Guitar Gear Forum

Decided to take the plunge and purchased a new pair of Celestion Heritage G12-65's for my 2013 all-pine build Marshall 1936 Lead cab to replace the stock Chinese G12T-75's. I have a quad of original white label UK built G12T-75's in my JCM 800 cab and I love those speakers. Truth be told, I haven't minded these Chinese 75's in this 1936 cab either, but I do like my 800 cab more so I figured I'd give these Heritage 65's a shot to see if I could bring the 36 up a bit closer to the 800. I also have a 1936 Vintage cab (also an all-pine build) that I bought used. The previous owner had Creamback 65's in there which I thought made the cab sound like a blanket was over it. So I purchase an old pair of Mesa V30's for it which made that cab friggin' glorious!

So anyway...after the speaker swap I find that the 36 Lead cab is now in line with my 36 Vintage cab and my 800 cab as far as quality and feel go. It's a good day!

PICS:

Nice! Are these brighter than creambacks?

Mike Oxhuge wrote:Nice! Are these brighter than creambacks?

I've never used Creamback 75's but the Creamback 65's sound like someone put a blanket over the cab. These Heritage G12-65's are just all kinds of killer.

Mike Oxhuge wrote:Nice! Are these brighter than creambacks?

I don’t have a creamback but compared to the other 8 or so celestions I have the 65 is the smoothest

I had Heritage 65s a few years ago. They were smooth on the top end but I liked them. Creamback 75s do not lack in top end. Those are my all time favorite speakers.

cliffenstein wrote:

Mike Oxhuge wrote:Nice! Are these brighter than creambacks?

I've never used Creamback 75's but the Creamback 65's sound like someone put a blanket over the cab. These Heritage G12-65's are just all kinds of killer.

What amp were you using with the 65 Creambacks?

Telephant wrote:What amp were you using with the 65 Creambacks?

I tried 4 amp heads with that cab...

Marshall JCM 900 Mk111 2500
Jet City JCA800 (w/upgraded output transformer and caps) - this is a hand wired JMP 2204 watt clone
Epic AR50 - this is a hand wired proprietary amp loosely based on a 2204 with an Appetite For Destruction core tone

Same result with all of them.

Huh. They’re a little darker than 75 version but I wouldn’t say they sound there is a blanket over the speaker. They’re one of my favorite speakers of all time.

With the way I dial in my amps, the Creamback 65’s didn’t sound anywhere near as good in the room as the Chinese G12T-75’s that were in my 1936 Lead cab at the time. Although, I did record an album with those Creamback 65 speakers and got terrific recorded tone with them. Still, I wanted better in the room tone.

The cab those Creamback 65’s were in was a 1936 Vintage cab so I figured I’d try taking it back to stock, but I didn’t want the mid 2010’s Chinese V30’s that would have been stock so I got the pair of Mesa V30’s and it was immediately a bazillion times better. I didn’t need to upgrade the Chinese G12T-75’s in my 1936 Lead cab, but ultimately I decided to give the Heritage G12-65’s a shot and I’m glad I did. I might have dug the Creamback 75’s, but I’m quite happy with the choice I made.

Creambacks sounding dark? Was your cabinet wired properly?

Dark is the opposite of how I would describe them.

Nice! 65s are my absolute favorite speakers of all time. Have yet to pair them with an amp that didn’t like them.

I can see the Creambacks being on the smooth/dark side, depending on what you're comparing them to, but I really like them.
They're more of a "violin" tone though, more towards Eric Johnson/Bonamassa than Angus/Malcolm.

I do like the Heritage 65s a lot too though.

I guess between them and the Creambacks, it would depend on the amp. The DSL would be better with Creambacks. The 800s I'd probably prefer with the Heritages.


That said, I think that with all the "main" Celestions, GBs, CBs, V30s, 75s, 65s etc is purely a matter of personal preference, when it comes to Marshalls. They all "work well" with Marshalls. I mean, they were BUILT for Marshalls.

Once you start getting into amps with different voicings like Mesa, Diezel etc then some Celestions might not work well. My F-100 really don't like greenbacks, for example.

But Celestion+Marshall? Hard to go wrong, unless you're talking budget lines or specialized models.

I'm still wrapping my head around the Creamback being dark compared to a G12-65.

I love them both, but the Creamback has the signature Celestion top end sizzle while the 65 is probably the smoothest Celestion I can get along with. Just my experience obviously.

Dave wrote:I'm still wrapping my head around the Creamback being dark compared to a G12-65.

I love them both, but the Creamback has the signature Celestion top end sizzle while the 65 is probably the smoothest Celestion I can get along with. Just my experience obviously.

You might be thinking about the Creamback 75, not the Creamback 65.

cliffenstein wrote:

Dave wrote:I'm still wrapping my head around the Creamback being dark compared to a G12-65.

I love them both, but the Creamback has the signature Celestion top end sizzle while the 65 is probably the smoothest Celestion I can get along with. Just my experience obviously.

You might be thinking about the Creamback 75, not the Creamback 65.

It's very possible. I've owned the CB75 but only played the CB65s. I thought the CB65s were similar with less low end like a greenback. The 75s I had were thiccccc bois while the 65s seemed more focused. Either way, glad you're digging the Heritage 65s.