uui1ilqwh5doxts/AO3LUqJ4wBJSf3QyjZEhqqw?rlkey=p5qqrjo1ynz2acq6kqt4rjq7y&st=dop5mfmr&dl=0 If you want more, consider becoming a Patreon: www.patreon.com/TOJB If you want to support me otherwise, using my affiliate links is a great way: Thomann affiliate: www.thomann.de/de/index.html?offid=1&affid=3394 Sweetwater affiliate: sweetwater.sjv.io/xLyEJv Tube Amp Doctor: www.tubeampdoctor.com/jensen-c12-nighthawk-12-75w?sPartner=TOJB

[@LucasLeCompteMusic]

Well it sure has the coolest name

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

@@LucasLeCompteMusic agree

[@JensenSpeakersVideos]

Hey John! As always, spot on. Great demo, great tones! Very interesting to see how the Nighthawk still compares favorably with the V30, even after all the years that have gone by its sound design. The Nighthawk was conceived as the Jensen take on the Hard/Heavy/Hair/Trash Metal tones of the '80s. As you correctly pointed out, it's the only Jensen speaker with a 44mm (1 3/4") voice coil diameter, together with the Tornado Stealth 65. That specific voice coil diameter size is key to the typical throaty, aggressive midrange that is key for a certain rock attitude. Both speakers are easily the most "British inspired" among the entire Jensen catalog. Comparing with your V30 - yours sounds nicely smooth, smoother than the average, I might say - highlights all those small differences that cam make one more appealing than the other for a specific player. the NH is fatter in the bottom end, and that may help in smaller combo/cabs. the V30 has more upper midrange. The NH seems more prominent in certain ranges in the top end and the V30 has more energy in others. So yes, they both aim to the rock players and to the heavier styles, and both do a great job... which one you like best... it's entirely up to you, but you can't go wrong with either :) Thank you again! And all of you in the community, hit me with questions! Always happy talking tone and gear!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Always appreciate when you bless the comment section with your knowledge

[@thorinbane]

Good speaker. I like the 10" Falcon more than most. It's very articulate with good bass response from a 10". It cuts very well in a mix while keeping the fizz out of the top end. Note articulation/separation is very high even with massive gain. Part of the issue, we are only hearing what a given mic does with the sound out of the cab, in johns space. This can favour a given speaker or hinder it. In the room always sound different from youtube. One rooms acoustics will vary greatly from another. This will effect to a degree what the listeners hears in room vs youtube clips, or even recording because of how neutral a mic is or is not. Further up the sound chain is the issue of bright amps like Traynors and Marshalls when played with a single coil are just way to ear picky. The player needs to know that rolling tone the tone knob to 5 or 6 on his or her guitar will help when setting the amp up correctly and giving you tone options when playing to boost the treble or cut it without needing to change the amp settings and how it responds to a given speaker. I recently built my second diag cabinet with a 22.5/8" X 24" 18 mm birch plywood 212 baffle. It seems whatever dimension I happen to hit on plays really well with several speakers to have the right wave dispersion and amplification to make them sound very good. Have not always had luck with my horizontal and vertical cabs. A small spacing change in the speaker hole location will help to amplify certain frequencies or diminish them. Though I don't have enough insight to figure our what that is, and it may change depending on the players pref, and style of music they per from. This problem is not present in a single speaker cab as the tone is pure without harmonics(wave factors) coming into play.

[@nj1255]

Sounds killer! Can't wait to try out the impulses tomorrow. Btw, right now your IR packs on Patreon are probably the best value for money IRs you can get, anywhere. They sound great, the variety of less common speakers is amazing, you have uploaded new packs consistently every 3-4 weeks, the packs are not too large (i.e you don't get option paralysis), but they are also not too small. All this for only $5 a month. On top of this, you also post a couple of free IRs from every pack for the people who might not be able to join your Patreon. As a fellow tone-nerd, I greatly appreciate what you are doing!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you very much! I really appreciate your kind words and your generous donation

[@MaxPowersTastyTones]

Great sounding speaker! 🔥

[@EDWINPIERCE168]

Good news: nighthawk sounds amazing Bad news: your riffs are becoming increasingly precise, perhaps even categorically not “sloppy”.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Aaah crap... I'll have to start drinking during the video like Epic Mealtime used to be

[@1thess523]

That Jenson sounds sweet, it's a tad brighter and has more lows which rounds out the brightness really nicely.

