Why do I like Celestion G12-65's but I don't really care for 25 Watt Greenbacks????????

[harddriver]

I was playing my combo amp that has a Heritage Celestion G12-65 this weekend and it just sounds killer, great punch, tight lows not wooly, great snarl nice mids and highs details and that jam session got my wallet into trouble.

I've had some of the best Greenbacks made over the years(except real Pulsonic coned greenbacks), 1978 Blackbacks, 6402 variants, UK made greenbacks, Scumback M65's and I've played EVH cabs with the EVH Heritage 20 watters and I've always preferred my vintage and Heritage 12H-30 cabinets. I know the G12-65 was essentially supposed to be a higher powered greenback but I just hear the G12-65 as different and superior for whatever reason.

So much so I ordered 2 UK Heritage G12-65's to install in my V30 cabinet on top like the Friedman cabs do with the Greenbacks. Right now the V30 cab has the new 2025 UK V30's on top and two older Mesa spec V30's on the bottom. I'm thinking the G12-65's will play nicely with the UK V-30's and I'm going to pull the Mesa Spec ones out.

I know the vintage G12-65's are supposed to be the best but I really like these Heritage ones for what they are so I said" what the hey".

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

Probably dislike speaker breakup

 

[ChurchHill]

Might be blasphemy, but I like G12-65s better than Greenbacks, too. For me, they have better bass and smoother highs, probably due to the large dust cover.

I think I got poisoned by some of the production Greenbacks that were fizzy and thin. I think the Heritage Greenbacks and the EVH are much better, and I've got some '76 and '78 Blackbacks that are just killer.

FWIW, about 6 years ago, Celestion had the 90th Anniversary G12-35XC, which were supposed to be based on Pulsonic Greenbacks. To my ears, they are closer to G12-65s than Greenbacks, but in any case, they are incredible speakers, too.

Edit to add that all G12-65 are not the same. Some were 55Hz cones and some were 75Hz. The current Heritage are 75Hz.

 

[EyesOfTheSouth!]

Totally opposite here. I hate 65’s and greenbacks are my favorite. The 65’s have this hollow, nasal midrange and no present cut to my ears. Greatly prefer the Mesa MC90 or Classic Lead 80 for the LD thing.

 

[thegame]

Depends on the application. Relatively speaking, the less gain you throw at GBs the better they cope and vice versa.

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

Depends on the application. Relatively speaking, the less gain you throw at GBs the better they cope and vice versa.

I was just thinking this. The only time i loved greenbacks was when another guy played through them with some lower gain crunch. Sounded phenomenal. But wasn't my favorite for metal

 

[dead-pan]

Depends on the cone also.

 

[RaceU4her]

they sound nothing alike, i cant imagine liking both for the same application

 

[ChurchHill]

Me, either, but that's how Celestion advertised them back in the day.

 

[SgtThump]

I also think it’s the speaker breakup.

I was playing my combo amp that has a Heritage Celestion G12-65 this weekend and it just sounds killer, great punch, tight lows not wooly, great snarl nice mids and highs details…

I think you may not like how the lows break up and get loose’ish on Greenbacks?