EyesOfTheSouth
New member
First off.........sorry I don't have clips (yet). The comparison was done at my other guitarist's jam space and all my recording stuff is elsewhere. But............
We started with the following high power Greenback "variants":
Celestion Lynchback (8 ohm)
WGS Invader (16 ohm)
Eminence GB12 (8 ohm)
Weber Legacy 65/40 oz - (8 ohm)
Weber Legacy 65/30 oz - (8 ohm)
Unfortunately, I ran out of time and never made it to the 30oz Legacy. However, I will tell you about it later.
Each speaker was loaded into an Avatar Contemporary 1x12 and I used my Ceriatone 2204 boosted with an MXR GT-OD with the internal switch flipped (to ZW-44 circuitry)
Lynchback - To my ears, it is the least "Greenback" sounding, but I don't think it was designed to be a high power GB clone anyway. But what it is.....is GOOD! Reminds me of a cross of the most well worn Vintage 30 you can think of blended with a good Greenback. Tight, controlled lows..........aggressive mids (but not spiky)............and smooth high end. This was the only speaker that was "new out of the box" and it still sounded great.
Invader - People rave about these, but it was my least favorite of the bunch. Honestly, it was not even in the same league IMO. It had a raspy layer of noise over the tone...........I guess people call that "sizzle", but I don't like it. It also had a weird unnatural "honk" that really bugged me.........I hear this same "honk" in the ET-65 by the way. It does have very tight lows and is very loud, but everything from the lows upward just flat out didn't sound good to me. The cone is also very stiff even after a good 30-40 hours of loud volume in a 2x12 paired with a Reaper. I have no idea if this matters, but it was the only 16 ohm speaker of the bunch (and yes we changed the ohm tap)
Eminence GB12 - Loudest speaker of the bunch. Huge, deep low end..........but not tight like the other speakers. Mid emphasis is shifted lower as well which combined with the round low end, makes the speaker much less articulate than the others. In fact, it got quite muddy with higher gain. It has a very broad "mid-mids" band which was kind of annoying at loud volumes. The high end is kind of "crispy" as well and just didn't sound natural to me. However, I will say that the clean/mid gain tones with my Telecaster sounded best through this speaker. It definately fattens things up when used in the right application.
Weber Legacy 65 (40oz) - Louder than the Lynchback, but not as loud as the Invader or GB12. Compared to the Lynchback, the Legacy is pretty similar in the low end (present, but tight). The mids are much smoother and not as aggressive/chunky........more vintage. The speaker is definately not "scooped", but I guess one would call it that compared to these other speakers. Palm muting on the Lynchback gives you a very aggressive "Chunk, Chunk, Chunk". On the Legacy, you have to hit the strings much harder to get that same response. The Legacy has more high end than the Lynchback...........but is also very smooth and not harsh at all. For reference, I think a G12H30 is very brash and harsh on the extreme high end/presence. The Legacy manages to be bright, but still retains that smoothness that I like.
Like I said, we didn't make it to the 30oz Legacy. But I have compared it many times to my 40oz. As expected, it is slightly less efficient. The 30oz is darker and a bit less articulate. The mids are broader and it has more of that typical Greenback "honk"....the good kind of "honk"......not the Invader "honk" ! The highs are very rounded off/muted compared to the 40oz...........actually much more than I expected when I first got the 2 speakers. I would be hard pressed to choose my preference. It just depends what you are going for I guess...........in a nutshell, 40oz more modern/30oz more vintage.
My overall preference if I could only choose 1: (by the way.....I play classic 80's metal/hard rock.........not the "hair" variety)
1) Lynchback
2) Weber 65 (40 oz)
3) Weber 65 (30 oz)
***INSERT BIG DROP OFF HERE
4) GB12
5) Invader
FWIW, I have also owned Eminence Private Jacks and Splawn Small Blocks in the past. I found the Private Jacks quite good (but not in the league of the LB or Legacy from what I remember) and I disliked the Small Blocks (very gritty and unnatural sounding midrange). I also really like Heritage G12-65's....though they are quite different from the others tonewise.
What I have decided to do is pair the 40oz Legacy with the Lynchback in one of my 2x12's. This really sounds phenomenal
I'm going to order another Lynchback and pair it with the 30oz Legacy in a second 2x12 and see how that sounds. Then....when and if they ever come out with a 16 ohm Lynchback, I will order 2 more and pair them with whichever Legacy pairs better in my 4x12 (I own 8 Weber Legacies
).
