WGS - Are These The Real Deal?

[Aristocat]

For reference I have or had many Celestion Greenbacks pre Rola, Rola, and newer ones as well as Blackbacks , Creambacks, 70's, 80's and G12H30's. I have a 4x12 loaded with Celestion 75's. I also have a 200w Hiwatt 4x12 with Fanes that is one of my favorite cabs ever. I have two 4x12's loaded with EVM12L's. Not a huge fan of Vintage 30's but when I had the WGS speakers I had two 4x12's loaded with those too.
That being said, I would never consider buying any more WGS after my experience with the ET65's and the Vet30 X pattern. It sure didn't seem like a case of new speakers that needed to get broken in (and after 3 days of having cranked up guitar played through them, they should have been broken in). They sounded wrong. I'll go with what I know works.
After that experience, I spoke with a friend who was the owner of both a guitar and amp company (at different times) who agreed with me on the tone of the WGS's and chastised me when I said that I had asked for suggestions from the guys at WGS. His take on them was that they were engineer types who had no clue what a good rock tone was. He mentioned that there were a few WGS models that he liked but I don't recall what they were. The ET65 and Vet30 weren't on his list either. My 2 cents.

Thanks for the info. I'd love to buy two Scumback M75s but I just can't justify it after having my amp modded.

Before I had my Plexi modded, I played it through my 4x12 with a BM75/GB mix and just with the BM75s and it gave the cab an open back feel with just the two speakers top loaded. I may just stick with that for a little while.

You mess around with that much?

Google "detuned cab". It can sound awesome with the right speakers. Try stacking the 2 speakers on top of each other ( 1 on top and 1 on bottom , vertical not diagonal) and experiment with covering the other speaker holes. It usually adds bass and makes the cab sound deeper than it is.

I've done that and that's how my cab currently sits aside from plugging the two holes. I haven't played through my cab in six months though (Scumback BM75 65w currently loaded). I loved how it sounded with my stock Plexi. I'm just curious to hear it with my modded amp once it comes back.

It definitely made the cab lighter!

 

[metalmaniac93]

Bumping for an old thread.

Did you give the WGS a go after the Celestion Heritage Metalmaniac?

My girlfriend is helping me out with a new guitar and two ET65s (Christman!) that I'm gonna blend with my Scumback Blackbacks. I think they'll fit well.

No, I actually still have the two speakers and went out and bought a used Marshall BHW with the Heritage 55s. The Atomica sounds awesome through this cab and with these speakers. I might put J75s or a mix of M75/H75s or look into all new WGS speakers or two to pair with the G12H30 70th Annys in my Cameron 4X12 sometime next year when I get back from my 4 month stint in Belgium. I love the J75/H55 mix in my Bogner OS 2X12 though.

My only concern is that some of have said they do not pair well with Modded Marshall's (Friedman in my case) but for the price I'm willing to take the plunge and allow some time for them to break in properly.

The ET65s sound so dark and crisp it's hard to pass them up.

Belgium sounds fun (hope it is for you!) I've never been to Europe but I have a trip planned to go to France next year and propose to my girlfriend.

What speakers do not pair well with modded Marshall's?

Most of Europe is awesome. Been to Europe 4X. Yes, Belgium should be fun especially living there for 4 months. Just will suck to be away from my family for so long. At least the beer in Belgium is damn good!!! Plus, I get to travel to the other nearby countries via car or fly to distant ones!!

 

[Aristocat]

Bumping for an old thread.

Did you give the WGS a go after the Celestion Heritage Metalmaniac?

My girlfriend is helping me out with a new guitar and two ET65s (Christman!) that I'm gonna blend with my Scumback Blackbacks. I think they'll fit well.

No, I actually still have the two speakers and went out and bought a used Marshall BHW with the Heritage 55s. The Atomica sounds awesome through this cab and with these speakers. I might put J75s or a mix of M75/H75s or look into all new WGS speakers or two to pair with the G12H30 70th Annys in my Cameron 4X12 sometime next year when I get back from my 4 month stint in Belgium. I love the J75/H55 mix in my Bogner OS 2X12 though.

My only concern is that some of have said they do not pair well with Modded Marshall's (Friedman in my case) but for the price I'm willing to take the plunge and allow some time for them to break in properly.

The ET65s sound so dark and crisp it's hard to pass them up.

Belgium sounds fun (hope it is for you!) I've never been to Europe but I have a trip planned to go to France next year and propose to my girlfriend.

What speakers do not pair well with modded Marshall's?

Most of Europe is awesome. Been to Europe 4X. Yes, Belgium should be fun especially living there for 4 months. Just will suck to be away from my family for so long. At least the beer in Belgium is damn good!!! Plus, I get to travel to the other nearby countries via car or fly to distant ones!!

