1969 Pulsonic Greenback vs '90s UK "6402" Greenback - speaker comparison

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psychodave said:
Got to admit, the 6402’s don’t sound bad. Adjustment the treble down a little bit and they are super close sounding.
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The Pulsonics just sound richer and deeper to my ears.......but as the guy points out they are in two different cabinets and he is miking one speaker out of each cab. He states they sound much closer standing in front of the cabinets versus what you hear on the recording.
 
harddriver said:
Not my vid....I thought this was a good comparison between the two. To my ears there are differences.:dunno:
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Pre-Rola Greenbacks just sound fucking amazing.

When the money situation here's better I probably have to get one.

People underestimate how much difference a speaker makes. That Pre-Rola has instantly the sound we all know from all the legendary records.
 
The 6402s are going in the direction of H30s compared to the Pulsonics. 6402s have too much hair and not quite enough mids compared to those glorious Pulsonics.
 
are you guys familiar with this one and more specifically what it might pair up nicely with?

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I'm running a full 4x12 cabinet of 55hz 12H-30's and I love em. If you don't have another it should blend well with either 75hz greenbacks or 75Hz 12H-30's.
 
The pulsonics have a tiny bit more mids and a tiny bit less grit, just a bit smoother and more refined.

I'm sure in the room they're very, very close
 
I had a 4x12 loaded with 6402 Greenbacks and they were incredible sounding speakers. Sounded as good as my EVH with the EVH 20w Celestion. And for certain applications(when I used to have the studio), they would be picked over the 69 4x12 with original G12-M 25w. Mostly when the band was very heavy and an extra tightness for the guitar tone was required.
Pre-Rola/Pulsonic speakers are some of the very best sounding speakers ever made, and I do own 4 original cabs with them(G12M-25 75hz, G12M-20 75hz, G12M-20 55hz and G12H-25 55hz), with one of them being my all time fave cab, but they will not cover areas where a V-30, EVM-12L, Redback, or any other higher powered, with tighter low end is needed.
Matter of fact, every single person who did a cabinet A/B last my place, using higher gain amps, and without knowing what was in the cabs, picked a Kerry Wright 4x12 with Blackbacks over all the other eleven 4x12s I have. Including the four ones with the Pre Rola speakers.
Now, if you're playing Free, Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, or any other classics from the late 60s and very early 70s, then it's pretty hard to beat an original Pre Rola/Pulsonic 4x12 cab. And the 6402 will get you extremely close to that tone.
 
I like this guy's video because he is not attenuating the 50 watt amp at all so he is really driving the speakers optimally moving some air. The 6402's seem a bit flat and less dynamic in this video. It would be interesting if he did another comparison to blackbacks and 12H-30's.

I've owned a quad of the 6402's in the past and I remember them sounding pretty much like what I heard in this guys clip and I didn't find them to be much better or different than my 78 Blackback 25 watt 75 hz celestions or my scumback M65's at the time so I sold them. I probably should have gotten the 25 watt scumbacks instead of the 65 watters.

I definitely like the actual Pulsonics over the 6402's if I were to make a judgement call from this video.

I've never played or heard an actual vintage Pulsonics in a 4x12 cab in person to truly judge them but the few people that I know and trust their opinions that have Pulsonics say they are worth every penny.
 
The same guy did another celestion shootout with 12H-30 Pulsonics.

A pair of 1970 and a pair of 1972 Pulsonic G12H-30s + a '92 Pulsonic RI 6402-cone Greenback. 3 short licks side-by-side on each of the 5 speakers. Identical cab and mic positions.
 
The 6402 (to my ears) has a touch more upper clarity and a deeper bottom, while still possessing 95% of the greenback magic, while remaining tighter than the Pulsonic, which I like.

I’m of course the exception, but I actually prefer my two 6402 cabs and my ‘78 /‘76 Blackback 25w 55hz cabs slightly over my 1970 Marshall Pulsonic cab.

Depends a lot on the style of music you play and of course, your personal taste, but, for the heavier stuff, I just prefer the 6402 or BB speakers over the Pulsonics.

In no way, am I trying to take away from the special tone Pulsonic speakers possess. But, After owning four of these cabinets through the years, that special magic ‘for me’ is just not quite as special as it is for some.

I’ll put my asbestos body Armor on now before I get attacked??

All good!
 
harddriver said:
The same guy did another celestion shootout with 12H-30 Pulsonics.

A pair of 1970 and a pair of 1972 Pulsonic G12H-30s + a '92 Pulsonic RI 6402-cone Greenback. 3 short licks side-by-side on each of the 5 speakers. Identical cab and mic positions.
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6402 sound great for a reissue speaker, but for my ears the 70 G12H30 -01 was king in every example.
 
SQUAREHEAD said:
The 6402 (to my ears) has a touch more upper clarity and a deeper bottom, while still possessing 95% of the greenback magic, while remaining tighter than the Pulsonic, which I like.

I’m of course the exception, but I actually prefer my two 6402 cabs and my ‘78 /‘76 Blackback 25w 55hz cabs slightly over my 1970 Marshall Pulsonic cab.

Depends a lot on the style of music you play and of course, your personal taste, but, for the heavier stuff, I just prefer the 6402 or BB speakers over the Pulsonics.

