Which do you prefer? Let us know! And follow me on Spotify for some sultry tunes ~ open.spotify.com/artist/6RLQFre2Qp5T454mFR5Ol4

@mikmo222

Жыл бұрын

great video, Jack! I just replaced the green back Celestion speaker in my Mesa Boogie Mark I with a Weber blue dog. This amp used to have an EVL12 when Eric Johnson sold it to me 20 yrs ago. IO, the sound of the amp with Weber BD speaker is the best that I've heard in this amp. A total change for the better - warmer, more and harmonics,

That blue dog sounds great in there! 👍🏾 like it best for the clean to low gain sounds. The greenback for medium to high is my favorite for the vox 🧐

Thanks for this Jack! I love Weber stuff

I preferred the blue dog in every setting except for top boost channel at mid-volume with TS into the amp. Not sure what it was, but I liked the Greenback slightly better in that setting. Thanks for the video

Huge Celestion Greenback fan for years, but the Weber Blue Dog comes out on top in this great shootout! - Thanks!

I like both ... my AC15 has the Greenback so I'm building a ported extension cab to house a Blue Dog 75w 8ohm. My Mesa/Boogie and Blackstar can also power the cab. Thanks for this comparison.

I bought a used Vox AC15 earlier this year, mainly because I found it for $380 and I wanted a cheap lower-wattage tube amp to run in stereo with my beloved main amp; an early-2000s Peavey Delta Blues 1x15. I recently put a Weber Ceramic Thames (custom ordered with an FC12-style vented aluminum dust cap, because I wanted to approximate a 15-inch Fane Crescendo clone) into the Peavey, which has been a great improvement over the stock Blue Marvel speaker. I was messing around the other night and decided to wire the Vox amp into the Peavey cab and its Weber speaker. It sounded amazing. It retained the classic Vox chime, grit, and touch sensitivity, but totally eliminated any harshness to the top end. It sounded more Marshall Plexi-esque. The 15” Thames gives every note a feeling of weight and authority, even at low volumes; playing high up on the fretboard at comfortable levels in my bedroom sounds like I’m pushing around a decent amount of air. So, I’m now building a 1x15” cab for the Vox. It’s getting the same Thames speaker, although I think I’m going to try an Alnico one without the aluminum dust cap, just to see what that sounds like. I also tried the Peavey into the Greenback in the Vox cab, which sounded shrill and thin. The Greenbacks must need to played in a 4x12 cab by a loud Marshall Plexi in order to sound right.

Thanks! Love your stuff. On next videos maybe you can leave a pic of the speaker while it plays. Or write "speaker A"

That strat is gorgeous

Celestions and Vox amps are matches made in tone heaven to me.

Thanks Jack for the vid!

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

My pleasure!

@larryboeding240

2 жыл бұрын

@@JackFossett and happy birthday next week bro!

Blue Speaker for sure! I think the Celestion is a real let down for the Vox. I played a stock AC15C1 in my local guitar shop and was comparing it with a HotRod deluxe, I also played my friend's stock AC15C1 while he was using his Helix and on both occasions the Vox sounded like a practice amp in comparison. I think the stock speaker has a lot to do with it and the Blue speaker sounds better to my ears in this comparison.

Great video! I got excited to finally see someone test out the ceramic Blue Dog and even better compared it to a Greenback. I'm glad it was you who did this video too because when I first got into AC30's your vid explaining it was the only one that made actual sense and was very useful. I know Weber has explained how the watts and doping effect the tone, any idea on what the watts and dopeage (if that's a term?" is on that speaker? Also did you notice if there were any differences if the Blue was noticeably louder than the Green? Thanks and keep up the great content

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

Thank you, glad you liked it! So this is 8ohms, 30 watts and I believe light dope. Yes it is louder, partially because of it being 8ohms instead of 16. Theres a little switch in the back to change the impedance.

Great playing, great sound. You really have that "crazy" guitar face going on man. Thanks for posting.

I think the Weber sounds the best. I especially like the part with that and the SG guitar.

I like the Blue better. It seems to have more lower-mid content, which to me gives it a richer sound. Both speakers are fine, and as far as sounds go, the music should be the final arbitrator.

Great video and I share your allround opinion. The sweet top end of the blue “alnico” suits the Vox chime best but Greenback is also nice. Strange with the problems to swap speaker. Took me 20 minutes. Just had to remove the tubes after the screws. Not the tank, not the chassi. I have a fantastic Tayden ACE25 alnico speaker in my AC15. It’s a dream and hand built in England to sound like the old speakers.

