Jensen hands down. Sweetest cleans by a mile. Dirty I could go for any of them eckspecially the v30 but still favor the Jensen most for dirty too. The hempback was surprisingly good. Still I can't believe how much more I liked the Jensen than anything else. WAY more.
I agree, but I bet a Jensen P10R-F would sound even better. I tried a bunch of speakers in a Brownface Princeton, including a C12N and the P10R-F (with a baffle adapter) was the winner for me. Less massive low end and sweeter overall. Sounds great at low volume too.
I haven’t seen anyone commenting on this and neither did I hear you hosts say anything about it, but to me it seems that if you originally set the tone and played the loops with the Jensen speaker, that has an advantage in sounding more balanced for these loops. Many of the Celestions sounded brighter and perhaps too bright for this application (yes, Pete), but were the tone set and the loops played with a brighter speaker, the Jensen might sound dark in comparison. Wonderful video, I have no complaints, just a note on tone comparisons.
You have completely SOLD me on the notion that changing the speaker makse such an insignificant difference that I'm good with that I've got. The really best way to demonstrate any of these comparison vids is to put it in a live band scenario. COULD you tell any difference when you're blending with a bass and a drummer? Dream on.
Swapping the vintage 30 for a greenback in my 1x12 closed back cab made all the difference! Zilla cabs does some really great sound comparison videos to help decide!
@@jvannatt the worst thing is when they place tubes too close to a speaker magnet. No good for either. Also with modelling amps, I think it might be best to stick with stock speakers ?
Speakers make a big difference, as do the Mics and their location. The Amp (head), Guitar, Wood, Pickups, Pots, Caps, etc. make less difference. In a Modeler, swapping Speakers and Mics makes it easy to find the sound that makes the rest of the gear in the signal chain sound good.
Speakers make more difference than actual amps, IMO. 3 different amps going through the same cab sounds more similar to me than 1 amp going through 3 different cabs.
I’ve had a Princeton with a Jensen ck12 in it for two years now. The first year I spent scratching my head thinking it could be better and spending far too much time researching this rabbit hole. In the the end, I couldn’t make a decision so I kept it. People have commented on how good it sounds and besides, if I get a new speaker, I have to wait until it’s worn in until I can properly compare the two and by then I can’t remember how the original sounded and sod it. The original is more than good enough!
Awesome comparison guys!! All the Celestion had their own flavor but honestly the Jensen is just a flavor you can love and work with forever. It just sounds right and can be eq’d to work in any mix. Jensen is like the ns-10 in studio flat and translates
NS-10s are anything but flat but have a distinct mid range hump,- like a treble booster for speakers,- that´s why they are good for producing vocals,- but don´t ever do the final mix on them.
They also have the NS-10 sterile sound indeed, those speakers sound horrible for listen music, but are meant to be for mix and mastering, but guitar land is another story, I would never put a guitar neither instruments on the yamahas
I liked the Jensen the most. It seemed the most versatile. Then again with my hearing loss I may not be picking up the treble issue. The Vintage 30 would be my favorite among the Celestions. Thanks for the video!
only because they're broken in. Almost every speaker manufacturer accounts for that in new speakers today. The "old speakers are better" myth hasn't been a thing since the 90s.
@@j.r.g3548 break-in is an interesting thing with guitar speakers - I’m thinking we should get three identical drivers, test them briefly to make sure they do sound identical, and then put one through a normal break-in process (so the surround is loosened up like on a speaker that’s a few gigs old) and put another through a much more intense process to simulate an old speaker, and then compare the three. I’m v curious!
@@j.r.g3548 Better is subjective, but hell they are different. A lot of it is wear, some of it is inconsistency just take the v30 its not even that old and so many of them sound different. All the different cone manufacturers made a huge difference.
I wish Peavey sold their speakers separately. Years ago, I had a Peavey Classic 2x12 with 2x 35 watt Scorpion speakers. When I plugged my 100 watt Marshall into the Peavey speakers it transformed the tone for the better, compared to the greenbacks I had. Sweeter top end, tighter bottom end, midrange had lovely vocal quality. Got a really sweet high harmonic bleed through on bends. Gorgeous.
I thought the Jenson by itself sounded the best of all. But I think Pete is right, the Celestions are better for band settings because of the midrange. I liked the creamback for cleans and V30 for distortion. I prefer v30s overall. Great vid as usual.
@@bradc32 i use jensen and celestion, and some other brands and i have 1 eminence for special reason. All i can say, the celestions are more of the one-trick-pony than the jensen, my most flexible speakers are the fender special design (no eminence, must be some chinese cheapies.)
Creamback all the way for me. Chiming cleans and clear overdrive. I can see why the V30 is so popular for hard-rock and metal though, there's a bite to the upper-mids when dirty that would cut through really well in a mix or on stage.
Over 45 years I’ve tried everything, American and British speakers in different configuration cabinets, I believe the Celestine Gold are the best sounding speakers I’ve ever heard, crisp chime to creamy crunch, it’s rich and complex it’s among the most expensive they make but worth it.
the more I listened the more I liked the Jensen it had a character I felt the creamback is a really nice all-rounder feel like it'd go well in many amps cool vid man I love it
I have been putting celestion speakers in my fender amps for years. I have always thought they were a match made in heaven. I’m a big fan of the G12H30 especially in the 55hz variety in them
The G12H30-55Hz has a very strong peak right in the most harsh 3-3.5kHz range. The Weber Ceramic 1230-55 with the cloth surround is considerably less harsh, but still has an open high end. You can choose the power and some other options. I think the 100W has an Aluminum voice coil that makes it sound like the 30W. It's a very flat speaker out to 5.5kHz, and rolls off gently from there. The wider voice coil Weber California is also a great Fender amp speaker with tight deep bass, fast mids, and just a little more in the harsh range. Both also come in expensive AlNiCo versions. I'd go with AlNiCo for the California. You might prefer the Ceramic1230-55. It's really nice.
I had never heard of nor heard the Hempback before, but I think it might be my favorite here. To my ear, it seems to be the most crisp and clear while retaining the low end and not sounding too harsh in the top end.
I just replaced the speaker on my new Tone King Imperial with Cream Back M65 and WOW.......but....the Jensen here was just as nice. hmmmmm. My Blue Jr has the Eminence TREx...nice but it sounds small compared to the TKing with Em33 and especially with CB65's.
if the Greenback is a tight fit the plastic magnet cover is only for cosmetic reasons and can be removed with some effort it's held on with some very good double-sided tape. I had this problem on the Marshall Bassbreaker 15w amp got in touch with celestion and they gave me the ok to remove the plastic cover.
I have two V30 and two A-Type in the 4x12 Redseven cab that I primarily use; the A-Type are so good, both in clean and overdrive, they fit very well in the mix and they complete the lacks of the V30's. I love them!
I've discovered recently that speakers are arguably the part of your setup which will make the most significant difference to your sound. More so than pickups, like for like different guitars or even pedals. They're not the sexiest or even visible part of the rig though so I think people tend to overlook them in favour of other products.
Yes! The Jensen sounds like what a small combo should do. I was surprised, though, at how close the Classic Lead 80 got to the clean sound. I think the Celestions had more clarity, but I preferred the "low-fi" of the Jensen better.