Glad you're having fun. My girl went to Italy five years ago to visit a family friend and had a blast (country living!).

WGS in general I've heard are met with mixed reviews and although I'm not nuts about their whole line, the 65's sound great to me.

I'd love to get two more Scumback M's or throw some Greenbacks back into my cab but we'll see.

I'm even running it with just two speakers and two empty port holes and it sounded pretty big last time I played it.

 

[metalmaniac93]

Bumping for an old thread.

Did you give the WGS a go after the Celestion Heritage Metalmaniac?

My girlfriend is helping me out with a new guitar and two ET65s (Christman!) that I'm gonna blend with my Scumback Blackbacks. I think they'll fit well.

No, I actually still have the two speakers and went out and bought a used Marshall BHW with the Heritage 55s. The Atomica sounds awesome through this cab and with these speakers. I might put J75s or a mix of M75/H75s or look into all new WGS speakers or two to pair with the G12H30 70th Annys in my Cameron 4X12 sometime next year when I get back from my 4 month stint in Belgium. I love the J75/H55 mix in my Bogner OS 2X12 though.

My only concern is that some of have said they do not pair well with Modded Marshall's (Friedman in my case) but for the price I'm willing to take the plunge and allow some time for them to break in properly.

The ET65s sound so dark and crisp it's hard to pass them up.

Belgium sounds fun (hope it is for you!) I've never been to Europe but I have a trip planned to go to France next year and propose to my girlfriend.

What speakers do not pair well with modded Marshall's?

Most of Europe is awesome. Been to Europe 4X. Yes, Belgium should be fun especially living there for 4 months. Just will suck to be away from my family for so long. At least the beer in Belgium is damn good!!! Plus, I get to travel to the other nearby countries via car or fly to distant ones!!

Glad you're having fun. My girl went to Italy five years ago to visit a family friend and had a blast (country living!).

WGS in general I've heard are met with mixed reviews and although I'm not nuts about their whole line, the 65's sound great to me.

I'd love to get two more Scumback M's or throw some Greenbacks back into my cab but we'll see.

I'm even running it with just two speakers and two empty port holes and it sounded pretty big last time I played it.

Oh got it!!! I do have a M75 65watt 16 ohm speaker laying around for now. Scumbacks are great speakers. The J75s are great. If I had more money to spend with no scrutiny, I would probably buy four J75s or some other Scummies for my Cameron 4X12? I hate dealing with speakers.

I would love to go to Italy. The company that I work for has two plants there, so maybe one day or I will try to go there when I am in Belgium. So may places to go.

 

[chumbucket]

For reference I have or had many Celestion Greenbacks pre Rola, Rola, and newer ones as well as Blackbacks , Creambacks, 70's, 80's and G12H30's. I have a 4x12 loaded with Celestion 75's. I also have a 200w Hiwatt 4x12 with Fanes that is one of my favorite cabs ever. I have two 4x12's loaded with EVM12L's. Not a huge fan of Vintage 30's but when I had the WGS speakers I had two 4x12's loaded with those too.
That being said, I would never consider buying any more WGS after my experience with the ET65's and the Vet30 X pattern. It sure didn't seem like a case of new speakers that needed to get broken in (and after 3 days of having cranked up guitar played through them, they should have been broken in). They sounded wrong. I'll go with what I know works.
After that experience, I spoke with a friend who was the owner of both a guitar and amp company (at different times) who agreed with me on the tone of the WGS's and chastised me when I said that I had asked for suggestions from the guys at WGS. His take on them was that they were engineer types who had no clue what a good rock tone was. He mentioned that there were a few WGS models that he liked but I don't recall what they were. The ET65 and Vet30 weren't on his list either. My 2 cents.

Thanks for the info. I'd love to buy two Scumback M75s but I just can't justify it after having my amp modded.

Before I had my Plexi modded, I played it through my 4x12 with a BM75/GB mix and just with the BM75s and it gave the cab an open back feel with just the two speakers top loaded. I may just stick with that for a little while.

You mess around with that much?

Google "detuned cab". It can sound awesome with the right speakers. Try stacking the 2 speakers on top of each other ( 1 on top and 1 on bottom , vertical not diagonal) and experiment with covering the other speaker holes. It usually adds bass and makes the cab sound deeper than it is.

I've done that and that's how my cab currently sits aside from plugging the two holes. I haven't played through my cab in six months though (Scumback BM75 65w currently loaded). I loved how it sounded with my stock Plexi. I'm just curious to hear it with my modded amp once it comes back.

It definitely made the cab lighter!

