Celestion Greenbacks

nick

Ive saved up enough dosh to replace the speaker in my Classic 30 with a Greenback. I called Marshall Music and got a very decent price, but he said he can get the G12-M 8 or 15 Ohm verison which is 20w? Browsing Celestions website I see there are 3...

G12-M 'Greenback' 25w 16ohms 12" (the one I want..)
http://professional.celestion.com/guitar/products/pdfs/G12M%20%27Greenback%27.pdf

G12-M 'Heritage Series' 20w 8 or 15ohms 12" (what he quoted me for)
http://professional.celestion.com/guitar/products/pdfs/Heritage%20Series%20G12M.pdf

G12-H 'Heritage Series' 30w 8 or 15ohms 12"
http://professional.celestion.com/guitar/products/pdfs/Heritage%20Series%20G12H.pdf

This guy is running the first mentioned one.. I surely just going to pop the 20w 15ohms in no time

makepeace

Just for interest sake, what did they quote you? I am looking at Celestions and the cheapest i've found is at Tradelius, the Celestion SA dealer. R1500 for the G12-M, R1900 for the G12-H.

nick

makepeace wrote: Just for interest sake, what did they quote you? I am looking at Celestions and the cheapest i've found is at Tradelius, the Celestion SA dealer. R1500 for the G12-M, R1900 for the G12-H.

http://www.fort777.co.za/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=623 can get for the listed price, beginning of August stock only.

Marshall music was R1700 odd full price but with discount comes to a bit below Yebos price. Call them and ask, Im going to be ordering tommorow hopefully so if you want ordering at the same time might help.

makepeace

oh ok. interesting, didn't know yebo stocked them.. i'm still looking around at the moment, haven't decided exactly what i want yet. good luck!

TomCat

My Greenback came in at about the R 1500.00 mark. Very Happy with it........Not sure about it at 25 Watts in a 30W combo though.......although the Celestions are conservatively rated.

AlanRatcliffe

TomCat wrote:Not sure about it at 25 Watts in a 30W combo though.......

Neither am I.

although the Celestions are conservatively rated.

So is the Classic 30.

Mr-M

I have a G12M in my Night Train cab. With the 15W output from my NT head, I don't find that the speaker breaks up much at all, but it also doesn't feel like it has much more to give before it does. :-\

I used to have a Classic 30 and Alan is right IMO: it is conservatively rated. The Blue Marvel Speaker it comes with is rated at 75W AFAIK. I don't think it would be the best idea to go with a 20W or 25W speaker with this amp unless you enjoy changing them regularly. ? Of course if you only ever play with the volume at "3" or under it will probably be OK.

I would suggest you go for at least the G12H at 30W or better/ safer the Vintage 30 (60W if I recall). I've read lots of reviews of guys changing the speaker in Classics to V30s with great results. Never heard one in a C30 myself though. Otherwise try the Century Vintage (60W as well). It will make you combo lighter (neodymium magnet) and gives a sound somewhere between a Greenback and a Vintage 30 with a little added brightness. I've had one of those in an amp before and I loved it, plus it saves your back being because of the lower magnet weight. More expensive though.

nick

Hrm all of the forums report guys swopping the Blue Marvel for the Greenback and saying it greatly improves things. Im also concerned about the mismatch in wattage, one guy retubed and serviced his classic 30 and claimed it was pushing 33w with new tubes. I rarely play over 5, band practice its on about 3 and at home that is far too loud, yet to gig though (mid july hopefully!)

Also heard the Celestions are conservatively rated but I dont want to buy the thing and pop it in a week. Would the slightly lower watt speaker mean it'll break up earlier? Because at the moment its crystal clear well into big numbers.

AlanRatcliffe

Good points. The V30 is a good speaker, but not everyone will like it in an open back amp like a Classic 30. Also the voicing of both C30 and V30 has a similar midrange hump that adds together. The G12H is a great speaker in a C30 IMO.

A lot of guys rave about the 50W Ceramic version of the Weber Blue Dog in the C30, but getting one here will bump the price severely. I know the Alnico version and I know the amp and I think they would probably be a great match.