The cleans are great but they can't handle any overdrive. Had to trade my Princeton out for a special edition with a creamback to stabalize things. Made a huge difference
@@jsauce311 am thinking I may need to try a creamback in my blues junior. Beautiful cleans but not great with overdrive (from the amp or pedals). Which version are you using in your new Princeton?
2 decades ago I had the Line 6 red bean. I noticed that the speaker/cab options made more of a difference on the tone than did the amp selections. I.e. amp A and amp B sounded more alike with the same cab selection while the same amp with different speaker/cab sims sounded way different. I asked around about it, but at that time a lot of people weren’t really hip to it. Now we know better.
Celestion Cream back!! Those are in the Fender Tone Master Blond Deluxe and I have really liked that speaker. (Warm with mid/bass tone). Its completely different than the Eminence Tone King 33 in my Tone King which I also love as well for different reasons (brighter and cleaner).
This! I did a Fromel mod on a Fender HRD and the Celestion Creamback and it is just incredible. I get warmer, thicker, and rounder vibe out of a noiseless pickup Tele than my buddy does with a PRS and stock Fender amp.
In the Tone Master there is probably the Creamback Neo in it. I have both, one Marshall flavoured in my Astoria cab and I put the Neo version into the bass breaker cabinet. I am pleased with both of them.
Funny...I got a TK Imperial last week...yesterday I replaced the Em33 speaker with the CreamBack M65 because my son's Hamstead uses it and it sounds amazing. Well, it also warmed and broadened the tone on my TK... I love it!
Gosh well done for using loops, it really helps the comparison, though I know some folks don’t like the repetitive nature of the thing - which is the point! And well done for the direct back-to-back too.
Yup they really do! I put a V30 Anniversary Edition and e Creamback H in my 2x12 Marshall Cabinet. They're now both broken in and they sound fantastic!
I've been considering swapping the Seventy80 in my amp for something else and have been watching a lot of speaker comparisons. My takeaways: Most speakers tend to sound pretty similar when played clean, the biggest differences are found with how they handle higher gain. Most differences between speakers can be compensated for by adjusting the equalization, especially with say a multiband EQ pedal or dedicated EQ. The Celestion Classic Lead had the most differences from the other speakers, which makes sense since they are intended for a specialized purpose as opposed to being general purpose all around speakers. I would have liked for the Greenback to have been included in this comparison, since along with the Classic Lead it has the most distinctive frequency response curve, but in a very different direction with a rolled off high end instead of a bumped midrange. Thanks for the video.
Dirtier tones definitely show up more differences as a listener, particularly because the envelope of each note exhibits less tonal change so it’s easier to lock onto the effects from changing the speaker. Regarding the frequency response curves, I need to find out if they’re static white/pink noise measurements or swept chirps because the latter won’t show the addition of harmonic distortion whilst the former will - and guitar speakers have a lot of harmonic distortion!
Swapped mine for a Mojotone British Vintage 30 (60w version). Great difference.. Difference is also very noticeable in the room VS youtube videos. It's Mojotone's version of a Greenback basically. It totally opened up my amp.
Purchased a Hotrod deluxe IV a few years back loaded with a A-Type. Was really impressed by the speaker. Ran my other amps through it to see if it was just the Hotrod in general but they all sounded better through the A-Type. Non harsh highs, tight low end and loud.
I found that a g12 65 creamback helped my hotrod deluxe especially with distorted tones to use as a pedal platform but it was an early 2000s model so it didnt have the A type which mightve been enough
I put an A-Type into a Traynor YCV-40 (which from what I've read is a HRD copy) and there was a huge improvement. Highs were tamed down and low end tighter than compared what was stock.
Really useful video chaps. Wow what a difference they all make. Maybe we don’t all need two amps, just one amp out to two cabs with different speakers.👍
Thank you for this informative video. As all the comments show, the choice of a speaker is a very personal decision. I would like to add another factor: One and the same speaker will sound different in a different enclosure - which makes the choice even more difficult.
Fricker has proven this several times over on SMG. However, he was more concerned with just outright metal tones rather than clean and slight overdrive. Nice video and well worth at least a listen for the sound tests
Glenn has shown this. But nobody would ever deny it made a difference. However, his view it's ALL that matters is just wrong. Pickups do matter! A lot of things all add to tone but pickups and speakers most because it's the input and output in the system. Fricker just won't hear that pickups do make a difference and has already changed his view from "doesn't matter" to "doesn't matter for metal". He says the speaker gives thenoutput so its what matters. Of course. But the pickups send the signal to the speaker from string vibration so they have the same value in the loop and therefore matter.
Guitarists and pickup manufacturers hate him for calling the makers out on their bullshit and also he is trying to save people from pissing away money on stupid shit that is not needed to change tone
Very informative video ... thanks for the comparison guys! The ironic thing is that we are all listening to this speaker comparison on different speakers.😂
One thing I will say for iPhone speakers (and many other small phone/tablet/laptop speakers) is that if listened to at lower levels they’re actually remarkably consistent and revealing in the midrange. The lows are hopeless and the highs are hit and miss but where most of your guitar tone is, these silly little speakers are actually pretty honest!
I concur with what most people have already written. It's probably the most important Factor when it comes to guitar sound, even before Amp and Pickups. The same amp and pickup combo WILL sound different trough different speakers.
Excellent demonstration! I swapped out a couple Celestions and Electro Voice and JBL’s in my Deluxe Reverb. I prefer Celestion but can’t tell much difference between various Celestions. Re: greenback, Creamback, Vintage 30, etc.
Yes you can get a Cream Back in different versions, but they are very different speakers, and they do not at all sound like the G12-65 Cream Back. I liked the G12-65 Cream Back the best, and maybe Jensen C12N as number 2, but maybe Pete are right, that it does not keep up, when played louder. But I wish you would mute his mic when the Captain is speaking. The term ´Shut up, and play your guitar´ fits soooo good on him.
I swapped the V30 in my Carvin V3 combo amp to a Cannabis Rex to tame the sizzle/fizz. Transducers (pickups, speakers, mics) have a HUGE effect on tone. They could have had similar results swapping out the mics or even just changing mic position. It's great fun experimenting with this stuff using amp sim software and/or modelers. It was interesting that the gained up tones showed more differences between speakers than the clean sounds.
Listening on my studio system, I definitely prefer the V30 most followed closely by the Creamback. I personally didn’t think the V30 was very similar to the Jenson, but that could be a result of the recording process.
Y'all are kidding, right? Nothing about a guitar amp makes more of a difference than the speaker. Some of the best audio advice I ever got was, "Spend your money on the transducers; they're the only thing in the building that actually make a sound." For those that don't know, a transducer is a device that turns acoustical energy into electrical energy or vice versa; the type of transducer that turns electrical energy into something you can hear is called a speaker.
Especially once you start saturating the signal. Clean, though, the differences are much more subtle and what is contributing to the tone seems to be more evenly spread out up and down the line. To be fair, Glen's channel is metal-centric so cleans aren't a concern for him.
