Celestion AlNiCo Ruby: Revisited (Big Tones In Vox AC, Tweed & Plexi Amps)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ต.ค. 2024
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Today, I wanted to take another look at the new(ish) Celestion AlNiCo Ruby speaker. They sent it to me last year to demo alongside their other three premium AlNiCo speakers. But the Ruby is something of a different beast, being a 'warm' and 'mellow' voiced speaker, so in comparison to the other three - and especially in my dark Dr Z DB4 amplifier - it sounded quite honky & muffled.
A couple of you liked it, but the overwhelming majority of you...well, let's just say you weren't fans. But that got me thinking - could I do better? Did I do the Ruby justice?
Psycho-acoustically, our brains perceive brighter sounds as 'better' sounds, so the Ruby was never going to win in a shootout when playing it alongside the other three. And plus, the DB4 is definitely not the right amp for this speaker. So today, I'm going to run it - on its own - in three other (and brighter) amps and EQ them to get some fantastic sounds out of this thing.
What do you think? Huge tones? Great for heavy rhythms? Or still not a fan? Comment below!
Guitars are:
Gronlund R16 Junior w/ TV Jones Ful-Fidelity Filtertron
Homebuild Fender Esquire w/ Monty's Prototype pickup
Gibson Les Paul Studio w/ Bare Knuckle Nantucket HSP90s
Gibson Memphis ES-330 '61 VOS Reissue
Fender Strat w/ Lindy Fralin Real '54s
Gibson Les Paul Custom w/ Monty's PAFs
Gibson Les Paul Standard
Amps recorded with an Aston Spirit Condenser and '70s Sennheiser MD441 Dynamic with a Schoeps CMC6 room mic.
jp@joeperkins.co.uk
Vector images by freepik.com
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Most underrated speakers EVER. Sound super vintage and lofi I LOVE THE RUBY!
Sounds positively glorious. Really really great. Your playing is great for getting the real sounds of these speakers. Love your videos! Great job
Quite a difference, Ruby now sounds like the perfect speaker for any southern rock band.
This speaker seems perfect for a Fender Tweed style amp, especially for some dirty blues-rock kinda tones (Joe Bonamassa, Albert King, Freddie King styles)
Faith in the Ruby restored! Great video and killer tones!
Glad to hear it! :-) Thanks mate
I don't know how the Cornell goes with other speakers, but it sounds divine with this one. And your choices to play were spot on!
I upgraded my Tone King Imperial MK II amp with Ruby Celestion speaker and I love it. Great vintage warmth and nice rounded sound. Great speaker!
I’m interested in doing the same with my MK II. Does it help tame the “edgy” presence of the amp? It’s a great amp, but for me, a bit too bright.
@@markhunter3953 Its exactly what it does!!
Joe Rozmanassa perfect: it’s on my list!
I've come to love the Ruby. I got one when they were relatively new and its floated around several amps without finding a great fit. I think it shines with other speakers. It now lives in a 212 cab where it will stay. I've found that its character is fairly unique but it does blend well with and compliments a variety of speakers. It's currently with a G12 35XC and run with a Friedman amp and sounds excellent.
Sounds like a Jensen alnico to me but with better high end, definitely has a place but definitely not a celestial blue.
The Celestion Gold needs to be well broken in (at least 15-20 hours of LOUD playing) before the top end relaxes and melds beautifully with distortions like the DS-1. Before breaking in fully, it does sound harsher on the higher frequencies.
The best combination I've found is in a vertical 2x12 cab with a Celestion Gold or Blue up top and a Creamback or Vintage 30 below. Amazing for cleans / semi-driven and heavier tones with lots of clarity and low end coupling.
Cheers for the demo Joe 🙆✌
The Gold at the end of this video is about 6 years old :-)
Gold + V30 would be an ace combo!!
I agree. I put a Gold with a Creamback75 to thicken up the highs and add tightness to the lows in a diag 2x12 openback driven by AC15 normal channel with no eq needed. Brakes up so nicely at lower volume! Really wondering if a Gold and Ruby would be a better combo.
Thanks for all the celestion alnico videos! much appreciated.
