What's actually funny is If you had ever experimented with any of those things, you would realize how much of a difference they each make to the sound, with the exception of fairy dust, which actually does nothing (so, don't waste your money on that)... everything else however (magnet strength, tube type and brand, string gauge and alloy used, etc.) ALL make a very significant and noticeable difference in the sound that comes out of those speakers. So, don't be discounting things you haven't tried yourself, and don't understand...
I did a side by side test of the latest AC30 with Green backs next to an AC30 with Alnico Blues and I loved them both. the Blues were MUCH louder. As you hear on this video they are brasher with more top end, and they break noticeably earlier than the Greenbacks. In the mix, Blues will cut through anything but may need 'taming' a bit. But the Greenbacks are much smoother and warmer. I also tried an experiment by putting a 7-band EQ in the FX loop of the AC30 (where it acts as a clean boost) with Greenbacks to see if I could get close to the Blues. What was interesting is I could use the EQ 'level' control to easily make up the volume difference and with some minor tweaking of the EQ get very very close to the brasher more treble Blues tone but I couldn't get it to match that earlier break-up feel. I then put the EQ in front of the amp, where it acts as more of a gain boost, and I could get more of that earlier break-up feel. I then reversed the experiment, and put the EQ in the FX loop of the 'Blues' AC30 version to see if I could get a more mellower, smoother Greenback tone. Up to a certain point, I could dial (or more accurately 'slide') the top end out and get a much warmer tone but couldn't quite capture the smoothness/warmth of the Greenback due to the early 'Blues' break-up. So, which do I prefer? i loved the idea in the vid of having two AC15 (or even AC30) amps and running both together/switching for the best of both worlds but for most of us that's impractical (cost/weight etc). I love them both for different things. But if I was buying a single AC30 I'd go Greenback because it's a lot cheaper (esp in a 2x12 AC30) easier to make these sound nearer the Blues than it is to make the Blues sound nearer the Greens, and as I play mainly classic rock and blues I'd prefer the warmer Greens tone more of the time. So I think what you play is the big thing to think about as to which is best for you and if you like the Blues tone but only have a Greens budget, then try the EQ comparison trick & see if it works for you. Only thing I'd point out is that I don't think the AC15 Custom has an FX loop, so you can only use an EQ at the front end (I preferred it in the AC30 FX loop). The extra cost of one Alnico Blue isn't so bad in the 1x12" AC15 so I think if you're going AC15 again it's more of a tonal preference than budget consideration.
EQ! That's my answer for most guitar/amp/tone related questions. EQ'ing can solve sooOOoo many issues, plus offers sooOOoo many tone options, it's absurd how little EQ pedals are considered or appreciated. But I do, dammit! 😎
I know that the blue back with a 4" graphine cone mid-range and graphine cone 2" tweeter ran off of a class AB amp with a damping factor of well over 800 and using my tube headphone amplifier as my preamp to flavor the music before it gets to the amp sounds amazing for music and is so loud with the volume knob hardly up just 2 or 3 clicks .
That is a very helpful comment. I have an eq pedal and tend to roll off a little on bass and add little highs with a les Paul and pair of hum-buckers. My fav amp is the ac30 but close second for me is Marshall jcm 800.
I'm curious how they would sound together in a combo. Celestion says on their website that Eric Clapton had the speakers in his Twinolux 2x12 replaced with a AlNiCo blue & Greenback.
I own an AC15 with a greenback. I've been completely happy with it - until now. To me the blue sounds like the green if you scraped all the mud off. It sounds much more usable in a mix or with a band.
I think someone who maxes out the tone cut knob on an ac15c1 would definitely not enjoy a blue speaker. The opposite applies as well. The greenback is in itself a 'tone cutting' feature.
I didn’t even know the difference, despite having a AC with the greenback. I was worried I would wish I had the blue, but after watching this comparison, I really enjoy the bluesy depth of the green. To me the speakers are almost as different as the sound of a single coil vs a humbuckers. The blue has highs and open sound, the green has a more mid range almost muddier sound. I prefer humbuckers over single coils, so maybe that’s why I prefer the green.
You might be onto something. The greenback sounded more subtle to me while the blue sounded brighter to me. I like single coils more than humbuckers for my guitar playing.
I agree. I just played through an AC30 at guitar center with the green backs was blown away by how great it sounds! Most of the demos I’ve seen are players using the alnico blue which is a speaker I don’t care for, but with the green backs it’s a go!
Looking for a sensibly sized amp for gigging as I have a small car.. Is the ac15 green or blue loud enough for an acoustic duo who adds electric guitar to a handful of songs for gigs in regular sized pubs? Our PA handles acoustics/vocals/mandolin etc.. Cheers. I use my fender hotrod but want to down size but not on volume.
From what I hear, the Blue has more mid and high end definition, more bass. It's more open. The green back is low mid/mid focused with the highs muffled a bit and not a lot of bass . With that said, I think they both sound great! I think I'd prefer the blue for trio work and the green back for bigger ensembles, to take less space in the frequency spectrum.
I’m 6 years late to this video, but for what it’s worth I noticed something important: you can get a brand new Alnico Blue speaker for less than the price difference between these two models, which are otherwise identical. So buy the greenback combo and the speaker, then swap out the speaker. You just saved some money over the more expensive model and have a spare 12” greenback to boot.
For those of us who played Vox amps _before_ all of the reissues (a lot of those early reissues were just...not good) The Alnico speakers sound like a Vox _should_ sound like. Not necessarily _better_, just more "Voxy".
Personally, I would get a 2x12, and use one of each speaker. Or in a 4x12, the speakers would be in X configuration. That would give you the perfect blend of tone.
I played through a greenback AC30 for 4 years and was never disappointed. If I were going to buy, though, I would save up for the blue. Blues are clearer, more dynamic, with added beautiful brightness and balanced lows. Greens sound muddy in comparison.
disfibulator but a blueback is alnico, so over time it will lose its magnitude and tone. Ceramic will sound the same and won't lose that dynamic range and tone
I'm getting so confused. In the "old" days, things were what they were, now things are "voiced", some might say "selected" . It seems now I need to have a selection of speaker drivers, try them all in the same amp to find a tone.