To my ears, the Creamback and Vintage 30 were the best 'all rounders'. They seemed to offer a balanced sound across all three sound clips. The Jensen was great right across the board. The Hempback was ok but didn't wow me and my least favourite was the Lead 80.
Totally agree with your call, I thought the Creamback and the V30 sounded more open, less compressed... I could argue the call on the Hempback- I might rate it higher up on the list (probably 4th)- but, other than that, I share your views. I was surprised at some of Pete's & Lee's comments at the end, since I did not hear some of the things they said- most probably owing to TH-cam compression? I am listening through my stereo (Arcam 5.1, KEF speakers) so some of their final comments on tonality surprised me a bit, especially regarding the similarities between the Jensen & the V30- so I had to backtrack and listen to again a few times, finding the Jensen sounded a bit more compressed. It could also come down to personal preferences, I guess.
Excellent and really well done. imho, the mic and preamp (any) really put a sound contour of their own to the overall sound making the speakers sound more the same than they really are. This is why you thoughts on anything you demo is so valuable, because the recordings, as scientific as you can be, only tell part of the story. Again, very well done.
Speakers can make such a big difference, even between say a 12 and 10 inch version of the same speaker. I own 22 different replacement speakers for this reason. Celestion, Jensen, Warehouse Guitar Speakers (WGS) , Eminence. Love mixing a couple in a 2x12 cab and also mixing a 12 with a 10 inch.
I have a variety of speakers in my studio and in my experience the speaker cab has more impact on tone than wood, pickups, and tubes. I had been toying with the idea of swapping the neo creamback in my tonemaster, and after viewing this i'm going to shop Jensens.
I love my vintage 30’s in my 1998 Trace Elliot Supertramp Twin Reverb. Obviously they are 25 years old and they are British made not Chinese (that seems to matter to some people). I just love the mid drive they have while playing live and recording. You just can’t beat them, in my opinion. You do say Celestion V30 are what they are known for, but have only been around since the 80’s. Made for the higher gain scene that was evolving. They have been making speakers a lot longer then that. Great video and reinforced to me that celestion make the best speakers.
When I 1st purchased my Fender twin reverb amp with Jensen speakers I hated the sound it was terrible and ear piercing. I then swapped out the Jensen speaker for a celestian V30 and it sounds amazing the best amp I've ever heard better than my Marshall's and my hiwatt.
For my entire 30+ years of playing guitar, I have always played "American" style amps with Celestion speakers. Even the British amps I've played over the years have actually been based on Fender designs, but still with Celestion speakers. My current main guitar amp is a Mesa/Boogie F-50 with a Celestion Vintage 30.
Holy crap, the first comparison was night and day different (Jensen vs Celestion) while the next, with the Les Paul loop, I couldn't hear much variation. Loved the Classic Lead 80 also. The Hempback sounded hi-fi, cool! Great demo.
I liked the Jensen most in all comparisons here. Just sounded "right". I think of the speaker/cab thing like this: a big cab like 4x12 got more lowmid/bass inherent; if you want similar sound with a 2x12 or 1x12 you oughta have a speaker that have subdued upper mids/treble or massive low mid/bass; I think the former is what's easiest achieved. But you still want to have enough upper mid/treble to have a reasonable clear tone. Then, as we can hear in this comparison, it's also the "voicing" of the speaker to take into account; this is not easily seen from frequency curves, it's more complex than that.
I have a favorite jazzy amp Harley Benton Mosfet Lead, and it has a Celestion G12T-100: so tons of headroom and really warm tones! I was REAL surprised it being a cheap amp and all!
I bought a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 36 Combo from Anderton's 4 years ago, It was my first valve amp and i was very excited. But, when i first played it at home, i was very dissapointed. The sound was terrible (to my ears, of course): it was thin and spikey. The clean channel was lifeless and sounded horrible with pedals. Crunch and Lead channel were a little better, but not as good as i was expecting. It was loaded with a Celestion Vintage 30. I tried to sell the amp a few times. Then i decided to change the spealer for a Celestion G12H-75 Creamback. The result was incredible. The clean channel sounded way better, not incredibly good but better. Both the Crunch and Lead channels were amazing!!. A very rich tone, beautifull overdriven sound and very defined. Yes, the speaker can make a huge difference. Great video guys. Best wishes from Spain!!.
I LOVE the alnico blue in my Vox. Was a bit harsh until I broke it in. But wow, it sings! Honorable mentions for me (dont have much experience with many others) would for sure be the greenback, and cannibus rex. Creambacks are cool too!
Yeah the blues nave to be broken in. I love the greenback in my vox cos it never has to be, but as far as this comparison goes that hemp is up there with the blue, its definitely got the vox sparkle.
I agree with Pete.. listening to them on headphones I preferred the sound of the Jenson..I just liked the sound I'd get at low volume.. I'm using an old Celestion Century neo..and it's the sound I like..it's so subjective though..and difficult not to get ear fatigue... Anyway good work gents 👍
@@HamzaJamzaFamza they are about 15 years old.. they were in a 2 x12 cab made by Ameson in the UK. One is in a Delux reverb clone made by Emprize... & it sounds pretty amazing... Well at least to me anyway..
I just loaded a Celestion Neo Dog, which is identical to the Celestion Century "Vintage" Neo, into my Blues Junior.... It's unreal how good it is! Shame they don't make them anymore, however, I watched a video at some point where it's compared to a Neo Creamback that they currently have, and it's hardly any different at all, well, on the TH-cam video at least. Glad I decided to try a Celestion Neo! Thanks! @@robertmaustin4045
I was listening to this via a Schitt Audio Magni Heretic, Modi DAC, and Beyer Dynamic dt770 headphones. I preferred the Jensen and the Vintage 30. I put a Jensen C8N in my Bugera V5 and it sounds great.
I swapped out the Vintage 30 in my Mesa Boogie Recto combo with a Celestion G-12 Neo (Neodymium magnet) and didn't detect anything audibly different than when a brand new speaker is a little tight and needs broken in... but my SHOULDER noticed that the combo was nearly 10 Pounds (over 4 kg) LIGHTER! Love LOVE that speaker! ☮❤🎶
To my ears (listening on Adam A5X monitors), the A-Type sounds similar to the Jensen but with a little more high end extension. The Creamback has less upper mids but more top, the Classic Lead and V30 are much more mid-focused, and the Hempback is smoother in the high end. For cleans, the Hempback was the clear winner for me, but for the dirty sounds it's a much tougher call; I'd probably agree with Pete and go for the Creamback. I have Greenbacks and Creamback Neos in my cabs and combos, and nothing here is persuading me to switch, although I'd definitely like to try a Hempback. I'd love to have heard a V-Type and a Copperback in the mix, although I appreciate you can only demo what's in stock. Also worth noting that speakers do break in and become a bit smoother over time.
I have to attest that while I feel that Jensen and many other speaker manufacturers make very fine and usable speakers, my Celestion G10, which was put into a special run by Fender of the Super Champ is just really really excellent. The SC is a 15 watt and I have been thinking of moving up in literal size and power, but when I demo the available replacements, they cannot match the sweetness that I get out of that G10. I know it's the speaker because I've also demoed other Super Champs with a variety of speakers. Oh well, it just looks like I'm stuck with it.
