Put a Celestion Cream in my Deluxe Reverb, Very Happy

[hotcoffeenochill]

Decided to do yet another speaker swap in my 76 silver panel Deluxe Reverb. I had put the tired old 77 Oxford that came with it upon purchase back in during the height of the pandemic because I was only playing at home and it was 1) low efficiency and 2) fun to have the old sound. But, as playing out again became real about a week ago I wanted to try something different and louder.

I've always liked matching Celestions with American-voiced amps and the Celestion Alnico Cream just continues to prove itself with every amp I pair it with. It's loud, still sounds great clean, but gives it that little extra push in all the right frequencies when you hit it with a boost. Really, really enjoying the sounds I'm getting both at volume but also still in the house when practicing.

Previously I've played out with a Weber 12F150 and a Eminence GA64-SC in the amp. The Weber is my second favorite speaker I've had in. Sounds like a Deluxe Reverb, for better or worse. The Eminence I found to be completely sterile, even after sufficient break-in. If y'all have ever wanted to try something a little different in your silver panel or black panel Fender amps, I highly recommend trying a more "British-voiced" speaker.

 

[Tim S]

Not everyone agrees that any one speaker is great, but many consider the Creamback to be a great speaker.

Edit: Of course there’s enough Creambacks to go around. 10” vs 12”, Alnico vs Ceramic. Ceramic M65 vs Ceramic H75. So there’s enough fodder for several threads.

 

[Lowspeid]

Excellent choice! I absolutely love the Creamback. A couple years back I played a FSR '65 DRRI with a Creamback, and a "Knotty Pine" PRRI (they came stock with the Creamback) and was absolutely sold on that speaker.

I have one in my 1974 Musicmaster Bass Amp and it absolutely SLAYS. I had it in my Victoria 5e3 and it sounded much better than the Jensen P12Q that came stock, but decided I like the WGS G12Q in that circuit a little better.

 

[hotcoffeenochill]

Excellent choice! I absolutely love the Creamback. A couple years back I played a FSR '65 DRRI with a Creamback, and a "Knotty Pine" PRRI (they came stock with the Creamback) and was absolutely sold on that speaker.

I have one in my 1974 Musicmaster Bass Amp and it absolutely SLAYS. I had it in my Victoria 5e3 and it sounded much better than the Jensen P12Q that came stock, but decided I like the WGS G12Q in that circuit a little better.

Yeah, the only downside is this Deluxe Reverb is already pretty darn heavy for a 1x12 combo and adding a giant alnico speaker hasn't done me any favors. We'll see how tired I get of lugging it around soon enough. I may toss a neo Creamback in it down the road if I deem the alnico to be too heavy. I use a neo V-type in a 1x12 extension cab and I am blown away by how much difference a few pounds on a speaker can make.

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

Alnico is nice.

 

[Lawdawg]

Very cool! Very broadly speaking, I think most Fender amps sound great with alnico speakers.

 

[telepraise]

I have that same speaker in my PRRI SE and it really covers all the bases- big clean sound and chime. And when I punch in the overdrive, my goodness! Cream is a good moniker for that speaker. Celestion really does overdrive breakup beautifully, IMO.

 

[bluesholyman]

I have a Celestion Gold in my DRRI that I bought used - came that way. Went back/forth between the Celestion and an Allesandro - I ultimately went with the Celestion for a bit more "business" out the front.

I am sure the Creamback is a great speaker and I love some Alnico. Congrats!

 

[JDB2]

Just to be clear a Celestion Creamback comes as a 65W or 75W ceramic speaker or 60W neo speaker. OP’s new speaker is a Celestion “Cream”, which is a 90W alnico speaker. Different animal

 

[Tim S]

Just to be clear a Celestion Creamback comes as a 65W or 75W ceramic speaker or 60W neo speaker. OP’s new speaker is a Celestion “Cream”, which is a 90W alnico speaker. Different animal

But tbe same colored back. There are plenty of other colors Celestion could have chosen for the Alnico speaker, yet they didn’t (marketing)

 

[Axis29]

I just dropped the G12M065 Creamback in my Cox 5E3. I needed a bit more volume.... It replaced an Eminence 1228. I love that Eminence! But, I've taken my 5e3 to a couple of jams here in Southern California where the host bands all play too loud. The Creamback has enough efficiency to get heard.

I love the CB65! Had it in my '58 Twin for a while. Paired with an Eminence 1258. An Excellent combo, indeed! But, I needed that amp to be a little lighter (went with two Neo speakers, another Creamback and a Jensen 12-100, love this combo, too!). When I put the Neos in, I sold the 1258, but put the Creamback away, knowing I'd use it again!

I am also a fan fo Celestion speakers with Fender amps. But, I really love to mix speakers in multi-speaker amps every chance I get. The Creamback 65 seems to meld well with others, as well.

 

[Matt Sarad]

I put a Vox Celestion Bkue form the mid 70s in mine.

 

[roadjunkie59]

My Allen lil brown jug which is essentially a early 60's Fender Vibrolux. I replaced the Texas Heat with a Cream 90 which made me quite happy so far.

 

[Silverface]

Yeah the 65 used to be the only one. Then Celestion mucked up the works with different models of "creamback"

FWIW I tried a broken-in 65W in my '66 DR - and although I love that speaker in *most* amps, the original Oxford in my DR buried it.

That's why getting caught in a loop of speaker chasing is SO damned expensive!

 

[SugarVeil Studios]

I still think one of the best decisions I ever made was putting the Celestion Bad Cat speaker in my 1975 Fender Twin Reverb and pairing it with an old Electro-Voice alnico SRO. Most beautiful sounding amplifier I’ve ever played through. I usually run it in stereo with a Peavey Mace VT loaded with 1st generation Black Widows. The combination of the two amps in stereo is nothing short of amazing. I’ll spend hours just sitting there strumming major chords on my Jazzmaster. The closest thing I could compare it to would be a religious experience. I’m also running the Twin Reverb through an attenuator.

 

[Rufus]

A Cream and a Creamback are two different speakers, are they not?

 

[Rufus]

A Cream and a Creamback are two different speakers, are they not?

 

[schmee]

"The Eminence I found to be completely sterile, even after sufficient break-in. If y'all have ever wanted to try something a little different in your silver panel or black panel Fender amps, ...."
Interesting, I've got to believe is the Emi GA SC 64 you had was defective. I have 3 in use and none could be called even remotely "sterile or brittle" even right out of the box.
I have tried Celestions in vintage Deluxes and do like some, although they never won out over the Weber 12F150, which lost out to the GA SC 64 when it came out..
I rarely like an alnico though so have not tried the Creamback 90. Tried various ceramics though like G12-65, 55, GB , and others.

 

[Axis29]

A Cream and a Creamback are two different speakers, are they not?

I have not heard of a speaker referred to as just a 'Cream' except as a shortened CreamBack, like @roadjunkie59 mentioned. His is a Creamback Alnico. I own Creamback G12M-65, and a Neo Creamback. I have used all kinds of unofficial abbreviations.

Is there just a 'Cream' speaker?

 

[Rufus]

I have not heard of a speaker referred to as just a 'Cream' except as a shortened CreamBack, like @roadjunkie59 mentioned. His is a Creamback Alnico. I own Creamback G12M-65, and a Neo Creamback. I have used all kinds of unofficial abbreviations.

Is there just a 'Cream' speaker?

See @JDB2 reply