Why struggle to decide which one sounds better if you can get a Lehle P-Split and run them both. I have discovered that three is my minimum, but you have to be there to feel it.
***** Yes. They approve, but they have but one humble request; they require.......................................................................................................................................... more cowbell.
@@jackdarby6080 i think he is speaking in comparison of marshall, which is kinda true, highly overrated and a slight changed copy of fender amps, basically the one direction of amp world
@@jackdarby6080 Not as much here on the left coast of North America ("the colonies" to you Brits), where I rarely see Vox amps being used, not that people don't like them. Fender and Marshall seem to dominate.
Greenbacks definitely sound bluesier and warm and fuzzy to me atleast \m/ omg that overdriven tone with the strat and the greenbacks made me shiver full on hendrix tone right there
@@georgefromgreece4119 no, it doesn’t mean that. It means there is a difference, but that we are not sure to which speaker we are to attribute the characteristic differences, because this video is shit.
@@georgefromgreece4119 Vast difference came through on my (not so nice) home theater speakers but could only hear a marginal one through my tv speakers
In line with Santafemikez and lying to the moon....green on the right, blue on the left if you have your headphones on the right way. You can’t hear the difference much through your TV or speakers, best sound differentiation is through some type of decent headphones when watching any comparison videos between amps, guitars, etc.
It may have been less subjective to run the guitar through a single amp and then A/B the speaker-out to two identical speaker cabs--one with the green and one with the blue. A huge consideration is this: no two identical amps sound identical, and no two identical mics sound identical. Thanks for all you do!
The blues all the way. You can't hear the extra 'oomph', but I can assure you it's there. I'm not saying the greenbacks are bad, because they're not (duh), but I prefer the 'honest' sound of the alnico blues.
It is pretty ridiculous to put a greenback in a combo....they are meant to go in a quadbox.....pretty bad sounding speaker in a combo....but hey, it's only rock n roll
The blue wins for me. We can hear better differences than you can because we are getting the miked sound with no off axis to bother us. The blue is much more aggressive in a good way. More punch and better ability to create high end not to mention much less flub. At least thats what I'm hearing. I have the AC30 with the blue's in it and its amazing. Ive got the Ac30 for my clean tones, a Friedman 100 watt BE for plexi rhythm tones and a Boogie Mark V for leads. I have other amps but this mix is perfect for what Im doing in my studio. Love the show guys.
I had a speaker in my Evil Fender Twin die many years ago and I decided to mix it up. Now the amp has one ceramic and one AlNiCo and it has been a pleasure to my ears ever since.
had two friends in college who teamed up and bought an AC30 each, one with greens, one with blues, and switched one of each speaker out. gave both amps an amazingly balanced tone. to all three of us there were things each speaker did better, so having both gave them the versatility to have a rounder tone. i ended up replacing my old stock warfdale speakers with 2 speakers from Warehouse Guitar Speakers (ET65 and a veteran30) and loved it even more than the green/blueback combo. which now means to get a true representation of my tone i use four mics on one combo amp, which is definitely overkill, and looks ridiculous, but it gives me lots of options. When i made the switch my sound man said "don't know whose guitar you're borrowing, but it sounds way better than yours ever does"
not at all... him and Rob have jammed plenty of well known songs. I can only assume you guys somehow missed seeing those videos when they were posted. seen them do the Brian Adams song before.
The Greenbacks have a more modern Rock/Metal tone, while the Bluebacks have a more Classic Rock/Blues sound. I personally like the sound of both together. You guys should do more Mixed Speaker Models demos. It's an interesting way to get very rich tones IMO.
I love my CC1 and use it for everything! Blues, metal, rock..etc. Takes pedals like a savage and has no issues cutting through drums,halfstacks, 8x10 Ampegs..BRING IT ON!
You may not be interested in this seven years after your post, but that was the opening riff on Bryan Adams and Tina Turner's old song "It's Only Love." Cheers!
They both sound great. But when they put both of them at the same time... that was tone heaven. I am now convinced that the best set up would be to use both of them in stereo. Amazing.
I watched this video a couple of years ago and just came back to it today because I was thinking about changing the speaker in my Deluxe Reverb reissue to an Alnico. Currently I have a Fawn Version that comes with a Greenback speaker. After listening to this clip I will just keep the Greenback, it has a bit of a fuller sound which might be better for rhythm playing but still does a pretty good job for solos with a little pedal boost. This was a good video guys, thank you. I'm sure you will continue to get comments for a long time.
You can get any form of pedal off ebay from a no brand chinese company for like $10 - $20 each. so a drive a boost, a chorus, and a delay would be $60. Challenge done.
I would find such a challenge quite useful as me like many others have a limited budget as opposed to their pointless pedal board challenge which basically was 'I own the store, I will pickup whatever I want.' I trust them the most with reviews so thought maybe it was a cool idea.
Honestly I think they both are awesome and sound like great quality. So I think if I was shopping for an amp I'd go with cheaper of the two and then invest the difference in a cool pedal or two that could help me make fun sounds.
Another similar test is to run the same amp but with two separate cabs loaded with different speakers. Tube amps, (As much as we love them), tubes will warm up differently and of course harmonically tubes are fractionally inconsistent from one run to the next. Using the same amp with two cabs gives a truer rendition of the differences of the speakers. Man I always love listening to these gentlemen's reviews !!! They are awesome !!!
once again the editors of this video are killing it! those little quips you add in are amazing. ON another note: excellent video. I like both for different reasons, but the presence and bite of the Blue are quite lovely.
You're right. In person though, it's a nice smooth fizzy sound. Its louder and is a little more sensitive on your picking. It breaks up a little easier. Te clean tone it produces is so nice.
I have a Creamback in my AC10. I love it compared the the Greenback because it sounds more open. I also changed the tubes to create slightly less gain. prefect blues amp. 5751 in the Preamp and a 12Ax7 in the phase inverter cheers from the USA ! I love the videos Cap!
