The three best “bang for the buck” changes you can make in your rig are picks, strings, and speakers. I use different picks for different guitars….it’s amazing the change in tone!
Speakers are overlooked by so many. People assume they make no difference or are the least important part of the chain but speakers change the tone mote then tube swaps or guitar pickup swaps I have a Variety of cabinets and speakers and when I switch cabs but use the same amp its like a switched toa different amp .
Really great comparison! Most speaker comparison videos show one speaker compared to the other but to hear it in the context of a track was fantastic. Celestion Gold has been my favourite speaker for a long time but nicely surprised by the Celestion Neo Creamback. Held off on the Neo due to mixed reviews but I think I'll have to try two in a 2x12 cab now after hearing it here. Surprised that I preferred it to the standard Creamback!
I just put an Alnico Cream in my cabinet, and what a huge difference. It’s more versatile than my Vintage 30 or greenback. Huge dynamic range. Completely transformed my sound. Love it!
The whole creamback range are fantastic. Whether it's the alnico cream the neo cream or the Ceramic M and H cream. For so long you had to choose between either the low wattage vintage voiced speakers ot the higher wattage more modern voiced speakers but now for the last few years Celestion and other speaker producers are combing the vintage voicings with modern higher power handling. For quite a while with celestion if you needed higher power rated speakers you choices were basically vintage 30s or T 75s . I like V30s but they don't sound particularly vintage to my ears .
Very nice vid Paul and super playing. I installed a Celestion Gold into my DRRI nearly 15-years ago and continue to be very impressed with its performance. it just seesm to get better and I've use no other. 'Breaking In' guitar speakers is however, voodoo mumbo jumbo to many, but once fitted, I fed the DRRI with pink noise (a freq. weighted wide band signal) at mid-power for about 40-hours (while I was out at work each day) and genuinely noticed a pleasing difference afterwards. If you play a lot, that'll also do the trick, but that's probably 20 gigs or rehearsal sessions...
Hi, Paul! What a lovely strat sound and beautiful Hendrix style melody! I'm always glad to hear a well made speaker comparison. All 3 speakers sounded very good, the creambacks were better overdriven and the alnico gold on cleans as you mentioned. But if I had to choose just one, I'd probably go with the creamback as it seems more versatile to me and is cheaper, too. The neo is very popular these days, but I'd have to hear the exact same phrases back to back to differentiate their nuances. Also it might be interesting to throw the H creamback in, however it's not that portable...
That was illuminating. Listening via my meagre set up, the Neo seemed the most balanced of the three, in the context in which you were testing them. Curious to know if you tried (& videoed?) a similar experiment with a humbucker-equipped guitar and / or a Tele type, to see if things changed much, especially whether the Alnico Gold’s high-end clarity helped or hindered. Great song and gorgeous playing too. Cheers.
Hi Paul, I tried all sorts of speakers. It is indeed a very important component in one's signal chain. IMO, the G12M65 Creamback is probably the best compromise in your test. The cleans are maybe less chimey than the Gold, but it gives you an overall spectrum that allows you to play through a lot of genres, clean, crunch, distorted with a constant output tone quality. Which might not be the case of the Neo... I use a Creamback together with a G12T75 and both complete each other pretty well. My 2 ¢
Haha, that’s funny… my 2x12 cab for years was loaded with a G12T75 and a G12M65. A couple years ago I swapped the T75 for a NEO creamback and the sound is absolutely stellar. The G12T75 made my tone a little nasally, but the NEO buttered the tone up nicely. I’ve spent thousands of dollars on speakers and cabs looking for the right tone and I finally found it. The tone of the G12T75’s are good, but they’re so dang loud that they overpower whatever speaker you pair them with.
Very good video. Would not hurt considering how fast human ear forget the timbre of the tone, to make a verse or two where you change the sound from one speaker to another like almost in every two bars, back and forth. 😀
At first I preferred the Neo Cream - thought it had more top end and sparkle than the other 2 and then realized that you had the guitar's switch in position 4 (neck and middle) for the clean demo of the Neo Cream but had it in position 5 (neck only) for the ceramic Cream and the alnico gold. The clean demo of all 3 speakers should've been on the same pickup setting. Not that it was intentional! I had to go back and re-listen several times as I thought I was hearing things.
They all have their own place. That’s the beauty of it. I don’t know how many different speakers I have in cabs since the 70s. However I just switched to gold top of the lines in my vox. I play at low volumes anymore and I find them very articulate, and I can get a well rounded sound with little fuss.