Also with the Classic 30, there are a few small mods well worth doing on Steve Alohas site (www.blueguitar.org) that make the tonestack and boost switch a lot nicer. I suggest you do some of those before you change the speaker.

Mr-M

If you're not playing it full out on volume then you should be OK. On the Classic 30, that's normally about halfway on the dial. After that it gets vicious and starts to overdrive. You aren't running it full out by what you say so you should be OK with a Greenback. You would most likely mic the amp up in a live environment anyway so no need for crazy volume. If it's loud enough for rehearsals with a live drummer in a small room at the level you describe then you won't need much more than that live. Should be safe. And yeah, the G12M will probably break up earlier than the stock speaker.

I really like the G12M and knowing the C30's tonal characteristics, I would imagine that it will sound stellar in that amp. Alternatively, check out the Eminence Private Jack which is a pretty much a higher output (50W) interpretation of the classic Greenback tone. You can get them fairly cheaply on eBay.

nick

So after some more googling etc I ordered the Greenback, the G12M 25w 16ohms as this is what everyone says they use. Got a good price from Marshall music, put down a deposit and now I have to unfortunately wait 3-4 weeks for it to arrive.

nick

So its been a month and a half or so and Marshall cant tell me when it will arrive. Got told could be a month could be 6 months.. I fail to believe that no one else in the country is ordering speakers..

TomCat

nick wrote: So its been a month and a half or so and Marshall cant tell me when it will arrive. Got told could be a month could be 6 months.. I fail to believe that no one else in the country is ordering speakers..

Unfortunately the guitar loudspeaker market in SA is very small..........

makepeace

You should get hold of Donovan at Tradelius. Last time I checked they had stock of G12Ms.. Didn't have the G12Hs though..

Will probably be a little cheaper and if anyone can get them easily, its them, as they're the dealer.

Donovan Rasch: donovanrasch@gmail.com

AlanRatcliffe

I'm presuming Tradelius are the agents in question. Marshall get their stock from Tradelius.

I was afraid of this kind of thing when I saw who has the agency (it once took me two years to get a pair of hoops for a Pearl snare drum from the same crowd - after being told 6 - 8 weeks). That is one of the reasons I decided not to buy Celestion Golds (plus the local price of R4 600K each!) but rather brought in the Weber clones.

Push Marshall to get a definite date for you - if the speakers have been ordered and shipped, the agents will have the shipping documents and know the date of arrival to within a few days. If they haven't shipped yet, ask for your money back. That will either get you your money or your speakers quickly. ?

Then look at Warehouse Speakers. I haven't used them yet, but they get a lot of love for their classic speaker clones on the US forums. Their Greenback clone is priced at $69 and they use USPS for international, which works out a lot cheaper than FedEx or the other couriers.

nick

Hadnt had a chance to get around to this so managed to call Marshall today, been 2 months now. Guy says he will call them and ask, told him it shouldnt take 2 months for this to arrive, he said its the supplier in Durban. Hes calling them now to ask for an ETA and then I'll tell them I want my cash back (if I can get out of it)

AlanRatcliffe

Good luck! Actually - if you were originally promised 3-4 weeks, and it's taken 8 so far, you are already entitled to demand your money back.

In that case, I'd probably email Celestion UK and complain too. Then again, I've become quite a difficult b@$#%^ in my dotage (even Telkom does things quickly for me these days - I suspect they have a big flashing red sign when someone calls up my account saying something like: "Warning - make this guy happy or he'll make your life hell until you do").

If more consumers stood up for their rights this way, it would soon pull the troublesome wholesalers/retailers in to line.

Reinhard

I feel back for Nick they are dicking him around. I ordered my webers after him and they are already in my amp.

TomCat

I believe Music Connection has stock and they'll sip them down to Cape Town for you......Might be worth a try.....

nick

Still no word or speaker.. I understand it isnt Marshall Musics fault and they are merely the middle man for the Tradelius people but its getting quite pathetic now. Ive unfortunately been far too busy to devote 20 minutes to getting my deposit back. Called them this morning quickly and got told no ETA, they dont know yet..

Sent a quick email off to Celestion themselves complaining about Tradelius. >☹