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Speaker and Cabinet Research, What Are Your Experiences?
- Thread starter Deadpan
- Start date
greatmutah
Roadie
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- 356
I have two cabs currently. My 1960A has 4 newer G12M25 greenbacks in it. I’ve had them for about 8 years now and I like how they sound in that cab. Previous speakers in that had been G12T75s and a mix of those with G12 65s. That mix was a better combo than the 75s alone but I don’t really mix speakers much anymore.
My other cab and favorite cab is a Metropoulos 2x12 slant cab. I have G12H 75 Creambacks in it. Those are my favorite speakers. I previously had those speakers in an Avatar Vintage Bluesbreaker style 2x12. I got the Metro unloaded for a good deal and immediately put those in. That is my favorite cab in the house and probably all time.
My experience with V30s were some Avatar Hellatone 60Ls/V30MFs I loaded into my old blue voodoo cab. They were cool for what they were but not my favorite. But an improvement over the stock Eminence crate speakers. Other V30s were the ones I had in my Recto 4x12 and 2x12 cabs I used to have. Two things: the ones in the 4x12 sounded more mid heavy and the 2x12 sounded brighter and deeper bass wise. I think there were two huge factors at play. 1st was the cabs themselves and a 4x12 vs a 2x12. The second was the speaker impedances. The 4x12 had 8 ohm speakers in series parallel for an 8 ohm load. The 2x12 had 2 16 ohm speakers in parallel for an 8 ohm load. Now on their own each cab sounded as I described above. Together? They sounded absolutely monstrous and covered a full range. I occasionally miss that old rig because I ran a Mark V and Tremoverb with it and they were excellent. But I moved more towards Marshall style amps.
My other cab and favorite cab is a Metropoulos 2x12 slant cab. I have G12H 75 Creambacks in it. Those are my favorite speakers. I previously had those speakers in an Avatar Vintage Bluesbreaker style 2x12. I got the Metro unloaded for a good deal and immediately put those in. That is my favorite cab in the house and probably all time.
My experience with V30s were some Avatar Hellatone 60Ls/V30MFs I loaded into my old blue voodoo cab. They were cool for what they were but not my favorite. But an improvement over the stock Eminence crate speakers. Other V30s were the ones I had in my Recto 4x12 and 2x12 cabs I used to have. Two things: the ones in the 4x12 sounded more mid heavy and the 2x12 sounded brighter and deeper bass wise. I think there were two huge factors at play. 1st was the cabs themselves and a 4x12 vs a 2x12. The second was the speaker impedances. The 4x12 had 8 ohm speakers in series parallel for an 8 ohm load. The 2x12 had 2 16 ohm speakers in parallel for an 8 ohm load. Now on their own each cab sounded as I described above. Together? They sounded absolutely monstrous and covered a full range. I occasionally miss that old rig because I ran a Mark V and Tremoverb with it and they were excellent. But I moved more towards Marshall style amps.
Boudoir Guitar
Rock Star
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I used to use an Orange Crush 120 head into one of those cabs at a rehearsal space and never really had any beef with the tones I got.
TSJMajesty
Rock Star
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Would loved to have heard that. Wow!
greatmutah
Roadie
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- 356
Forgot to mention I have Weber 10F150Ts in my Vibrolux clone. They’re great for American style tones and some medium gain. High gain, not so much but I like to use that amp/combo for classic American tones. And if I want that amp to do other things I just unplug the combo cab and run the amp into the 4 ohm tap on my 1960A w/ Greenbacks. Then I can hit it with all the dirt and make it a garage rock monster.
greatmutah
Roadie
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- 356
It was stupid in the best way.
TSJMajesty
Rock Star
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- 5,860
The closest I ever came was when I owned a Mesa Road Kind & 4x12 cab for a few days, and paired it with my ADA MP-1/Mesa Stereo 50/50 rig.
Talk about glorious-sounding! I liked my rig enough that I returned the RK a few days later.
maguchi
Roadie
- Messages
- 413
Honestly I rarely...hmm 
, maybe never change out speakers from what came with the amp initially. I guess I'm not picky at all about amp speakers. I'll just try to dial in the existing speaker. If the amp doesn't work after twiddling the knobs, I sell it. However the only ones I din't like so far and got rid of been small low wattage amps like a Yamaha THR-10 and a Fender Champion 600. I generally like the stock speakers in Marshall, Fender, Vox and Peavey amps. Have Greenbacks, Blue Alnico, Eminence SC-64 in different amps and they all seem to dial in good with the amp and guitar knobs.
