Differences between V30 and greenbacks..

[johnny]

Hello all you forumites!

I'm new in this forum and I got VM 2266 head. Great amp. I'm playing it through Diezel 2x12 with V30 in it. Sound is very tight and focused but also sometimes bit too sharp and edgy. (Even with treb and pres off) Have any of you compared V30 and greenbacks(VM 4x12) with Vintage modern? Is there a big or subtle difference? I have tried several settings and usually I'm setting it as

master-6
pres - 4
bass - 6
mid -4
tre -5
body - 3
det - 5
HIgh
mid off

My guitars (gibson Les pauls with burstbucker pros) volume is somewhere 5'ish..

Thanks for your input!! :pimp

[rccCrawler]

1. Speakers are very much a subjective, personal judgement. So what one person likes another could easily hate, and they'd both be right.
2. I am no speaker expert.
3. The VM, in most user's experience, is VERY speaker sensitive, more so than most amps.

Having said all that, my experience is that the V30 and G12-75s both have more of a mid Scoop, whereas greenbacks have more of a mid Bump. In addition, greenbacks break up earlier, and are much less efficient, which allows you to use more master volume at the same actual volume, which most would say helps tone.

I frankly HATED the tone of V30s and G12-75s with my VM, but many, many others love them. For me personally, it's greenbacks all the way, but I've always loved greenbacks with any of the heads I've liked so ....... YMMV. Best thing to do is find a buddy with greenbacks and borrow his cab!

[jeffster]

I have found that the BB Pros are hard to tame treble-wise. I have 2 LPs Standards, an 02 with Seymour Duncan pups (SH-11 Custom Custom in the bridge and an SH-1 59 in the neck) and the new 08 with the BB Pros, and while I love my VM sounds fantastic with the 02, it is very difficult to get a "great" sound with the new 08. When I do get something close, if I switch back to my 02, it sounds terrible as there is too much bottom end and almost no treble at all. So, that said, my new pickups for the 08 arrive tomorrow and I'll be changing them.

Now, I know people say they can get a warm sound out of the BB Pros, but I haven't been able to. You may fair much better than I, however, but just offering up my $.02 from personal experience. BTW, I have both the 425A cab with greenbacks and a 4x12 with G12T-75s and V30s in an X pattern and I really don't like it with anything other than the greenbacks. It could be the 75s tainting the sound for me though, so I would be interested in playing through an all V30 cab at some point and see if that is better...

Regards,
-Jeff

[LivewireBlanco]

Big sound difference between the V30 and greenbacks. You will have to try them out though to see if you like them. Go to the celestion website, they have sound clips there of the different speakers they make.

[johnny]

Good points! Thank you for your answers. I agree with the burstbuckers. Allthough they sound fantastic with my Soldano.. I have found out that activatin mid boost helps bit with burstbuckers allthough after that the whole eq section must be readjust.

Johnny

[MKB]

I use two cabs alternately with my VM: a seventies Marshall slant 4X12 with Weber reconed Greenbacks (reconed to stock Greenback specs), and a 2X12 closed back cab with one V30 and one Eminence Wizard. Both sound terrific with the VM, but different.

The Greenbacks have a bit more lower mids and upper high end sizzle. This makes the amp sound not so good with the volume low, but when the master is turned above 5 and the speakers start getting a workout, they smooth out very nicely and the tone gets perfect.

The V30/Wizard combo has more treble, but less high end sizzle and a bit less mids than the Greenbacks. This combo sounds better at lower volumes, and the tone doesn't change as much as the volume is increased. This combo is more efficient, and the lows are a bit cleaner. But I can sympathize with the V30 being a bit trebly, it does have a spike up there, but not as much sizzle as the Greenbacks. They can be harsh and unforgiving. V30's with a solid state amp can get UGLY.

It's hard to pick between the two as they both are very good, but if I had to choose I'd go with the Greenbacks in a closed back cab if they can be played loud all the time. They just seem to be a tiny bit more expressive, and the upper treble sizzle seems to suit the VM.