The Blue sounds more open and “Voxy” to me. Having just added my first 2x12 Alnico Blue cab to the room, I have also been recently impressed “in person” about the all around tone of the speakers. The Greens rule with Marshalls (or my HXDA), but the Blues are just the right speakers for EL84 amps. Both sounded nice, but the Blue was the better tone to my ears.
@@MyMotherTheCar you would think by looking at the statistics on paper. In reality, no. The Greenback is much more pronounced in its midrange punch and weaker in its high end. The Blue is bright and gangly in its top end with a weak scooped midrange. These 2 speakers are perfect for each other.
Blueback was much clearer sounding. The Greenback had more of a scooped midrange curve. Can't say one is "better" than the other though. Just different. Horses for courses and all that. Great vid, guys.
This got me thinking, all these comparative videos are great, and I love listening to your collective opinions, but, because of the compromise in sound, with the compression via UA-cam, what would be the chances of you setting up a place where you can download recording quality sound files for each of your comparison videos?
I pulled 4 green backs out of a 1971 acoustic 405 transducer. They were 16 ohm, 25 watts, and 55cs or hz. Put them in a slightly smaller Marshall 412. They sound incredible and the low end is clear and deep. I love these speakers
John Thannum I think the opposite. The blues have a bit more treble, so they would help pep up an LP. And the greenbacks would help tone down some of the high end coming from a strat. Different strokes...
Does anyone else hear just more compression from the greenbacks? To my ears, i liked the clean tone from the greens and the OD from the blue. I heard too much compression in the greens when dirty. But it was nice when clean. Also, maybe Im insane
Without a shadow of a doubt!!! The verdict is IN and the blueback speakers are more alive!!! Thanks of the vids. I really enjoy them.....altough some of them are kinda long I do enjoy them!!!
What a lot of folks aren't realizing is the way that sound capture and recording is done. If you're running the signal through a limiter or a noise gate to prevent the signal from being oversaturated and distorting the mix, you don't get the full tonal experience of these amps without hearing them in person. I've heard both in person, and I'll take the blues for a live gig anyday, they have amazing clarity and presence when you're in the same room. That being said, greens seem more suited for the studio.
Very different sounding. I tend to agree with Chappers that the green sounded better on rhythm and the blue sounded better on lead. I have a British made AC30 with blues and it can cut your head off on the brilliant channel if you are not careful. Keep up the good work boys.
I love all the history and facts and all the added value that comes with these Chappers and the Captain videos! Great job guys! Kepp doing what you are doing!
I just got a green. It compliments a Tele pretty well. I think a blue might just be a tad too bright with a Telecaster bridge pickup. It's all super subjective obviously so there's no right or wrong just my opinion on the matter. I love the amp though, fantastic amps all around!
Would def love to hear this amp with some of the the other Alnico speakers (gold, cream, ruby). What a great idea for a top tier amp to have it be the buyers choice as to the top tier speaker at no extra cost, especially for how much they already cost.
+Dillon Scott I know that. I like both greenbacks and blue backs, slightly prefer the greens. But I really dislike vintage 30's, they've never sounded good to me.
I had similar preconceptions until Victory invited me to a couple of speaker testing sessions at their place. It really blows all your preconceptions out the water as you really can't judge what you'll like or don't like until you try it with an amp.
+CaptAnderton very true, I can see where that'd be the case. It's just with the amps that I actually have tried V30's in they've never worked well for me. I've mostly just stuck with Greenbacks or occasionally Creambacks.
Seroius question. Why do you guys never wear ear defence when doing these reviews (unless you're both wearing fitted plugs and I can't see them). I understand this can maybe limit the amount of tone you guys can hear, but as a working musician i'm just going to say you only get one set of ears. PROTECT YOUR HEARING
iplayloud2 An AC15 is more than loud enough to damage your hearing. Logic would make you think it’s half as loud as an AC30, but it’s only ~3db quieter at full tilt (plus a tad for less efficient speaker design because it’s a single). In fact an AC15 is about half as loud as a Marshall 100w head with a 4x12 cab. It’s that the power section of the AC15 will break up and distort at much lower volumes than the AC30 or big Marshall.
The blue for me, the extra top end gives you an effective mid scoop which sounds pleasing to me. I never play with the tone on 10 on any of my guitars, so happy to tame it that way. When the captain plays with the KTR into the blue, you get the mids back, nice blues/rock tone
Great vid as always, gents. I'm in agreement with Rob regarding the lead vs. rhythm tones between the two speakers, especially in live situations. Would like to see what you all would see regarding high watt and closed-back cab comparisons. I use identical oversized 2 x 12 cabs, each loaded with Greenbacks in one and V30's in the other. Appreciate your efforts
Greenback all the way, although I think I would love the blue ones if being in person. I feel maybe the video does not make the justice. And fuck covid.
Exactly.When people say upper mids, I get it, but it's still more treble.I consider mids adding thickness not bass not treble..Totally in the middle..That's me
Coming from a loudspeaker hobbyist and amateur designer, the blue seems to have more low end / midbass. Listening on fairly large speakers, that one had no trouble conveying tactile feel and a nice grumble in the gut, where as the other one felt quite a bit thinner, almost like it was a smaller speaker. I bet that blue sounds way better for lower tunings, especially. Cheers guys, love your vids :)
We've been here since 1964, before the single market & the Euro existed. We've been through at least 6 recessions, the 3 day week, the 1980s new romantic era (!!) & every other disaster you can think of (except nuclear war!). We own our building & all the stock outright. I think we'll be OK!!
speaking to another guitar shop owner in the south east, a lot of their products come from a European distributor rather than a UK one, is it fair to say prices could go up by quite a bit?
I've never owned a Vox, but the Celestion Blue kicks a$$ with a Marshall for vintage sounds, especially with a Fender guitar, or a Gibson with P90s. I noticed that pairing it with a Fender really stood out to Captain. I think it gives a Marshall a Bassman-like sound. But, a Marshall also needs a Greenback for the signature mid. Every studio and guitarist needs both...LOL. That's what I always tell my wife anyway. Great video. You really capture the clarity of the Blue. I have and use Greenbacks and Blues. But, one speaker that I love is the Ten Thirty. A pair of those in a deep cab gives a fantastic sound. And, to think you can buy the 10 30 for about $35 vs. about $300 for a Blue. It is a blessing that we live in a world where people can get a great sound whatever their budget.
