Greenbacks for Steel?

[Nathan Pocock]

I have been playing a Milkman The Amp 100 through a Dr. Z 1x12 with Travis Toy 12 speaker loaded. Sounds very nice, very EVish to me. Kinda honky midrange, which isn’t really a bad thing. But today I plugged the amp into my Morgan 4x12 open back with greenbacks in it and it sounds wonderful. Gorgeous. Better low end response, not shrill or harsh and warm low mids. I’m sure much of the difference is cabinet design and size, but I haven’t ever heard anyone talk about greenbacks for steel and these sound great. Anyone else try ‘weird’ steel speakers?

[Larry Dering]

I will try everything I have and it's quite a collection. Sometimes the most unlikely cabinet works great. Don't be afraid to try different things.

[Mike Kowalik]

Can you be more specific when you say greenbacks ? Are you referring to Celestion Greenback speakers ? If so, what wattage....

[Nathan Pocock]

Can you be more specific when you say greenbacks ? Are you referring to Celestion Greenback speakers ? If so, what wattage....

Yeah these would be Celestion G12M 25 watt 16ohm version. Mine are the older UK made ones as well, some people think that makes a difference. I love the Morgan cab for guitar but I guess it was surprising to me how good it is for steel. Most of the speakers steel players refer to are ‘American’ style and the greenback is pretty much the quintessential ‘British’ style speaker.

[Bob Hoffnar]

If you like the sound of those greenbacks better I would go ahead and swap out the TT and see if it works better for you. I used Celestion classic 80 speakers and a couple old Fane speakers in my amps for years because I liked the even midrange and smooth highs of British speakers. Then I got sucked back into vintage JBL’s and nothing else works for me anymore (except maybe that new reproduction that milkman makes )

[Nathan Pocock]

If you like the sound of those greenbacks better I would go ahead and swap out the TT and see if it works better for you. I used Celestion classic 80 speakers and a couple old Fane speakers in my amps for years because I liked the even midrange and smooth highs of British speakers. Then I got sucked back into vintage JBL’s and nothing else works for me anymore (except maybe that new reproduction that milkman

Yeah I could try another speaker in the 1x12. The TT12 isn’t a bad sound and it’s lightweight which is nice for taking to gigs. It’s certainly a workable tone. I could try pumping the bass on the eq a little more with it and maybe cutting a little treble. If I were to put a greenback in the 1x12 it’s a little light on wattage for the Milkman. Probably not a problem at the volumes I normally play at. I have a Celestion Vintage 30 lying around I could try. I generally am not a v30 fan for guitar but maybe it would work on steel but it doesn’t seem like a fit to me. They’re pretty aggressive in the upper mids.

[Bob Hoffnar]

Since you know you like how the greenback sounds test it in the single 12 cab. That way you will know if you if its the TT that doesn't suit you.

I personally have not had any real success trying to use EQ to get a speaker to sound right. You can make anything have a workable sound by adjusting your technique and tone controls. But it's just not the same as having gear that sings for you.

It's pretty fun to experiment with different speakers. I just started liking 15's again after having an old D130 JBL put in a Standel combo.

[Ken Metcalf]

I had them in my 67 Twin and loved them. They were in there when I bought it.
Since then I have them in a Vox AC 30.
I prefer two 12s over 15 inch.
Also had good luck with a Weber 12F150 in a Fender Deluxe.

https://www.tedweber.com/12f150/

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[Nathan Pocock]

I had them in my 67 Twin and loved them. They were in there when I bought it.
Since then I have them in a Vox AC 30.
I prefer two 12s over 15 inch.
Also had good luck with a Weber 12F150 in a Fender Deluxe.

https://www.tedweber.com/12f150/

120_1488.JPG

Interesting… did you ever have trouble blowing them up with the twin?

[Patrick Huey]

Nathan
Greenbacks definitely worth a try but if you are playing any high volume at all with a 30watt or more amp then you need at least two Greenbacks.
I have a number of Marshall heads 100w and Greenbacks sound fantastic with big Marshalls but it takes two full 4x12 cabs of Greenbacks to run one 100w Marshall through safely

[Nathan Pocock]

Nathan
Greenbacks definitely worth a try but if you are playing any high volume at all with a 30watt or more amp then you need at least two Greenbacks.
I have a number of Marshall heads 100w and Greenbacks sound fantastic with big Marshalls but it takes two full 4x12 cabs of Greenbacks to run one 100w Marshall through safely

Yeah that’s why I’m hesitant to run one in a 1x12 cabinet. My Morgan is a 4x12 so it can take the wattage. I remember seeing somewhere that a full blast 100 watt Marshall is over 300 watts (because the 100 watt measurement is taken before breakup).

Anyway I played an open jam last week with the 1x12 Travis Toy speaker and it sounded great in context. I wasn’t gonna haul out the 4x12 for a small jam session. The TT had plenty of cut and I didn’t miss the low end in that environment.

[Dave Grafe]

I replaced the Eminence TT12 in my 12" BlockDock cab with an all-original JBL D130F with the gooped cone surround and found my ultimate joy. With the ToneBlock 202 every note is warm and sweet as honey,

[Nathan Pocock]

I replaced the Eminence TT12 in my 12" BlockDock cab with an all-original JBL D130F with the gooped cone surround and found my ultimate joy. With the ToneBlock 202 every note is warm and sweet as honey,

I’d love to try one of the good JBLs. I’ll have to keep an eye out for one.

[Patrick Huey]

Nathan
Greenbacks definitely worth a try but if you are playing any high volume at all with a 30watt or more amp then you need at least two Greenbacks.
I have a number of Marshall heads 100w and Greenbacks sound fantastic with big Marshalls but it takes two full 4x12 cabs of Greenbacks to run one 100w Marshall through safely

Yeah that’s why I’m hesitant to run one in a 1x12 cabinet. My Morgan is a 4x12 so it can take the wattage. I remember seeing somewhere that a full blast 100 watt Marshall is over 300 watts (because the 100 watt measurement is taken before breakup).

Anyway I played an open jam last week with the 1x12 Travis Toy speaker and it sounded great in context. I wasn’t gonna haul out the 4x12 for a small jam session. The TT had plenty of cut and I didn’t miss the low end in that environment.

correct about Marshalls the all tube ones anyway…that’s also where a lot of guys barbecue attenuators with Marshalls…they see 100w and the attenuator they get says 100 watts -120watts they think it is OK and run a 100w old school non master JMP Plexi into attenuator and those old Marshalls you really have to crank the crap out of the volume to get them to sound their best…. So they will put a attenuator on there and then crank the crap out of that Plexi for 45 minutes or an hour and suddenly they have smoke coming out of the attenuator and below the high tension fuse on the amplifier and fry the power tubes and then they will go “Huh???!!”and give that attenuator a bad review and so forth and don’t understand why it barbecue lol cause they do not understand what RMS is

[Ken Metcalf]

I had them in my 67 Twin and loved them. They were in there when I bought it.
Since then I have them in a Vox AC 30.
I prefer two 12s over 15 inch.
Also had good luck with a Weber 12F150 in a Fender Deluxe.

https://www.tedweber.com/12f150/

120_1488.JPG

Interesting… did you ever have trouble blowing them up with the twin?

I Play pretty loud at times and never had a speaker go out.