Do different Speakers In Guitar Amps Really Make A difference? – Celestion Shootout.
In this video, I test to see if speaker choice really makes that much of a difference in guitar cabinets.
I test 3 different Celestion speakers, an Alnico Gold, a Ceramic Creamback, and a Noedinium Creamback.
The Neo Creamback is half the weight of the other speakers due to its powerful lightweight magnet, but do the speakers sound that different?
Celestion Neo Creamback
The Neo Creamback is every ounce a Classic Celestion delivering all the magical tone you’d get from a traditional Creamback. The difference is it’s built with a neodymium magnet: making this speaker around half the weight of a traditional ceramic magnet speaker.Celestion’s engineers have developed a new and innovative way to better harness the mighty forces of the neodymium magnet enabling us to create a guitar speaker that can deliver authentic Creamback tone with ease while preserving the benefit of neodymium’s much lighter weight. You still get the low-end punch warm vocal midrange and sweet refined highs the Creamback is famous for: push it hard and enjoy the ‘race-car growl’ that sets pulses racing. But pick up a cab that’s loaded with Neo Creambacks and you’ll see what makes this speaker truly different.
Celestion G12M-65 Creamback
The G12M Greenback is perhaps the definitive vintage Celestion ceramic magnet guitar speaker. Developed in the mid-sixties it was quickly adopted by players like Hendrix, Clapton, Beck and Page who typified the louder and more aggressive blues rock playing styles that came to characterize that era.
The G12M-65 Creamback produces the familiar woody G12M tone but handles greater power, making it ideally suited for today’s amps when a vintage tone is desired. The increased power handling brings with it additional low end grunt complementing the warm and vocal mid range crunchy upper- mids and sweet refined highs.
Celestion Gold
Building on the platform of the Blue the Gold is a higher-powered Alnico-magnet guitar speaker that recreates the unmistakable sonic signature of a ‘well played-in’ original. Over time the high frequencies of a Blue soften and become less chalky as the cone becomes more flexible – a much sought after characteristic that the Gold exhibits straight out of the box.
#celestionspeakers
Also present in the Gold sound from the outset is an added warmth and complexity in the midrange which coupled with the classic Alnico qualities of a laid-back attack rounded low end and brilliant bell-like highs deliver huge rhythm voicings and saturated vocal lead tones.The Gold is a wonderfully expressive and revealing loudspeaker affording guitarists an unprecedented degree of dynamic control.
The Studio Rats are core band members Paul Drew on guitar/production/mixing, drummer James Ivey and Dan Hawkins on bass. They collaborate with singers and musicians to produce radio-ready songs.
#Speakers #Guitar #Amps #difference #Celestion #Shootout
Originally posted by UCW-S0JAM1Rtte4lU0HsD8BA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVNpFvh1jXA
Aside from speakers sounding differently…great guitar part, superb playing!
What song is the backing track?
I wanted to prefer the neo (my back ain't getting any younger), but the regular creamback was the one for me. It sounded twangier, less smooth. Better suited to my playing style. I observe the same difference with my Eminence Redcoat Tonker and Tonker lite speakers. Even the factory said the neo would sound brighter. It doesn't. Like the Celestion, the neo is smoother, warmer. And actually, the two work very well together in the same cab.
What is the song in the background?
Great video, but I always wonder in these comparisons, for which speaker was the amp/guitar tone set up for? If it was on the first, then that speaker had that advantage over all the rest.
I replaced a vintage 30, with a Neo V type, because I couldn't take the weight of the cab, and it's great. On my TV the ceramic cream back seemed smoother and not so bright. Which on a Strat I did like. The Alnico gold was very bright and jangley. The Neo Cream Back was very similar to the Alnico. So on a price and weight point the Neo wins, for me. Obviously in the room it will be different. But nice demo. Thanks.
I’ve got neo creambacks in my Orange Rockerverb 50 mkiii combo. They sound great. I love British made Orange amps. I even use a made in China Orange 35rt as my home practice amp. Everything from Orange sounds great to me. Fender guitars + Orange amplifiers = guitar heaven.
Did you adjust your amp using any of the speakers? Good video, quite illustrative!
To make this really useful I suggest these changes:
– no backing track (just masking the signal)
– use a recorded sequence, like using a looper or alike
– SHORT sequences with different speakers directly following each other (very short acoustic memory!)
Very nicely done! I've paired the Neo Creamback with a V30 in a small 2X12 closed-back cab; they really work very good together!
Incredible work, incredible video! Thank you so much!????????????????????????????????
did you feel the same way after hearing the recorded results? because to me the ceramic creamback sounded a lot fuller than the neo, the low end you talked about did not really come across with the neo (listening with ATH-M50), the neo sounded thinner.
Whats that gay singing in the background?
Great video! It may have been my imagination but the Gold seemed to have characteristic of both the Neo and the Creamback
GOLD Super nice, Nr 1, .. G12 Creamback Really Good, Nr 2, .. & The Neo, .. Too Harsh or Metallic, in My Ears! ..