Tomorrow night I will make some Lynchback vs Legacy clips.
We started with the following high power Greenback "variants":
Celestion Lynchback (8 ohm)
WGS Invader (16 ohm)
Eminence GB12 (8 ohm)
Weber Legacy 65/40 oz - (8 ohm)
Weber Legacy 65/30 oz - (8 ohm)
Unfortunately, I ran out of time and never made it to the 30oz Legacy. However, I will tell you about it later.
Each speaker was loaded into an Avatar Contemporary 1x12 and I used my Ceriatone 2204 boosted with an MXR GT-OD with the internal switch flipped (to ZW-44 circuitry)
Lynchback - To my ears, it is the least "Greenback" sounding, but I don't think it was designed to be a high power GB clone anyway. But what it is.....is GOOD! Reminds me of a cross of the most well worn Vintage 30 you can think of blended with a good Greenback. Tight, controlled lows..........aggressive mids (but not spiky)............and smooth high end. This was the only speaker that was "new out of the box" and it still sounded great.
Invader - People rave about these, but it was my least favorite of the bunch. Honestly, it was not even in the same league IMO. It had a raspy layer of noise over the tone...........I guess people call that "sizzle", but I don't like it. It also had a weird unnatural "honk" that really bugged me.........I hear this same "honk" in the ET-65 by the way. It does have very tight lows and is very loud, but everything from the lows upward just flat out didn't sound good to me. The cone is also very stiff even after a good 30-40 hours of loud volume in a 2x12 paired with a Reaper. I have no idea if this matters, but it was the only 16 ohm speaker of the bunch (and yes we changed the ohm tap)
Eminence GB12 - Loudest speaker of the bunch. Huge, deep low end..........but not tight like the other speakers. Mid emphasis is shifted lower as well which combined with the round low end, makes the speaker much less articulate than the others. In fact, it got quite muddy with higher gain. It has a very broad "mid-mids" band which was kind of annoying at loud volumes. The high end is kind of "crispy" as well and just didn't sound natural to me. However, I will say that the clean/mid gain tones with my Telecaster sounded best through this speaker. It definately fattens things up when used in the right application.
Weber Legacy 65 (40oz) - Louder than the Lynchback, but not as loud as the Invader or GB12. Compared to the Lynchback, the Legacy is pretty similar in the low end (present, but tight). The mids are much smoother and not as aggressive/chunky........more vintage. The speaker is definately not "scooped", but I guess one would call it that compared to these other speakers. Palm muting on the Lynchback gives you a very aggressive "Chunk, Chunk, Chunk". On the Legacy, you have to hit the strings much harder to get that same response. The Legacy has more high end than the Lynchback...........but is also very smooth and not harsh at all. For reference, I think a G12H30 is very brash and harsh on the extreme high end/presence. The Legacy manages to be bright, but still retains that smoothness that I like.
Like I said, we didn't make it to the 30oz Legacy. But I have compared it many times to my 40oz. As expected, it is slightly less efficient. The 30oz is darker and a bit less articulate. The mids are broader and it has more of that typical Greenback "honk"....the good kind of "honk"......not the Invader "honk" ! The highs are very rounded off/muted compared to the 40oz...........actually much more than I expected when I first got the 2 speakers. I would be hard pressed to choose my preference. It just depends what you are going for I guess...........in a nutshell, 40oz more modern/30oz more vintage.
My overall preference if I could only choose 1: (by the way.....I play classic 80's metal/hard rock.........not the "hair" variety)
1) Lynchback
2) Weber 65 (40 oz)
3) Weber 65 (30 oz)
***INSERT BIG DROP OFF HERE
4) GB12
5) Invader
FWIW, I have also owned Eminence Private Jacks and Splawn Small Blocks in the past. I found the Private Jacks quite good (but not in the league of the LB or Legacy from what I remember) and I disliked the Small Blocks (very gritty and unnatural sounding midrange). I also really like Heritage G12-65's....though they are quite different from the others tonewise.
What I have decided to do is pair the 40oz Legacy with the Lynchback in one of my 2x12's. This really sounds phenomenal
I'm going to order another Lynchback and pair it with the 30oz Legacy in a second 2x12 and see how that sounds. Then....when and if they ever come out with a 16 ohm Lynchback, I will order 2 more and pair them with whichever Legacy pairs better in my 4x12 (I own 8 Weber Legacies
).Tomorrow night I will make some Lynchback vs Legacy clips.
