Blueback vs Greenback Speakers - Can you hear the difference?? 

It’s so funny how much difference a speaker makes, and yet people are going crazy over pick up magnets, tube companies, string gauge, fairy dust Etc.

If i had 2 AC15s, I would put a Blue Alnico in one and a Greenback in the other and balance the volume levels because the "both" sound is Awesome!!!!!

I own an AC15 with a greenback. I've been completely happy with it - until now. To me the blue sounds like the green if you scraped all the mud off. It sounds much more usable in a mix or with a band.

I did a side by side test of the latest AC30 with Green backs next to an AC30 with Alnico Blues and I loved them both. the Blues were MUCH louder. As you hear on this video they are brasher with more top end, and they break noticeably earlier than the Greenbacks. In the mix, Blues will cut through anything but may need 'taming' a bit. But the Greenbacks are much smoother and warmer. I also tried an experiment by putting a 7-band EQ in the FX loop of the AC30 (where it acts as a clean boost) with Greenbacks to see if I could get close to the Blues. What was interesting is I could use the EQ 'level' control to easily make up the volume difference and with some minor tweaking of the EQ get very very close to the brasher more treble Blues tone but I couldn't get it to match that earlier break-up feel. I then put the EQ in front of the amp, where it acts as more of a gain boost, and I could get more of that earlier break-up feel. I then reversed the experiment, and put the EQ in the FX loop of the 'Blues' AC30 version to see if I could get a more mellower, smoother Greenback tone. Up to a certain point, I could dial (or more accurately 'slide') the top end out and get a much warmer tone but couldn't quite capture the smoothness/warmth of the Greenback due to the early 'Blues' break-up. So, which do I prefer? i loved the idea in the vid of having two AC15 (or even AC30) amps and running both together/switching for the best of both worlds but for most of us that's impractical (cost/weight etc). I love them both for different things. But if I was buying a single AC30 I'd go Greenback because it's a lot cheaper (esp in a 2x12 AC30) easier to make these sound nearer the Blues than it is to make the Blues sound nearer the Greens, and as I play mainly classic rock and blues I'd prefer the warmer Greens tone more of the time. So I think what you play is the big thing to think about as to which is best for you and if you like the Blues tone but only have a Greens budget, then try the EQ comparison trick & see if it works for you. Only thing I'd point out is that I don't think the AC15 Custom has an FX loop, so you can only use an EQ at the front end (I preferred it in the AC30 FX loop). The extra cost of one Alnico Blue isn't so bad in the 1x12" AC15 so I think if you're going AC15 again it's more of a tonal preference than budget consideration.

the blue rang with such nice overtones. it's so much more than just more mids and highs. magical.

From what I hear, the Blue has more mid and high end definition, more bass. It's more open. The green back is low mid/mid focused with the highs muffled a bit and not a lot of bass . With that said, I think they both sound great! I think I'd prefer the blue for trio work and the green back for bigger ensembles, to take less space in the frequency spectrum.

once again the editors of this video are killing it! those little quips you add in are amazing. ON another note: excellent video. I like both for different reasons, but the presence and bite of the Blue are quite lovely.

I love all the history and facts and all the added value that comes with these Chappers and the Captain videos! Great job guys! Kepp doing what you are doing!

in all of my years of playing, i never realised what a huge difference what speakers used makes to the tone. that dual amp tone is just beautiful!!

I didn’t even know the difference, despite having a AC with the greenback. I was worried I would wish I had the blue, but after watching this comparison, I really enjoy the bluesy depth of the green. To me the speakers are almost as different as the sound of a single coil vs a humbuckers. The blue has highs and open sound, the green has a more mid range almost muddier sound. I prefer humbuckers over single coils, so maybe that’s why I prefer the green.

I love how you guys produce your video in stereo to help identify the amps as well. Good choice!

I’m 6 years late to this video, but for what it’s worth I noticed something important: you can get a brand new Alnico Blue speaker for less than the price difference between these two models, which are otherwise identical. So buy the greenback combo and the speaker, then swap out the speaker. You just saved some money over the more expensive model and have a spare 12” greenback to boot.

Personally, I would get a 2x12, and use one of each speaker. Or in a 4x12, the speakers would be in X configuration. That would give you the perfect blend of tone.

Did I watch the Captain tune to drop D?

Very glad I stumbled upon you guys. Entertaining and informative thanks!

I watched this video a couple of years ago and just came back to it today because I was thinking about changing the speaker in my Deluxe Reverb reissue to an Alnico. Currently I have a Fawn Version that comes with a Greenback speaker. After listening to this clip I will just keep the Greenback, it has a bit of a fuller sound which might be better for rhythm playing but still does a pretty good job for solos with a little pedal boost. This was a good video guys, thank you. I'm sure you will continue to get comments for a long time.