The bass and lower mids are stronger on the gold with a nice sparkle on the top. The Neo Creamback is clean clear and tight. Both are very different and would be worth having. The ceramic creamback is a honestly kind of muddy. You might get more out of it in a higher gain situation I think. Not really my thing though.
clean 1:30 5:12 8:22 dirty 2:04 6:00 9:18 put some quality earphones on and crank it up…the alnico throws tones at you! Even the dirty power chords are crunchy!
1:42
5:21
8:32
2:38 6:33 10:05
Didn’t catch what amp?
Splitting hairs, eh? It seems that the speaker choice depends on the response which you as player feel while playing and hardly makes any difference to a casual listener.
Great video, though. And thanks for sharing your impressions. Have a nice day!
What song is the backing track???
What matchless are you using? What a great demo!
Thanks for video! Very helpful.
I actually thought the brightness of the alnico gold was a little harsh. I preferred the Neo Creamback. Great demonstration! Only suggestion would be to end the video with some edits to have each one right after the other so one doesn't have to slide between sections of the video to hear direct comparisons.
Hi, great video! Would love to know what the track is please?
Dreaming of a stereo rig with both types. A Deluxe Reverb w/Gold set a bit above edge of breakup with a dash of reverb. A Brownface Deluxe with Creamback set cranked with slight tremolo that appears when notes ring out. Run both amps at the same time and adjust between clean and mean with the volume controls. ????????????
GREAT VIDEO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So celestion sent you speakers to try? Did you request it or they reach out to you?
Clear upper mids and highs is good. Harsh upper mids and highs is bad. That's my take on today's YouTube marathon. I guess I have to buy some sweet sweet alnico speaker to my cheap Chinese junk amp that makes my ears bleed with it's saw like mids and fizzly highs with the G12. No more British rock speakers for me.
I really like the way this studio rat plays I think his name is Paul but he always calls himself a studio rat really good guitarist that’s why I subscribed not necessarily for his opinion on speaker research I wish he would play more!
Very interesting. I could see how you like the more sparkly Neo with the tighter/fuller bottom end, but even though the ceramic has more rolled off highs and lows, it still sounds really nice. Like a pleasing, warm voice. It's almost as if you took the neo and then used some compression on your guitar, squashing the outer parts of the EQ but then enhancing and adding more sustain to the mids.
The Gold probably needs to be broken in more, it's more strident and a bit stiff. the ceramic Creamback sounds older and more broken in. I think it actually has the nicest tone but rather one-trick-pony and compressed compared to the others. Put it this way, I think you could get the neo to sound like the ceramic with some compression, but not the other way around.
If I was choosing for say a Fender amp, I'd probably go with the ceramic and dedicate myself to that characteristic as my 'base', unless I knew I had an easy way of hitting an eq/compressor pedal to get it spot-on when using the neo. But in a band mix you'll probably lose a lot of those extra lows and highs anyway, so maybe again the ceramic and not worry about it.
The Gold for sure and the Neo Creamback are my choices. 12/30/2023: Enjoyed your demo very much. Happy New Year
Thats some tasty playing mate , is this song available
Very nice vid Paul and super playing.
I installed a Celestion Gold into my DRRI nearly 15-years ago and continue to be very impressed with its performance. it just seesm to get better and I've use no other.
'Breaking In' guitar speakers is however, voodoo mumbo jumbo to many, but once fitted, I fed the DRRI with pink noise (a freq. weighted wide band signal) at mid-power for about 40-hours (while I was out at work each day) and genuinely noticed a pleasing difference afterwards. If you play a lot, that'll also do the trick, but that's probably 20 gigs or rehearsal sessions…
Great comparo – Im looking right now at what to choose for my next custom cab build! I like the Neo CB concept – especially since my current custom cab is very light weight, Have you done any videos on the Electro Voice EVM12L or 15L??
You are a "Soul-Man" , we can all see your expression when your playing and digging the tune. From this end the Standar creamback actually sounded "Fuller" and "warmer" , a more versatile choice than the other 2. All are good but how many speakers can we be lugging around to a job? I may have to stick a 10" creamback ceramic in my AD15 combo just cos it works for anything from Country/ Folk to Dance music and all out Rock n roll(with a Fuzz), thanks for the Viddy as it really helps hearing another( cool) Player using the gear and we can really listen. TA'. BTW I thought you were going to grab a cold drink when you opened up the Grossman(It does look like a domstic appliance).
The Golds are King…But the price tag is scary…$$$
I have 3 separate Victory 2×12 vertical cabs with different Celestion speakers installed. Ceramic Creambacks, Neo Creambacks and AlNiCo Creams (which are Celestion's most expensive speakers, rather than the AlNiCo Golds). They all sound excellent but I very slightly prefer the sound of the Ceramic Creambacks, although when it comes to moving the cabs, I much prefer the lighter weight of the Neo Creambacks! The AlNiCo Creams have the most laid back sound, while the Neo Creambacks have the fastest response. I also have a mini stack consisting of 2 identical sized Montage cabs, one with a single 12" Ceramic Creamback, the other with 2×10" Ceramic Creambacks. Easier to move around than the 2×12 cabs and sounding just as good.
Neo Creamback for me. For this song at least.