Celestion Golds

[Rob S]

I believe that I read somewhere here that one of you Good Gentlemen was using Celestion Gold as Speaker of choice? Might I ask for your overall impressions?

I am currently using Celestion Hot100s purely because they so suit my other Amps (Matamps) However.... they are just a tad too lifeless for the wonderful Amp that Ron Worley built for me. I used them at some volume yesterday and have decided that I MUST make a change and soon as I don't believe that these are doing the Express any favours.

I have however run the Matamps through Golds and have been very impressed.

[rooster]

Hi, cool, you are the fellow Ron talked about here a while back, nice to meet you.

I have no valid opinion on the golds, sorry. But I do have a weird connection to them via Brad Paisley....

If you go the Ted Weber's site, you will hear a sound clip of a Silver Bell and a Blue Bell in a 2/12 cab. This was Brad's thing for a while until he got the endorsment deal with Celestion and became - ta-da - the golden boy. But I bet you he still runs this cab and more just like it.

I heard this weber 2/12 combo in person at a shop, and plugged my hand built AC30TB head into it. Amazing TONE! Honestly, of all the things I have run into concerning gear, that stupid cab went right to the top of the 'must have' list. Eventually, I scored a 2/12 Vox Classic 2/12 cab and started gathering the two Weber speakers.

The first Sliver Bell was pretty used actually, and I sent it in for a Weber recone. Yes, a dangerous call perhaps, but the recone is a better version as the original one actually bottomed out in the mag - yeah, hard call but it wasn't perfect. However, the new one is, which is a testament to the current Weber company I suppose.

Anyway, to tidy this up, I created a custom back for the cab, a ported affair that really just lets the speakers do their thing better, and with the Weber combination installed, I am done with the Ultimate Cab search. What is unique about the pairing, and you can clearly hear it, is that one speaker has a bit more bass (Blue Bell) and the other has more top end (Silver Bell). Together they create this synergistic wave of very cool gtr TONE. FWIW, I tried 2 Blue Bells and it wasn't the same and keep in mind, the only differences between the two speakers, Silver and Blue is the spider. The Blue has the larger spider which alows it to move a little quicker for more bass. Frankly, if Brad actually records with the Golds, 2 of them, he is missing this synergistic ingredient that he enjoyed before and this really puzzles me. To the point that I think he must still use the Weber combination. Listen to it on Weber's site, you might understand.

Nice meeting you, long winded greeting, sorry.

[M Fowler]

I run the Dr Z open back 212 with blue Alnico which is such a good tone and find it hard to go back to other celestion types, eminence, carvins or Peavey. But having said that I am looking at the Weber alnico speakers as a viable cheaper source as I want the 50 watt rating of the Celestion Golds but not the $289. price tag. The blues will not handle the high power of the express so I backed off using them for that amp right now.

Mark

[Ron Worley]

Hello, Mate...

Glen K. has nothing good to say about Blues (and by extension I would presume the Golds) as they are too bright for this amp.

As you know, he and most around here maintain that the Greenback is the ticket. It might a good giggle to hear what 2 Greenbacks and 2 blues sound like in a 4x12- Greenbacks on the floor to better bass response, wot?

Ron

[Ron Worley]

Hello, Mate...

Glen K. has nothing good to say about Blues (and by extension I would presume the Golds) as they are too bright for this amp.

As you know, he and most around here maintain that the Greenback is the ticket. It might a good giggle to hear what 2 Greenbacks and 2 blues sound like in a 4x12- Greenbacks on the floor to better bass response, wot?

Ron

[geetarpicker]

True, I didn't take well to a set of blues in my '68 slant. I did however get a little more out of them by making some open back panels for my 4x12 cab. One short song on my CD "Country Ham" is my Express into x4 Alnico blues, but with V1 & V2 swapped out for 12AY7s. On that tune I was going for a mostly clean country tone and the alnicos worked for that.

In the end though, I still find the old 25s (or Scumback M75s) to be the best all around speaker for an Express or Liverpool. Maybe I should have given my alincos more breakin time, but I could tell they were probably going to be more of a change of pace speaker then something I could use most of the time. I ended up selling two of my alincos, and putting the remaining two in a 2x12 and eventually selling that also after a couple years of messing with them.

[67plexi]

A close friend is using the golds and is in love with them. IM still using pre rola 25 greenbacks and just installed a MARSHALL 4x12 CAB STEREO JACK PLATE so IM only using 2x12 per amp @ 8 ohm's
to save stage space. at 8 ohom's it is to much for the ears IM going to try 16 ohm's per side in the 4 x 12 cab.

[dehughes]

Hi, cool, you are the fellow Ron talked about here a while back, nice to meet you.

I have no valid opinion on the golds, sorry. But I do have a weird connection to them via Brad Paisley....

If you go the Ted Weber's site, you will hear a sound clip of a Silver Bell and a Blue Bell in a 2/12 cab. This was Brad's thing for a while until he got the endorsment deal with Celestion and became - ta-da - the golden boy. But I bet you he still runs this cab and more just like it.

