Speakers... What's your flavor? What's not?

andy474x

Knows the Drill
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May 4, 2012
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West Michigan
About to embark on a short journey to swap some speakers in a couple amps, thought I would throw this one out to the masses. I have a G12H that I'm about to pull out of a combo, I just can't bond with it. Good speaker, just not for me. Hoping a Greenback will fix it up, more mid presence and just a bit more "in your face" to my ear.

So what do you like, what don't you like? As far as I can tell PRS is really into the V30's, which usually aren't my thing, but the PRS amps also seem to have a lot of bass, so I've come to like the match. Anyways, lets hear it!
 
Celestion Heritage G12H (55)

L20T-112-BACK.jpg


Works perfectly for me in the 'studio' (or back bedroom as others annoyingly refer to it as!).

If I was gigging i'd like to try a 4 x12 loaded with these and Vintage 30's.
 
I have a 2x12 with Celestion Greenbacks, but I also love the V30's.
 
For me, the cabinet becomes a significant part of the equation, as well as speaker configuration. And some speakers sound better with certain amps, and not others.

I like the Mesa-spec V-30s in Mesa cabs; The Mesa C-90 is also a very good speaker in a brighter open back cab; Blues sound wonderful with an open-back cab and the right amp; 4 good Greenbacks in a vintage Marshall cab is to die for, but not so much in a new cab for some reason; Fender amps always sounded great with Jensens.

I guess I haven't answered the question. LOL
 
For me, the cabinet becomes a significant part of the equation, as well as speaker configuration.
Amen! It wasn't until the PRS pine 2x12 that I finally liked the V30. But I also discovered WGS speakers and their ET65+Veteran 30 combination. Not that a vintage Greenback isn't fantastic, but they're hard to find for the price of the WGS offerings.
 
Wow, hearing some cool stuff here guys! Bob - I think the speaker is pretty well broken in, I've had the amp over a year and it's seen plenty of playing hours. Good point though. And Les, you're absolutely right about the cab size and configuration! The amp in question is a very small box 1x12 combo, so it's already fighting an uphill battle against sounding boxy. Especially compared to my 2x12 PRS cab - they really nailed the dimensions on those things, there's just no way the 1x12 combo could compare with the depth that cab projects. I'm thinking of pulling the chassis out of the combo and making a small head enclosure for it, to use with the 2x12 if I want to. The combo is nice to have for portability, but the 2x12 punch is hard to quit.

There's just something cool about different speakers. For a long time I didn't realize how much effect they had on tone, people would talk about different power tubes or pickups, but not speakers or cabs - but now, if I wanted to tweak my tone, I think speakers and cabs are the first place I would start, short of using a different amp.
 
what combo is it?

Egnater Tweaker 40. Good amp to have around for when you want to approximate some classic tones, but the 50 watt version of the G12H didn't match well with the Fender or Vox modes. Sounded decent on the Marshall setting, but I like the Greenback just as well, and it meshes with the other sounds much better.
 
Eminence Legend, Texas Heat, or Swamp Thang! Great affordable speakers built in the US. I have two 2x12's loading with them, and love em!
 
Depends on the amp it's paired with. I tend to gravitate towards JTM/Bassman style amps, and Celestion Blues (or better yet, Celestion T652's) are great for those. I have a Vox 2x12 loaded with blues that pairs great with any JTM style amp....or the HX/DA or MDT when set appropriately. A 2x12 with Blues is only 30W though, so you gotta be careful not to take a 5-W amp and crank it. Practically for me though, this isn't an issue in that I rarely run these amps at their maximum rated output.
 
As earlier stated, it depends on the amp. For my Original Sewell, I like the V30s, with my 2 Channel, I like the Greenback 25s, in my Perfect 10, I tried various speakers (C90, TGS Green Beret, Cannibus Rex, V30, GB25) but in the end I went with the V30...

The GreenBeret and Mesa C90 get honorable mention..
 
I'm a V30 guy mostly. I like greenbacks too, but don't have any.
I found I'm mostly a Celestion guy, I've tried some other speakers here and there, but nothing has stuck. Always wanted to try the highly regarded Scumbacks, but haven't really felt an overwhelming need to.
 
Warehouse Veteran 30 - 2x12 open back - real well balanced not so high spiked as the celestion.
 
I've got Scumback BM75s in a 4x12, Avatar Hellatone V30s in another, both hooked to my JVM410JS. I don't run them at the same time, but rather switch them out to give the amp a different feel, Blackbacks for more classic VH tones, V30s for modern high gain or the Slash AFD thing.

I also have another set of Scumback BM75 LDCs in a 2x12 I use with my 5153. I love the Blackback Scumback BM75 variations over any other Greenback clone, brighter with a really focused upper mid push. Just about every Greenback type I've tried sounds a little flat to me even the regular Scumback M75s and especially with clean tones.
 
Love love love my Tone Tubby H1E Alnicos, they sound really musical to my ears but they do need to be pushed a little. I don't mind much, I like volume. :biggrin: I picked up one of the new Eminence EJ speakers a while back as well, it sounds really good, too. I haven't been that impressed with a speaker since I got my TT's a few years ago.
 
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