For those of us who played Vox amps _before_ all of the reissues (a lot of those early reissues were just...not good) The Alnico speakers sound like a Vox _should_ sound like. Not necessarily _better_, just more "Voxy".

Have you ever tried Bareback? That's how I wound up with my first daughter.

I learn so much from these guys. thank you! Cheers from USA

Thanks for doing this show! Thanks. Its really entertaining! Respect to you! -Dante

made it about 8 mins in, replayed that riff of Rob's about 100 times, learned it, and played it for half an hour

Greenbacks definitely sound bluesier and warm and fuzzy to me atleast \m/ omg that overdriven tone with the strat and the greenbacks made me shiver full on hendrix tone right there

Mad respect to you guys and the editing involved, so amusing! Blue back is much clearer I think

Love the editing in these videos, its done very well and very funny!

The Blueback definitely sounds better. Especially with the Strat. I have been looking for a 15 watt amp for a while and this really helped.

It may have been less subjective to run the guitar through a single amp and then A/B the speaker-out to two identical speaker cabs--one with the green and one with the blue. A huge consideration is this: no two identical amps sound identical, and no two identical mics sound identical. Thanks for all you do!

I have a Creamback in my AC10. I love it compared the the Greenback because it sounds more open. I also changed the tubes to create slightly less gain. prefect blues amp. 5751 in the Preamp and a 12Ax7 in the phase inverter cheers from the USA ! I love the videos Cap!

Great vid as always, gents. I'm in agreement with Rob regarding the lead vs. rhythm tones between the two speakers, especially in live situations. Would like to see what you all would see regarding high watt and closed-back cab comparisons. I use identical oversized 2 x 12 cabs, each loaded with Greenbacks in one and V30's in the other. Appreciate your efforts

Would be helpful if you could feature text on screen to specify which amp is playing when. I lost track of which was which

Honestly I think they both are awesome and sound like great quality. So I think if I was shopping for an amp I'd go with cheaper of the two and then invest the difference in a cool pedal or two that could help me make fun sounds.

Would def love to hear this amp with some of the the other Alnico speakers (gold, cream, ruby). What a great idea for a top tier amp to have it be the buyers choice as to the top tier speaker at no extra cost, especially for how much they already cost.

I had a speaker in my Evil Fender Twin die many years ago and I decided to mix it up. Now the amp has one ceramic and one AlNiCo and it has been a pleasure to my ears ever since.

This got me thinking, all these comparative videos are great, and I love listening to your collective opinions, but, because of the compromise in sound, with the compression via RU-vid, what would be the chances of you setting up a place where you can download recording quality sound files for each of your comparison videos?

Finger pointing works too, but in 2016 you can also use text on screen to just read out which speaker is being used. The future is now.

They both sound great. But when they put both of them at the same time... that was tone heaven. I am now convinced that the best set up would be to use both of them in stereo. Amazing.

Another similar test is to run the same amp but with two separate cabs loaded with different speakers. Tube amps, (As much as we love them), tubes will warm up differently and of course harmonically tubes are fractionally inconsistent from one run to the next. Using the same amp with two cabs gives a truer rendition of the differences of the speakers. Man I always love listening to these gentlemen's reviews !!! They are awesome !!!

Vox is so underappreciated. Amazing amps!

Blue. Glad I've got one in my AC15. :)

Great idea, yeah I noticed a little better top end on the alnico. Thanks for the video.

that riff played at 10 minutes is TASTY, thank you for adding colour to a dull day guys!!!!

I played through a greenback AC30 for 4 years and was never disappointed. If I were going to buy, though, I would save up for the blue. Blues are clearer, more dynamic, with added beautiful brightness and balanced lows. Greens sound muddy in comparison.

"...ALNICO is made of three things... Aluminun, Nickel and LOVE" LOL :D

Laura from Against Me was runs an AC30 blueback with a Vox 2x12 live. It sounded so good. I was blown away.

I love my CC1 and use it for everything! Blues, metal, rock..etc. Takes pedals like a savage and has no issues cutting through drums,halfstacks, 8x10 Ampegs..BRING IT ON!

The blues all the way. You can't hear the extra 'oomph', but I can assure you it's there. I'm not saying the greenbacks are bad, because they're not (duh), but I prefer the 'honest' sound of the alnico blues.