I heard this weber 2/12 combo in person at a shop, and plugged my hand built AC30TB head into it. Amazing TONE! Honestly, of all the things I have run into concerning gear, that stupid cab went right to the top of the 'must have' list. Eventually, I scored a 2/12 Vox Classic 2/12 cab and started gathering the two Weber speakers.

The first Sliver Bell was pretty used actually, and I sent it in for a Weber recone. Yes, a dangerous call perhaps, but the recone is a better version as the original one actually bottomed out in the mag - yeah, hard call but it wasn't perfect. However, the new one is, which is a testament to the current Weber company I suppose.

Anyway, to tidy this up, I created a custom back for the cab, a ported affair that really just lets the speakers do their thing better, and with the Weber combination installed, I am done with the Ultimate Cab search. What is unique about the pairing, and you can clearly hear it, is that one speaker has a bit more bass (Blue Bell) and the other has more top end (Silver Bell). Together they create this synergistic wave of very cool gtr TONE. FWIW, I tried 2 Blue Bells and it wasn't the same and keep in mind, the only differences between the two speakers, Silver and Blue is the spider. The Blue has the larger spider which alows it to move a little quicker for more bass. Frankly, if Brad actually records with the Golds, 2 of them, he is missing this synergistic ingredient that he enjoyed before and this really puzzles me. To the point that I think he must still use the Weber combination. Listen to it on Weber's site, you might understand.

Nice meeting you, long winded greeting, sorry.

Can you remember if that Blue/Silver pairing was the 30w or the 15w versions? Any idea as to the level of doping?

[tubelovin]

Maybe a dumb question but what is doping?

[skyboltone]

True, I didn't take well to a set of blues in my '68 slant. I did however get a little more out of them by making some open back panels for my 4x12 cab. One short song on my CD "Country Ham" is my Express into x4 Alnico blues, but with V1 & V2 swapped out for 12AY7s. On that tune I was going for a mostly clean country tone and the alnicos worked for that.

In the end though, I still find the old 25s (or Scumback M75s) to be the best all around speaker for an Express or Liverpool. Maybe I should have given my alincos more breakin time, but I could tell they were probably going to be more of a change of pace speaker then something I could use most of the time. I ended up selling two of my alincos, and putting the remaining two in a 2x12 and eventually selling that also after a couple years of messing with them.

Hey Glen. I listen to the clips on the Weber 1225 and the Scumback M75 and I much prefer the Weber. But clips are sooooo deceptive. I wonder if you've had a chance to audition the Webers?

[Structo]

Maybe a dumb question but what is doping?

Doping is the rubbery black stuff they put around the outside edge of the speaker cone.

It is supposed to reduce cone cry. Some speakers are more heavily doped than others.

When they are doped heavily the break in period can be longer before they loosen up and sound good.

[rooster]

Oh, yeah, my pair is exactly what Brad Paisely ran/runs(?) and that is the 50 watt versions. They are lightly doped per stock Weber specs on these speakers - think Celestion Blues. You can plainly see the doping on the Blues, right?

As to the doping thing, for a high gain amp like the EXP or the Rocket, you will want the doping, and probably on the light side at least. What it sounds like when you play a non-doped speaker on a high gain amp is what I would call 'fizzy'. Its all top end artifacts, making things just sound edgy. Think of doping as 'edge control', and note that Glen runs doped speakers AND felt cloth in front of the particular speaker (M75) for even more 'edge control'. Yeah, the EXP has edge to spare it seems.

If you do go with heavy dope, I personally think you are skipping the coin toss. For example, an already bass heavy speaker with a ton of dope is just going to sound like shite. Better to try the 'light' version' - if you can - just in case the speaker might actually have a tone you can use. Ah, but maybe I am blues centered and you are not. At any rate, its about 'balance' regarding particular speakers. And remember that there are particular speakers that are popular amongst certain types of players who run certain types of amps for a reason. Follow their lead if you want to save some time.

Lastly, as a side bar, I have some doping 'sauce' here at the house and I have had speakers reconed without the doping - and plugged them into my EXP. At low volumes everything is fine, but turn that gain knob up to 11+ o'clock and everything starts to sound wrong. The amp controls can't get to the fizz to fix it either. After doping this speaker in question (Jensen P12N), everything was totally acceptable. (...But nothing keeps up with the Webers in overall tone.)

Confusing you even more perhaps, that's my .02......

[tubelovin]

Thanks for the info guys. I never knew that kind of thing was an option.

[billyz]

I am currently running a weber silver bell , 50 watt, with pre Rola dope in a 1x12 combo , express style with 6v6 power tubes. Sounds Great. no high end fizz at all. Getting better everyday as it breaks in. Don't know if it would sound as good in an Express with el34's by the way I usually test with a nocaster , so if it was shrill or fizzy I would know it. I think the higher wattage gives a more subdued high end and better low end response.

[Rob S]

Sorry to revive this thread again Guys, but Glen, if I might be so bold?
What combination where you using on the most recent youtube offering where you were playing the Gretsch?

Thanks for your patience on this Chaps, much appreciated.

Rob