[@rk28984]

As all the Jensen Jet series speakers, this one is great as well! I really love my Electric Lighning for live use. Have a Tonado Stealth 100 in my cab for practicing and a Raptor I have currently in a box (but tbh the Raptor is the meanest and fattest sounding of the bunch).

[@DerSilvano]

I love the lighting of this video, the purple just does something cool Also, as soon as I saw your upload, the IRs were downloaded

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thank you! Yeah, it's just a tiny purple backlight but it makes a big difference, imo

[@sisyphushappyxvx]

You may have just shown me a speaker I prefer over the v30! The blend sounded fantastic, too.

[@alessiobianchi8039]

Great job! The Jensen sounds sooooo good!

[@roberthastings708]

Thanks John. I've kinda been waiting for this. I'll give a good listen when I get back to a good audio source.

[@ayyveezee2079]

the nighthawk is good sounding, i think they actually complement each other in the left right pan. That V30 you have is just so smooth and sweet sounding with very foward presence. Boosting seems favor the V30 better the best i can tell.

[@boddumblues]

To my ear the Jensen was a very close brother to the V-30, just with a slightly twisted eq. I was surprised at the high end detail while still keeping the midrange. I would favor the Jensen, but I also noticed that I adjusted my hearing to the V-30 quite quickly, and the V-30 has it's own thing in the midrange, but still the Jensen is just that little more detailed in a good way. FWIW

[@where_is_christophe]

Could be due to the comparison with the V30 but the high seems very pleasing. Thanks for the IRs, will definitely try them !

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

I hope you like them

[@POGFROGULPOP]

Great to see Jensen making metal speakers to rival the vintage 30. They blend very well together.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

I agree

[@Shadowsreach1]

Wow very cool sounding speaker! Thanks for the video!

[@fattony6-string929]

Great job as usual my man🤘🏻definitely one of my favorites.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Big same

[@NeZversSounds]

It has a lot high end. Seems like it's great for cleans.

[@SonicDriveStudio]

Sounds great man!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Jensen need to send you one

[@zanthraxus]

The Nighthawk sounds somewhat more pleasing to me - though I way prefer the sweetspot. Great comparison! Cheers!

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Thanks, mate!

[@divebomb99]

Typo alerts. Oh the humanity! 🙂 ECH 5150 III 50w Jensem Nighthawk

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

How dare you read the description??? Lol. Thanks, man. Corrected. I really need to get more sleep

[@divebomb99]

@@TheOtherJohnBrowne Liking the Nighthawk better in this shootout. Compared to the V30 I'm hearing a slightly smoother top end and a more nasally mid-range, but in a good way. Thanks for all you do!

[@stegerguitars]

Great comparison! big difference between the two....

[@resington]

I have this and have IRs of it too! Great speaker.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Agree!

[@thorinbane]

I have the 10 jet falcon and really love it in a 210.

[@brandonjackson5865]

10 in guitar speakers need more love they are awesome especially in a band mix let the bass do its job.

[@AlexRoxjar]

By some reason I associate Nighthawk with 90’s metal. Jensen’s Tornado Stealth 100 and 80 are pretty good. Stealth is quite different from the regular ones. Would be cool if you could compare that series. I think they are the best neo magnets on the market.

[@JensenSpeakersVideos]

Thank you! We're super glad you appreciate the Tornado series! About the NH, well you're not too far off... :) the NH was conceived also with those tones in our minds and ears! About the Tornado series, a few comments: - Tornado 100 Classic (no bell) and Tornado Stealth 100 (with bell) are exactly the same speaker, just with or without the bell covering the magnet. NO tonal differences at all between them. Choosing one over the other is ONLY an "look" matter, nothing else. I've heard similar comments, but please, believe us - the builders: THEY ARE THE SAME SPEAKER in two different looks. - Tornado Stealth 65. Different voice coil, 44mm (1 3/4"), the "British" sounding voice coil, "classic rock" voicing. Softer on the lower midrange and bass, not too spikey on the top end. - Tornado Stealth 80. The strongest, loudest, tightest and clearest of the Tornado family. Very aggressive, scooped, bright. - Tornado Special Edition: Loosely derived from the Tornado 100, with a different voicing, focused on contemporary metal: tighter in the lowest bass, smoother in the top end. Hope this helps!

[@brandonjackson5865]

Can’t tell for sure through KZbin but the Night Hawk sounds less compressed than the V30 I really dig it maybe I’d like it more with my Creamback or V30 because the v30 Creamback combo sounds good it’s not exactly what I’m working with. I guess I’m coming down with spas instead of gas.