The difference in volume is partly if not largely due to the different sensitivity rating. The Blue comes in at 100 dB, while the Greenbacks are 96 to 98 dB (depending on the specific model). As some have already pointed out, the Vintage 30 comes reasonably close to the Blue (also 100 dB) while being cheaper, and higher powered.
It’s so funny how much difference a speaker makes, and yet people are going crazy over pick up magnets, tube companies, string gauge, fairy dust Etc.
What's actually funny is If you had ever experimented with any of those things, you would realize how much of a difference they each make to the sound, with the exception of fairy dust, which actually does nothing (so, don't waste your money on that)... everything else however (magnet strength, tube type and brand, string gauge and alloy used, etc.) ALL make a very significant and noticeable difference in the sound that comes out of those speakers. So, don't be discounting things you haven't tried yourself, and don't understand...
@@GlennMarshallRocks well, dude, obviously you dont know shit about fairy dust...
GlennMarshallRocks its not really noticeable to anyone but your eyesight
@@bleached3360 Your eyes must far outweigh your ear
NO! IF YU E LOOK CARFGULLY, YOUE, YES I SEDF YOUE, WILL SEE THE MICORPHONE SI SUPSEID E DOWNES. MAKE A HUUUUGE DIFFERENSES!!
I did a side by side test of the latest AC30 with Green backs next to an AC30 with Alnico Blues and I loved them both. the Blues were MUCH louder. As you hear on this video they are brasher with more top end, and they break noticeably earlier than the Greenbacks. In the mix, Blues will cut through anything but may need 'taming' a bit. But the Greenbacks are much smoother and warmer.
I also tried an experiment by putting a 7-band EQ in the FX loop of the AC30 (where it acts as a clean boost) with Greenbacks to see if I could get close to the Blues. What was interesting is I could use the EQ 'level' control to easily make up the volume difference and with some minor tweaking of the EQ get very very close to the brasher more treble Blues tone but I couldn't get it to match that earlier break-up feel. I then put the EQ in front of the amp, where it acts as more of a gain boost, and I could get more of that earlier break-up feel.
I then reversed the experiment, and put the EQ in the FX loop of the 'Blues' AC30 version to see if I could get a more mellower, smoother Greenback tone. Up to a certain point, I could dial (or more accurately 'slide') the top end out and get a much warmer tone but couldn't quite capture the smoothness/warmth of the Greenback due to the early 'Blues' break-up.
So, which do I prefer? i loved the idea in the vid of having two AC15 (or even AC30) amps and running both together/switching for the best of both worlds but for most of us that's impractical (cost/weight etc). I love them both for different things. But if I was buying a single AC30 I'd go Greenback because it's a lot cheaper (esp in a 2x12 AC30) easier to make these sound nearer the Blues than it is to make the Blues sound nearer the Greens, and as I play mainly classic rock and blues I'd prefer the warmer Greens tone more of the time. So I think what you play is the big thing to think about as to which is best for you and if you like the Blues tone but only have a Greens budget, then try the EQ comparison trick & see if it works for you.
Only thing I'd point out is that I don't think the AC15 Custom has an FX loop, so you can only use an EQ at the front end (I preferred it in the AC30 FX loop). The extra cost of one Alnico Blue isn't so bad in the 1x12" AC15 so I think if you're going AC15 again it's more of a tonal preference than budget consideration.
Extremely helpful comment! Thanks!
@@BrentGrowe I totally agree
EQ! That's my answer for most guitar/amp/tone related questions. EQ'ing can solve sooOOoo many issues, plus offers sooOOoo many tone options, it's absurd how little EQ pedals are considered or appreciated. But I do, dammit! 😎
I know that the blue back with a 4" graphine cone mid-range and graphine cone 2" tweeter ran off of a class AB amp with a damping factor of well over 800 and using my tube headphone amplifier as my preamp to flavor the music before it gets to the amp sounds amazing for music and is so loud with the volume knob hardly up just 2 or 3 clicks .
That is a very helpful comment. I have an eq pedal and tend to roll off a little on bass and add little highs with a les Paul and pair of hum-buckers. My fav amp is the ac30 but close second for me is Marshall jcm 800.
If i had 2 AC15s, I would put a Blue Alnico in one and a Greenback in the other and balance the volume levels because the "both" sound is Awesome!!!!!
Steven Roberts I've seen people use one green and one blue in an AC30. Great sound. Supposedly that is what the creamback was designed to emulate.
Steven Roberts I have one of each in my AC15C2 and it sounds gorgeous.
I'm curious how they would sound together in a combo. Celestion says on their website that Eric Clapton had the speakers in his Twinolux 2x12 replaced with a AlNiCo blue & Greenback.
@@Sound8VisionVibe,"'zzz
I own an AC15 with a greenback. I've been completely happy with it - until now. To me the blue sounds like the green if you scraped all the mud off. It sounds much more usable in a mix or with a band.
Voxes should never have anything but a blue. Its a travesty
The Blue most definitely is THE sound to be desired from the Vox. It's just not a "Vox" without it. Green is a nice sound, tho. But Blue is it.
@@KingKook Higher gain stuff seams to lean towards the green, the blue seems to be better suited for pushed loud cleans.
@@KingKook the only thing is a 12 " blue weighs 9.5 pounds...and they are not cheap due to people saying how great they are !
I think someone who maxes out the tone cut knob on an ac15c1 would definitely not enjoy a blue speaker. The opposite applies as well. The greenback is in itself a 'tone cutting' feature.
I didn’t even know the difference, despite having a AC with the greenback. I was worried I would wish I had the blue, but after watching this comparison, I really enjoy the bluesy depth of the green. To me the speakers are almost as different as the sound of a single coil vs a humbuckers. The blue has highs and open sound, the green has a more mid range almost muddier sound. I prefer humbuckers over single coils, so maybe that’s why I prefer the green.