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

20 minutes was about what it took me too, but other amps are much faster. Definitely had to remove the chassis though, I tried to work it several other ways and it just wasn’t happening.

@MrBossei

2 жыл бұрын

@@JackFossett Sorry. I think you are perfectly right and I am wrong. I looked at a video now and I must have forgotten that it was a bit more complicated than usual amps. kzread.info/dash/bejne/hmVkqJWmfK6TgMY.html Must be my total love of AC15 that makes my memory blurred 🤓

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

@@MrBossei haha no problem -

My two biggest cases of seller's remorse are: Early 2000s AC15 w/Greenback and Fender Champ600. I had em both at the same time, was young enough to lift the damn things, and with my old Maton 335 I was happy as the proverbial. No drive pedals, just a Boss delay. Always liked the stock Greenback with the AC15. To my ears, it's a more versatile amp - and great for pedals, normal channel (irony: now I have a bunch of dirt boxes but no Vox!). Got me somewhere between Marshall and Vox-land. Thankfully, I got another Champ :) I'd love to hear a Jack Fossett take on that little amp. Great upload, Jack. Sounded rad with the 808. The Blue Dog smokes the Alnico imo, never liked the latter. EDIT: If you don't want that Greenback, I need one for my Bassbreaker 15. Please post to:, A. Cheapo Broke street, Sydney Australia

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

Oh nice! Thats the little 6" TV two tone amp right? I've actually been wanting to get my hands on one, since I have the 68 Vibro and now the 57 Tweed. I figured that would round out my champ collection and I could do a big video on all of them together.

@mattgilbert7347

2 жыл бұрын

@@JackFossett That's the one, yeah! Buddy Holly style amp. Loves da Fuzz, you can get huge power tube saturation without causing an earthquake. I remember I did have a dirt pedal - a DS-1 that was falling apart. Sounded...good? I think. Great idea! I love what I've heard of those, the Vibro sounds cool, raspy, trashy little thing. Uber retro tones. Be great to hear a "Champion of Champs" video :)

Hey Jack. Great demo. I really like the Weber Blue Dog. I was wondering if the one you're using in this video has any doping done to it. Cause Weber offers different levels of doping from light to heavy and pre rola. Speakers are always a moving target and doping makes it even more difficult to make the right decision. Any info would be much appreciated

Really like these. Going to get a Weber 12" Ceramic Blue Dog Ceramic 16ohm 30W to mellow out my Vox AC30S1. I think these are 95db sensitivity. That or a Celestion Creamback Neo (97db sensitivity), which should get my AC30S1 closer in weight and voicing to my AC15. Might upgrade the AC15 to an Alnico Blue Dog later.

Is it hard to change the speakers out? Or just plug into the right terminals ?

I used to have one of those Korg era AC30s made in the Marshall factory in 2000. It had both a Greenback and a Celestion Blue in it from the factory. I've never really been able to qualify my thoughts on speakers, even though people like to say they're "the most import aspect of your tone". To me a speaker either sounds good or not as good. I'm not one one to go swapping speakers, because you don't know if your going to like the sound until it's bought and paid for and in there, and I can't afford to try 3 or 4 or 5 speakers until I find one I prefer . Some of the sweetest speakers I've ever heard were just really old no-name things in old amps. The ones in my '60s Lindell amp, and the ones I had in my 60's Beltone amp just looked like the same kind of speakers you would see in old radios from the time. They were not robust like modern speakers, but they sounded warmer and sweeter. I think the key thing in a good speaker sound to my ears might be, "has it been played for 50 years?".

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

My first AC30 was a CC2 with Wharfdale speakers. Never should have gotten rid of it, it was a really killer amp. The old Marshall factory models were great. Unfortunately I see Vox more becoming a Korg side project nowadays.

@bobbystereo936

Жыл бұрын

@@JackFossett Say Jack! Do you know what the difference in the H greenback as the one in this video is the M greenback? All Vox amps use the M. By the way, I luv the old wharfdale speakers they use to have. Every1 thinks those are crap but it's a well kept secret I think.

Great video, I really like the greenback, it has a lot more focus to it and takes the overdrive way better.

@vladicaradojevic4453

2 жыл бұрын

That's correct!

I like the Blue Dog. It has a more round tone that is more cleaned up.

Blue for me , but both are great speakers either way .