For a cheap experiment, get a couple of pieces of plywood, cut them to something like 13"x13" and drill a speaker hole pattern in them and see how it sounds to you with one or both holes covered. If you like it, paint them black and seal it up. I think there were some folks who were even doing one speaker in a 4x12 (as long as it can handle the power of your amp) and having good results.

 

[tc8849]

yes they are you cant beat these speakers for the price.. ive got 2 et65 & 2 reapers in a X pattern and they sound awesome with my 2 amps, I just bought a crate blue voodoo stack and put 2 et65 & 2 retro 30s.. that combo sounds great two.. makes my crate blue dodo sound awesome...

 

[guitarmike]

I had a vet 30 and it sounded terrible in everything I played it through. It was in a old Mesa 1x12 cab I had and with a greenback the cab sounded great. I would be afraid to buy 4 of them, if you do not like their interpretation of the particular speaker you will take a decent hit returning them or selling them. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

Have a great time in Belgium!

 

[metalmaniac93]

I had a vet 30 and it sounded terrible in everything I played it through. It was in a old Mesa 1x12 cab I had and with a greenback the cab sounded great. I would be afraid to buy 4 of them, if you do not like their interpretation of the particular speaker you will take a decent hit returning them or selling them. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

Have a great time in Belgium!

Mike, thanks!!! I will not be buying any speakers for a while. I was just asking about them. So, the Vet 30 was nothing like the V30?

 

[baron55]

I never thought a Vin30 speaker sounded good in a 1X12. They are better in closed back 2X12 or larger.

As for price. Believe it or not, the Chinese Celestions are cheaper to make than the WGS speakers. But since Celestions is a publicly held company, they must meed quarterly earnings to satisfy the shareholders thuis the higher prices.

WGS is a privately held company and only answers to themselves. All the WGS soft parts, cones, etc, comes from the UK form the same company that used to supply Celestion. The magnets and baskets are imported.

The Chinese Celestions are 100% made in china, with Chinese workers, parts etc.

WGS are made with UK cones, soft parts, Chinese magnets and baskets and made by American workers. WGS themselves don't make the speakers, instead they are made by a very large speaker manufacturing company in Kentucky and no not Eminence

We as consumers have been conditioned that the higher the price, the higher the quality. In many cases this is true to a point, especially years ago. But companies count on cost = quality to artificially increase prices to give the appearance of quality.

Apple is the biggest example of this.

Not a WGS fanboy, but when people say good for the price it is a little misleading. WGS speakers came out about 6 years ago and were 20.00 a piece at that time. I still have them and they are still going strong.

 

[metalmaniac93]

I never thought a Vin30 speaker sounded good in a 1X12. They are better in closed back 2X12 or larger.

As for price. Believe it or not, the Chinese Celestions are cheaper to make than the WGS speakers. But since Celestions is a publicly held company, they must meed quarterly earnings to satisfy the shareholders thuis the higher prices.

WGS is a privately held company and only answers to themselves. All the WGS soft parts, cones, etc, comes from the UK form the same company that used to supply Celestion. The magnets and baskets are imported.

The Chinese Celestions are 100% made in china, with Chinese workers, parts etc.

WGS are made with UK cones, soft parts, Chinese magnets and baskets and made by American workers. WGS themselves don't make the speakers, instead they are made by a very large speaker manufacturing company in Kentucky and no not Eminence

We as consumers have been conditioned that the higher the price, the higher the quality. In many cases this is true to a point, especially years ago. But companies count on cost = quality to artificially increase prices to give the appearance of quality.

Apple is the biggest example of this.

Not a WGS fanboy, but when people say good for the price it is a little misleading. WGS speakers came out about 6 years ago and were 20.00 a piece at that time. I still have them and they are still going strong.

Great info!!! Thanks!!! Damn shareholders!! They ruin everything!!!

 

[guitarmike]

I never thought a Vin30 speaker sounded good in a 1X12. They are better in closed back 2X12 or larger.

As for price. Believe it or not, the Chinese Celestions are cheaper to make than the WGS speakers. But since Celestions is a publicly held company, they must meed quarterly earnings to satisfy the shareholders thuis the higher prices.

WGS is a privately held company and only answers to themselves. All the WGS soft parts, cones, etc, comes from the UK form the same company that used to supply Celestion. The magnets and baskets are imported.

The Chinese Celestions are 100% made in china, with Chinese workers, parts etc.

WGS are made with UK cones, soft parts, Chinese magnets and baskets and made by American workers. WGS themselves don't make the speakers, instead they are made by a very large speaker manufacturing company in Kentucky and no not Eminence

We as consumers have been conditioned that the higher the price, the higher the quality. In many cases this is true to a point, especially years ago. But companies count on cost = quality to artificially increase prices to give the appearance of quality.

Apple is the biggest example of this.