[@MartinAtEncorp]

It’s too harsh for my taste. Maybe it will cut well through the mix, but still V30 is king. In the room it sounds a bit better, but still V30 is V30. Thank you for all your videos! You are doing amazing job!

[@TheNocturnalEvil]

V30 already cuts well through the mix. I don't see any point in using something like Nighthawk that's even more aggressive than Vintage 30. Maybe it'll have some usage in a live setting where you want to cut through loud drums and stuff but it's unnecessary for a studio mix.

[@DerSilvano]

​@@TheNocturnalEvil Well, it's another flavour. I get that salt is nice but sometimes you need/want some curry

[@1thess523]

That intro tone sounds like early Strung Out

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

That's a sick band

[@KreativeDevices]

🔥 Another good one

[@studowling]

Sounds good but I still like the mids on that V30 better. I'm waiting for the day you just bust out some sweeping arpeggios! I know you're holding back lol.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

LOL. Maybe I'll secretly practice

[@denniswilliams2385]

The Celestion sounds like it has more Mids to me.

[@lukzriffs1564]

Big LIKE Bro 👊

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

@@lukzriffs1564 Cheers, brother!

[@russelw.6288]

Jensen sounds better actually maybe a little fizz but not nasaly like v30. But as always throw it in a mix and weither its live or studio and the v30 terminates everything (probably)

[@JensenSpeakersVideos]

Interesting note! As far as "sitting in the mix", of course there are certain regions in the lower midrange that are crucial, as they carry the fundamental frequencies of the guitar notes. Thus, a midrange rich speaker might be easier/quicker to place. However, the trick in my experience is to find the "sweet spot" in the mic position, and also the most suited microphone (that may "also" be something else than the SM57, but I do understand the choice of using it as it's a well-known standard), not to over-scoop, and if the speaker is well balanced, you should have no problems to carve your space in the mix. Talking about mics, I usually like to pair the Nighthawk with smoother, fatter mics (say R121, Heil PR-40, Beyer M160, AKG414 ULS, Neumann U87), or at least a stem of the SM57 (the "bite") with one of those (the "body"). Never be afraid of experimenting!

[@millermonsterair]

2:50 i prefer to build my own pcs. its always cheaper and i can get the exact pc i want and dont have to sacrifice one thing for something else, like with most prebuilts.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

@@millermonsterair I agree. I build my own PCs too (also because its fun) but I needed something mobile and KD offer the best package in that field

[@millermonsterair]

@@TheOtherJohnBrowne i can see that. i dont need portability, so i use full size pcs only. i worry alot about heat and heat management is more difficult in a laptop. that being said, you do pcs to? heck man, might be good to do a second channel with pc stuff. i would sub to it.

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

The KreativeDevices has great fans tbh. I do love working on PCs but that just might be the one money pit even deeper than guitar gear 😅

[@kokodin5895]

i have stupid question as always :P what would happen if you listen to guitar speaker recording trough another guitar speaker. would it be pleasent or painfull experience? ps i did that yesterday only i was using my pseudo guitar speaker i am reengeenering right now, sounded ok but it is not vintage 20 but polish broadcast speaker from the 70's

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

Well you could test that by stacking IRs. Essentially that's just applying very aggressive EQ. Could sound cool as an effect but I doubt it would have a real musical application

[@kokodin5895]

@@TheOtherJohnBrowne other than breaking in new speakers :P i wouldn't know what ir's are , i am stuck in analog world experimenring with speakers rebuilding at home with no reference. i also make my own guitars and amps so full diy i was just curious if you can essentially teach new speaker old tricks by wearing in a speyfic sound into it, because it would loosen up but who knows what it would do to "bad sounding" vintage 30 if you give it the "right frequencies" and not the ones that harsh

[@vejichan]

would this be in your top 3 speakers? if so which are the other 2 favorites?

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

V30 aside, my top 3 would be the LCFR-150, Fane Ascension F25 and the Jensen Nighthawk

[@Greg25815]

Is it not closer to DV77 than v30?

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

No. I don't think so. The DV77 is a lot darker

[@Greg25815]

@TheOtherJohnBrowne ok, Thx

[@xsonicassassinx]

What’s you forget? Your hairbrush, obviously

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

LOL

[@JasonsDigitalStuff]

The V30 sounds like trash by comparison. All mids, and muffled with less clarity and presence. Long live the Jensen Nighthawk!

[@JensenSpeakersVideos]

wow, that's quite a statement! Thank you, even though "trash" is a bit ingenerous... :) but hey... love it!

[@TheXxPSYCHO]

It's almost as if the guitar is a mid frequency instrument... *Eye roll*