In no way, am I trying to take away from the special tone Pulsonic speakers possess. But, After owning four of these cabinets through the years, that special magic ‘for me’ is just not quite as special as it is for some.

I’ll put my asbestos body Armor on now before I get attacked??

All good!
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I have never preferred the pre-rola greenback 25 sound. However I do like the pre-rola 30 sound. I have a quad of 1972 greenbacks that sound glorious and I have used them very sparingly over the last 33 years of owning them. They still sound crisp.

It’s no secret that I like the H30 sound the most and have always loved the black back H30 with 55hz.
 
SBlue said:
Matter of fact, every single person who did a cabinet A/B last my place, using higher gain amps, and without knowing what was in the cabs, picked a Kerry Wright 4x12 with Blackbacks over all the other eleven 4x12s I have.
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This is why I loaded my 1965 with 2 scumback bm75lds.

They're really close to an original blackback.


I think people associate gear with the era of music the gear came out during, but in general, musicians of all eras are playing the previous eras gear. So for classic heavy tones, A LOT of those bands were using blackbacks/vented 75s instead of later 75s or v30s.

So when someone plugs in and hears something that sounds closer to that ideal, they immediately recognize it.

That's my hypothesis, anyways. I've noticed that alot of people who come over and play my gear gravitate towards that cab and those speakers.
 
psychodave said:
I have never preferred the pre-rola greenback 25 sound. However I do like the pre-rola 30 sound. I have a quad of 1972 greenbacks that sound glorious and I have used them very sparingly over the last 33 years of owning them. They still sound crisp.

It’s no secret that I like the H30 sound the most and have always loved the black back H30 with 55hz.
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I can acknowledge the Pulsonic 25 watt greenback prowess for certain Marshall tones but I am also a 12H-30 guy all around as you...........I tried and tried and tried to love the greenbacks in every form and for me the 12H-30 both 55HZ and 75HZ is king for me.....so I know what you are talking about.:2thumbsup::yes:

I would love to play a Pulsonic 25 watt and or 30 watt cabinet in person sometime...... :yes:well...Maybe I better not... because then I will be unhappy with my 1979 blackback 12H-30's if they are what they say they are.......it never ends.:hys:
 
DanTravis62 said:
This is why I loaded my 1965 with 2 scumback bm75lds.

They're really close to an original blackback.


I think people associate gear with the era of music the gear came out during, but in general, musicians of all eras are playing the previous eras gear. So for classic heavy tones, A LOT of those bands were using blackbacks/vented 75s instead of later 75s or v30s.

So when someone plugs in and hears something that sounds closer to that ideal, they immediately recognize it.

That's my hypothesis, anyways. I've noticed that alot of people who come over and play my gear gravitate towards that cab and those speakers.
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That is correct. And so many tones were done during the late 70s, early 80s, with brand new gear, including cabs.
Blackback speakers are absurdly underrated for metal.
I also agree with the Scumback speakers. Some of the very best Pulsonic and Blackback replicas ever. Not to mention their PVC greenbacks are insanely great.
 
In the end, after all my speaker/cab purchases/trades I'm just not an H magnet dude, exceptions for the G12 H80 and the pair of 1966 H25s that I have. Those H25s don't sound anything like the H30s I've had, including 2 Pulsonics and many H30 av speakers. They are more like an M25 than the H30. I did have a 1972 slant cab, all original and you can definitely hear the midrange difference with those vs any that followed...and, I've had a 74 with RIC cones, 2 BB cabs from 76 and assorted reissue GB cabs.
The EVH cab with the 20w reissues sounds really good and aren't very different than the vintage cabs I've had. I think if you have a shot at getting a vintage GB cab for a good price, go for it..there is something special going on...but, for 3k or whatever they are (Pulsonic cab) I'm not sure it's worth the difference in tone vs the price.
 
Racerxrated said:
In the end, after all my speaker/cab purchases/trades I'm just not an H magnet dude, exceptions for the G12 H80 and the pair of 1966 H25s that I have. Those H25s don't sound anything like the H30s I've had, including 2 Pulsonics and many H30 av speakers. They are more like an M25 than the H30. I did have a 1972 slant cab, all original and you can definitely hear the midrange difference with those vs any that followed...and, I've had a 74 with RIC cones, 2 BB cabs from 76 and assorted reissue GB cabs.
The EVH cab with the 20w reissues sounds really good and aren't very different than the vintage cabs I've had. I think if you have a shot at getting a vintage GB cab for a good price, go for it..there is something special going on...but, for 3k or whatever they are (Pulsonic cab) I'm not sure it's worth the difference in tone vs the price.
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I think the UK Heritage reissue greenbacks and the Heritage 12H-30 are some great sounding speakers! I like greenback tones on clips but when I play them in front of the cabinet I have always preferred my 12H-30's. I used to play my amp through my drummers EVH 4x12 with the Heritage greenbacks in it always sounded good but I felt my H cabs sounded better for me and what I like.

Whatever Celestion has been doing the last few years I hope they keep doing it....... I love mine.

I have a 4x12 cabinet loaded with 12H-30 75Hz Reissues and it sounds like my original coned 1979 1982B cabinet with blackback 12H-30 75HZ speakers when I have them side by side.

Alot of great clips of people with those EVH cabs.
 
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