No worries mate - glad they've been useful :-)
Always great tone and audio quality on your vids... Love it!
Thanks Max :-)
Joe, you're right on about matching the speaker to the amp and the application. I liked the Ruby tones a lot more in this video than I did in your original Blue/Gold/Ruby/Cream video. I'm going out on a limb and guessing that those brighter speakers I liked in the DB4 would need a lot of EQ to sound good in that Hughes & Kettner.
I usually run a Gold in the H&K (though it's broken and is off being re-coned at the moment!) I had the treble turned up almost full in this demo to get the high end on the Ruby dialled in - so yes, it 'can' be a bright amp, but the other speakers are absolutely fine in it with different EQ settings :-) The Cream sounded ace in the H&K too but that now lives in the DB4...love how that one sounds with crunch, which is pretty much all I ever use the DB4 for! heh
in a Fender Supersonic 22 or Blackstar Artisan 30 this speaker sounds great, tames that spanky high end in both amps
That 330 sounds killer!
I've had Blues and Golds in my AC30s. The blues were great and the Golds i didn't particularly like. The Rubys though are what I've got in there now and they're never coming out!
an AC-30 or DC-30 type amp with a Ruby and a Blue would sound heavenly methinks. All the warmth and beef from the Ruby paired with the classic chimey Blue has me wanting to experiment.
This has become my favorite speaker. Fizz is something that just sounds awful to my ears and this speaker has no fizz. Handles distortion well. I love it.
I have a Morgan MVP23 and love it. It has very interactive controls and is meant to get a variety of sounds without channel switching, boost switches, or pedals. It is NOT a bright amp but I usually run the treble at noon with my Jazzmaster, about 2 o'clock with my SG with p90s. There's plenty of high end there if I want it. The amp is designed to get black Fender clean but the mid control adds gain and pushes it into 18W Marshall territory cranked. It is el84 with no negative feedback so it will get you close to Vox-ish tones but it came with a G12H 75 watt Creamback. In several demos of the Ruby it seems as though it adds a bit of Vox-ish chime which I do not necessarily equate just to high end brightness, but a percussive edge to ALL the notes when played clean/edge of breakup. The gold and cream alnico sound a bit harsh andI don't want to run a blue in a 23 watt amp. The Ruby sounds like it might just fit well with the amp, or at least please my ear. In retrospect I should've gotten an AC style amp but I can't really afford that right now.
Wonderful job mate, the ruby sounds beautiful with a crazy amount of gain on it like i thought it would, great speaker it is in the right context, I'd love to hear it with an 8 string playing heavy thrash grindcore riffs. With some tasty palm mutes This speaker is made for extreme heavy metal in a 4x12
2x Ruby in a 2x12 open back cabinet fed by an AC30 driven by an American Pro Strat is a really great sound, especially with an MXR Stereo Chorus. I can't believe the Ruby has gotten so much grief. The sound you're getting with it here is fantastic as well; it really shines when used properly.
Crunch tones are amazing!
Where has this speaker been all my life? So I bought a Ruby and run it with my 65 Amps Ventura and love it. I also bought another and run that into a Tungsten Crema Wheat. These speakers do run slightly dark, but the beauty is that if you use whatever drive that’s “always on” it just EQs perfectly, and also offers a slightly compressed tone. It’s beautiful.
Ruby definitely beats the Gold with that set up!!
Another great video Joe, I think a Ruby might be in my future,
For now I'll keep basking in the Blue/Greenback in a 2x12, I could not believe how great the sound was when I swapped out the G12H30 for the Blue.
Matching your amp and speakers can make or brake your tone.