Still, I liked Greenback better. On a clean sound it has more brilliance. It has more bite on crunch. The only moment where I liked Weber more was the high gain with SG. Thanks Jack

The Blue has that classic "hollow" sound and more aggressive break up but the GB has a nice articulate quality on the note attack. It looks like the Blue Dog is 30 watts(?). In my experience the higher wattage one selects on a Weber Blue Dog the less it like the traditional 15 watt Celestion Blue it sounds. I've concluded (perhaps erroneously) that this is due the way the higher wattage components change the break-up character of the driver. I'd love to see a thorough 15 watt Blue Dog Vs Celestion Blue Shoot out. I have long suspected the Alnico influence isn't as noticeable at typical playing volume, that compression really only happens at high spls and that most people could probably live without the extra cost that comes with Alnico.

Also concern the ceramic speakers sounding like Alnicos: you will find them out by checking their frds first: to do sound as alnicos, they will have to have extended high mids/ presence, up to 4- 5.5/6 kHz, and present a rather soft attack over there: more of a pretty widespread "hill" shaped peak rather than a sharp one. All which I state has totally been proven right to me by experience so far. Some examples: Eminence's CV 75, GA SC64 (the first being an 80s V30 take off, the latter a Jensen C12N . BUT: I am referring to the mids, high mids and attack so far. Being higher wattage ceramic speakers, expect far more and tighter bass/ low mids response than typical Alnicos.

Absolutely prefer the Blue Dog here.

Green is the one for me 👍

Have you tried the “JMI mod”’for this amp? Namely changing the transformer and clipping the bright cap?

@JackFossett

11 ай бұрын

No I haven't! Once I did the bright cap mod on an AC30 I used to have, but not on the AC15.

This is the first video I’ve ever seen where the blue “kept up” IMO. As soon as it got a little dirty/over driven the green pulls away. Blues sound good real clean and sparkly but not much beyond IMO.

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

Oh interesting, I much prefer the blue overdriven. Sounds fuller and has more the classic Vox growl to my ear.

How do I tell which speaker you are playing through??

Thank you for this shootout. I thought also the blue dog sounded much better, so i looked up weber speakers on the internet. Then i saw the blue dog speaker comes wit some different options. Ceremic or alnico amd a paper conus or a hemp conus. Which one did you use?

@JackFossett

9 ай бұрын

Ceramic with paper

Nicely done, Jack. I much preferred the greenback in this case.

I could be persuaded either way… Both speakers truly sound fantastic with this amp in my opinion.

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah it’s really a matter of taste. I like the bigger Vox growl that comes from the Weber, but I can also see the Greenback being a more universal and almost recognizable sound for someone not necessarily married to the classic Vox tone.

@musicmatty67

2 жыл бұрын

@@JackFossett it's fun to mix and match because this is how we find our tone.. changing speakers and preamp tubes. I love the celestions with the Bassman... I really like the Jensen c12k100 Watt with the hot rod deville and blues deluxe... Seems to render a warm and glassy tone.

The Blue gives the amp that glassy tone that I am looking for with a Vox. Clarity and warmth in the same package. If I want Greenbacks I would go for a Marshall-ish amp. Update: I wrote this before I heard you say the same thing.

Please put in some better tubes! tung sol black plate 12ax7 in the first position, and then Mullards or Genalex Gold Lion for the rest!!

Did you happen to experiment straight in with Volumes all dimed or nearly dimed ? (& no fx) Cheers

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah - I spent a good amount of time breaking in the blue dog before shooting. I like it quite a bit better. It’s more that big Vox growl and less of the punchy semi Marshall tone.

@jonnybeck6723

2 жыл бұрын

@@JackFossett There's such a huge camp for Greenbacks but frankly, I doughna get it 😐 ...and IMHO Vintage Thirties put them to shame. Cheerios (not the cereal)

I like the green cleans. What year strat are you playing?

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

Its a heavily modified 2008 American Standard. Has 50s appointments, Lust for Tone Monterey pickups and a wiring harness I made myself.

was playin along and minding my business when the Eb on the strat made me think my brain was broken

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

Oh yes, I play much more in down tunings nowadays than I ever used to. When I perform live I do almost the whole thing in a down tuning as I'm in somewhat of baritone range.

Interesting video Jack. Blue was better imo.

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

I think so too!

In my opinion the Blue Dog would simply roar with a good treble booster!

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

I think you’re right on - it’s balanced enough that the treble booster wouldn’t be too squealing or overpowering and just punch it up nicely

Both Great Speakers, the Greenback did show ice-pick highs in the Vox....

Great comparison. Which power rating is the Blue Dog? 30w?

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

Yup 30! Also forgot to mention its 8ohms as opposed to 16.

