Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Express, Liverpool, Rocket, Dirty Little Monster, etc.

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Mark
Posts: 2957
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2005 8:10 am
Location: Sydney Australia

Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by Mark »

This reply revolves around suitable speakers for the Rocket.

WGS Black and Blue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR0SYjZUTA8

Weber Bluedog verus Chinese Celestion Blue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCRsDO2o2Ro

New Celestion Blue versus Celestion Silver bell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6mXTa7LC1g

Celestion Blue vs Celestion H30 vs Scumnico
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs5u_8GCAgo

Celestion Gold versus Scumnico
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRuREBTQQ3s

Scumbacks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3eEMWyk0TE

Tayden Ace 25
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrpgckd-ZsA

ASW
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVYw94pE4eQ
Yours Sincerely

Mark Abbott
Trainlover
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Oct 29, 2013 10:50 am

Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by Trainlover »

Hi!
I'm gathering all the pieces for an Express build. I'd like to know if anyone has ever tried the Express through a Thiele cabinet with one EVM12L? Was that convincing? I'm mainly trying to set the 4X12 option aside for obvious weight/dimensions reasons. I intend to gig with the Express so I need a gig-friendly rig.
Thanks!
redshark
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Location: Veracruz, Mexico

Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by redshark »

If you want a gig friendly express put 6V6's on it and use a single celestion gold. Celestions are the correct speaker to play with trainwreck style amps.
Trainlover
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Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by Trainlover »

redshark wrote:If you want a gig friendly express put 6V6's on it and use a single celestion gold. Celestions are the correct speaker to play with trainwreck style amps.
What do you mean? EL34s are not gig-friendly? :roll:
redshark
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Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by redshark »

Trainlover wrote:
redshark wrote:If you want a gig friendly express put 6V6's on it and use a single celestion gold. Celestions are the correct speaker to play with trainwreck style amps.
What do you mean? EL34s are not gig-friendly? :roll:
Oh well, depends where you gig. Most clubs don't like high volumes so the 6V6's put the express in 22 watts and the gold is not as efficient as the EVM (loud). The gig friendly means not as loud for a club. It could be running good with an even less efficient than the gold Lynchback still keeping the celestion flavor.
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geetarpicker
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Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by geetarpicker »

Trainlover wrote:Hi!
I'm gathering all the pieces for an Express build. I'd like to know if anyone has ever tried the Express through a Thiele cabinet with one EVM12L? Was that convincing? I'm mainly trying to set the 4X12 option aside for obvious weight/dimensions reasons. I intend to gig with the Express so I need a gig-friendly rig.
Thanks!
I owned a Thiele cab for almost 2 decades and never liked it the entire time. That said, it was a perfect size (to stack an Express and/or 19" rack for wet/dry) so I made it work the best I could but mainly used it as the wet cab in a wet/dry rig. At first it had the EVM12L in it and that was the worst for me and my original '89 Express. For many years I used it just as a wet signal cab with a Vintage 30 in it, but ran a 4x12 with G12Ms for the dry side.

Still my favorite speakers for a many years have been old original Pulsonic cone G12M 25s in a 4x12. I have both a slant and straight '68 BW cab with these speakers. I also have 2 more modern beater cabs both with Scumback M75s. I've tried to like G12Hs over the years, but they are quite a bit more efficient especially in the high/upper mids which an Express has more than plenty in that area already. The can sound great for some things, but I always came back the the G12Ms. That said, Scumback M75s or Celestion Creamback 65s are nice new alternatives. I really like the new Creamback in my '64 Fender Deluxe. With these new repros you have the option for greater power handling so you can get away with just a 2x12 and maybe even a 1x12 over the 4x12. It won't sound as big however from your ear on stage, but it may be workable from the mic's perspective especially with a fat sounding ribbon or Sennheiser e906 dynamic mic. Still nothing beats a 4x12 IMHO both in the studio or live, but alas it's a pain to move...

After finally selling off my Thiele 1x12 last year (had it since the mid 90s) I picked up a Bogner 1x12 (front ported) cab and it's much more suited to the speakers I like IMHO. In the studio using a G12M or repro I can almost get 4x12 tonality out of it with the right mics, mic placement, and EQ. If I'm using an original I'll attenuate to protect the speaker, but with a higher power repro G12M I can simply crank it.

I also have a Celestion Gold and I really love in my '59 Fender tweed Pro. However in that amp I'm going for more headroom and more of a lower gain thing. Even though a gold can probably handle an Express in my listening test with it specifically on my Express it adds too much volume and high end compared to lower efficiency G12Ms.

Don't get me wrong Golds and G12Hs are both very nice speakers, but to me you really have to push them pretty hard for them to be in their sweet spot. In my case I like the combination of using EL34s (over 6V6s) in my Express amps but with lower efficiency G12M type speakers.

