Greenback G12M 20w vs. 25w

[KokoTele]

Does anyone have any experience comparing the G12M UK-made 20w speaker and the Chinese-made 25w model?

I can’t find anything that compares them directly, and so far the only difference I see is 5 watts and $25.

I did find a video from a few years ago that compares a vintage Greenback, a modern UK one, and a WGS Green Beret, and the Green Beret was very close to the modern Greenback. Both had a focus on the upper mids compared to the vintage speaker and less bass, but seem close enough that EQ could take care of most of the differences.

 

[schmee]

I preferred the Chinese speaker to a vintage GB in a Deluxe Reverb when I tried them several years ago.
It may simply be that the GB in general is a little wimpy for a DR and the vintage one was probably well used. The Chinese one seemed to hold up better.

 

[codamedia]

I have no real life experience between them... but in this video I'd take the "meatier" sound of the vintage speaker any day. I guess the big question is, would you be able to find a "vintage" that actually sounds like that.... surely they have all broken in differently over the years.

 

[KokoTele]

Out of those 3, I’d take the vintage one too, but at $500+ for a vintage one, it’s not even under consideration for me.

 

[uriah1]

I had the Chinese greenie once. Great speaker

 

[KC]

I wish somebody would throw a Weber Silver Bell ceramic into the comparison. My impression is that it might be a bit closer to the 20-watt Greenback than the modern one is but I'm too lazy to turn all the screws to find out.

 

[northernguitar]

I wish somebody would throw a Weber Silver Bell ceramic into the comparison. My impression is that it might be a bit closer to the 20-watt Greenback than the modern one is but I'm too lazy to turn all the screws to find out.

Nope. I just traded away a Silver Bell. Very woofy. On a mic, it sounded like a blanket over the cab.

 

[cgharrison]

For me,

Heritage: softer, sweeter, falls apart more when pushed, very quiet (low efficiency)

Standard: more presence, a bit of a harsh edge (but not unpleasant), holds together when pushed, louder, does much better in open backed cabs

I ended up sticking with the standard, which I gather is a common choice. The heritage is a gorgeous speaker, though - it just didn’t quite work for me in a louder band situation. It sort of disappeared like a fuzz pedal can.

 

[Emiel]

Celestion has moved production of the reissue back to the UK in 2017. Some say they sound different after that, but I don't know.

I recently bought a new UK reissue and actually preferred it to the G12M Heritage. They are not miles apart really. The Heritage gets quite smooth and soft sounding at higher volumes, a bit too much for me.

 

[radiocaster]

You could also get those to sound like each other by changing the cab dimensions and construction.

 

[Dacious]

In the modern speakers there's both a Luton made and Chinese. The Vox branded are Chinese. The Celestion come both ways.

If you check the cone the GB I have now has a H1777 code, that's the Mueller cone that the good Celestion Blue comes with.

The Celestion cognoscenti say it doesn't matter where a Blue comes from if it has that cone.

I don't have a vintage one to compare but this speaker sounded great in a Vox AC15C1 I have. It is marked Vox International with a plastic back so I presume it's Chinese origin.

I had a GB in the Marshall Mini Jubilee was metal with 15 ohm and Luton on the back. It sounded similarly good.

AC15 now has a Blue with the same cone which sounds even awesomer by a small margin.