Interesting. My preference: Clean = Blue Slight breakup/rhythm = Green Overdrive/lead = Blue

The blue for me, the extra top end gives you an effective mid scoop which sounds pleasing to me. I never play with the tone on 10 on any of my guitars, so happy to tame it that way. When the captain plays with the KTR into the blue, you get the mids back, nice blues/rock tone

I really like my Celestion Blue 112 cab, and my G12H Heritage 112 cab. Two different sounding speakers in identical cabs. Both wonderful to play. Have a 212 of Blues, too. Love it..

that stereo mix of the 2 of them is amazing :) (the first distorted rift)

The Greenbacks have a more modern Rock/Metal tone, while the Bluebacks have a more Classic Rock/Blues sound. I personally like the sound of both together. You guys should do more Mixed Speaker Models demos. It's an interesting way to get very rich tones IMO.

If you get a chance try them together, it is one of the most underrated combinations, the AC30 is a great sized amp/cab to use (you just have to get over the volume drop on the M).

I pulled 4 green backs out of a 1971 acoustic 405 transducer. They were 16 ohm, 25 watts, and 55cs or hz. Put them in a slightly smaller Marshall 412. They sound incredible and the low end is clear and deep. I love these speakers

GAwd it's like night and day. Blueback is heavenly!

Captain Lee making music? Shut up and take my money.

Sounded great with both running. Which is why a lot of AC30 people have one of each (blue and green) and which is what I do in my Fender 67 Bassman 2x12 box. Pretty ace.

These guys are great! No pretense, just straight up guitar tech. Thanks The worlds greatest Guitar Nerds.

I hope you guys planned your t-shirt colour choices for this video.

What ever happened to the ML-V we were voting for?

Without a shadow of a doubt!!! The verdict is IN and the blueback speakers are more alive!!! Thanks of the vids. I really enjoy them.....altough some of them are kinda long I do enjoy them!!!

Love the "It's Only Love" riff!

To my ears, Blueback sounds better clean, but the Greenback sounds better overdriven

Cheapest pedal board challenge?

had two friends in college who teamed up and bought an AC30 each, one with greens, one with blues, and switched one of each speaker out. gave both amps an amazingly balanced tone. to all three of us there were things each speaker did better, so having both gave them the versatility to have a rounder tone. i ended up replacing my old stock warfdale speakers with 2 speakers from Warehouse Guitar Speakers (ET65 and a veteran30) and loved it even more than the green/blueback combo. which now means to get a true representation of my tone i use four mics on one combo amp, which is definitely overkill, and looks ridiculous, but it gives me lots of options. When i made the switch my sound man said "don't know whose guitar you're borrowing, but it sounds way better than yours ever does"

The Blue sounds more open and “Voxy” to me. Having just added my first 2x12 Alnico Blue cab to the room, I have also been recently impressed “in person” about the all around tone of the speakers. The Greens rule with Marshalls (or my HXDA), but the Blues are just the right speakers for EL84 amps. Both sounded nice, but the Blue was the better tone to my ears.

I forgot which was which about three minutes into the video anyway.

5:20 Dude that was Ursa's Enrage sound effect from Dota 2, what an odd place to hear it

Love the combined sound

The blue wins for me. We can hear better differences than you can because we are getting the miked sound with no off axis to bother us. The blue is much more aggressive in a good way. More punch and better ability to create high end not to mention much less flub. At least thats what I'm hearing. I have the AC30 with the blue's in it and its amazing. Ive got the Ac30 for my clean tones, a Friedman 100 watt BE for plexi rhythm tones and a Boogie Mark V for leads. I have other amps but this mix is perfect for what Im doing in my studio. Love the show guys.

Please do a captain guitar collection please

I think that the Blue gives a Better Sound through the VOX.! Would love to See the Same Test With a couple of Fender Amps.!!

thanks great vid both amps sound great

Can you guys PLEASE do a review on the Ibanez Artcore hollow body series?? I'm fixing to start gigging and I'd like a proper review on it where I can hear a more professional sound quality than just from a phone microphone. Cheers guys! Love your videos and have a great day!

The Vox I bought has Bluebacks. Is it better then Greens? I don't know, I'm too busy enjoying the Vox tone.

it's like the difference between a bridge and neck pickup

Coming from a loudspeaker hobbyist and amateur designer, the blue seems to have more low end / midbass. Listening on fairly large speakers, that one had no trouble conveying tactile feel and a nice grumble in the gut, where as the other one felt quite a bit thinner, almost like it was a smaller speaker. I bet that blue sounds way better for lower tunings, especially. Cheers guys, love your vids :)

I prefer the Alnico Blue, but it really is a great comparison. Either amp does really well with pedals in front of it.

The greenbacks sound sweeter to my ears and seem to have more nuance to the tone. The blues cut through the mix better though.

Preferred the blueback, but thought it was the less expensive one because I've heard of greenbacks before and never bluebacks.

