What speakers sound good with the express?

[fingerace]

Hey,

I have just received my Ceriatone clone of the TW express and I must now build two 2x12 cabs for it.

What speakers are good choices for this amp when playing blues/rock?

I want even one 2x12 cab to handle the wattage since I may be carrying one cab only sometimes.

I am thinking about the Celestion G12H 70th Ann. and Eminence Red Fang speakers as a set.

I know that the usual for this amp is a 4x12 greenback cab, what else can I do?

Thanks for the help guys

[riscado]

I'd definetly try a pair of eminence red fangs

[Roe]

southbay 12" and 10" speakers

[sliberty]

With my UniWreck, I use a pair of V30's in my Univox 2x12 cabinet. They are 16 ohms each for a combined 8 ohm parallel pair. Sounds fantastic.

I wouldn't use any of the 25 watt speakers unless you have a 4x12. The Express defintely puts out too much power to risk a pair of cool old Greenbacks.

[UR12]

Sammis also sound nice in either a 2x12 or 4x12. the 300B50s will handle 50w each

[hairyandy]

With my UniWreck, I use a pair of V30's in my Univox 2x12 cabinet. They are 16 ohms each for a combined 8 ohm parallel pair. Sounds fantastic.

I wouldn't use any of the 25 watt speakers unless you have a 4x12. The Express defintely puts out too much power to risk a pair of cool old Greenbacks.

Actually I use my Paul Ruby Express clone through 2 different 2x12 cabs, both with Greenback 25s and they handle it fine. One is a white Tremolux cab that has been re-baffled and the other is a Marshall 1966A with check grill in green tolex. The Tremolux cab has 2 old Greens and the 1966A has an English reissue Green and an old Blackback 25 that has been reconed in hemp by ABrownSoun. Both cabs are wired 8 ohms and they sound killer with the amp running at 8 or 16 ohms. I play pretty loud sometimes and it never sounds like they're hurting at all. Honestly I think the 2x12s sound about as good as my old checkfront 4x12s with Greenbacks, they're much easier to cart around and they're not quite as loud!

My $.02,

Andy

[geetarpicker]

I have gone through a bunch of speakers and finally realized that the best all around tone for me and my '89 Express is with old G12M 25 watt Celestions. I've also tried over the years blackback and greenback G12Hs, Vintage 30s, Alnico blues, and more recent Celestion 25s, 65s and 75s, EV 12L, etc. I find the current production Celestion G12M 25 to be VERY bright and harsh. However I recently got some Scumback M75 25 watt "clones" for a 4x12 and they sound totally awesome, and compare very favorably to my original '71 era G12M 25s. Also the Scumback speakers sounded great right out of the box, even without any time on them. I've had them now for about a month and they are even smoothing out more. I bet Jim, the man behind the Scumback speakers would know if 2 will hold up to an Express clone. If you have heard my CD or seen my Youtube clips, you are hearing my old 25s.

[sliberty]

Well, I guess I am just really gun-shy after killing 3 out of 4 25 watt speakers in a 4x12 using a 100 watt head. Now I always leave lots of "breathing room" between the speaker ratings and that of the amp head. But thats just me.

With my UniWreck, I use a pair of V30's in my Univox 2x12 cabinet. They are 16 ohms each for a combined 8 ohm parallel pair. Sounds fantastic.

I wouldn't use any of the 25 watt speakers unless you have a 4x12. The Express defintely puts out too much power to risk a pair of cool old Greenbacks.

Actually I use my Paul Ruby Express clone through 2 different 2x12 cabs, both with Greenback 25s and they handle it fine. One is a white Tremolux cab that has been re-baffled and the other is a Marshall 1966A with check grill in green tolex. The Tremolux cab has 2 old Greens and the 1966A has an English reissue Green and an old Blackback 25 that has been reconed in hemp by ABrownSoun. Both cabs are wired 8 ohms and they sound killer with the amp running at 8 or 16 ohms. I play pretty loud sometimes and it never sounds like they're hurting at all. Honestly I think the 2x12s sound about as good as my old checkfront 4x12s with Greenbacks, they're much easier to cart around and they're not quite as loud!

My $.02,

Andy

[paulster]

I bet Jim, the man behind the Scumback speakers would know if 2 will hold up to an Express clone.

He also does a 65W power handling version of the same. I've used a single one of these in a 1x12 and it happily stands up to an Express, but I'd like to A-B it with the 25W versions before equipping a 4x12 with a brace of either.

[jelle]

sliberty,
a 100w marshall head puts out way more than 100w when clipping occurs, especially the ones with plate voltages above 450V. Mine has 560V BTW... I'd use at least 2 4x12 cabs with those G25m's.

An Express will put out way less. I estimate about 35w and two G25m's should be able to handle this since they can handle 50w when combined.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Jelle

[sliberty]

Well, by your theory of the 100w marshall putting out way more than 100w, the same should be true of a 36w Express. It should be putting out way more than 36 watts. This is why I wouldn't trust only 50 watts worth of speakers.

[jelle]

The B+ is way lower in the Express and the primary of the OT a lot higher. This makes the poweroutput go down also.

Jelle

[skyboltone]

The B+ is way lower in the Express and the primary of the OT a lot higher. This makes the poweroutput go down also.

Jelle

Yup. Have to agree. It's all about I x E. It would be nice to watch both I x E simultaneously on analog meters while someone was playing a wreck energetically.

[geetarpicker]

One other angle on this. Though the Express circuit is basically a 35 watt amp or so, the output transformer in the Ceriatone version is pretty stout. More like 50 watt Marshall iron. When I ABed my original Express to a Ceriatone the Ceriatone was definately louder. I'd say if my original Express is about 35 watts, the Ceriatone is more like 50...

[jelle]

Oops, I did not know that... Be careful then and thanks for mentioning!