I clearly remember my Dad's original 1956 Fender Super amp...it had an original pair of Jensen gold foil 10" speakers in it's tweed covered pine box! They had such the sweetest sound with extreme definition when playing clean through them....compared to 12" greenbacks in a closed back 4 by 12!!! So....alnico magnet 10" speakers (Jensens') sounded REALLY different than the ceramic magnet 12" speakers (Celestions greenbacks)!!! Massive difference. The Jensen's had that classic Eric Clapton "White Room" and "Strange Brew" tone to the "T" !!!
Yes, yes it does. c: I have a Marshall mr1936 with g12t75, swapped them for g12h30 and I've never looked back. Couldn't eq my amp the way I wanted with the 75s. As soon as I tried the new speakers, I knew I found what I was looking for.
Creamback for me. I had a blues junior 4 with the A type, and it really is a good speaker. I like the balance in the creamback better though. Maybe the Jensen or V30 would cut through better for overdriven tones in a mix
Great video guys, Going to replace the Cannibis Rex in the tolex jr I have. Creamback all the way. and you know the way sometimes a guitar video demo the player will have like all their pedals on some vintage Dumbl and be like , this is an awesome sounding guitar. and you cant even hear the pickups, just the rig. Your video however is uber proper with the a/b switch thru the same pre and a loop too for consistency. most excellent got skillz
Great video thanks for all the work. The Katana video came out right after I bought the amp. I watched that one and now this one. To the "casual" listener (non musicians, what they sound like in a mix, what your amp sounds like after playing it for over 10 hours) Celestions pretty much sound the same and you will get closer, when you EQ them a tad. What I would like to see is a Jensen, Celestion, JBL.... other speaker mfg comparison. Are they all pretty much the same like a Gibson, SD, Dimarzio.....vintage PAF pickup??
You can’t actually do as much as you might think with EQ because EQ only changes the steady state frequency response - it can’t change the harmonic distortion, transient or dynamic response, or polar response. In the studio or miced on stage you can do a lot with mic, mic position and the rest of the signal chain but if you’re hearing the speaker in the room with a band you’re tied much more closely to what the speaker really sounds like.
You should showcase the Celestion G15v-100. I have a cab with two in and it is THE sound I've always been looking for. Like a greenback.... but BIGGER 😁
Acquired 20 + years ago a pair of celestion g12h pre rola speakers (the hendrix one) taken from a 4x12 cab where the other 2 where damaged for £25 each and made a 2 x 12 cab half open back and they sounded absolutley amazing with a marshall dsl can't believe how ridiculous prices have recently gone to though killer speakers though 👍
I watched the video where you swapped out the speaker in the Katana as I was looking to change speakers in one of my practice amps. I was leaning towards the Celestion Creamback 12", but after your video I ordered the Boss Katana 100 watt MK 2. I love it! Thank you. You've also convinced me to get the Tone City "Sweet Cream". Also a great choice. Thanks again.
I think the right test would be....repeat this exactly but with the volume on 9. Then we could see if any of these are actually an improvement on where that amp seems to fall a bit short. Great video!! I loved the amp, but where the other speakers would show up is if you began to push them. Then you would know if it was the Jensen speaker or the Tubes that make it flubb out when it gets cooking.
That lead 80 sounds really good. It had the V30 attack but a but higher up. That jensen has a really nice tone too, super mellow. Creamback was pretty mellow too. I expected the hemp to be mellow, but it was really the opposite. Super scooped and clacky highs. That A-type had no highs and sounded like it has the flu.
The A-Type’s response is tailored (like many “American” sounding speakers) to mellow out the much brighter highs from the Fender tone stack vs the Marshall tone stack.
Excellent comparison video - about as good as it gets! As far as these are concerned i also liked the Creamback. For my Blues Junior IV (also tweed) I use an external 1x12 cab with the Celestion Alnico Blue , but as mentioned its not a good fit. But it was worth it in every way. Plus, for studio use its more versatile to have it that way.
Surprised how much I like that Jensen. It's got a vibe ... hard to describe in words ... just sounds beautiful. Great video.
Very Hendrix with a bit of Snoopy "Joe Cool".
Whenever the Jensen comes on I'm like, "yup, that's it"...Surprised how much I like it.
Jensen hands down. Sweetest cleans by a mile. Dirty I could go for any of them eckspecially the v30 but still favor the Jensen most for dirty too. The hempback was surprisingly good. Still I can't believe how much more I liked the Jensen than anything else. WAY more.
I agree, but I bet a Jensen P10R-F would sound even better. I tried a bunch of speakers in a Brownface Princeton, including a C12N and the P10R-F (with a baffle adapter) was the winner for me. Less massive low end and sweeter overall. Sounds great at low volume too.
The creambacks are still my favourite, lovely sounding things and just get better with every vid I see.
I haven’t seen anyone commenting on this and neither did I hear you hosts say anything about it, but to me it seems that if you originally set the tone and played the loops with the Jensen speaker, that has an advantage in sounding more balanced for these loops. Many of the Celestions sounded brighter and perhaps too bright for this application (yes, Pete), but were the tone set and the loops played with a brighter speaker, the Jensen might sound dark in comparison. Wonderful video, I have no complaints, just a note on tone comparisons.
I’ll save everyone 37 minutes. The answer is yes.
Exactly.
Let people watch. We all know this. But maybe they find the speaker they like.
sucessful title sucessful comment😂
😂
💯🎯
You have completely SOLD me on the notion that changing the speaker makse such an insignificant difference that I'm good with that I've got. The really best way to demonstrate any of these comparison vids is to put it in a live band scenario. COULD you tell any difference when you're blending with a bass and a drummer? Dream on.
Swapping the vintage 30 for a greenback in my 1x12 closed back cab made all the difference! Zilla cabs does some really great sound comparison videos to help decide!
I have a greenback and mine as well. Love the sound of the greenback
@@jvannatt the worst thing is when they place tubes too close to a speaker magnet. No good for either. Also with modelling amps, I think it might be best to stick with stock speakers ?
@@vincentl.9469 Did you see the Katana video? The stock speaker sounded the best. Lee liked the Jensen the best in this video.
@@steveeckert8396 I think quite often the differences are very slight
Speakers make a big difference, as do the Mics and their location. The Amp (head), Guitar, Wood, Pickups, Pots, Caps, etc. make less difference.
In a Modeler, swapping Speakers and Mics makes it easy to find the sound that makes the rest of the gear in the signal chain sound good.
Speakers make more difference than actual amps, IMO. 3 different amps going through the same cab sounds more similar to me than 1 amp going through 3 different cabs.
This was probably meant as a Celestion ad, but all it did is just proove Jensen is better.
Thanks for the video!
I’ve had a Princeton with a Jensen ck12 in it for two years now. The first year I spent scratching my head thinking it could be better and spending far too much time researching this rabbit hole.
In the the end, I couldn’t make a decision so I kept it. People have commented on how good it sounds and besides, if I get a new speaker, I have to wait until it’s worn in until I can properly compare the two and by then I can’t remember how the original sounded and sod it. The original is more than good enough!
