What speakers sound good with the express?

[kyoungsteadt]

Geetarpicker,

Eddie VanHalen's new EVH cabs have Celestion 20 watters in them. That might work...

[leaveitalone84]

I use an Oval back combo cab with a 30 watt Weber Blue Alnico dog and 30 watt Weber Silver Bell Alnico. Light dopping and both 16 ohms.

They were a little bright brand new, but they are mellowing. Plus when I switched to a NOS 12AX7 in V1 and V2 the amp lost some of the harsh highs and it sweetened up the whole deal.

[paulster]

Eddie VanHalen's new EVH cabs have Celestion 20 watters in them. That might work...

They are actually the Heritage series G12Ms with a different sticker on the magnet. That's EVH branding for you!

I've been using them lately with my pair of clones in my two gigging cabs. 4 of the 25 watt M75s in a straight 4x12, and 1 of the high power versions of the M75 in a sealed 1x12. That single 1x12 really brings down the volume of the Express.

I had a quad of M75s arrive today so they're presently being broken in.

What cab do you use the M75-HP in? I've had one of these stuck in a Marshall 1912 for ages and, whilst I like the speaker, I think the cab still sounds as dead as you'd expect a large chunk of MDF to sound, so I'm looking for a replacement 1x12.

[geetarpicker]

I have a 1x12 Mesa thiele port cab. It's been a tricky cab to make sound decent with any speaker, kind of a love hate thing. I prefer using the cab just for a wet signal in a wet/dry setup along side a 4x12 for dry. Still it is handy to have a 1x12 for some really small stages. I have an expensive road case for this Mesa 1x12 so I've been trying to make the cab work with some success. That said it has worked best with the M75 HP, and I've tried in this cab a G12M 20 watter, EV 12L, Vintage 30, reconed Prerola G12H, several Jensens, Webers, etc. I also have the theile ports totally blocked off so it's now a sealed cab. I've also tried filling it with fiberglass but that is now gone. Also I've also tried open back panels with the ports block. Still it seems in really small boxes you can get a slightly more even (flatter) low end response by totally sealing the box. Ported this cab has lots of 200hz or so, but falls off very rapidly at lower frequencies than that. Sealed it's more flat and seems to go lower abliet with less effeciency but that is ok. Miked up with a little lows added from the board it sounds pretty decent, but it's still not quite a 4x12. On a good note the thiele port cab is the same width and deeper than an Express so if you stack the head it looks ok and doesn't fall over!

[FE911]

Bringing back an old topic here. But a good one. I've been using a jcm900 1960a cabinet for my express. It sounds big! I've got one celestion heritage g12h30 55hz, 1- late seventies g12h30 55hz, and 2 g12m 75hz from the late seventies in it right now. A real good match for the express that I built.
I've been bartering for a lot of different speakers recently to try out with the different amps that I have. Recently I picked up a pair of eminence cannibis rex's. Really interesting speaker. I was planning on using them with a supro that I'm slowly(and I really mean slowly) building. I put them in a marshall 1966a slant 2x12 cabinet. Whats up with marshall cabinets only wanting celestions to fit the screw holes? And tried them out last night.
I couldn't believe how good they matched up with the express. In fact, I've tried many different speakers with the express, and most just plain sounded like crap. The 4x12 seemed to be the only one that worked with it. And you had to find the sweet spot on settings to get what you were looking for.
The rex's had an amazing woody growl to them, a little dark, but they really were articulate and tight in the lower end, which the 4x12 was questionable about. I was a little let down with the rex's high end at first. Then I remembered the express had a bright switch!!!!
With the 4x12 I was afraid to even breath on the switch. I was Always very careful when adjusting the volume, didn't want to accidentally upset it, or else a hell of a lot of harshness would erupt. My god it was painful.
With the rex's I hit the switch, and couldn't believe how the bright switch was useable, in all of the three settings. The woody growl stayed there, but the highs were really balanced and engaging. The harmonics and feedback were still there, but so much more tasty(the only adjective I could come up with)!
It's still honeymoon time, but I think these speakers are allowing me to find more useable settings on the amp than the 4x12 did. And that smooth, tight growl really blew me away. Will try again tonight with the cabinet open to see how it affects everything.
Just thought I'd toss in another option that I was impressed with. I think we all need to try whatever we've got lying around. Sometimes you can surprise yourself. And what? They are how much? I get disheartened everytime I see the new must have $300.00 speaker.... Disclaimer: mine were well broken in.

[FE911]

After switching back and forth between cabs last night. I must say the 4x12 does sound a bit better. Something about that big cabinet equals big full sound. But for a bargain alternative, the cannibis rex's really sound good. A really good pairing for the express, no one would be disappointed with them. And I've tried a lot of speakers with the amp. So far the only ones I've liked are the g12m, g12h pairing, and the CR's. There couldn't be more of a price difference between the two. And good vintage celestions don't grow on trees.

[fusionbear]

I recently had a speaker fest with some friends and I really like the Weber Blue Dogs. My friends 2x12 cab has a ceramic and alnico and sounds awesome. The surprise for me was that the G12-65's sounded too dull and the V30's (which I usually hate) sounded awesome in a Port City OS 2x12 cab. A Germino 4x12 with Greenbacks sounds pretty awesome too. Oh, I forgot, the Cannabis rex's sound awesome too.

[kyoungsteadt]

V30's need a couple of years to calm down but once they do they are a nice speaker. I'm glad to hear the CRex is a winner. I've always wanted to try one of those. Maybe someday.

[Buschman]

I am using a single 15" Weber Bluedog that I also use with my D'lite. It of course does not sound as big as a 4x12 but I like it a lot. It's very portable, sounds fatter than a 12" & is a great volume for a small club.

[Lonely Raven]

I am using a single 15" Weber Bluedog that I also use with my D'lite. It of course does not sound as big as a 4x12 but I like it a lot. It's very portable, sounds fatter than a 12" & is a great volume for a small club.

I had one of those 15" Bluedogs I put into a Super Reverb (cab I custom built). Man I miss that! The bass was down right percussive, and once the speaker was broken in, the sound was just huge and rich.

I wound up selling all but one of my Super Reverbs (ranging from '65 through '75) to buy an engagement ring for my girlfriend. The guy who bought the Super Reverb with the 15" bitched and moaned about not having a bunch of 10" drivers, but called me later to say I was a genius. That really made my day.

Now you got me wanting a big 15" to try on my Express styled amp.

[Curbdog]

I love my Express with a 1 x 12 Weber 12M Ceramic. So much, that I have ordered another, for a 2 x 12 cab I am building.

[Buschman]

The 15 is great with the D'Lite as well. Also makes the 18 watt lite sound quite large. It still has a British chime to it without being harsh.

[fusionbear]

Because of volume issues, I finally settled on a Port City OS 1x12 with an old 16 ohm Mesa labeled Celestion 90. It is nearly perfect. Give it a try. I ended up giving up on the Mesa Theile. It just didn't work for me regardless of the speaker I tried in it for this amp.

[Mark]

This is an oldie but there are always new speakers on the horizon. The Scumback PVC's were released after this topic.

I have a Mesa labelled Celestion in my Boogie SOB (converted to a Mark 1), I thought it lacked bass. It is good to see what is preferred these days. I remember Hogy using Celestion Blue/H30 pairs in a 4 X 12" cab when the Komet was released.

[stuben]

geetarpicker,

How does that ceriatone express clone stack up tone wise compared to the real deal?