Not a WGS fanboy, but when people say good for the price it is a little misleading. WGS speakers came out about 6 years ago and were 20.00 a piece at that time. I still have them and they are still going strong.

The 1x12 was a closed back FWIW. I also put it in a 4x12 with other v-30's and it did not sound as good. To be fair, I am not a fan of V-30's anyway so what I heard could have been an improvement if you like that kind of tone. If I was buying speakers they'd be used UK made Celestions or Scumbacks. I would have to hear WGS speakers in person before I'd buy more.

 

[metalmaniac93]

I never thought a Vin30 speaker sounded good in a 1X12. They are better in closed back 2X12 or larger.

As for price. Believe it or not, the Chinese Celestions are cheaper to make than the WGS speakers. But since Celestions is a publicly held company, they must meed quarterly earnings to satisfy the shareholders thuis the higher prices.

WGS is a privately held company and only answers to themselves. All the WGS soft parts, cones, etc, comes from the UK form the same company that used to supply Celestion. The magnets and baskets are imported.

The Chinese Celestions are 100% made in china, with Chinese workers, parts etc.

WGS are made with UK cones, soft parts, Chinese magnets and baskets and made by American workers. WGS themselves don't make the speakers, instead they are made by a very large speaker manufacturing company in Kentucky and no not Eminence

We as consumers have been conditioned that the higher the price, the higher the quality. In many cases this is true to a point, especially years ago. But companies count on cost = quality to artificially increase prices to give the appearance of quality.

Apple is the biggest example of this.

Not a WGS fanboy, but when people say good for the price it is a little misleading. WGS speakers came out about 6 years ago and were 20.00 a piece at that time. I still have them and they are still going strong.

The 1x12 was a closed back FWIW. I also put it in a 4x12 with other v-30's and it did not sound as good. To be fair, I am not a fan of V-30's anyway so what I heard could have been an improvement if you like that kind of tone. If I was buying speakers they'd be used UK made Celestions or Scumbacks. I would have to hear WGS speakers in person before I'd buy more.

Mike, if you are not a fan of the V30, that might be the reason? I do like the V30 for specific amps like the Bogner XTC and the Engl Savage 120. They sound like ass with the Atomica, but when paired with the Greenback RIs sounded great with the BE100 and Atomica IMO.

 

[chumbucket]

Mike, if you are not a fan of the V30, that might be the reason? I do like the V30 for specific amps like the Bogner XTC and the Engl Savage 120. They sound like ass with the Atomica, but when paired with the Greenback RIs sounded great with the BE100 and Atomica IMO.

If you don't like that toothy high-mid spike that V30's have, stay away from the ET65's and the Vet30's because they have it in spades. It seemed to be about 3 times more pronounced in the WGS speakers. I pulled the WGS's from a 4x12 and put a set of V30's (which were also new) and it was a relief to my ears. They were way flatter and balanced sounding than the spike that was jabbing me in the ears from the WGS x-pattern.
FWIW, I'm no V30 fan either.

 

[metalmaniac93]

Mike, if you are not a fan of the V30, that might be the reason? I do like the V30 for specific amps like the Bogner XTC and the Engl Savage 120. They sound like ass with the Atomica, but when paired with the Greenback RIs sounded great with the BE100 and Atomica IMO.

If you don't like that toothy high-mid spike that V30's have, stay away from the ET65's and the Vet30's because they have it in spades. It seemed to be about 3 times more pronounced in the WGS speakers. I pulled the WGS's from a 4x12 and put a set of V30's (which were also new) and it was a relief to my ears. They were way flatter and balanced sounding than the spike that was jabbing me in the ears from the WGS x-pattern.
FWIW, I'm no V30 fan either.

Wow!! I thought that the Vet30's were not supposed to have that toothy high-mid spike.

 

[blackba]

Mike, if you are not a fan of the V30, that might be the reason? I do like the V30 for specific amps like the Bogner XTC and the Engl Savage 120. They sound like ass with the Atomica, but when paired with the Greenback RIs sounded great with the BE100 and Atomica IMO.

If you don't like that toothy high-mid spike that V30's have, stay away from the ET65's and the Vet30's because they have it in spades. It seemed to be about 3 times more pronounced in the WGS speakers. I pulled the WGS's from a 4x12 and put a set of V30's (which were also new) and it was a relief to my ears. They were way flatter and balanced sounding than the spike that was jabbing me in the ears from the WGS x-pattern.
FWIW, I'm no V30 fan either.

I have not mixed the ET65's and Vet30's, but I don't hear an overly high mid spike speaker in the ET65s. I can see that for the Vet 30's a bit, but not the ET65's. The ET65's actually remind me alot of the Celestion Classic Lead 80's with a touch more mids and less low end.