, maybe never change out speakers from what came with the amp initially. I guess I'm not picky at all about amp speakers. I'll just try to dial in the existing speaker. If the amp doesn't work after twiddling the knobs, I sell it. However the only ones I din't like so far and got rid of been small low wattage amps like a Yamaha THR-10 and a Fender Champion 600. I generally like the stock speakers in Marshall, Fender, Vox and Peavey amps. Have Greenbacks, Blue Alnico, Eminence SC-64 in different amps and they all seem to dial in good with the amp and guitar knobs.
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My first cab was a 4x12 with G12T-75s. I didn't love it but it was $80. I borrowed an open back 2x12 with V30s and liked that a whole lot more.
Then after tinkering with IRs and cab sims I found I gravitated toward Greenbacks. Bought a Creamback 65w for a Katana combo and now have a 2x12 with modern Greenbacks.
I want to get a cab for the Creamback and put the stock Katana speaker back in its place.
Then after tinkering with IRs and cab sims I found I gravitated toward Greenbacks. Bought a Creamback 65w for a Katana combo and now have a 2x12 with modern Greenbacks.
I want to get a cab for the Creamback and put the stock Katana speaker back in its place.
Stratzrus
Roadie
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- 806
For playing Rock or anything with gain tones at concert volume using a tube amp this remains my overall favorite.
But for playing Jazz or using a tube amp and cab with a modeler I have a strong preference for the original Celestion Century Vintage Neo. As I understand it, the idea was to make a V30 with a neo magnet. The result was a speaker with a tighter bass, a more neutral midrange, and less harsh highs.
It transformed my George Benson Hot Rod Deluxe from a really good amp to one that's exceptional and I plan to put one in my Rivera Suprema Jazz Recording 55 watt combo. They're wonderful in the Benson HRD for amplifying my FM9.
They were originally panned by reviewers at the other place and sold poorly so Celestion stopped making them. Parts Express blew out their remaining stock for $69 each. I bought a bunch of them. Now people realize what great speakers they are and they're going for $200 and up if you can find one.
Truly my favorite today for small and medium sized venues if you're playing Jazz or R&B.
But for playing Jazz or using a tube amp and cab with a modeler I have a strong preference for the original Celestion Century Vintage Neo. As I understand it, the idea was to make a V30 with a neo magnet. The result was a speaker with a tighter bass, a more neutral midrange, and less harsh highs.
It transformed my George Benson Hot Rod Deluxe from a really good amp to one that's exceptional and I plan to put one in my Rivera Suprema Jazz Recording 55 watt combo. They're wonderful in the Benson HRD for amplifying my FM9.
They were originally panned by reviewers at the other place and sold poorly so Celestion stopped making them. Parts Express blew out their remaining stock for $69 each. I bought a bunch of them. Now people realize what great speakers they are and they're going for $200 and up if you can find one.
Truly my favorite today for small and medium sized venues if you're playing Jazz or R&B.
The AlNiCo Ruby sounds absolutely nothing like the rest of the range. It's a specialist driver that really only works well with amps that are overly bright, as the driver itself has a very attenuated treble output.
My personal ranking of Celestion drivers is: AlNiCo Blue, AlNiCo Cream, Vintage 30, then everything else.
The Cream and the Vintage 30 were designed by Celestion to sound as close as possible to the Blue, but with higher power handling. The Vintage 30 uses a heavy ceramic magnet, the Cream obviously uses an AlNiCo. Neither sound exactly like the Blue, but they are both as close to the Blue as you are ever likely to get with 90 W and 60 W power handling, respectively.
I'm currently running the Vintage 30 in my Mesa/Boogie F-50, but I would like to "upgrade" to the AlNiCo Cream.
That being said, I have not yet heard the new Celestion 100.
It’s kind of a niche speaker, but I just bought a Weber 12A125A to use with my 5E3 head. It’s supposed to be a recreation of a 50s Jensen P12Q. My only reference of that type of tone was through recordings and the Redwirez IR library. The speaker in the room and recorded has been what I was looking for.
I was originally using a Speed Shop A12Q speaker with that amp, which got me Neil Young-type P90 tones but nothing else. The A12Q is usually recommended with the Tweed Deluxe, but is closer to a 60s Jensen.
Hearing an attenuated Plexi-type amp through it was kind of cool too, in a different way.
I’ve been having some good luck with Weber speakers for certain tones that I’m chasing.
I was originally using a Speed Shop A12Q speaker with that amp, which got me Neil Young-type P90 tones but nothing else. The A12Q is usually recommended with the Tweed Deluxe, but is closer to a 60s Jensen.
Hearing an attenuated Plexi-type amp through it was kind of cool too, in a different way.
I’ve been having some good luck with Weber speakers for certain tones that I’m chasing.
