Has anybody tried a 4x12 with Celestion Blues?

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Rex Rocker

Rex Rocker

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I've always wondered about it.

I love early breakup speakers like Greenbacks to give high-gain tones some character. I like V30's as much as everyone, but sometimes it's cool to try something different. And after all, V30's were originally meant to be Blue-ish, right?

I know a 2x12 wouldn't be able to handle the average high-gain head, but what about plugging a 50W Badlander or 5150III into a 4x12 with them? Anybody tried it?

I have never tried a Blue, TBH. I have a Gold in my 1x12, but I have always been under the impression that one is a bit more modern-voiced.

So... anyone?
 
I’ve done this, but just with real ‘60’s blues (some of the best speakers of all time imo). That sounded glorious (holy grail level tone), but the current made Blues imo don’t sound that good or much at all like the real ones. I remember them sounding boxy/nasal, just not great. The current made heritage GB 20’s imo at least sound like a pretty good reissue of the real deal white voice coil GB’s (the Badlander imo loves those speakers btw & I bet a 5150III would too)

I love the Gold’s fwiw. They’re the only non-vintage speakers that still have a place for me. Still haven’t tried any other speaker voiced quite like it. I’m not sure if modern is the exactly right word for them, but they definitely sound a lot more gritty/rough/grainy/less smooth than blues (whether current made or ‘60’s) and that’s why I love them (very aggressive sounding. Not silky or creamy like the ‘60’s blues). They sound nothing like the other Alnico celestions and break the stereotype of Alnico speakers sounding smoother (JBL’s also break this stereotype)

I’ve actually AB’ed my ‘60’s blues with recent Chinese made V30’s in isolation (not in a cab) and I couldn’t really hear any similar in sound or feel with the 2, but I have also heard some say on paper they have similarities. This is again why I could care less what is true on paper. I prefer lower wattage speakers myself for tone & higher powered ones for low end thump/bigness, so I often get the results I like with those on bottom & lower wattage speakers on top
 
I have a pair of 1963 Blues. They are pretty amazing speakers; when I compared them to a Mesa V30 cab they do have almost identical frequency response i.e. similar mids highs lows...but the Blues were very 3D and harmonically rich compared to the Mesa V30s, so much so that the Mesa cab sounded almost bad in comparison. Lol. We know Mesa cabs sound good...but those blues are on another level completely.
But, the blues are super mid spiky like V30s can be, so a Marshall or similar just doesn't mesh well with them. An amp like any Mesa should play well with them. If your amp does have strong mids you'll need to scoop them out when using Blues.
I have no experience with the reissues though.
 
Wow, great idea. A cab with two Blues and two K-100's or Redbacks would be pretty killer, LOL.

I have not tried "real" Greenbacks, TBH. But I like the reiussues fine. I also had a pair of EVH's, and those were nice too, but the RI's have a certain ratiness that I like. Kind of a kitschy thing, I guess.

But I've always been under the impression Blues are actually brighter than Greenbacks? I think the originals were pretty much the same speaker just with the magnet swapped, or am I wrong? And Alnico 5 is a pretty bright magnet in itself too. Different kind of bright than ceramic, but bright nonetheless.
 
Rex Rocker said:
Wow, great idea. A cab with two Blues and two K-100's or Redbacks would be pretty killer, LOL.

I have not tried "real" Greenbacks, TBH. But I like the reiussues fine. I also had a pair of EVH's, and those were nice too, but the RI's have a certain ratiness that I like. Kind of a kitschy thing, I guess.

But I've always been under the impression Blues are actually brighter than Greenbacks? I think the originals were pretty much the same speaker just with the magnet swapped, or am I wrong? And Alnico 5 is a pretty bright magnet in itself too. Different kind of bright than ceramic, but bright nonetheless.
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I liked my blues on top row with Fane Crescnedo’s on bottom or also my various JBL’s crossed with them. It can be a bit of trial & error to get the combo right. Some speaker combos can sound awkward, but it’s hard to predict these things IME. Just gotta try them out. I actually hated them mixed with my golds. Very awkward sounding mix imo