You might be onto something. The greenback sounded more subtle to me while the blue sounded brighter to me. I like single coils more than humbuckers for my guitar playing.
I agree. I just played through an AC30 at guitar center with the green backs was blown away by how great it sounds! Most of the demos I’ve seen are players using the alnico blue which is a speaker I don’t care for, but with the green backs it’s a go!
Looking for a sensibly sized amp for gigging as I have a small car.. Is the ac15 green or blue loud enough for an acoustic duo who adds electric guitar to a handful of songs for gigs in regular sized pubs? Our PA handles acoustics/vocals/mandolin etc.. Cheers. I use my fender hotrod but want to down size but not on volume.
@@PhattSpicer Its loud.. not quite as loud as my hotrod deluxe, but more than enough to fill a large room even over other instruments.
Interesting. I’m a single coil fanboy and I prefer the alnico blues. I like bright and punchy.
So i think you’re right
From what I hear, the Blue has more mid and high end definition, more bass. It's more open. The green back is low mid/mid focused with the highs muffled a bit and not a lot of bass . With that said, I think they both sound great! I think I'd prefer the blue for trio work and the green back for bigger ensembles, to take less space in the frequency spectrum.
the blue rang with such nice overtones. it's so much more than just more mids and highs. magical.
Finger pointing works too, but in 2016 you can also use text on screen to just read out which speaker is being used. The future is now.
I’m 6 years late to this video, but for what it’s worth I noticed something important: you can get a brand new Alnico Blue speaker for less than the price difference between these two models, which are otherwise identical. So buy the greenback combo and the speaker, then swap out the speaker. You just saved some money over the more expensive model and have a spare 12” greenback to boot.
For those of us who played Vox amps _before_ all of the reissues (a lot of those early reissues were just...not good) The Alnico speakers sound like a Vox _should_ sound like.
Not necessarily _better_, just more "Voxy".
Personally, I would get a 2x12, and use one of each speaker. Or in a 4x12, the speakers would be in X configuration. That would give you the perfect blend of tone.
I played through a greenback AC30 for 4 years and was never disappointed. If I were going to buy, though, I would save up for the blue. Blues are clearer, more dynamic, with added beautiful brightness and balanced lows. Greens sound muddy in comparison.
Agree one of the best comments her regarding the difference of the speakers.
disfibulator total opposite for me.
disfibulator but a blueback is alnico, so over time it will lose its magnitude and tone. Ceramic will sound the same and won't lose that dynamic range and tone
disfibulator AC15 with a blue and green, both broken in
The beautiful combination of each tune out each makes the most heavenly tone
I'm getting so confused. In the "old" days, things were what they were, now things are "voiced", some might say "selected" . It seems now I need to have a selection of speaker drivers, try them all in the same amp to find a tone.
The Blueback definitely sounds better. Especially with the Strat. I have been looking for a 15 watt amp for a while and this really helped.
The Blue is kick ass have one in my DRRI
Green all the way.
in all of my years of playing, i never realised what a huge difference what speakers used makes to the tone. that dual amp tone is just beautiful!!
Why struggle to decide which one sounds better if you can get a Lehle P-Split and run them both. I have discovered that three is my minimum, but you have to be there to feel it.
Yeah me neither. I only learned that looking for brutal death metal speakers and sure as shit its true. This demonstrate this as well.
Have you ever tried Bareback? That's how I wound up with my first daughter.
Best comment on here! Deserves more likes
They have with eachother
@@TMillsMusic Might be the greatest comment to grace the comments section of UA-cam!
And Creamback is the reason I don’t have a daughter.
@@Blesstheautmn that's gold haha
Did I watch the Captain tune to drop D?
Yes. Yes, you did.
He's done it before
+Dagger 323 so the prophecies are true then............I must consult the elders.......
***** Yes. They approve, but they have but one humble request; they require.......................................................................................................................................... more cowbell.
dude you just made my day! the cowbell joke never gets old! :D
Vox is so underappreciated. Amazing amps!
Are you for real? They are insanely desirable. At least in the UK anyway.
@@jackdarby6080 i think he is speaking in comparison of marshall, which is kinda true, highly overrated and a slight changed copy of fender amps, basically the one direction of amp world
@@jackdarby6080 Not as much here on the left coast of North America ("the colonies" to you Brits), where I rarely see Vox amps being used, not that people don't like them. Fender and Marshall seem to dominate.
Yes only drawback is the extreme weight .Thoroughly love my AC30 got it for 599 best $ l ever spent.2 Greenbacks super sound.
Greenbacks definitely sound bluesier and warm and fuzzy to me atleast \m/ omg that overdriven tone with the strat and the greenbacks made me shiver full on hendrix tone right there
Would be helpful if you could feature text on screen to specify which amp is playing when. I lost track of which was which
Which perhaps means subtle differences we guitarists are looking after are really minor even to our own conscious investigational hearing.
@@georgefromgreece4119 no, it doesn’t mean that. It means there is a difference, but that we are not sure to which speaker we are to attribute the characteristic differences, because this video is shit.
@@georgefromgreece4119 Vast difference came through on my (not so nice) home theater speakers but could only hear a marginal one through my tv speakers
Greenbacks on the right, Blues on the left
In line with Santafemikez and lying to the moon....green on the right, blue on the left if you have your headphones on the right way. You can’t hear the difference much through your TV or speakers, best sound differentiation is through some type of decent headphones when watching any comparison videos between amps, guitars, etc.
made it about 8 mins in, replayed that riff of Rob's about 100 times, learned it, and played it for half an hour
3 years late here. But that's "It's only love" by Brian Adams
It may have been less subjective to run the guitar through a single amp and then A/B the speaker-out to two identical speaker cabs--one with the green and one with the blue. A huge consideration is this: no two identical amps sound identical, and no two identical mics sound identical. Thanks for all you do!
true
The blues all the way. You can't hear the extra 'oomph', but I can assure you it's there. I'm not saying the greenbacks are bad, because they're not (duh), but I prefer the 'honest' sound of the alnico blues.
It is pretty ridiculous to put a greenback in a combo....they are meant to go in a quadbox.....pretty bad sounding speaker in a combo....but hey, it's only rock n roll
I forgot which was which about three minutes into the video anyway.
