Trainwreck Express - Speakers

[JazzGuitarGimp]

One thing I did find is these speakers sound much better if I remove the cab back panel, but unfortunately it can't be left off as the jack socket is on the back and it does make the bass a bit too soft.

You might consider fabricating a new back panel, with an oval cutout. You'll have a place to mount the jack, and the bass can be controlled by the size of the cutout - the bass output decreases as the hole size increases.

[Littlewyan]

The new Tung Sol 12AX7s. I do have a NOS Mullard (microphonic), 3 x Sylvanias, a Amperex Bugle Boy and I think I have another but can't remember the brand right now. I have been through them and decided which was best in certain positions but I'm saving them for a rainy day . The Tung Sols seem to be the better choice for me out of the current production. So far.

Nice clip Jim, got a real nice tone there. I'd say you winged that solo pretty well .

Well tonight I put the old speakers back in and what an improvement. I didn't realise how different they sounded. They break up so much easier than the Creambacks and are so much easier to play. They have such a nice snarl to them.

Before I put the old speakers back in I did play the Creambacks one last time and the ear piercing high end wasn't there anymore but the distortion was very harsh. Maybe they're a faulty set? To my ears my old speakers get me much closer to Glen's tone he gets with his Marshall Basketweave cab with his G12Ms. The only issue I have is the bass is quite solid on these speakers (Eminence GB12s) and the high end is a tad thin, so solos cut through the mix like a knife but there isn't any oomph to them.

The other thing I found was with the Creambacks if I turned down the guitar volume to lower the gain level the tone just got worse and worse. However with the Eminence speakers I can have the guitar volume in any position and still get a great tone.

[Littlewyan]

I've been thinking and there must be something wrong with these Creambacks. It wasn't that my Express was too bright as I remember I tried all sorts of settings. It didn't sound good with or without the bright switch. Without the bright switch it was just a muddy mess. With my Eminence Speakers I can have everything at noon and use the bright switch or I can turn off the bright switch and adjust the controls to get a decent tone.

Is there anyway I can test these speakers to prove they're faulty or shall I just go by the fact that they sound really bad?

[Scumback Speakers]

If you think your speakers are bad, have them tested at a Celestion authorized repair shop/depot/location. They're made in the UK, IIRC, so that shouldn't be too hard.

Time to contact them via their site, or call them, and tell them what you hear, what you've tried and describe the problem with them.

Good luck.

[Littlewyan]

Thinking back, they had quite a lot of low end and they didn't sound that good until I removed the back panel. So perhaps they're just the wrong speaker for that cabinet. It is an oversized 2x12 and these speakers are designed to have more low end to make a 2x12 sound like a 4x12. I think I'll just sell them on as they're obviously not the speaker for me.

Whilst googling by the way I found this VERY helpful recording.

https://soundcloud.com/4star444/test13-mix-m4a

The three speakers in this clip are in the following order Cel 72 G12M, Cel G12M EVH and Emi GB128. It shows that my speaker isn't far off a G12M but it is fizzier in the high end and both the G12M EVH (Heritage) and the GB128 are missing the nice midrange the original G12M has.

[guitarmike2107]

I have found there are few speakers I plug into and don't want to tweak something in the amp, some speakers you have to tweak allot.

if you like the overall tone/feel/response of the speakers and then tweaking bass/treble/mids in the circuit to match the speaker set is easy, very hard if you don't like the initial sound you are getting.

On another note I have had both G12H anniversary and G12H heritage speakers here, and found the UK made heritage (expensive) one was much more fizzy with lots of drive, but had a much warmer/balanced clean tone, The G12H Anniversary loved heavy overdrive and gave a great thump in the chest

[Littlewyan]

I didn't like any of the sound I got if I'm honest. I tried everything with the Express and JTM50 but couldn't get them to sound good. The only amp that had a usable tone was the JTM1. I think they just didn't match that cab for what I wanted them for. I know what you mean about liking the initial tone. People were telling me to wait for them to break in but I think if you don't like the general tone you're getting from them then you probably won't like them once they're broken in either.

I do like the G12H in some of the clips I've heard with an Express going through it but I don't think it'll be much good for what I want. I think the G12M Heritage is going to be the way to go. Recently when watching ACDC live clips I noticed in one of them that they use Marshall 1960BX Cabs. I wonder if they're new cabs with new G12M Reissues....

[deeder]

There are 2 Black Back G12Ms on Ebay at the moment for roughly £200. Was very tempted, except they're 16Ohm and I need 8Ohm.

Maybe you could ask Brian Harding (http://www.bygonetones.com/). Brian is a gentleman, all my H's and M's are coming from him, T1871 for instance

[Littlewyan]

There are two 1972 Pulsonic Cone G12Ms on Ebay at the moment. Thing is I've been thinking. With regular use they probably won't be far off needing a recone, which would make it pointless buying them in the first place. So maybe I should just go for a pair of G12M Heritage Speakers.

[Littlewyan]

Just because I don't like leaving threads unfinished I thought I'd report back.

I had a new 2x12 Cab made by Zilla Cabs with Marshall Levant Tolex and Salt n Pepper Grill Cloth with.....................................G12M Heritage Speakers. The cab is called the Super Fatboy. Its deeper than my Marshall 1936, slightly wider but shorter and looks 10x better. Plus its made out of birch ply as opposed to cheap MDF.

Initial finding. It sounds amazing! Its everything I've been looking for. The tone I'm getting from all of my amps is so much better. My Express sounded so messy before with my Eminence GB128s and my Marshall JTM50 was unusable. So happy I did this. These speakers seem to open up more and more every time I use them. They were a bit harsh and had a lack of clarity when first playing through them but after 15minutes of playing thats gone. I've only been pushing 5W peak into them as well! Can't wait for band practice.

Interestingly when playing I thought I could hear a tiny tiny difference between the two speakers. One sounded a tad brighter. Might have just been how the cab was positioned though and it wasn't exactly scientific testing. I just leant down in front of the cab with my guitar in my hands. I literially had to be half a foot away from the cab to hear it. Attenuated to bedroom level of course, I didn't blast my head off!