Speakers for Express? Openback 2x12

[aaronz28]

So what do you recommend ?
2x12 open back

Golds?blues? ASW? ( which ones? ) Scums? Ceramic or alnico?

Thanks

Aaron

[M Fowler]

Not the blues that speaker doesn't handle the power well at all.

I use Vin 30 but still searching for the magic speaker for an Express.

[Ken Moon]

Everybody claims to have found the magic from their favorite vendor, and I always take it with a grain of salt when someone says "my XXX brand that I just bought is the greatest!"

I've actually compared dozens of speakers over the years in open-back 2x12s with the Express and similar (to me) amps like a 2204 JMP 50-watt. They both have a very bright and edgy sound to my ears, even though of course the response of the amps is much different.

My "happy place" is a mix of an Eminence Swamp Thang and a Vintage 30. I've found that the Vin30 can be replaced with just about anything in the Vin30 style, whether it's a Celestion, Eminence, Weber, WGS, etc., but the Swamp Thang is the key to making the combo sound so good.

I prefer a properly-designed ported 1x12 to an open-back 2x12 (I don't love closed-back cabs, no matter what speaker you put in there), but this combo is a big hit with the owners of Marshalls and TW type amps. In fact I recently A/B'd one with a beautiful Germino 2x12 cab, using their JTM-45-style head, and the owner was amazed how much difference it made in his sound.

[billyz]

Last week I heard an ASW 2x12 rear ported cab, ala Dumble, loaded with 2 ASW KTS60's . With a TW express style head. And it sounded as good as anything I have ever heard. I am not saying it is the only way to go, but it completely works.

[rawnster]

What's the matter with you guys? Don't you know those Fane AXA's alnico are the knees on a bee? Seriously, they sound very good with Trainwreck builds.

[Reeltarded]

I have heard that. Greenbacks suck! That is a sure thing.

I have liked and sometimes loved the Weber speakers in various shades of AlNiCo. I have no aversion to the ceramics though.

[ampmike]

Yea,I have 2 webers in a open back pine,no plywood cab,And I got to say its beats the recto boogie cab and the marshall 2x12 cab,The cabs have V30"s too.I dont know the webers just seem to be very smooth,Thats my 2 cents,Mikey

[Billion81]

I think the Greenbacks Suck comment is not even a little true. Ear of the beholder and all that though so....Lord knows I am damn near deaf but they sound good to me.

I posted this clip awhile ago but this is a Tonic Vapour which is an El34 Express circuit.

I recorded this with 4 Scumback M75, 65 watt coil "Greenback" style speakers. So- while not greenbacks in the purist sense...actually scratch that, these are pretty damn pure.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_so ... gID=992523

I am waiting for a 2X12 cab with Fane AXA speakers that I think are gonna kill!!!

[geetarpicker]

Just about all my clips on Youtube (and my CD) are old original "Greenback" G12M 25 watters in a slant 4x12. I've never found a better overall match for my Express. Live I tend to mostly use Scumback M75s, both 25 watt rated and 65 watt. Seems a pair of M75s in the 65 watt version would work nice in a 2x12.

That said, recently I've been really digging a single 12" Celestion Alnico Gold in my '64 non-reverb Deluxe amp though I have yet to try it with the wreck. It's a very smooth but punchy speaker when pushed and is noticably fatter sounding than the Alinico blue which I would not trust to hold up to an Express unless you had 4. I had some blues years ago but I really think those are much better with a Liverpool and too shrill for an Express. They also don't have much low end but with a Liverpool it's more about the chime than the meat. I'll report back when I try the gold with an Express, the gold has such a fat big low end (for a single open back 12) I bet it will be a suprisingly good match but we'll see. It also has a nice clear high end, but with minimal ice pick, less than most ceramic speakers actually. At this point my blackface Deluxe sounds bigger than it ever did with a Celestion Vintage 30, G12H, EV, Weber 12F150, JBL D120, old & new C12N, C12K, etc...

[M Fowler]

I have tried the blue/gold combination but it was in an open back Z Stangray cabinet not closed. No go for me, excellent with Stangray or Rocket. To me the Liverpool is not a good candidate with this combination perhaps the Gold alone would work.

I have tried 25w/G12H paired in another open back Z combo cab used as a speaker cab as well.

The closed back 412 with Vin 30 is what I like the best but still not happy with it. Don't have a 412 with four 25w/green backs to try nor do I own any Fanes

Mark

[Jackie Treehorn]

I like the greenbacks best, at least in a Marshall 4x12. I had a quad of 90s reissues, more high mid crunch, and currently some mid 70's blackbacks which sound fantastic with any amp. Vintage 30's sound better closed back, to me. They tend to make everything sound the same to me, so I don't use them much. The Mesa 90 works pretty well open back. I didn't like the Gold 1x12 open back with the express; it added some compression and extra texture on top which didn't work for me. The eminence reignmaker is pretty good open back with the express. It's got really tight bass and you can run the treble pretty high on the amp, plus you've got 9 db of attenuation. Running two could be counter productive, though. I had a pair of Altec alnicos which were awful! I think some type of greenback closed back will give the best results.

[fuzzheimer]

I currently have a greenback RI & a G12K-85 running in my twinwreck (converted SF twin, B+ around 410vDC).

The two compliment each other well- the mids of the greenback & the fuller lows of the 85. However once the amp is plugged into my marshall 4x12 with G12h30s, the game is over! To me the low end punch of the 4x12 is the true mate to an express-style amp.

[Mrscratch]

http://www.youtube.com/user/scratchplay ... QaPyD0jRDQ
heres a express with a DR z 1/12 with a gold in it. i found my perfect match.
i bought two more golds, and put them in a z best cab, still great , but i like that 1/12 better.

[Scumback Speakers]

I haven't tried a 2x12 yet with my Express (AM build, just got it Thursday!) yet, but I plan to this week.

Today I did manage to attend the Thorn Inlay NAMM Event with a 1x12 adjustable back (had it about 4-5 inches open) loaded with one M75 65w, and it sounded damned nice.

I might have sold a couple of Express clones for Allyn. One player told me he had an Express built by another builder and his didn't sound nearly as good as the one Allyn built that I just got.

Many thanks to Glen K for the EQ tone settings phone call last night!

You can all get good chuckle out of this video just posted, I don't show up for a solo until 3:30. That's an Orville LPC w/Motor City Black Belt #2 pickups in it I'm playing, plugged straight in, no fx, the Alex attenuator was there for a previous demonstration, not used for the gig. I'd never played this song before, so there's nothing like winging it on the fly!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pr1ol8F ... er&list=UL

[M Fowler]

Sounded good Jim!