I find my ‘60’s blues to lean more dark, smooth, silky, creamy, but maybe because of their mids they seem to cut through in a mix better than most speakers except maybe 20w GB’s. The recent made blues I remember maybe being brighter, but more than anything I find blues just to be super midrangey

I’ve also heard some they are like gb’s with an Alnico magnet, but both my ‘60’s blues & silvers sound & feel very completely different to me than my pre-rola 25w & 20w GB’s. Those magnets maybe just make that big a difference, although my ceramic JBL E120 seems more similar to the Alnico D120F & K120 JBL’s than blues are to gb’s in IME, but still pretty different
 
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Racerxrated said:
I have a pair of 1963 Blues. They are pretty amazing speakers; when I compared them to a Mesa V30 cab they do have almost identical frequency response i.e. similar mids highs lows...but the Blues were very 3D and harmonically rich compared to the Mesa V30s, so much so that the Mesa cab sounded almost bad in comparison. Lol. We know Mesa cabs sound good...but those blues are on another level completely.
But, the blues are super mid spiky like V30s can be, so a Marshall or similar just doesn't mesh well with them. An amp like any Mesa should play well with them. If your amp does have strong mids you'll need to scoop them out when using Blues.
I have no experience with the reissues though.
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The blues IME worked especially well with my iic+, particularly for a liquid shred type lead sound. Also with my SLO & Naylor was great. I remember them being pretty good with that 67 Tremolo 50, but haven’t risked putting the 72 through them lol. Haven’t tried my 72 with any of my good speakers yet. I think the GB’s are similarly midrangey but with a more growly/aggressive character mids vs blues being more silky/smooth, so it works better imo with Marshall’s than blues. For cleans I also remember the blues being pretty glorious with my ‘64 Vibroverb & of course with my ‘63 Vox AC30TB
 
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Would be fun to run two blues and two gbs for shits and giggles , maybe I’ll try it .
 
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Dyllheaven88 said:
Would be fun to run two blues and two gbs for shits and giggles , maybe I’ll try it .
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I tried it with my heritage 20w GB’s (my pre-rola 20’s are the wrong ohms). I remember it being an awkward sounding mix, but maybe it could be different with the current made blues or if I used the vintage gb 20’s or 25’s. I remember my GB’s (both my heritage 20’s & real pre-rola white voicecoil gb’s) mixing pretty well with my Gold’s, but still liked other combos with those ones a bit more
 
braintheory said:
I tried it with my heritage 20w GB’s (my pre-rola 20’s are the wrong ohms). I remember it being an awkward sounding mix, but maybe it could be different with the current made blues or if I used the vintage gb 20’s or 25’s. I remember my GB’s (both my heritage 20’s & real pre-rola white voicecoil gb’s) mixing pretty well with my Gold’s, but still liked other combos with those ones a bit more
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I’m running two golds with two creamback 65s currently thought it would be fun to mix it up with greenies
 
Dyllheaven88 said:
I’m running two golds with two creamback 65s currently thought it would be fun to mix it up with greenies
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Yeah worth trying. Some speakers I remember particularly liking mixed with Golds were V30’s, ‘80’s Vented T75’s & JBL D120F’s. Those ‘80’s Vented T75’s had a somewhat GB-ish sound but more wattage
 
I tried my blues with the 120Fs; too midrangey with my amps. Couldn’t scoop them enough
 
I tried 2x12 with Celestion Cream and Engl Savage SE, nice and unusual. But they had that flour grain, which disturbed me a bit (K100 has that too with Engls). Then I combined Cream with Redback and that was pretty good combination.
 
Racerxrated said:
I tried my blues with the 120Fs; too midrangey with my amps. Couldn’t scoop them enough
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Sounds like the blues would be the culprit of that. I think you said also the blues were on top & JBL’s on bottom? Blues are very midrangey. I’ve had a cross of that and remember it being cool, thought the D120F’s scooped voicing was a good balancer, but my favorite combo was mixing the D120F’s with my Heritage GB 20’s (my pre-rola 20’s would be better I bet , but they’re 16 ohm), the 120F’s also mixed well with my H25’s, Gold’s and just a whole quad of D120F’s was an awesome huge, punchy metal chug sound, but pretty scooped at that point
 
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