Awesome comparison guys!! All the Celestion had their own flavor but honestly the Jensen is just a flavor you can love and work with forever. It just sounds right and can be eq’d to work in any mix. Jensen is like the ns-10 in studio flat and translates
NS-10s are anything but flat but have a distinct mid range hump,- like a treble booster for speakers,- that´s why they are good for producing vocals,- but don´t ever do the final mix on them.
They also have the NS-10 sterile sound indeed, those speakers sound horrible for listen music, but are meant to be for mix and mastering, but guitar land is another story, I would never put a guitar neither instruments on the yamahas
I liked the Jensen the most. It seemed the most versatile. Then again with my hearing loss I may not be picking up the treble issue. The Vintage 30 would be my favorite among the Celestions. Thanks for the video!
I completely agree, the Jensen is surprisingly good and very versatile, but out of the Celestions, I also preferred the vintage 30
In my opinion, it's what matters the most, specially old speakers
only because they're broken in. Almost every speaker manufacturer accounts for that in new speakers today. The "old speakers are better" myth hasn't been a thing since the 90s.
Agreed
@@j.r.g3548 break-in is an interesting thing with guitar speakers - I’m thinking we should get three identical drivers, test them briefly to make sure they do sound identical, and then put one through a normal break-in process (so the surround is loosened up like on a speaker that’s a few gigs old) and put another through a much more intense process to simulate an old speaker, and then compare the three. I’m v curious!
@@j.r.g3548 Better is subjective, but hell they are different. A lot of it is wear, some of it is inconsistency just take the v30 its not even that old and so many of them sound different. All the different cone manufacturers made a huge difference.
I wish Peavey sold their speakers separately. Years ago, I had a Peavey Classic 2x12 with 2x 35 watt Scorpion speakers. When I plugged my 100 watt Marshall into the Peavey speakers it transformed the tone for the better, compared to the greenbacks I had. Sweeter top end, tighter bottom end, midrange had lovely vocal quality. Got a really sweet high harmonic bleed through on bends. Gorgeous.
Finally THE comparison between the C12N and the A-Type! Thanks guys!
I thought the Jenson by itself sounded the best of all. But I think Pete is right, the Celestions are better for band settings because of the midrange. I liked the creamback for cleans and V30 for distortion. I prefer v30s overall. Great vid as usual.
V30s paired with Creamback M65s is the best drive tone ever.
Depends what kind of band it is. Are you playing in a lour rockband yes. Are you playing in a jazztrio I'd get the jensen.
The jensen speaker is just perfect for these applications. Classic lead and v30 are also cool
The Jensen i liked most.
Jensen has the classic sound. Old school is the best school.
i like the jenson too
@@bradc32 i use jensen and celestion, and some other brands and i have 1 eminence for special reason. All i can say, the celestions are more of the one-trick-pony than the jensen, my most flexible speakers are the fender special design (no eminence, must be some chinese cheapies.)
I think the closest Celestion match to the Jensen would have been the G12-65 Heritage.
Creamback all the way for me. Chiming cleans and clear overdrive. I can see why the V30 is so popular for hard-rock and metal though, there's a bite to the upper-mids when dirty that would cut through really well in a mix or on stage.
Great comparison video chaps. I really liked the Jensen it's tough to beat for Fender clean tones.
The Celestion Vintage 30 stood out to me on all loops.
I'll take two. ✌😃
Over 45 years I’ve tried everything, American and British speakers in different configuration cabinets, I believe the Celestine Gold are the best sounding speakers I’ve ever heard, crisp chime to creamy crunch, it’s rich and complex it’s among the most expensive they make but worth it.
Agreed,the Alnico Cream is even better!
Yep +1 for the alnico cream. Best speaker, can do everything, it's blue flavoured but better and more power handling.
@@RG-yz8ov exactly
My two go to speakers for Fender, Marshall or Vox are Greenbacks and/or V-Types. They just work for me, especially when blended.
the more I listened the more I liked the Jensen it had a character I felt the creamback is a really nice all-rounder feel like it'd go well in many amps cool vid man I love it
Tele Clean
27:47 Jensen C12N
28:07 Celestion A Type
28:28 Creamback
28:49 Lead 80
29:10 Vintage 30
29:31 Hemp back
LP Clean
29:52: Jensen C12N
39:09 A Type
30:26 Creamback
30:43 Classic Lead 80
31:00 Vintage 30
31:17 Hempback
LP Dirty
31:35: Jensen C12N
31:47 A Type
31:59 Creamback
32:11 Classic Lead
32:24 Vintage 30
32:36 Hempback
I have been putting celestion speakers in my fender amps for years. I have always thought they were a match made in heaven. I’m a big fan of the G12H30 especially in the 55hz variety in them
The G12H30-55Hz has a very strong peak right in the most harsh 3-3.5kHz range. The Weber Ceramic 1230-55 with the cloth surround is considerably less harsh, but still has an open high end. You can choose the power and some other options. I think the 100W has an Aluminum voice coil that makes it sound like the 30W. It's a very flat speaker out to 5.5kHz, and rolls off gently from there. The wider voice coil Weber California is also a great Fender amp speaker with tight deep bass, fast mids, and just a little more in the harsh range. Both also come in expensive AlNiCo versions. I'd go with AlNiCo for the California. You might prefer the Ceramic1230-55. It's really nice.
Celestion g12h30 55hz mixed with a Celestion alnico blue 2x12 👌
I had never heard of nor heard the Hempback before, but I think it might be my favorite here. To my ear, it seems to be the most crisp and clear while retaining the low end and not sounding too harsh in the top end.
It sounded smooth. I'd like to hear one in person.
Would love to a selection of Jensens. I think the Jensen wins over all Celestions. Always the same.
GREAT video concept, guys! 👍👍
I just replaced the speaker on my new Tone King Imperial with Cream Back M65 and WOW.......but....the Jensen here was just as nice. hmmmmm. My Blue Jr has the Eminence TREx...nice but it sounds small compared to the TKing with Em33 and especially with CB65's.
if the Greenback is a tight fit the plastic magnet cover is only for cosmetic reasons and can be removed with some effort it's held on with some very good double-sided tape. I had this problem on the Marshall Bassbreaker 15w amp got in touch with celestion and they gave me the ok to remove the plastic cover.
I have two V30 and two A-Type in the 4x12 Redseven cab that I primarily use; the A-Type are so good, both in clean and overdrive, they fit very well in the mix and they complete the lacks of the V30's. I love them!
I've discovered recently that speakers are arguably the part of your setup which will make the most significant difference to your sound. More so than pickups, like for like different guitars or even pedals. They're not the sexiest or even visible part of the rig though so I think people tend to overlook them in favour of other products.
Fully agree
and tubes
True. I've been getting into IRs and speakers a lot. Nothing makes a bigger difference than speaker other than mic position/distance maybe.
I liked the stock Jensen overall the most, particularly for clean.
I was also going to comment on how well it did. It's a good sound overall I thought. As you say particularly for that nice Fender clean sound.
Yes! The Jensen sounds like what a small combo should do. I was surprised, though, at how close the Classic Lead 80 got to the clean sound. I think the Celestions had more clarity, but I preferred the "low-fi" of the Jensen better.
