G10 Gold, what am I missing?

[klobasa]

I have owned Celestion G10 Gold twice. Both times bought them used. The last one was 4 years old, broken in. Both times, I hated the tone immediately and got rid of them a day or two later.

The first time, my amp was 5E3 deluxe with mods that reduced the gain and bass. The cab is Harvard size. The G10 Gold sounded very nasally. Like the speaker had a terrible flu.

The second time the speaker was used with a amp that has an EF86 preamp with deluxe reverb tone stack (bass, treble). With G10 Gold, the sound was absolutely unuseable, no matter how I set up the amp. The "flu" was worse than ever, the amp sounded constanty like I had forgotten my Wah Wah pedal on (I don't even have one!). The worst was the bridge pickup alone, the cocked wah sound was just...no, thanks.

I play clean or very slightly overdriven tones. I have only one guitar, tele, and it comes with medium output classic tele pickups.

Is this sound typical? Am I just not "getting it"? Is stuffed nose / cocked wah tone how it's supposed to sound?

...are other 10" / 12" Celestions / British speakers having similar characteristics? EDIT: Well...not those that I have tried. Yes, they have lots of middle, but not cocked wah sound.

I am currently using Jensen P10R-F. With 5E3 it was perfect, but I want to have a little bit more of mids because now my amp has a little too much of mid scoop for my taste.

I hope I don't sound too negative. My experiences with G10 gold have been so opposite compared to most, that I am wondering what is going on...

 

[Shango66]

I moved a 12" gold on for similar reasons. The shower of honkey hot nails when it was driven, was not for me.

 

[telemnemonics]

I like Golds, and don't like nasal cocked wah tone.

But I also tend to not like medium to higher output pickups because THEY sound nasal with the rest of my signal chain.

I suppose more middy nasal toned pickups would sound less middy and nasal with mid scooped amps and "American" speakers.
I do see a general trend for fans of BF Fender amps to be unable to use vintage low output pickups due to ice pick, so they buy hotter medium to higher output pickups.

 

[klobasa]

I like Golds, and don't like nasal cocked wah tone.

But I also tend to not like medium to higher output pickups because THEY sound nasal with the rest of my signal chain.

I suppose more middy nasal toned pickups would sound less middy and nasal with mid scooped amps and "American" speakers.
I do see a general trend for fans of BF Fender amps to be unable to use vintage low output pickups due to ice pick, so they buy hotter medium to higher output pickups.

I don't remember what pickups / guitar I used the first time, might have been even Les Paul, but now my pickups are Bootstrap Pretzels. I guess those are slightly hotter than vintage output.

I have modified the mid scoop in my amp a bit. I have less scoop than stock. I like mids. Same pickups with very mid heavy 5E3 sound amazing...with any other speaker I tried, except Gold.

 

[telemnemonics]

I don't remember what pickups / guitar I used the first time, might have been even Les Paul, but now my pickups are Bootstrap Pretzels. I guess those are slightly hotter than vintage output.

I have modified the mid scoop in my amp a bit. I have less scoop than stock. I like mids.

I need mids but there can be too much if for example I use a Tube Screamer type pedal into a Marshall.
I really can't stand any humbuckers due to the nasal thing. Except Firebirds.

Yeah the pretzel is over 10k of 43awg so a hot thick toned pickup.
With my usual 18w Marshall into a Gold I get too much nasal mid congestion from a bridge pickup much over 7k.

Mids are like salt or cayenne in a dish.
One dash is subtle, two dashes is tsaty, but three dashes is bad cooking!

 

[gabasa]

I am currently using Jensen P10R-F. With 5E3 it was perfect ...

I also have a 5E3 in a 1x10 Harvard-sized cabinet and love it. I have a Weber 10A100T in it, similar to your Jensen and think it sounds great. Why not email Weber for a suggestion? Perhaps their 10A150 would work well, as long as it has enough high end.

https://tedweber.com/10a150/

 

[LightningPhil]

Have one of these kicking about somewhere. Ages since playing with it. From memory, it was not a nice sounding speaker for solo playing. Sort of stiff and almost cardboard sounding. Not a lot of low end. Though do remember thinking it might work well in mix where the input the amp is EQ'd to fit in and make use of the speaker. Some notes did sound good, just not enough of them.

 

[Commodore 64]

I have one in a 2x10 cab with a G10 Greenback. All I ever get is compliments when people play through the cab, and I don't even tell them what's in it.

In the past 10 years of excessive tinkering, whether it's building amps, tweaking amps, replacing pickups, or replacing speakers...I'm pretty much sold on the thought that I don't have ears like the rest of you, LOL. I'm not saying everything sounds the same. But nothing really sounds bad, either. (except my playing)

 

[uriah1]

Alnicos need the right amp and situation. Not good for all applications.
The newer G10 Creamback ceramic has nice sounds to it.

 

[Dacious]

I'd say the amp/usage is not consistent with the speaker. I wouldn't put a gold in a 5E3 as it's a middy amp with a middy speaker.

You can see it's efficient, but it drops away past 4khz. Unless you can pull mids back in some amps it might well sound nasally.