To my ears, Blueback sounds better clean, but the Greenback sounds better overdriven
you`re so right my friend !!
if i must choose one over the Another i go for the blue
Probably because in the 50s no one really pushed the amps. Nowadays, the power of the speakers may be counter productive.
Well, I do agree fully! Thatswhy my choice would be greenback. (And I am clean to low gain player)
The blue wins for me. We can hear better differences than you can because we are getting the miked sound with no off axis to bother us. The blue is much more aggressive in a good way. More punch and better ability to create high end not to mention much less flub. At least thats what I'm hearing. I have the AC30 with the blue's in it and its amazing. Ive got the Ac30 for my clean tones, a Friedman 100 watt BE for plexi rhythm tones and a Boogie Mark V for leads. I have other amps but this mix is perfect for what Im doing in my studio. Love the show guys.
Interesting. My preference:
Clean = Blue
Slight breakup/rhythm = Green
Overdrive/lead = Blue
Preferred the blueback, but thought it was the less expensive one because I've heard of greenbacks before and never bluebacks.
same.
Because nobody calls it bluebacks. It's Alnico Blue and it's the most expensive and legendary speaker Celestion sells.
Me too. I have one with greenback speaker and is very good but the tone of alnico blue is wonderful.
Gold most expensive?
The greenbacks sound sweeter to my ears and seem to have more nuance to the tone. The blues cut through the mix better though.
I had a speaker in my Evil Fender Twin die many years ago and I decided to mix it up. Now the amp has one ceramic and one AlNiCo and it has been a pleasure to my ears ever since.
had two friends in college who teamed up and bought an AC30 each, one with greens, one with blues, and switched one of each speaker out. gave both amps an amazingly balanced tone. to all three of us there were things each speaker did better, so having both gave them the versatility to have a rounder tone. i ended up replacing my old stock warfdale speakers with 2 speakers from Warehouse Guitar Speakers (ET65 and a veteran30) and loved it even more than the green/blueback combo. which now means to get a true representation of my tone i use four mics on one combo amp, which is definitely overkill, and looks ridiculous, but it gives me lots of options.
When i made the switch my sound man said "don't know whose guitar you're borrowing, but it sounds way better than yours ever does"
Captain Lee making music?
Shut up and take my money.
Right?!
obviously you are new here.
Yeah! Four years of playing the same blues lick!
not at all... him and Rob have jammed plenty of well known songs. I can only assume you guys somehow missed seeing those videos when they were posted. seen them do the Brian Adams song before.
+RedroomStudios I was referencing some anniversary video where the Captain said pretty much what I said.
GAwd it's like night and day. Blueback is heavenly!
The Greenbacks have a more modern Rock/Metal tone, while the Bluebacks have a more Classic Rock/Blues sound.
I personally like the sound of both together. You guys should do more Mixed Speaker Models demos. It's an interesting way to get very rich tones IMO.
I love my CC1 and use it for everything! Blues, metal, rock..etc. Takes pedals like a savage and has no issues cutting through drums,halfstacks, 8x10 Ampegs..BRING IT ON!
that riff played at 10 minutes is TASTY, thank you for adding colour to a dull day guys!!!!
You may not be interested in this seven years after your post, but that was the opening riff on Bryan Adams and Tina Turner's old song "It's Only Love." Cheers!
"...ALNICO is made of three things... Aluminun, Nickel and LOVE" LOL :D
amusing comment, I agree, I seem prefer alnico either in pups or speakers.
yessir, the Co takes our money & the AlNiCo gives us love.
Cobalt. It's far rarer and more expensive than love.
@@TheParanoidAndroid79 - But Love is priceless compared to Cobalt that many fail to fully understand.
@@cheath8705 @TheParanoidAndroid79 - My wedding ring is cobalt, which is what happens when you mix the two.
Alnico Blue definitely won it for me. Sounded like it gave the amp more headroom and gave each guitar a more robust lower end.
Blue. Glad I've got one in my AC15. :)
They both sound great. But when they put both of them at the same time... that was tone heaven. I am now convinced that the best set up would be to use both of them in stereo. Amazing.
I watched this video a couple of years ago and just came back to it today because I was thinking about changing the speaker in my Deluxe Reverb reissue to an Alnico. Currently I have a Fawn Version that comes with a Greenback speaker. After listening to this clip I will just keep the Greenback, it has a bit of a fuller sound which might be better for rhythm playing but still does a pretty good job for solos with a little pedal boost. This was a good video guys, thank you. I'm sure you will continue to get comments for a long time.
Cheapest pedal board challenge?
You can get any form of pedal off ebay from a no brand chinese company
for like $10 - $20 each. so a drive a boost, a chorus, and a delay
would be $60. Challenge done.
+FeelsJasonMan Cuuuubbbbbeeeee
+John Strope hey i have one of those
+TyneGibbs12 if it was that easy why would anyone even watch their videos.
I would find such a challenge quite useful as me like many others have a limited budget as opposed to their pointless pedal board challenge which basically was 'I own the store, I will pickup whatever I want.' I trust them the most with reviews so thought maybe it was a cool idea.
Blue=brighter, more mids. Green=slightly warmer. To my ears at least.
Yes, ceramic pickups have also warmer tone than AlNiCos.
Honestly I think they both are awesome and sound like great quality. So I think if I was shopping for an amp I'd go with cheaper of the two and then invest the difference in a cool pedal or two that could help me make fun sounds.
Another similar test is to run the same amp but with two separate cabs loaded with different speakers. Tube amps, (As much as we love them), tubes will warm up differently and of course harmonically tubes are fractionally inconsistent from one run to the next. Using the same amp with two cabs gives a truer rendition of the differences of the speakers. Man I always love listening to these gentlemen's reviews !!! They are awesome !!!
once again the editors of this video are killing it! those little quips you add in are amazing.
ON another note: excellent video. I like both for different reasons, but the presence and bite of the Blue are quite lovely.
it's like the difference between a bridge and neck pickup
I prefer the greenbacks; the blues sound fizzy to me.