Really interesting. I thought the Neo sounded a bit thin, especially in the bass response, but since it was first one played, I thought it might just be the guitar. But the Ceramic added some depth and bottom end to the sound that I thought improved the sound overall. The Gold sounded best for the kind of quiet guitar part you were playing, great clarity and bass response, but harsh on the overdrive. Of the three I'd go with the Ceramic Creamback.
I liked all three, I wouldn't use all three for the same thing though. You should check out the selection v-type and the v-type Neo, great speakers. You may actually like the Alnico cream back better than the gold.
Hey Man...really enjoy your videos. You have an amazing touch and you do VERY thorough coverage on whatever you are review (testing). Thank you Bud...Rock On!
Neo for me all day. Thought the sound sat in the track much better. But its horses for courses and as you said Paul...probably need all three depending on the music and vibe. Much appreciated and thanks.
Many moons ago in a guitar mag a reviewer says "I'm reviewing all guitar speakers". And he wasn't kidding. He reviewed every speaker. Altec-Lansing, - Cerwin-Vega, - JBL,- Electo-Voice, - Peavey. EVERYTHING. Well anyway at the end of his reviews he said - "Well with all that said - snuff it!" - "The Celestion Blue is the BEST sounding speaker!"
I actually thought the brightness of the alnico gold was a little harsh. I preferred the Neo Creamback. Great demonstration! Only suggestion would be to end the video with some edits to have each one right after the other so one doesn't have to slide between sections of the video to hear direct comparisons.
Great comparison and it‘s interessting to see how the Gold excels in the clean area and the others more in a driven setup. I really like the Neo! But much more important: This is a fabulous playing and composition! Thanks a lot for sharing. Can we buy this song somewhere? Best, Markus
I have to take your word for it on which one is preferred. Probably sounds different in the room but not enough through RU-vid for me. Great vid.... Thanks for confusing the choices even more, lol
Dreaming of a stereo rig with both types. A Deluxe Reverb w/Gold set a bit above edge of breakup with a dash of reverb. A Brownface Deluxe with Creamback set cranked with slight tremolo that appears when notes ring out. Run both amps at the same time and adjust between clean and mean with the volume controls. 😊😊😊
Yes, it makes a big difference. I recently purchased a marshall mx212 cab that had 70/80’s in it, which in my opinion are good speakers they get a bad rap. They sort of sound like a tamed down vintage 30. However I changed speakers to a v30 on the bottom and a g12-t75 on top. Big difference, sounds great.
Neo and Alnico speakers sound very similar to me. I'd bet it has something to do with the magnetic field size since they're both a lot smaller than ferrite/ceramic magnets.
The bass and lower mids are stronger on the gold with a nice sparkle on the top. The Neo Creamback is clean clear and tight. Both are very different and would be worth having. The ceramic creamback is a honestly kind of muddy. You might get more out of it in a higher gain situation I think. Not really my thing though.
I have 3 separate Victory 2x12 vertical cabs with different Celestion speakers installed. Ceramic Creambacks, Neo Creambacks and AlNiCo Creams (which are Celestion's most expensive speakers, rather than the AlNiCo Golds). They all sound excellent but I very slightly prefer the sound of the Ceramic Creambacks, although when it comes to moving the cabs, I much prefer the lighter weight of the Neo Creambacks! The AlNiCo Creams have the most laid back sound, while the Neo Creambacks have the fastest response. I also have a mini stack consisting of 2 identical sized Montage cabs, one with a single 12" Ceramic Creamback, the other with 2x10" Ceramic Creambacks. Easier to move around than the 2x12 cabs and sounding just as good.
fantastic video, Paul!. I love that more people are starting to go down the speaker path and realise how much it changes the tone instead of going for a new amp, I think matching different speakers can make for very interesting tones if matched right . I'm currently looking for a speaker to match with my Eminence Pete Anderson Hempback, and I'm thinking probably an Eminence DV-77 once they're available here in Australia. As I play both down tuned metal, but also have a love for luscious cleans. I'm currently paying off a peavey invective and using an old crate TD-70 at the moment.
Fun video! Subtle differences, and even though none sound bad, some are just more special. I like the speakers that sound more full and punchy. The gold one sounds great, but there's a honky mid (?) that makes it sound more different from the other two. Oh, almost forgot! I must compliment your playing! Great use of inversions, very musical, melodic!
did you feel the same way after hearing the recorded results? because to me the ceramic creamback sounded a lot fuller than the neo, the low end you talked about did not really come across with the neo (listening with ATH-M50), the neo sounded thinner.
