wirt
Hi everyone,
Lately I've had this urge to replace the speaker in my Laney Cub12R; the Celestion Rocket 50 that came standard with it sounds just a tad too "murky", and also because I have a constant not-entirely-logical urge to tinker with stuff that doesn't necessarily need fixing ?
I've had a look at the commonly recommended alternatives: the members of the Celestion G12 family, but what puts me off is that they are 1. more expensive than the amplifier, and 2. (as far as I can tell) not readily available in South Africa.
So my question is this:
Is the Celestion G12 just the be-all and end-all of speaker upgrades for the Cub, and if not, what are the other alternatives and where can one find them (preferably without having to resort to importing)?
Thanks in advance!
Oh, the Laney uses a 12" 8 Ohm speaker standard.
AlanRatcliffe
Tradelius in Durbs import Celestion. AFAIK, Eminence is now being brought in by
Segma, which is welcome news - a great range.
Wormwood
in case the eminence range freaks you out as it did me:
from somewhere on the net
Celestion = Eminence
Vintage 30 - 60W = The Governer-75W
G12H30 - 30W = The Wizard - 75W
Greenback - 25W = Private Jack - 50W
Alnico Blue - 15W = Red Fang - 50W
G12T-75 - 75W = Man O War - 120W
G12-65 - 65W = The Tonespotter - 75W
I also want to do this, but then i think, Hmm what if i just sell the cub and save up 2-3k
i could replace it with something a bit better on the whole?
IceCreamMan
Eminence speakers can be had at music connection these days , give em a shout.
unfortunately a lil expensive so think clearly and do a lot of research afore buying something.
also look at Jensen electric lightning..
Norman86
I hope the other eminence speakers are a lot cheaper than the EJ signatures.
Retail on them here is around R7k incl vat. ?
I was not impressed when they told me! And yes, thats for 1...
wirt
Awesome, thanks Alan ?
The Segma website states that they only sell to resellers, but I'll give them a shout on the off-chance that someone could be persuaded otherwise ?
@Wormwood:
Thanks for the info!
Selling the cub was the other alternative, but I really like that amp and it's <1W setting. It'd be like putting down an old horse, ya dig? ?
@IceCreamMan:
Unfortunately money is always the limiting factor... I was just hoping to walk away from this with a bit stronger bank balance than from what a Celestion would do to it.
Thanks for the replies, all. I'll do a bit more research and let you guys know if I find anything interesting/noteworthy. Jensen, Eminence, Tayden... This is starting to get complex ?
MikeM
I've found many a decent deal by buying cabs second hand.. Got 5-6 Celestions none of which I paid more than R1k for really.
Some Blues were on GT a while back for R1500. Really should have got one for myself...
wirt
MikeM wrote:
I've found many a decent deal by buying cabs second hand.. Got 5-6 Celestions none of which I paid more than R1k for really.
Some Blues were on GT a while back for R1500. Really should have got one for myself...
Damn, that sounds like a pretty good idea, actually...
RJN
I was thinking of doing the same thing..... Buuut , i felt like the money could be better spent elsewhere. I am flipping loving the Cub12R man. Perfect for home.
Attila
@Wirt some perspective.... I put a Vintage 30 on my SE tube amp and it became VERY treble-ish damn awful in fact ..... to answer you there is no be-all and end-all of everything. But rather a sum of all components (including you)
the reason there is so much secondhand stuff floating around is that you can't go to one place to try out various guitars, with various pedals with various amps, with various valves, with various speakers, with various rooms with various various various.....
studmissile
Save up the cash for bigger and better things.
wirt
Attila Barath wrote:
@Wirt some perspective.... I put a Vintage 30 on my SE tube amp and it became VERY treble-ish damn awful in fact ..... to answer you there is no be-all and end-all of everything. But rather a sum of all components (including you)
That I know... All the research I've been doing on the topic does, however, recommend some member of the Celestion C12 family. Not that a popular opinion is the same as a correct opinion, but what else can you do besides for buying a dozen or so different speakers and double-blind testing them individually? ?
Attila Barath wrote:
the reason there is so much secondhand stuff floating around is that you can't go to one place to try out various guitars, with various pedals with various amps, with various valves, with various speakers, with various rooms with various various various.....
Sadly true, but nothing ventured nothing gained ?
studmissile wrote:
Save up the cash for bigger and better things.
With my amp requirements unfortunately "bigger" equates to "too loud" and "better" to "too expensive".
studmissile
What guitar are you playing? What pick ups?
wirt
Currently playing a
Vintage AFD100 with Tonerider Alnico IV's. As to what I'm playing: still finding my feet musically, but I spend the majority of my playing time trying to get a grip on dem blues with the odd exploratory expedition into classic rock.
Distortion_101
Ive been looking for the same thing, and for me the best option is a greenback. Give the cleans a bit more full body and sparkle, and get rid of the mud from the drive...
2 problems i have encountered though.
The prices of Celestion stuff
most or nearly all speakers are 16ohm... 8 ohm isnt easily found.
if you find a cab with greenbacks at 8ohm... ill go half with you...
I found a vox cab for 1200 with a greenback in it, but it is a 16ohm standard...
I just want to know, how can the internal speaker not handle 16ohm, when the cab ext can handle 8-16ohm...
Big-G
I personally would start by trying some different Valves? My reasoning is that if you are happy with the sound for the best part, which I'm guessing is the case since you love the cub so much, then you are rather looking to affect the tone minimally. If you grab some decent NOS valves, they could well provide you with the subtle change you need, and still fulfill your desire to 'tinker'?
Having said that though, I would definitely consider a Greenback if I was seriously going to change out the speaker. The Greenback is just so well known that whilst it may not be the best tone out there, and certainly has some limitations, its a widely accepted tone, and a decent step up from the Rocket 50's. Again though, having said that, I was actually somewhat impressed with the Laney 2x12' cab I played through a while ago that was fitted with 2 rocket 50's. Whilst they are the seriously cheap speaker, I found them very clean sounding, and not muddy at all. That was playing it from a Laney Cub head. The only thing that put me off buying that setup was the reports of over heating on that particular head. Just as well though in my case, as a week later I got my VOX endorsement! Hehe!
Regards
G!
Wormwood
I have one of these and I bought it new.
I also found that it seemed a bit dark and I I cranked It with the gain up, the speaker farted a bit.
however, ive had it now for about 4 months shy of a year, jamming once a week at about half volume on the 15watt setting.
last week It...just opened up.
clear as crystal, awesome.
im thinking the speaker needed breaking in..or something.
people get rid of these quick, looking for something else bu I recon hold onto it before you start ripping out its insides.
also, turn down the geetar to half /3 quaters and turn the amp up= better sound.
anyway thats my fiddy cent. save the money for a better guitar, like the LP junior for 5gorillas on gumtree