@anthonysilva5312

2 жыл бұрын

@@JackFossett wha?!! You put an 8ohm speaker in a circuit designed for 16 ohms

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

@@anthonysilva5312 there’s an ohms selector on the back

@anthonysilva5312

2 жыл бұрын

@@JackFossett is this the ac15c1?

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

@@anthonysilva5312 yes it is

I'm used to the greenbacks so I'm biased. I thought the dirty tones sound a little bit better with the Weber but for me the cleans sound alot better with the Greenbacks. Vox amps take time to understand and work with but ones I've done that I would stick with the stock speaker. That's just my two cents, enjoy your amp.

is this the ceramic bluedog

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

Yes it is

I'd prefer the Celestion Blue over both. Actually I do love the Greenback but in Marshall type amps. This doesn't help you does it? Best, Pete.

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

I used to have the Heritage Handwired AC15 which had an alnico blue. Great speaker -- only trouble is the price.

@ptrisonic

2 жыл бұрын

@@JackFossett Yeah.... Sorry to remind you, Jack. Pete.

Blue with Vox 🤘

Pretty shocking how big of a difference switching a speaker in an amp can be, for me the celestion greenback added more hi fi definition to the amp where the Weber sounded compressed or something like that which is good or bad depending, Celestion is more versatile the weber is a specialist. The current vox amps that are made in the far east, (even the handwired ones) have a problem with not providing a big sound, the originals are much more dynamic sounding.

If VOX would have used the ceramic Weber Blue Dogs with their Classic Plus series amps then those amps wouldn't have failed in the market. The Wharfedale speakers that came loaded in those amps were basically clones of the G12H30 and were a rather poor choice for those amps.

@bobbystereo936

Жыл бұрын

The Wharfdales are Excellent! I prefer them over those modern Chinese greenbacks. I have a wharfdale in my princeton reverb & it's the best vintage tone I've ever gotten outta all my amps.

@TheNocturnalEvil

Жыл бұрын

@@bobbystereo936 They ain't bad, it's just that they are a poor match for Vox amps. They rob the chime and complex upper-mid range of Vox amps. They sound excellent in JTM45 clones and Marshall amps though. The Classic Plus series amps were odd in many regards. They used a high gain preamp section based around a modified AC30 preamp which is an odd choice for designing a high gain amp. Their power-amp section was carried straight from the old VOX AC100 Mk II which is by all means is outdated by modern amp standards. Their design made them picky when it comes to speakers.

@bobbystereo936

Жыл бұрын

@@TheNocturnalEvil I'm not saying it's the greatest speaker ever made, of course they sound bad with distortion/hi-gain but if you're shooting for cleans/Break up! Then for the money they sound close to a celestion blues cleans.

@TheNocturnalEvil

Жыл бұрын

@@bobbystereo936 With Vox amps they even sound bad for cleans. As I said, they are pretty good speakers, it's just that a Vox amp doesn't sound like a Vox amp when you use it with them. Vox Classic Plus series amps are not exactly high gain, they just have a bit more gain than a regular Vox amp. If anything their gain is way less than modern Marshall and Orange amps.

@bobbystereo936

Жыл бұрын

@@TheNocturnalEvil The one I have is in a fender so I've never played one through a vox amp. From the Videos here on utube they sound so filthy & disgusting! I luv it!!!

Blue Dog for Strat, but for the SG both have their own flavour

Tried jensen falcon

I love the Greenback. The Blue has a more vintage tone. its expensive.

The greenback here.

For solo guitarist, green! Blue only if someone play alone in his room! Blue is 3x expensive, it does worth the money when you play without a band. In a band, green works totally great.

@anthonysilva5312

2 жыл бұрын

You’re thinking of celestion alnico not the Weber ceramic

@vladicaradojevic4453

2 жыл бұрын

@@anthonysilva5312 Yes, for playing in a band.

To an unreasonable degree of approximation, there are exactly one billion screws involved.

@JackFossett

2 жыл бұрын

One billion and one *drops mic*

Take the backing off the ac15 and it will take away all of those bass tones and it's much more usable for srv stuff. Im using a USA peavey scorpion. Sounds great I'm never buying another amp again. It sounds even better with better tubes but mine buzzes so it will have to wait for now

& urly vox did come with grean backs!

The Celestion sounds more musical with a better overall harmonic responce. The Weber is missing tonal content and sounds compromised

Plus vox came before Marshall 🤔 & definitely not nice with a strat neither! Green back with gibsons all day long.

Anybody else notice how nasal and and annoying the Weber sounds with the Tube Screamer?