After hearing both together and on their own, I liked the sound and tone of both sets of speakers at the same time. A thought I then had would be to have one 2x12 amp, but as for the speakers themselves, one blueback and one greenback (for me, probably the blueback on the left and the greenback on the right) followed by stereo miking said amp.

Always been attracted to alnico tones. My 18W Vox currently has a G12-65 in it and got an Alnico Gold for it a while back. Still haven't put it in the amp though.

Is it just me? I'm hearing the blue back having more mids.

Alnico Blue definitely won it for me. Sounded like it gave the amp more headroom and gave each guitar a more robust lower end.

Sweet shootout. I believe I prefer the amp on my left amp., but I'd gladly take either.

I love how thorough your videos are. This was something I wasn't even aware of, the different speakers, but I'm glad you two reviewed it, because it effects what I'll be purchasing!

Does anyone else hear just more compression from the greenbacks? To my ears, i liked the clean tone from the greens and the OD from the blue. I heard too much compression in the greens when dirty. But it was nice when clean. Also, maybe Im insane

I prefer the greenbacks; the blues sound fizzy to me.

Have an AC 10 amazing amp. Great tones - Maybe going for AC 15 Blue...Thanks as always for your demos and show...

I need an alnico speaker! Thanks for this vid!

I think grean for the humbuckers and blue for the Strat

Blue=brighter, more mids. Green=slightly warmer. To my ears at least.

I like both. I'd like to have one of each and use them as 1 amp with 2 channels. I'd have the blueback for lead and the green back for crunch and rythm. I love Vox equally as much as Marshall and Fender. There's a bunch of great amps I love even more than the for mentioned. To list a few is my most favorite, Budda, then Germino,and Hughes and Ketner. Though I can go on for a while listing amps I like more than the big 3.

excellent video lads. Probably up there with the squier vs fender vs fender vs fender vs fender videos as one of my favourites. I think both speakers have their charms. For a straight clean sound and also with a slight push from a good overdrive pedal you cant beat a VOX with a Celestion blue it kills any amp in my opinion. But for big over driven sounds I think the greenback is the best choice. Having owned an AC15 with a blue speaker I couldn't get along with the high end fizz that it produced. I have a blues jnr now and its a great all rounder. I have an epiphone blues custom 30 which I've kitted out with 2 greenback heritage speakers. What amazing drive units they are!

Was that some reef I heard at 10:30?

You need to work a Blue back hard to get the magic (compression kicking in), just saying.

LOVE my Purple Lmtd Vox AC15 blue back..they are so right, ive never even turned the thing up past noon in my life...and I gig at clubs with it. It's SO DAMN LOUD! ROCK ON!

I just got a green. It compliments a Tele pretty well. I think a blue might just be a tad too bright with a Telecaster bridge pickup. It's all super subjective obviously so there's no right or wrong just my opinion on the matter. I love the amp though, fantastic amps all around!

Seroius question. Why do you guys never wear ear defence when doing these reviews (unless you're both wearing fitted plugs and I can't see them). I understand this can maybe limit the amount of tone you guys can hear, but as a working musician i'm just going to say you only get one set of ears. PROTECT YOUR HEARING

As you can hear at 14:55, Rob turned into a whale for a second! Fascinating....

Just an FYI that I find interesting. I use an IR from Ownhammer that is a combo of the Blue Alnico and the Greenback in a Vox 2x12 cabinet. I found it to sound absolutely awesome. This was before I ever came across this video. So yes, the combination of a blue and greenback is incredible. You get the chiming cleans of the blue, and when you hit an overdrive or distortion effect, the greenback growls, but you don't lose the clear definition of the alnico blue. I use a Soldano clean preamp model, with the Vox 2x12 Blue, Green combo in the FX loop of an HD500x. A Mooer Radar handles the IR as well as the Power Amp and EQ. Almost a Helix on a budget once you add the Mooer Radar. Not as many goodies as the Helix, but the sound was improved so much I haven't desired to buy a Helix... yet...

I've never owned a Vox, but the Celestion Blue kicks a$$ with a Marshall for vintage sounds, especially with a Fender guitar, or a Gibson with P90s. I noticed that pairing it with a Fender really stood out to Captain. I think it gives a Marshall a Bassman-like sound. But, a Marshall also needs a Greenback for the signature mid. Every studio and guitarist needs both...LOL. That's what I always tell my wife anyway. Great video. You really capture the clarity of the Blue. I have and use Greenbacks and Blues. But, one speaker that I love is the Ten Thirty. A pair of those in a deep cab gives a fantastic sound. And, to think you can buy the 10 30 for about $35 vs. about $300 for a Blue. It is a blessing that we live in a world where people can get a great sound whatever their budget.