The cleans are great but they can't handle any overdrive. Had to trade my Princeton out for a special edition with a creamback to stabalize things. Made a huge difference
@@jsauce311 am thinking I may need to try a creamback in my blues junior. Beautiful cleans but not great with overdrive (from the amp or pedals). Which version are you using in your new Princeton?
It’s almost like fender did some experimentation on what speaker sounded the best.
2 decades ago I had the Line 6 red bean. I noticed that the speaker/cab options made more of a difference on the tone than did the amp selections. I.e. amp A and amp B sounded more alike with the same cab selection while the same amp with different speaker/cab sims sounded way different. I asked around about it, but at that time a lot of people weren’t really hip to it. Now we know better.
Celestion Cream back!! Those are in the Fender Tone Master Blond Deluxe and I have really liked that speaker. (Warm with mid/bass tone). Its completely different than the Eminence Tone King 33 in my Tone King which I also love as well for different reasons (brighter and cleaner).
This! I did a Fromel mod on a Fender HRD and the Celestion Creamback and it is just incredible. I get warmer, thicker, and rounder vibe out of a noiseless pickup Tele than my buddy does with a PRS and stock Fender amp.
In the Tone Master there is probably the Creamback Neo in it. I have both, one Marshall flavoured in my Astoria cab and I put the Neo version into the bass breaker cabinet. I am pleased with both of them.
Funny...I got a TK Imperial last week...yesterday I replaced the Em33 speaker with the CreamBack M65 because my son's Hamstead uses it and it sounds amazing. Well, it also warmed and broadened the tone on my TK... I love it!
Very good review and comparison. I'll keep the Jensen in my Tweed Blues Junior
Gosh well done for using loops, it really helps the comparison, though I know some folks don’t like the repetitive nature of the thing - which is the point! And well done for the direct back-to-back too.
The Creamback is definitely my favorite the way it sounds thru my computer. Suggestion would be to do this with a British style amp.
Yup they really do! I put a V30 Anniversary Edition and e Creamback H in my 2x12 Marshall Cabinet. They're now both broken in and they sound fantastic!
I've been considering swapping the Seventy80 in my amp for something else and have been watching a lot of speaker comparisons. My takeaways: Most speakers tend to sound pretty similar when played clean, the biggest differences are found with how they handle higher gain. Most differences between speakers can be compensated for by adjusting the equalization, especially with say a multiband EQ pedal or dedicated EQ. The Celestion Classic Lead had the most differences from the other speakers, which makes sense since they are intended for a specialized purpose as opposed to being general purpose all around speakers. I would have liked for the Greenback to have been included in this comparison, since along with the Classic Lead it has the most distinctive frequency response curve, but in a very different direction with a rolled off high end instead of a bumped midrange. Thanks for the video.
Dirtier tones definitely show up more differences as a listener, particularly because the envelope of each note exhibits less tonal change so it’s easier to lock onto the effects from changing the speaker. Regarding the frequency response curves, I need to find out if they’re static white/pink noise measurements or swept chirps because the latter won’t show the addition of harmonic distortion whilst the former will - and guitar speakers have a lot of harmonic distortion!
Swapped mine for a Mojotone British Vintage 30 (60w version). Great difference.. Difference is also very noticeable in the room VS youtube videos. It's Mojotone's version of a Greenback basically. It totally opened up my amp.
Purchased a Hotrod deluxe IV a few years back loaded with a A-Type. Was really impressed by the speaker. Ran my other amps through it to see if it was just the Hotrod in general but they all sounded better through the A-Type. Non harsh highs, tight low end and loud.
Yeah I got an A type years ago. Great little speaker!
I found that a g12 65 creamback helped my hotrod deluxe especially with distorted tones to use as a pedal platform but it was an early 2000s model so it didnt have the A type which mightve been enough
I put an A-Type into a Traynor YCV-40 (which from what I've read is a HRD copy) and there was a huge improvement. Highs were tamed down and low end tighter than compared what was stock.
I like the Jensen in my 65 deluxe reverb. I want my Fender to sound like the original fenders. Love the sound.
Really useful video chaps. Wow what a difference they all make. Maybe we don’t all need two amps, just one amp out to two cabs with different speakers.👍
Saludos desde México. Concuerdo totalmente. Tono americano (jensen) britanico (greenback)
really liked the hempback and the creamback in this comparison. 👍
Thank you for this informative video. As all the comments show, the choice of a speaker is a very personal decision. I would like to add another factor: One and the same speaker will sound different in a different enclosure - which makes the choice even more difficult.
And also style of music to be played or context also has a huge impact. It’s all subjective
really interesting to hear how similar they are when clean and how much the differences come out when pushed.
Fricker has proven this several times over on SMG. However, he was more concerned with just outright metal tones rather than clean and slight overdrive. Nice video and well worth at least a listen for the sound tests
Fricker is so annoyingly right I think everyone hates him, especially pickup manufacturers ;-)
Glenn has shown this. But nobody would ever deny it made a difference. However, his view it's ALL that matters is just wrong. Pickups do matter! A lot of things all add to tone but pickups and speakers most because it's the input and output in the system. Fricker just won't hear that pickups do make a difference and has already changed his view from "doesn't matter" to "doesn't matter for metal".
He says the speaker gives thenoutput so its what matters. Of course. But the pickups send the signal to the speaker from string vibration so they have the same value in the loop and therefore matter.
@@AvACyberSecurity Pickups definitely matter.
@mofomartian Couldn't agree more! Glenn Fricker however can't entertain the idea that they do.
Guitarists and pickup manufacturers hate him for calling the makers out on their bullshit and also he is trying to save people from pissing away money on stupid shit that is not needed to change tone
I’d like to see a shoot out of all the Princeton models and speakers. Would be cool for me. Wanting to get another for a stereo deal.
Very informative video ... thanks for the comparison guys! The ironic thing is that we are all listening to this speaker comparison on different speakers.😂
One thing I will say for iPhone speakers (and many other small phone/tablet/laptop speakers) is that if listened to at lower levels they’re actually remarkably consistent and revealing in the midrange. The lows are hopeless and the highs are hit and miss but where most of your guitar tone is, these silly little speakers are actually pretty honest!
I concur with what most people have already written. It's probably the most important Factor when it comes to guitar sound, even before Amp and Pickups. The same amp and pickup combo WILL sound different trough different speakers.
My Twin Reverb with Jensen’s is the greatest sounding amp I own, and I own more than one.
These also never get old.
Excellent demonstration!
I swapped out a couple Celestions and Electro Voice and JBL’s in my Deluxe Reverb.
I prefer Celestion but can’t tell much difference between various Celestions. Re: greenback, Creamback, Vintage 30, etc.
Yes you can get a Cream Back in different versions, but they are very different speakers, and they do not at all sound like the G12-65 Cream Back.
I liked the G12-65 Cream Back the best, and maybe Jensen C12N as number 2, but maybe Pete are right, that it does not keep up, when played
louder. But I wish you would mute his mic when the Captain is speaking. The term ´Shut up, and play your guitar´ fits soooo good on him.
Managed to get a Celestion Blue Back in my Fender Blues Junior Tweed, its tricky but can be done, sounds awesome.