You're right. In person though, it's a nice smooth fizzy sound. Its louder and is a little more sensitive on your picking. It breaks up a little easier. Te clean tone it produces is so nice.
I hope you guys planned your t-shirt colour choices for this video.
I have a Creamback in my AC10. I love it compared the the Greenback because it sounds more open. I also changed the tubes to create slightly less gain. prefect blues amp.
5751 in the Preamp and a 12Ax7 in the phase inverter cheers from the USA ! I love the videos Cap!
The Blue sounds more open and “Voxy” to me. Having just added my first 2x12 Alnico Blue cab to the room, I have also been recently impressed “in person” about the all around tone of the speakers. The Greens rule with Marshalls (or my HXDA), but the Blues are just the right speakers for EL84 amps. Both sounded nice, but the Blue was the better tone to my ears.
Please do a captain guitar collection please
Updated*
second that
Old one here in case people missed it
they already have
Is it just me?
I'm hearing the blue back having more mids.
Well, the AC30 has two speakers. I say one of each!
Wak Job that's what I do, albeit in an AC15C2
The blue is MUCH louder than the Greenback so you'd really only hear that.
@@MyMotherTheCar you would think by looking at the statistics on paper. In reality, no. The Greenback is much more pronounced in its midrange punch and weaker in its high end. The Blue is bright and gangly in its top end with a weak scooped midrange. These 2 speakers are perfect for each other.
@@MyMotherTheCar Yeah, a Blue and Gold would be my pick.
@@pmkrak Nah, the Greenback is still ceramic so when you push it, it's going to honk. A Gold would be a much better choice.
I love how you guys produce your video in stereo to help identify the amps as well. Good choice!
Blueback was much clearer sounding. The Greenback had more of a scooped midrange curve. Can't say one is "better" than the other though. Just different. Horses for courses and all that. Great vid, guys.
5:20 Dude that was Ursa's Enrage sound effect from Dota 2, what an odd place to hear it
This got me thinking, all these comparative videos are great, and I love listening to your collective opinions, but, because of the compromise in sound, with the compression via UA-cam, what would be the chances of you setting up a place where you can download recording quality sound files for each of your comparison videos?
The Vox I bought has Bluebacks. Is it better then Greens? I don't know, I'm too busy enjoying the Vox tone.
Blue best, green garbage.
Like everything else it’s subjective. I don’t think there is a better but with headphones on I prefer the green back alone or the two together
lolfuckingwhat? just.... no
I pulled 4 green backs out of a 1971 acoustic 405 transducer. They were 16 ohm, 25 watts, and 55cs or hz. Put them in a slightly smaller Marshall 412. They sound incredible and the low end is clear and deep. I love these speakers
Laura from Against Me was runs an AC30 blueback with a Vox 2x12 live. It sounded so good. I was blown away.
I think grean for the humbuckers and blue for the Strat
John Thannum I think the opposite. The blues have a bit more treble, so they would help pep up an LP. And the greenbacks would help tone down some of the high end coming from a strat. Different strokes...
Does anyone else hear just more compression from the greenbacks?
To my ears, i liked the clean tone from the greens and the OD from the blue.
I heard too much compression in the greens when dirty. But it was nice when clean.
Also, maybe Im insane
I think that the Blue gives a Better Sound through the VOX.! Would love to See the Same Test With a couple of Fender Amps.!!
Without a shadow of a doubt!!! The verdict is IN and the blueback speakers are more alive!!! Thanks of the vids. I really enjoy them.....altough some of them are kinda long I do enjoy them!!!
What a lot of folks aren't realizing is the way that sound capture and recording is done. If you're running the signal through a limiter or a noise gate to prevent the signal from being oversaturated and distorting the mix, you don't get the full tonal experience of these amps without hearing them in person. I've heard both in person, and I'll take the blues for a live gig anyday, they have amazing clarity and presence when you're in the same room. That being said, greens seem more suited for the studio.
What ever happened to the ML-V we were voting for?
blueback is just better, more clear and articulate.
STEVE LEITNER alnico blue
I have the blue and trust me, its the worst piece of shit ever. Ice picking all over the place. Just awful.
Very different sounding. I tend to agree with Chappers that the green sounded better on rhythm and the blue sounded better on lead. I have a British made AC30 with blues and it can cut your head off on the brilliant channel if you are not careful. Keep up the good work boys.
sure
I love all the history and facts and all the added value that comes with these Chappers and the Captain videos! Great job guys! Kepp doing what you are doing!
These guys are great! No pretense, just straight up guitar tech. Thanks The worlds greatest Guitar Nerds.
The amp behind the Captain has a richer tone, more bottom end to my ears
more bottom yes. more richer not.
+Mann spricht deutsch More Yoda are you?
haha brilliant yes
Agree
Michael Gorman you hinting that he is thiccer?
Blue on LP, Green on Strat.
I'd like to hear a tele through both.
Celestion Gold really works for teles, check out Brad Paisley playing through his Dr Z amp! (It's basically an AC30 clone)
TheAndyroid Will do! Thanks!
I just got a green. It compliments a Tele pretty well. I think a blue might just be a tad too bright with a Telecaster bridge pickup. It's all super subjective obviously so there's no right or wrong just my opinion on the matter. I love the amp though, fantastic amps all around!
Would def love to hear this amp with some of the the other Alnico speakers (gold, cream, ruby). What a great idea for a top tier amp to have it be the buyers choice as to the top tier speaker at no extra cost, especially for how much they already cost.
Always preferred greenbacks, and always disliked V30's...
Well luckily for you it's a greenback and a blueback..
+Dillon Scott I know that. I like both greenbacks and blue backs, slightly prefer the greens. But I really dislike vintage 30's, they've never sounded good to me.
I had similar preconceptions until Victory invited me to a couple of speaker testing sessions at their place. It really blows all your preconceptions out the water as you really can't judge what you'll like or don't like until you try it with an amp.
Thtas funny since V30's were originally developed to be a modern version of the Alnico Blue and kind of became it's own unique thing
+CaptAnderton very true, I can see where that'd be the case. It's just with the amps that I actually have tried V30's in they've never worked well for me. I've mostly just stuck with Greenbacks or occasionally Creambacks.