Absolutely! :-) It's all about matching the speaker to the amp...the DB4 didn't flatter this speaker in the first video. Context is important too...I prefer the Gold for cleans/low gain, but I think the Les Paul > DS-1 > Z-Wreck > Ruby tone in the outro of this vid is one of my favourite heavy tones I've ever recorded! :-)
When A/B'ing the Ruby with another bright Celestion it may seem dull in comparison but don't be fooled. The Ruby is a an amazing sounding speaker! Here my 2¢: My Matchless SC 30 (mid 90's era) had a perfect sound until the speaker developed cone cry and it was time for replacement. The G12H that came with it sounded great so I bought another G12H thinking it would sound similar. NOPE! The new G12H was harsh and unpleasant even after 15 hours of playing at high volume. I knew I had to find a speaker that had more the sound of the original which was well broken in after decades of heavy touring. After trying the G12H, G12M 65 and a greenback, I decided on the Ruby. It's a great match for a 30 watt amp and the high end sits wonderfully and isn't too harsh. The lack of ice pick highs gives the chords wonderful articulation. The crunch and breakup is what I wanted to hear and the speaker really shines at high volumes. It sounds the closest I could find to my more vintage G12H that needed replacing although it's a totally different speaker. The SC30 is a bright amp and it pairs wonderfully with the Ruby. I can keep the presence wide open and it doesn't get piercing with P90's.
Exactly. Very hard to show it off to its full potential in a comparison as generally, we perceive brighter sounds as being 'better' sounds. But yes, in the right situation, it can sound wonderful! :-)
@@JoePerkinsMusic In relaying my own experience, I neglected to thank you for these amazing videos you've put together. They are informative and I think you've done an excellent job. Consider me a fan.
@@BrittUzzell No worries pal - thanks for the kind words :-) Glad you've been enjoying the channel!
Use the Ruby on top in slanted Marshall 2x12" with a cream in the bottom. Cannot stop practicing on the damn thing. Amp is jcm800 sc. Sound is subjective - but this mix does it for me 🎸⚡✌️
I have a 100w Marshall Super Lead that i can't mellow out at all, until now, thank you
These would be perfect! Make sure it's a 4x12 and not a 2x12 cab though, as these are only 35W speakers :-)
Jensen ought to send you their P12 Blackbird 100 ! I have it and Im in love with it! My speaker search for "my tone" is over and done! :D (btw, Mesa uses these in their new California Tweed amps for a good reason I would say).
Well if you know anybody at Jensen, please feel free to get them to send one over ;-) heh
Got the Ruby around the same time as your original vids came out, it really is a fantastic speaker. It likes amps with bright caps since you get the clarity and cut, but none of the nasty icepick treble on top. Ended up selling the Gold I had as the Ruby made it sound too sharp in comparison.
Absolutely! Something like a vintage Marshall with a bright cap on the Master....the Ruby would be perfect for that to tame the aggression & harshness :-)
@Bandana Dee Isaac I like new toys too much and decided to flip the Gold for something else since it was just sitting there! It happens! Im not the type of person to sit on gear waiting to use it again. The Gold was nice, but I always found there was something in it I was trying to dial out. Ruby didn't have that problem.
This is great thanks! ...For what it's worth here's my two cents on editing the flow. The effects are beyond my preferences here, but in the case of multiple amps and/or multiple guitars, I personally prefer hearing the amps back to back. In other words I like hearing the Telecaster all in one section in which the amps change as you play the Tele the whole time. Then move on to the next guitar switching through the amps as you play that guitar. I can't quite explain why, but that is so much more useful to hear than sticking to one amp while changing through the guitars.
Thanks John :-) It's a tough call when it comes to doing the edit as there's so many different ways of doing it & everyone will have a preference. I'll experiment next time I'm doing a video like this and see what seems to work best - thanks for the tip :-)
Nice tones! Think the problem with comparisons is that they don’t change amp settings when comparing speakers. Gotta adjust EQ a bit to accommodate its different characteristics. Also, think this works best with amps that can be shrill like Vox and Fender Twins
first thumbs up, then watch and enjoy!!!
Aha - I hope it lives up to expectations!! :P
@@JoePerkinsMusic always (that's why)
Hello me again....
Frist great channel you've got a nice sub.
Question about your gear etc.