I swapped the V30 in my Carvin V3 combo amp to a Cannabis Rex to tame the sizzle/fizz. Transducers (pickups, speakers, mics) have a HUGE effect on tone. They could have had similar results swapping out the mics or even just changing mic position. It's great fun experimenting with this stuff using amp sim software and/or modelers. It was interesting that the gained up tones showed more differences between speakers than the clean sounds.
I've recently been thinking about swapping the speakers in my Laney 2x12 Cub-Super, so I'm glad this video came up.
The Celestion Alnico Gold in my Orange TH30 sounds killer.
Years ago back in mid eighties to early ninties, I had a Marshall open back combo with Vintage 30. Was my dirty sound.
Listening on my studio system, I definitely prefer the V30 most followed closely by the Creamback. I personally didn’t think the V30 was very similar to the Jenson, but that could be a result of the recording process.
Y'all are kidding, right? Nothing about a guitar amp makes more of a difference than the speaker. Some of the best audio advice I ever got was, "Spend your money on the transducers; they're the only thing in the building that actually make a sound." For those that don't know, a transducer is a device that turns acoustical energy into electrical energy or vice versa; the type of transducer that turns electrical energy into something you can hear is called a speaker.
Jensen C12N the best by far, especially in the rock n roll sample !!!!!!
Yes as @SpectreSoundStudios
has taught us. Speakers make the MAIN difference in your tone more than anything else.
Especially once you start saturating the signal. Clean, though, the differences are much more subtle and what is contributing to the tone seems to be more evenly spread out up and down the line. To be fair, Glen's channel is metal-centric so cleans aren't a concern for him.
To my ears, the Creamback and Vintage 30 were the best 'all rounders'. They seemed to offer a balanced sound across all three sound clips. The Jensen was great right across the board. The Hempback was ok but didn't wow me and my least favourite was the Lead 80.
Totally agree with your call, I thought the Creamback and the V30 sounded more open, less compressed... I could argue the call on the Hempback- I might rate it higher up on the list (probably 4th)- but, other than that, I share your views. I was surprised at some of Pete's & Lee's comments at the end, since I did not hear some of the things they said- most probably owing to TH-cam compression? I am listening through my stereo (Arcam 5.1, KEF speakers) so some of their final comments on tonality surprised me a bit, especially regarding the similarities between the Jensen & the V30- so I had to backtrack and listen to again a few times, finding the Jensen sounded a bit more compressed. It could also come down to personal preferences, I guess.
Excellent and really well done. imho, the mic and preamp (any) really put a sound contour of their own to the overall sound making the speakers sound more the same than they really are. This is why you thoughts on anything you demo is so valuable, because the recordings, as scientific as you can be, only tell part of the story. Again, very well done.
Speakers can make such a big difference, even between say a 12 and 10 inch version of the same speaker. I own 22 different replacement speakers for this reason. Celestion, Jensen, Warehouse Guitar Speakers (WGS) , Eminence. Love mixing a couple in a 2x12 cab and also mixing a 12 with a 10 inch.
I have a variety of speakers in my studio and in my experience the speaker cab has more impact on tone than wood, pickups, and tubes. I had been toying with the idea of swapping the neo creamback in my tonemaster, and after viewing this i'm going to shop Jensens.
I love my vintage 30’s in my 1998 Trace Elliot Supertramp Twin Reverb. Obviously they are 25 years old and they are British made not Chinese (that seems to matter to some people). I just love the mid drive they have while playing live and recording. You just can’t beat them, in my opinion. You do say Celestion V30 are what they are known for, but have only been around since the 80’s. Made for the higher gain scene that was evolving. They have been making speakers a lot longer then that. Great video and reinforced to me that celestion make the best speakers.
When I 1st purchased my Fender twin reverb amp with Jensen speakers I hated the sound it was terrible and ear piercing. I then swapped out the Jensen speaker for a celestian V30 and it sounds amazing the best amp I've ever heard better than my Marshall's and my hiwatt.
This is the first time I've ever heard a Hempback, and what I'm hearing is very impressive. I'm going to have to look into this one more.
Its funny how timely this is for me. Its like you read my mind again Mr Anderton.
For my entire 30+ years of playing guitar, I have always played "American" style amps with Celestion speakers. Even the British amps I've played over the years have actually been based on Fender designs, but still with Celestion speakers. My current main guitar amp is a Mesa/Boogie F-50 with a Celestion Vintage 30.
Holy crap, the first comparison was night and day different (Jensen vs Celestion) while the next, with the Les Paul loop, I couldn't hear much variation. Loved the Classic Lead 80 also. The Hempback sounded hi-fi, cool! Great demo.
I liked the Jensen most in all comparisons here. Just sounded "right". I think of the speaker/cab thing like this: a big cab like 4x12 got more lowmid/bass inherent; if you want similar sound with a 2x12 or 1x12 you oughta have a speaker that have subdued upper mids/treble or massive low mid/bass; I think the former is what's easiest achieved. But you still want to have enough upper mid/treble to have a reasonable clear tone. Then, as we can hear in this comparison, it's also the "voicing" of the speaker to take into account; this is not easily seen from frequency curves, it's more complex than that.
I have a favorite jazzy amp Harley Benton Mosfet Lead, and it has a Celestion G12T-100: so tons of headroom and really warm tones! I was REAL surprised it being a cheap amp and all!
I bought a Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 36 Combo from Anderton's 4 years ago, It was my first valve amp and i was very excited. But, when i first played it at home, i was very dissapointed. The sound was terrible (to my ears, of course): it was thin and spikey. The clean channel was lifeless and sounded horrible with pedals. Crunch and Lead channel were a little better, but not as good as i was expecting. It was loaded with a Celestion Vintage 30. I tried to sell the amp a few times. Then i decided to change the spealer for a Celestion G12H-75 Creamback. The result was incredible. The clean channel sounded way better, not incredibly good but better. Both the Crunch and Lead channels were amazing!!. A very rich tone, beautifull overdriven sound and very defined. Yes, the speaker can make a huge difference. Great video guys. Best wishes from Spain!!.
I LOVE the alnico blue in my Vox. Was a bit harsh until I broke it in. But wow, it sings! Honorable mentions for me (dont have much experience with many others) would for sure be the greenback, and cannibus rex. Creambacks are cool too!
Yeah the blues nave to be broken in. I love the greenback in my vox cos it never has to be, but as far as this comparison goes that hemp is up there with the blue, its definitely got the vox sparkle.
If you like Vox blues then you’ll love the Celestine golds.
I use a Creamback in my Marshall aand I love it so maybe I'm biased but that was my favorite. Next was the Vintage 30 or the Type-A.
WGS ET65 in my FBJ. Nice. Big upgrade.
Sounds better with drive pedals?
I agree with Pete.. listening to them on headphones I preferred the sound of the Jenson..I just liked the sound I'd get at low volume.. I'm using an old Celestion Century neo..and it's the sound I like..it's so subjective though..and difficult not to get ear fatigue...
Anyway good work gents 👍
Was just considering replacing my Cannabis Rex with a Celestion Century Vintage… how long you had yours in for? Any thoughts?