Three things you might consider; first, try swapping one of the V30's in your cab with a different speaker. I'd suggest the Eminence Wizard, it's like a G12H-30 with more power handling. It compliments the V30 very well. Another thing to try would be some of the preamp tube swaps listed in other posts, this can tame down the treble quite a bit. Finally, if you get a chance, have the power tube bias checked (too low a bias current can cause bad trebly sound). Hope all this helps...

[jimmyshakes]

I have an angled cab which I put four V30's in about 5 years ago. It started off sounding a little harsh but has warmed up nicely now. Even so I'd like to hear the difference with Greenbacks. However, I already find the VM to be quite a warm sounding amp and so am wary about putting speakers in which will warm things up even more.

I'm thinking of swapping two of the V30's for Greenbacks to see how the combination sounds.

Has anyone done this or got any thoughts?

[LivewireBlanco]

I have an angled cab which I put four V30's in about 5 years ago. It started off sounding a little harsh but has warmed up nicely now. Even so I'd like to hear the difference with Greenbacks. However, I already find the VM to be quite a warm sounding amp and so am wary about putting speakers in which will warm things up even more.

I'm thinking of swapping two of the V30's for Greenbacks to see how the combination sounds.

Has anyone done this or got any thoughts?

I have heard of people doing this and they usually say the V30 overpowers the greenies a little bit because they are a more efficient speaker. A good combo with the V30 is the G12H30, which is more efficient but still a nice old school speaker.

[jimmyshakes]

I have an angled cab which I put four V30's in about 5 years ago. It started off sounding a little harsh but has warmed up nicely now. Even so I'd like to hear the difference with Greenbacks. However, I already find the VM to be quite a warm sounding amp and so am wary about putting speakers in which will warm things up even more.

I'm thinking of swapping two of the V30's for Greenbacks to see how the combination sounds.

Has anyone done this or got any thoughts?

I have heard of people doing this and they usually say the V30 overpowers the greenies a little bit because they are a more efficient speaker. A good combo with the V30 is the G12H30, which is more efficient but still a nice old school speaker.

Cheers, this makes sense and sounds like good advice - thanks.

[lowenzz]

You may be one of those types that doesn't agree with the V30's. I like them myself fine enough. But these speakers seem to have quite the rabid Love/Hate thing depending on who you talk to. The happy medium I hear are the G12H30's. They are supposed to be the speaker of choice to balance out the V30 as well. I may try getting one for my 2x12 V30 cab too.

[ironlung40]

I don't like the sound of the v30's with the VM at all.....

I haven't tried the greenbacks yet, but I am currently using celestion 65's in a 2x12 with the VM and I love how they sound. The take I have read and heard on the 65's is that they are real similar to the greenbacks 25 watters, with a higher wattage rating. Whats cool is that you can run two of these 65's in a 2x12 cab and use a 2466 100 watter with them.

good luck on your tone quest.

ironlung40

[Green Manalishi]

I have a G12H30 and V30 combination in my 1936. It is great.

The G12H30 in direct comparison to my G12C in the 425A has more bottom, but less mids. A little smoother, but close overall in tone to the G12Cs.

The G12H30 is the perfect compliment to the V30, better than the G12M because of the sensitivity. Both the V30 and G12H30 are 100db, while the 25w Greenbacks are 97 or 98db.

[DeanM]

The G12H30 in direct comparison to my G12C in the 425A has more bottom, but less mids. A little smoother, but close overall in tone to the G12Cs.

i know its a matter of personal preference but which would you choose between those two???

And have you directly compared the G12M with the G12C???

[Green Manalishi]

The G12H30 in direct comparison to my G12C in the 425A has more bottom, but less mids. A little smoother, but close overall in tone to the G12Cs.

i know its a matter of personal preference but which would you choose between those two???

And have you directly compared the G12M with the G12C???

The G12M and G12C are very similar. I didn't compare them side by side, but I did have a 1960AX with G12Ms right before I got the 425A. In fact, I sold the 1960AX to get the 425A. Anyhow, the G12Cs are not yet as smooth as the G12Ms were, but the 425A is still not fully broken in. Not fair to compare 10 year old speakers vs new ones. I couldn't tell the difference in character of the speakers, just that the new ones weren't broken in.
If I had to choose only one speaker, it would be the G12C or G12M in a 4x12 or 2x12.