Speakers WTF---Part 1

[jgcable]

Back in the 80's when almost everybody played with big hair, spandex and full stacks, speakers were way more hot of a topic than they are now. JBL's, EV's and Altec Lansings were a huge topic of conversation between fellow guitar players. Nowadays, it seems that speaker cabinets are more of a topic than the actual speakers. Today its either Celestion or Celestion. Back in the 80's we would tear out the stock Celestions or Black Shadows and replace them with JBL's or EV's or Altec Lansings. Sure, a 4 x 12 cabinet would go from weighing 80lbs stock to 120lbs but the sound difference was incredible. Those huge magnets and the heavy duty construction of the aftermarket speakers were big topics. Speaker replacement was really expensive too. A good JBL or EV would run you $120.00 each in some cases. With the new crushing contemporary metal tones and the need for a very wide frequency range due to alternate tunings how come speakers aren't the hot topic that they once were?

[Subvamp]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

Testify brother! I for one am still into the whole speaker thing. Celestions just don't do it for me in many cases. 9 times outta 10 I'll pull them out and go with JBLs or more recently, Jensens. Everyone is very into amp heads, processors, pickups, even the tone of the wood, but nobody really think about the final link in the chain: your speakers! You could have an entire studio rack full of gear, but it you're pumping it all through speakers that are 1 step up from a paper bag, it's gonna sound like crap. [img]/images/graemlins/what.gif[/img]

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

It's a POD generation of parameter tweakers and speakers require too much thinking and work...

They can change their speakers simulation easier than their speakers! Hahaha...

Myself, speakers are always in my thoughts as a problem I'm having, and some full range EVs might do the trick.

[markD]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

because people don't know. i think after the vintage craze of the early 90's, everyone was brainwashed into believing that you lower wattage speakers sound more natural and true. maybe that's a little harsh, but that's an easy way for my to write it. fact is a vintage amp without a lot of front end gain DOES sound better with low wattage speakers because the speaker break-up helps create distortion. but when you are using a high gain amp with the low wattage speakers makes the sound buzzy and thin. people aren't as aware because it seems that after grunge, a lot of players stopped working on their tone. in the 80's guys would pick components that made them sound a certain way. now, usually it's a head and a cab (that's me!!).

not to mention that EV isn't making guitar speakers anymore, altec isn't either, and new JBLs sound bad. i personally use EVs and have spent up to 250.00 to get 1 speaker!!

let's educate them JG - but not too much cause then the speakers will get REALLY expensive.

my personal stage rig uses a 120 watt head, a 100 head, 2 cabs loaded with EVM12L speakers and another cab with 35 watt celestions. thogether it sounds great and those EVM loaded cabs help my sound to be VERY full and clear on stage. you can't overdrive those cabs. each one has 800 watt RMS capacity!!!

[Tetsuo]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

The Mark IV I had with the EV just killed the V30... I am not a fan of Celestions at all but that really is all the market offers nowadays [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[jgcable]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

My 2 x 12 Randall cab loaded with Altecs slay everything. I stacked my Randall/Altec 2 x 12 cab using a stock Dual Rectifier head against the same head with an oversized Mesa 4 x 12 cab loaded with the stock Mesa speakers and the Randall killed the Mesa in every respect. You could just plain hear it better. The bottom end on high end speakers is never flubby, farty or woofy. When I toured with TS and Zebra I used a Hiwatt head and 2 Marshall red 4 x 12 cabinets loaded with JBL's. The head weighed around 60lbs. The cabinets were around 120lbs each and were a $400.00 upgrade per cabinet!! Those Marshall cabinets came stock with Celestions and when I changed them out to JBL's my sound went from good to rip your face off great. The air, clarity, punch and frequency response that I got from those high end speakers were just incredible. It was the single best upgrade that you could do to the tone of your live rig. The new guys just don't get it. They argue the merrits and tone differences of alnico 5 magnets vs cobalt vs active EMG's and all the while they are playing through a set of garbage speakers housed in a really cosmetically slick looking brand name cabinet. Ponderous.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

i'd like to try a closed back 4x12 with cel g12h 70th anniversary speakers.

i love the vin 30's that come in the recto cabs. but i don't beleive any of the newer recto cabs have the boogie custon vin 30's. i think they are using standard cel ven 30's now.

the gt75's are a standard. very bright and sometimes thin. but with the right eq (meaning lots of mids) they work great in a band situation. the gt75 are slightly scooped sounding. so you can really crank the mids on your amp and not have it all honky sounding.

the vin 30's are more of a full range

the EV speakers always sounded to fuzzy to me. but mixed with the cel 90's (like in the boogie half backs) they mixed nicely, especially if you had 2 half back, one with ev's in the bottom and the other with vin 30's in the bottom.

[jgcable]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

Yea Reb, mixing and matching is a great way to custom tailor your sound. I ran Altec Lansings mixed with vintage 30's and worked great. I guess the bottom line is regardless of what speaker selection you have it is important to do the research.

[Boxcar Willie 84]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

I think a lot of times anymore guys just stick with old standards-Marshall 1960As and whatnot. But I for one am interested to see what my Dual Rec will sound like thru my Laney cab loaded with Celestion 70s when it gets here.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

I think they still are a fairly hot topic. I like a variety of speaker options but in my opinion not all speakers sound great with all amps. I personally never liked Altec Lansings and wouldn't use them in anything. JBL didn't really do anything for me either but I like some EV's.

Also since Celestion and Eminence are building great speakers and cover wide range of types, that could be why you don't hear about others brands as much. If you go to their sites, each company has an assload of speakers with various tonal and wattage ratings. If you can't find one that will work for you aren't looking hard enough [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Cab construction is pretty important as well. Putting great speakers in a shitty cab wont work, it will sound like shit. On the same token, putting average speakers in a great cab could produce nicer results.

[jgcable]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

Maybe the selection that Celestion was offering in the 80's wasn't as broad as their offering now.

[markD]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

true about cab construction. personally my favorite cabs are 1x12 cabs. if you have one that is designed and built well it'll sound fantastic. my rivera 1x12 cabs sound just a big as a compact marshall 4x12 i have. in fact i ended up cutting the back of my marshall in half to help it sound better.

[Dreamland_Rebel]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

i really like my recto vertical 2x12

[buzzsaww]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

i remember those days and also dropping $150 to $200 per speaker. i'll never forgive my parents, they left all my gear in the house when they left new york. i had a damn nice 2x12 loaded with the above mentioned EV's. i really miss that cab.

[hippietim]

Re: Speakers WTF---Part 1

Bah! I thought those EV's and the like sounded like ass in the 80's. They sound like ass now. I had a Boogie a while ago that had an Altec 12" and it sounded like a turd until I plugged it into another cabinet. I remember guys sticking JBL's and EV's in their cabs and just laughing at them thinking "they spent 500 bucks to make it sound like THAT?!?". The 80's brought about a lot of cool things but overly chorused and compressed tones through a PA speaker in a 4x12 cabinet is not one of the cool things.