Even though at first I didn't think the gold sounded as good overdriven I preferred after several listens. I like the texture of the Golds overdrive even though it isn't perfect it's cool and stands out. I also preferred the gold clean but I can see why you may have preferred the others with your Matchless. Some amps I prefer ceramic speakers. Between the two creambacks I thought the Neo sounded smaller or thinner which is the opposite of the way you described it as fuller. I preferred the regular creamback as it sounded more full and dynamic where the NEO sounded more even and less dynamic. ...also smaller and less punchy. Maybe different in the room.
Very interesting. I could see how you like the more sparkly Neo with the tighter/fuller bottom end, but even though the ceramic has more rolled off highs and lows, it still sounds really nice. Like a pleasing, warm voice. It's almost as if you took the neo and then used some compression on your guitar, squashing the outer parts of the EQ but then enhancing and adding more sustain to the mids. The Gold probably needs to be broken in more, it's more strident and a bit stiff. the ceramic Creamback sounds older and more broken in. I think it actually has the nicest tone but rather one-trick-pony and compressed compared to the others. Put it this way, I think you could get the neo to sound like the ceramic with some compression, but not the other way around. If I was choosing for say a Fender amp, I'd probably go with the ceramic and dedicate myself to that characteristic as my 'base', unless I knew I had an easy way of hitting an eq/compressor pedal to get it spot-on when using the neo. But in a band mix you'll probably lose a lot of those extra lows and highs anyway, so maybe again the ceramic and not worry about it.
Great comparo - Im looking right now at what to choose for my next custom cab build! I like the Neo CB concept - especially since my current custom cab is very light weight, Have you done any videos on the Electro Voice EVM12L or 15L??
The Gold had the sweetest sound. Would be ideal for studio work and especially more delicate guitar parts. That subtlety would probably not be noticed in a live situation. Of the Creams, I preferred the Neo. It was quite close to the Gold for sweetness and had a bit more oomph. Would make a better all-rounder, as well as saving money.
You are a "Soul-Man" , we can all see your expression when your playing and digging the tune. From this end the Standar creamback actually sounded "Fuller" and "warmer" , a more versatile choice than the other 2. All are good but how many speakers can we be lugging around to a job? I may have to stick a 10" creamback ceramic in my AD15 combo just cos it works for anything from Country/ Folk to Dance music and all out Rock n roll(with a Fuzz), thanks for the Viddy as it really helps hearing another( cool) Player using the gear and we can really listen. TA'. BTW I thought you were going to grab a cold drink when you opened up the Grossman(It does look like a domstic appliance).
Really appreciate this video- I’m in the process of choosing between a couple alnicos myself for a Zilla Cab that they’re building for me! I’ve never had a cab built before! this video was very helpful-the alnico was it for me-had the organic sound of a magnet but the same sparkle u liked about the neo…which made a strong case for a spkr that weighs half a magnet!🤔
@@lrob1234 I bought a mint Mesa Cali tweed head off a guy on Reverb and zilla building the cab using either the 40 watt Jensen Blackbird alnico or the 100watt version- I bought both-I found a used 100 watt for half price so I’m gonna try both out and sell the one I don’t use-so Zilla is making me a empty open back more vintage style cab.
I remember people switching their fender cabs from jensens to jbl or some dam thing,,if I knew then what I know now I would have collected all the throw away jensens
Did not really like the Gold overdriven but was really sweet on the clean end. Ceramic was a little bitier which worked better overdriven. NEO was indeed a balance. Which I guess is as advertised. But it’s subtle.
Thanks for this excellent comparison video. I hope you might compare some other speakers if you get the time. ALL the other speaker reviews I’ve seen use heavy distortion tones instead of any clean tones. While this may be great for some I think clean tones are far more revealing of a speaker’s tone character. Great playing by the way. I like your wide open choked voicings. Any chance you might demonstrate how you construct your chord voicings?
Absolutely love this song and I agree with all comments Paul, regarding your playing and those crisp Strat tones 🤩 do you have any thoughts / experience on the Marshall origin combo amps with the Celestion Midnight speakers?
Would reeeeally love to hear all three together in a 4x12 cab and IF you also had and added the Creamback 75 together! Would you be able to do a three together? Cheers
clean 1:30 5:12 8:22 dirty 2:04 6:00 9:18 put some quality earphones on and crank it up...the alnico throws tones at you! Even the dirty power chords are crunchy!
Interesting. I tried to toggle back and forth between the soloed sections; it certainly seemed to me that the greatest difference was between the Alnico and the other two.
I'm only listening on my laptop but the alnico seems to be the winner for me. The neo has a nice sound but rather supressed. The ceramic is reasonably loud but seems a bit harsh. The alnico seems to be not as loud as the ceramic but has the nicest tones out of the three. Anyway that's just my observation. But wtf do I know lol. These days I have trouble listening to my top e string when tuning up (without the guitar plugged in).
