Celestion Gold does high gain

[Ayton(e)]

(I'd have posted this in Clips, but it's mainly a speaker review, so...)

Well it's been a fun week hitting a Celestion Gold with a Splawn to see what would come out. Something about this speaker intrigued me since Lucid drew my attention to it and, like him, I began to wonder how it might handle high gain and the juicy, middy Splawn tone.

I know many metal guys want as hard and raw a sound as possible, with enough chugging bass to blow the laces off their hi-tops, but that's not where I'm at. The thought of a sweet, compressy, Voxy speaker being hit by all the lovely complex gain and harmonics of a Splawn was one I couldn't get out of my head, so I had to try it, and I liked what I got.

It's an entirely different tone than the Gov/MoW and, for that reason, really fun to explore. I love the Emi cross, but their aggressive mids and highs are punishing for a sloppy player (hello!) and their ultra revealing, edgy sound isn't what I'm always going for. The Gold is looser, less efficient, easier for me to get good low volume tone with, and the top is way sweeter. I hear a dense, close grained detail in the mids that I like. The Emis have that too, but kind of put it out way "forward" if that makes sense.

There is less low end. I was typically running the bass at 9PM with the Emis and with an open backed cab it was still leaking out and overpowering my sound at times, not so any more. Although there's less, what's there isn't slow or wooly. It'll still hold together palm mutes very nicely, just not go CHUG CHUG BOOM.

These clips are mostly pasted together from little bits and pieces a few seconds long I was throwing at the speaker to hear how it'd react, and do not constitute music! Just the kind of aimless burbling you do when no one's listening. That said, there are a couple of riffs and chord progressions.

Little thumbed riff in 1st Gear OD2
home.comcast.net/~theshape/celestion_gold/550-bkt-1st.mp3

Riffs/lead/wandering in 2nd Gear OD2
home.comcast.net/~theshape/celestion_gold/550-bkt-2nd.mp3

Min 7ths rhythm in 3rd Gear OD1
home.comcast.net/~theshape/celestion_gold/550-bkt-3rd-od1.mp3

Lead/noises/nonsense in 3rd Gear OD2
home.comcast.net/~theshape/celestion_gold/550-bkt-3rd-2pm.mp3

And for the committed only, several minutes of sweet Gold feedback
home.comcast.net/~theshape/celestion_gold/feedback-550-bkt.mp3

All clips on an old RG550 with 59s front and back.

[supercharged350]

Cooooooooooool. Sounds pretty sweet. Especially in the neck position.

[Ayton(e)]

Now there's one guy I didn't think would like smooth alnico tone. Your latest clip collapsed one of my lungs!

[supercharged350]

Apr 14, 2008 14:49:43 GMT -5 Ayton(e) said:

Now there's one guy I didn't think would like smooth alnico tone. Your latest clip collapsed one of my lungs!

LOL.

Good tone is good tone, bro. RESPECT! ;D

[mrball]

Dude, freakin awesome clips. The tone through the gold is fantastic. Thanks a lot for putting these up cause I was thinking that a 2X12 cab with a gold and g12h30 in it was the way to go... now i KNOW! I might have to check out those pickups you're using too

[mrball]

BTW, what kinda reverb do you use?

[LooseCannon]

Man sounds great! Vintagy vibe going on there. I still think they are overpriced though.

[Ayton(e)]

Apr 15, 2008 23:20:53 GMT -5 mrball said:

Dude, freakin awesome clips. The tone through the gold is fantastic. Thanks a lot for putting these up cause I was thinking that a 2X12 cab with a gold and g12h30 in it was the way to go... now i KNOW! I might have to check out those pickups you're using too

Ha, you're welcome Mr (Sterling?!) Ball. Pickups are plain ol' Duncan 59s. Love these with the Splawn regardless of speaker. Amazing that they are so low output (7-8k?) but go all the way with no boost.

Reverb: I recorded the clips totally dry, added a weeny bit of reverb in GarageBand.

[Ayton(e)]

Apr 16, 2008 8:55:23 GMT -5 LooseCannon said:

Man sounds great! Vintagy vibe going on there. I still think they are overpriced though.

Cheers, LC! You'll have some speaker excitement of your own in a few days, I hear!

Yeah, they are pricey, I have to admit. And people used to think Scumbacks were spendy! But the idea of the Splawn/Gold combo would not leave me alone and I had to try it. I suppose ultimately if they become my favorite speaker that gives me the most joy when playing they are not overpriced? I got a little bit of a deal, anyway.

[DonaldDemon]

Man, I definitely like the sound of those! Very vintage fo sho. It makes the QR sound more Plexi-like it seems. Me rikey!

[LooseCannon]

Yeah these are great for people who feels the splawn is too tight for them, gives it a different character, never heared a splawn sounding like this.

[LooseCannon]

btw where did you set your gain Ayton?

[Ayton(e)]

Hmm, I moved the gain around a little for each clip, but as far as I remember about 3 o'clock for the 2nd Gear clip, 1-2 o'clock for the 3rd Gear lead clip, 12ish for the 3rd Gear rhythm (OD1) clip. The others are a bit hazy.

You guys are right about the tightness thing. I'm amazed the amp can feel so much looser with a different speaker. You figure a tight amp's a tight amp.

[F-Bomber]

Wow, i hear some Jimmy in there for sure.............

[drweller]

If the C. Golds are too pricey for some, look into a 50 watt Weber Alnico Blue. Very similar.

Killer speaker - ran a Silver/Blue Alnico 50 watt pairing in a couple Dr. Z 212s. Sounded great cranked with a BB Pre/Crunch Box/etc pushing as well. Very smooth and musical.