Hope that helps!
GK
Trainlover
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Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by Trainlover »

Thanks for your insight guys! Gonna stick with my Marshall-like 1X12 XL cab then. It has a Scumback J75 that I find to be quite a good middle way between the M and H. It can handle 65w so that's enough for the Express and EL34s and I'll use an attenuator anyway to bring the volume down at least -6dB.
Thanks!
Mark
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Location: Sydney Australia

Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by Mark »

I think Glen is pretty particular about the attenuator he uses. I have tried an Express with VVR and worked pretty good. Thanks another option to bring the volume down.
Yours Sincerely

Mark Abbott
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DaveWell
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Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by DaveWell »

Ho! VVR ...

I have experienced in some amp

It suck the Tone out...
2tone
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Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by 2tone »

original THD 2x12 is excellent with all TW heads...Has the 4-12 character on bottom and low mids, well balanced freq,s, tight, solid thump too..
andresound
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Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by andresound »

Trainlover wrote: Sun Dec 08, 2013 9:56 am Hi!
I'm gathering all the pieces for an Express build. I'd like to know if anyone has ever tried the Express through a Thiele cabinet with one EVM12L? Was that convincing? I'm mainly trying to set the 4X12 option aside for obvious weight/dimensions reasons. I intend to gig with the Express so I need a gig-friendly rig.
Thanks!
I have tried my express with a Thiele loaded EVM12L and a Dumble (oval back) loaded EVM12L. Both sound good, but the Dumble cab sounds bigger. I also have a MARSHAL 4x12 (early 70's) loaded with Greenbacks with Pulsonic 55hz cones for comparison.
If it sounds good, it is good! Trust your ears
andresound
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Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by andresound »

andresound wrote: Mon May 22, 2017 11:46 am
Trainlover wrote: Sun Dec 08, 2013 9:56 am Hi!
I'm gathering all the pieces for an Express build. I'd like to know if anyone has ever tried the Express through a Thiele cabinet with one EVM12L? Was that convincing? I'm mainly trying to set the 4X12 option aside for obvious weight/dimensions reasons. I intend to gig with the Express so I need a gig-friendly rig.
Thanks!
I have tried my express with a Thiele loaded EVM12L and a Dumble (oval back) loaded EVM12L. Both sound good, but the Dumble cab sounds bigger. I also have a MARSHAL 4x12 (early 70's basket weave) loaded with Greenbacks with Pulsonic 55hz cones for comparison.
If it sounds good, it is good! Trust your ears
andresound
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Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2014 8:48 am
Location: Durban South Africa

Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by andresound »

While researching the TL606 theile cab cab design (15" version of the 806), I noticed the EVM15L was design specifically for lead guitar!! This comes directly from their engineering paper for this driver. I have always thought these were for bass applications.🤔 I have 2 of these original drivers 😎, so this will be my next speaker cab build
If it sounds good, it is good! Trust your ears
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M Fowler
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Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by M Fowler »

I didn't want to pay high price for Marshall 4x12 so when the Peavey 4x12 cabs around town were selling for $150 I picked up 3 and loaded my favorite a brown Peavey cab no tolex and has metal speaker cover with four Celestion Vintage 30's Ipswich made. This the main cab I use for Express and Marshall type amps.

Want to built a TL806 soon.
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Plexified
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Re: Favourite speakers and cabs for Trainwreck amps.

Post by Plexified »

Hey gang, I've been die hard Marshall Basketweave and Ampeg V4 pre Rola Celestion Blue n Greenback guy from the start.

However, I have been using Vox 2X12 open back with Celestion blues (bottom panel only) and a 2x10 open back raw I built with one weber P 10R and one P 10P ( a Jensen R clone and a Celestion blue clone) and I absolutely love the open back sound now. Its so detailed and even more delicate to play and extract tone from.

The closed back cabs are beautiful and really grind and bounce or get that bottom end growl and thump.

The open back took some time and patience. The amps already exploit every nuance of your playing and I had to really just slow down and work on extracting the chime and shimmer. I would walk around the room more and find pockets of different tones and sweet spots. I also began to mic the amp more to listen back and was shocked that it sounded better on tape than what I was even experiencing live. That was a very amazing experience. I went ahead and changed strings , pickup heights and just used my hands and ears to a new level. Just gorgeous tones that I cannot find anywhere else. I'm litereally in love with the plethora of tones.

It took time but I 'learned' how to get a closed back tone with control and the rest is history. Highly recommended , time well spent to try to do this!

The added take away is that you have more mic options when recording. Front / back , room and two different speakers. The Vox cabinet with one Celestion BLue and one Greenback pre Rola is insane too. I have a P 12 R on order from Weber I plan on breaking in to try also , cause the 2x10 is opening up new worlds for me with that old Jensen straight cone speaker.
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