I prefer Jensen type speakers with a flattish response curve with that kind of amp.

 

[3-Chord-Genius]

Tone preference. It's that simple.

 

[2L man]

P10R-F is my favorite loudspeaker all sizes included.

I like 10" Gold but only for loud rock which I can't play well and definitely not enough Here JP Cervoni get good sounds out of Gold 10" although he play left handed using right hand stringer guitar

 

[Axis29]

I don't have any experience with a 10" Gold, but had a 12" Gold in my Cox Ultimate 5e3.

It sounded marvelous....

...at higher volumes. With that 5e3 breathing fire, the Gold sounded incredible. At lower volumes? It sounded like mud. I was using the 5e3 as my grab and go rig. I had intended to use it in lower volume situations.

I replaced it with an Eminence 1228 and never looked back. I sold the Gold to a bud who put it in a blackface Deluxe Reverb. He loves it in that. I think that's a much better matchup than a id-heavy Tweed.

I would love to try a pair of 10" Golds in my '63 Vibroverb Ri....

 

[KC]

it's not for you --- not missing a thing. not all speakers sound great in all amps to all players. I have a gold 12" in a single speaker AC30 (AC30CC1) and it sounds fantastic. To my ears, in that amp. Tried a 10" in a Gibson Goldtone GA-15 -- basically an AC15 -- and thought it made a bright amp too bright. the Greenback & weber silver 10 both sounded better to me. To me. In that amp.

 

[telemnemonics]

Have one of these kicking about somewhere. Ages since playing with it. From memory, it was not a nice sounding speaker for solo playing. Sort of stiff and almost cardboard sounding. Not a lot of low end. Though do remember thinking it might work well in mix where the input the amp is EQ'd to fit in and make use of the speaker. Some notes did sound good, just not enough of them.

You describe the Gold and Red Fang before they are broken in.
Stiff and cardboard sound with weaker bass.
Once broken in after 10-30 hours of playing louder than your neighbors tolerate, you'll get nice warm bass and an open not stiff sound.
I was actually surprised by how much bass the 10" Gold has compared to other tens, and A/B's it with a few 12's, finding it had just as much bass as most 12" speakers. But without the bass getting flubby.

In comparison I have a good Jensen P12N with a proper recone, and that speaker has more top and bottom with less mids.
But the bottom is less tight than a 12" Gold or Red Fang, and the treble is more pronounced.
Basically exactly as expected from British vs American voiced speakers.
Both are very clear articulate sounding speakers, unless you send them too much of any frequency. IOW proper EQ required.

Notably I bought many Golds and Red Fangs when they were newer on the market and kind or trendy, but I bought them used at auction.
While they were "used", most were not broken in yet!
Seems like many buyers didn't know speakers change with use and certain models sound bad when new.
So they played a few times and sold them, assuming that's just how they sound.

We even have threads about speaker break in where many get upset and insist it's a big myth.

I did well buying from users who don't believe in speaker break in.

 

[klobasa]

OP here.

I might add that I had 12" Gold and Blue at some point, also Weber 12" Blue and none of them had this honky cocked wah tone (well, maybe a little bit, but those speakers were fine!) Neither did G10 Greenback, G10N...40 (or something like that?). Just today, I got from my friend a 12" Celestion V-Type, which sounds very good. It has a lot of mids, but it's not honky.

I have had at least 25 different type of speakers in 8", 10" and 12" sizes in various brands (approx. 60% American, 40% British) with various price points. I have happily played with all of them. The only speaker I have ever very much disliked is the 10" Gold. But, I have often heard someone else played 10" Gold in their setup and the sound was just fine!

 

[klobasa]

Now I remember it correctly! The first time I bought 10" Gold was because I wanted to try it in my Princeton Reverb clone. _That_ combination did not work at all IMO, which was a big surprise, because it is often told that it's a perfect fit! I had also 5E3 at the time and tried the Gold in that too.

Fast forward one year... That same Princeton with _12"_ Gold was just perfect combination...when played loud!

 

[2L man]

Obviously loudspeaker manufacturing does not produce exact similar models all the time thru years? I can't say nothing bad of my Gold 10" eight ohm other than it needs quite a lot of volume to sound very good. But my Gold 12" eight ohm is quite difficult to make sound very good and sometimes it sound bad (ice pick shrill etc...). It has got better now when I just have played it more but knowing that I would have not bought it because it is my most expensive speaker.

Gold 12" has no place on my cabins now so perhaps I should give it more running in but I don't have any high power solid state amp now. Running 50Hz sine wave thru a variac and transformer hasn't done much

 

[ronzhd]

When I swapped the stock for a G 10 in my PRRI, was a game changing moment, that was 5 years ago.

 

[joe_cpwe]

I see many opinions on this site, and other sites. Occasionally I get to hear people on forums play their instrument and think...why the heck would I ever listen to, or care, what that person thinks about tone? ...because what they are doing with a guitar is in no-way remotely related to what I'm trying to accomplish with a guitar.

...take opinions about 'tone' with a the value you paid for it...