@@HamzaJamzaFamza they are about 15 years old.. they were in a 2 x12 cab made by Ameson in the UK. One is in a Delux reverb clone made by Emprize... & it sounds pretty amazing... Well at least to me anyway..
I just loaded a Celestion Neo Dog, which is identical to the Celestion Century "Vintage" Neo, into my Blues Junior.... It's unreal how good it is! Shame they don't make them anymore, however, I watched a video at some point where it's compared to a Neo Creamback that they currently have, and it's hardly any different at all, well, on the TH-cam video at least. Glad I decided to try a Celestion Neo! Thanks! @@robertmaustin4045
All the variation. I love it!
Of course, close mic makes the differences so clear, and that’s generally, how we hear guitar sounds.
I was listening to this via a Schitt Audio Magni Heretic, Modi DAC, and Beyer Dynamic dt770 headphones. I preferred the Jensen and the Vintage 30. I put a Jensen C8N in my Bugera V5 and it sounds great.
I swapped out the Vintage 30 in my Mesa Boogie Recto combo with a Celestion G-12 Neo (Neodymium magnet) and didn't detect anything audibly different than when a brand new speaker is a little tight and needs broken in... but my SHOULDER noticed that the combo was nearly 10 Pounds (over 4 kg) LIGHTER! Love LOVE that speaker! ☮❤🎶
Was that the Century neo you swapped to?
@@BarefacedAudio Now that I’m home to double check… Yes, the G-12 Century Vintage Neo with the cooling fins. Great speaker!
I'm late to this show, but for me the best Celestion speaker is the G12H30Anniversary (longest name too) - in most amps its my jam!
To my ears (listening on Adam A5X monitors), the A-Type sounds similar to the Jensen but with a little more high end extension. The Creamback has less upper mids but more top, the Classic Lead and V30 are much more mid-focused, and the Hempback is smoother in the high end. For cleans, the Hempback was the clear winner for me, but for the dirty sounds it's a much tougher call; I'd probably agree with Pete and go for the Creamback. I have Greenbacks and Creamback Neos in my cabs and combos, and nothing here is persuading me to switch, although I'd definitely like to try a Hempback. I'd love to have heard a V-Type and a Copperback in the mix, although I appreciate you can only demo what's in stock. Also worth noting that speakers do break in and become a bit smoother over time.
The differences are so staggering. Especially with gain. Speaker type and size is a huge part of the design
I have to attest that while I feel that Jensen and many other speaker manufacturers make very fine and usable speakers, my Celestion G10, which was put into a special run by Fender of the Super Champ is just really really excellent.
The SC is a 15 watt and I have been thinking of moving up in literal size and power, but when I demo the available replacements, they cannot match the sweetness that I get out of that G10.
I know it's the speaker because I've also demoed other Super Champs with a variety of speakers.
Oh well, it just looks like I'm stuck with it.
I clearly remember my Dad's original 1956 Fender Super amp...it had an original pair of Jensen gold foil 10" speakers in it's tweed covered pine box! They had such the sweetest sound with extreme definition when playing clean through them....compared to 12" greenbacks in a closed back 4 by 12!!! So....alnico magnet 10" speakers (Jensens') sounded REALLY different than the ceramic magnet 12" speakers (Celestions greenbacks)!!! Massive difference. The Jensen's had that classic Eric Clapton "White Room" and "Strange Brew" tone to the "T" !!!
Anyone who’s been around audio engineering for over 5 minutes knows that transducers are the most important pieces of gear: microphones and speakers.
Love these comparisons. Definitely have to try swapping the neo speakers in the Tonemasters.
What do you want to change they for?
Yes, yes it does. c: I have a Marshall mr1936 with g12t75, swapped them for g12h30 and I've never looked back. Couldn't eq my amp the way I wanted with the 75s. As soon as I tried the new speakers, I knew I found what I was looking for.
The 75s are the worst speakers I've ever tried.
The H30 is my favorite speaker I currently own.
Creamback for me. I had a blues junior 4 with the A type, and it really is a good speaker. I like the balance in the creamback better though. Maybe the Jensen or V30 would cut through better for overdriven tones in a mix
Great video guys, Going to replace the Cannibis Rex in the tolex jr I have. Creamback all the way.
and
you know the way sometimes a guitar video demo the player will have like all their pedals on some vintage Dumbl and be like , this is an awesome sounding guitar. and you cant even hear the pickups, just the rig. Your video however is uber proper with the a/b switch thru the same pre and a loop too for consistency. most excellent got skillz
Great video thanks for all the work. The Katana video came out right after I bought the amp. I watched that one and now this one. To the "casual" listener (non musicians, what they sound like in a mix, what your amp sounds like after playing it for over 10 hours) Celestions pretty much sound the same and you will get closer, when you EQ them a tad. What I would like to see is a Jensen, Celestion, JBL.... other speaker mfg comparison. Are they all pretty much the same like a Gibson, SD, Dimarzio.....vintage PAF pickup??
You can’t actually do as much as you might think with EQ because EQ only changes the steady state frequency response - it can’t change the harmonic distortion, transient or dynamic response, or polar response. In the studio or miced on stage you can do a lot with mic, mic position and the rest of the signal chain but if you’re hearing the speaker in the room with a band you’re tied much more closely to what the speaker really sounds like.
You should showcase the Celestion G15v-100. I have a cab with two in and it is THE sound I've always been looking for. Like a greenback.... but BIGGER 😁
Acquired 20 + years ago a pair of celestion g12h pre rola speakers (the hendrix one) taken from a 4x12 cab where the other 2 where damaged for £25 each and made a 2 x 12 cab half open back and they sounded absolutley amazing with a marshall dsl can't believe how ridiculous prices have recently gone to though killer speakers though 👍
I watched the video where you swapped out the speaker in the Katana as I was looking to change speakers in one of my practice amps.
I was leaning towards the Celestion Creamback 12", but after your video I ordered the Boss Katana 100 watt MK 2. I love it! Thank you.
You've also convinced me to get the Tone City "Sweet Cream". Also a great choice. Thanks again.
I think the right test would be....repeat this exactly but with the volume on 9. Then we could see if any of these are actually an improvement on where that amp seems to fall a bit short. Great video!! I loved the amp, but where the other speakers would show up is if you began to push them. Then you would know if it was the Jensen speaker or the Tubes that make it flubb out when it gets cooking.
That lead 80 sounds really good. It had the V30 attack but a but higher up. That jensen has a really nice tone too, super mellow. Creamback was pretty mellow too. I expected the hemp to be mellow, but it was really the opposite. Super scooped and clacky highs. That A-type had no highs and sounded like it has the flu.
The A-Type’s response is tailored (like many “American” sounding speakers) to mellow out the much brighter highs from the Fender tone stack vs the Marshall tone stack.
Excellent comparison video - about as good as it gets! As far as these are concerned i also liked the Creamback. For my Blues Junior IV (also tweed) I use an external 1x12 cab with the Celestion Alnico Blue , but as mentioned its not a good fit. But it was worth it in every way. Plus, for studio use its more versatile to have it that way.
If i were starting a jam band i’d call it The Hempback Wails. 🙄 The Hempback and Creamback both sound gorgeous, maybe i need to get one. 👀