MEXICO will pay for my new AC 15 !!!!!!
Wait. I want one too
As you can hear at 14:55, Rob turned into a whale for a second! Fascinating....
I prefer the Alnico Blue, but it really is a great comparison. Either amp does really well with pedals in front of it.
Mad respect to you guys and the editing involved, so amusing! Blue back is much clearer I think
Seroius question. Why do you guys never wear ear defence when doing these reviews (unless you're both wearing fitted plugs and I can't see them). I understand this can maybe limit the amount of tone you guys can hear, but as a working musician i'm just going to say you only get one set of ears. PROTECT YOUR HEARING
With a 15w amp? No worries..
@@iplayloud2 Even a 5w crancked is loud!
iplayloud2 An AC15 is more than loud enough to damage your hearing. Logic would make you think it’s half as loud as an AC30, but it’s only ~3db quieter at full tilt (plus a tad for less efficient speaker design because it’s a single). In fact an AC15 is about half as loud as a Marshall 100w head with a 4x12 cab. It’s that the power section of the AC15 will break up and distort at much lower volumes than the AC30 or big Marshall.
Celestion Blue all the way
Was that some reef I heard at 10:30?
Ye buddy
The blue for me, the extra top end gives you an effective mid scoop which sounds pleasing to me. I never play with the tone on 10 on any of my guitars, so happy to tame it that way. When the captain plays with the KTR into the blue, you get the mids back, nice blues/rock tone
Great vid as always, gents. I'm in agreement with Rob regarding the lead vs. rhythm tones between the two speakers, especially in live situations. Would like to see what you all would see regarding high watt and closed-back cab comparisons. I use identical oversized 2 x 12 cabs, each loaded with Greenbacks in one and V30's in the other. Appreciate your efforts
Greenback all the way, although I think I would love the blue ones if being in person. I feel maybe the video does not make the justice. And fuck covid.
Get both 2x12 :)
blues seem to have a bit more mid range to me
pronounced upper mids on the alnico blue and tighter bass and lower mids probably on the greenback.
Exactly.When people say upper mids, I get it, but it's still more treble.I consider mids adding thickness not bass not treble..Totally in the middle..That's me
Jaagg
Yep.
'Warmer' to me.
Coming from a loudspeaker hobbyist and amateur designer, the blue seems to have more low end / midbass. Listening on fairly large speakers, that one had no trouble conveying tactile feel and a nice grumble in the gut, where as the other one felt quite a bit thinner, almost like it was a smaller speaker.
I bet that blue sounds way better for lower tunings, especially.
Cheers guys, love your vids :)
Both were good in their own way, but I really liked the blended sound
You need to work a Blue back hard to get the magic (compression kicking in), just saying.
Too bad the AC15 doesn't come in a creamback...
You could always put one in and sell the greenback.
too bad the AC15 doesnt come in a Plexi...
+Jeff Ro Is this an ad for Sweetwater? Because, damn, you sound like you work for them.
I love creambacks. Have one in ny DSL 40 and it kicks ass
"See your Sweetwater engineer today!" LOL :)
bluebacks are a bit brittle sounding for me. the greenbacks a lil too mellow. hmm...
How about Creambacks? Hmmm
Brittle? I know everyone has their opions but have you ever heard Bluebacks in real life? cause they arent brittle they have balls, a lot of balls
Maybe an AC30 and one of each ? ...
get a 2 by 12 one with blue back one with green back lolol
And who keeps their tone knobs at 12:00?
I learn so much from these guys. thank you! Cheers from USA
The difference was crazy!!! the best sound was both of them together
Johan Segeborn does it better. Less talking and better mic setup
I like your profile pic better, Sega. Is that your Mom?
They are comparing Vox Amps... not 13 speakers like Johan...let’s pay attention here.
Kadar Andrew johan does almost everything better than almost everyone. With the DOUG AND PAT SHOW and THAT PEDAL SHOW being possible exceptions.
Johan isn't a salesman tho. ;)
Let’s go.
If GB gonna leave the EU and the Pound drops, will Andertons survive?
Yes, the domestic market is big enough.
We've been here since 1964, before the single market & the Euro existed. We've been through at least 6 recessions, the 3 day week, the 1980s new romantic era (!!) & every other disaster you can think of (except nuclear war!). We own our building & all the stock outright. I think we'll be OK!!
Let's just hope that doesn't happen, in any case.
The market itself, not only the musical, could suffer;
speaking to another guitar shop owner in the south east, a lot of their products come from a European distributor rather than a UK one, is it fair to say prices could go up by quite a bit?
I just can't make my mind up between a vox ac15 or fender blues Jr. (I want a clean/crunchy blues sound)
Marc Piechowicz Vox - it's designed to compress earlier. The blues junior is more blackface cleans and the bass flubs when you turn it up.
I have the same problem.I can't decide
Marc Piechowicz both run stereo and love it
just a warning, the vox can get very loud
Jonah Husak yeah that could be a problem.....I don't like loud music! Weird.
I've never owned a Vox, but the Celestion Blue kicks a$$ with a Marshall for vintage sounds, especially with a Fender guitar, or a Gibson with P90s. I noticed that pairing it with a Fender really stood out to Captain. I think it gives a Marshall a Bassman-like sound. But, a Marshall also needs a Greenback for the signature mid. Every studio and guitarist needs both...LOL. That's what I always tell my wife anyway. Great video. You really capture the clarity of the Blue. I have and use Greenbacks and Blues. But, one speaker that I love is the Ten Thirty. A pair of those in a deep cab gives a fantastic sound. And, to think you can buy the 10 30 for about $35 vs. about $300 for a Blue. It is a blessing that we live in a world where people can get a great sound whatever their budget.
The difference in volume is partly if not largely due to the different sensitivity rating. The Blue comes in at 100 dB, while the Greenbacks are 96 to 98 dB (depending on the specific model). As some have already pointed out, the Vintage 30 comes reasonably close to the Blue (also 100 dB) while being cheaper, and higher powered.