1. Any chance we could have a tour video of your amps, pedals and guitars and some sound examples?
2. Looking at that very professional set up racks etc do you do recording for other artist as a job? I'm currently trying to get into recording. I've just got a Imac, Tannoy golds, Universal Audio Apllo Twin X and logic Pro. Very very basic set up and I'm still in the dark....😅
Joe, have you played a Sound City SC20 or 30? I have the 20 watt combo. Might be a Fane or Celestion speaker with Sound City branding? Great sound. Recommend giving it a run-through if you see one at your local shop. Not for everyone, but it charmed me, for sure! 😊
Think of the Ruby as a G12M with alnico magnet.
Then it anyway is obvious, that this speaker hardly is the best choice as a single speaker. This is a teamplayer. Sounds much better in a 212 or 412 cabinet, especially in combination with a Plexi or British voiced high-gain amps like Engl, Diezel, EVH,... in my opinion. There it tames too scratchy treble, at least with decent attack, while a more intense attack brings back all the bite and treble, only with a different alnico typical quality, adds a nice beefy midrange, and especially harmonics sound more vivid.
My personal favorite in combination with a Savage 120 or VH-4. The whole amp sounds completely different than with V30's, but really good. But this is my personal impression, of course.
Also a nice companion for an amp and/or speaker with much bass and treble but rather scooped mids to balance things out. Therefore it also could be a good addition to eg. a Blue in an AC-30, if you look for a less intense mid scoop and anyway prefer using the amp rather for overdrive than for clean sounds.
Hardly an all-round speaker, but useful and really good sounding, if combined with the right gear. Also nice, if you eg. want to change the character of also mid-scooped alnicoV PAF's in a Les Paul to a fatter P90 like one.
Depending, what you are looking for...
big big improvement upon the 1st video where the ruby sounded truly shocking
Everything in context - it’s just a v different speaker from the others. It’s capable of epic tones in the right situations :-)
Please do a video with the Ruby and Blue mixed :) or which do you prefer with the Ruby?
I'll be looking into speaker pairings later this year...need to get hold of a 2x12 cab first! :P
This is exactly what I was thinking after watching this. Definitely casts the Ruby in a new and better light, and made me think it might be best paired with something that does cleans beautifully like a Blue!
Yeah, you did a great job of revealing the true character of that ruby. A ruby and a cream in a 212 - any chance you can rig that up?
Don't own a 2x12 I'm afraid - just combos!
I have AC30CC1 (1x12 VOX NeoDog) with JMI mod on preamp and looking for speaker replacement. What would you prefer Fane A60 or Celestion Ruby ? Thanks for any advice! Maybe it could be new episode :)
For me, it'd be the A60 as it'll let the chime of the AC circuit come through - the Ruby is _much_ more rolled off in the high end. The Ruby could be good if all you're going for is a heavily-driven Brian May-type tone. But I'd say the A60 is much more suited to an AC amp.
@@JoePerkinsMusic Thanks for your hints! Would you recommend something else soundwise closer to Alnico Blue but handling bigger power ( > 40 Watts) ?
@ Alnico Gold is the obvious one - but I reckon the A60 would be phenomenal too...it's a wonderful speaker in a Voxy amp!
Celestion ruby apologist. lol
I'm trying to decide between a gold and a ruby for my Mesa TA30. Anyone?
The thing with the TransAtlantic is it's doing American and British tones without compromises. To use it at its maximum potential, I would put the Ruby in the combo (or an open back cab, if it's the head) and the Gold in a separate cab, closed back.
The Cream is what I would go if I wanted more portability. It's the best compromise, has sufficient chime but also some lush low mids. Cream(backs) are, in general very versatile.
@@mike42356 yeah. I was actually thinking of getting a 2 x 12 with separate inputs with one of each for versatility. Not sure yet.
@@mike42356 Celeation claims the ruby is in between the cream and the blue. So I guess maybe a cream and blue would make more sense, or a cream and a gold.
@@realtruenorth not sure what you play or what your goal is. Either can sound good, just I don't think you can get proper American tone from any of those. Either the Ruby or something else: A-Type (ceramic), Jensen P / C, Eminence, IMHO.
@@mike42356 I've been using an EVL12 (old school US version) which actually sounds great for American cleans, but I want a Vox type and something good for Marshall tone, like Celestion blue kinda thing. Something warm and with character. But 15 watt blue is kinda limiting on power handling.