Was looking at Celesiton Web and found this. 150W Red back

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bandit2013

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This is very interesting. It seems that Celestion has an answer to your 100W single speaker application. G12H-150 Red Back. Oh crap, now I have to get one to try it out. Looks like a EV clone based on the response curve. Very tempting.....

http://celestion.com/product/194/g12h150_redback/
 
:?: I did not indicate origin of manufacture. I did see an unboxing video on you-tube regarding the Celestion Cream Alnico and the RedBack. Person indicated both were made in England. I have the Celestion Cream Alnico 90W as well as several of the Creambacks, all of them were made in UK.
 
So far this is the only video on the redback I have found that identifies what speaker is used. I have seen a few others but they did not reference in the video if it was the Cream or Redback. Not sure how many speakers made be Celestion in the past that had the 2 inch voice coil but so far it sounds good once you get past the intro parts in the video. Well I guess there is the G12T hot 100. Seems that the rest are of the 1.75" VC variety.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=celestion+redback&&view=detail&mid=158A81D513E432DCCC99158A81D513E432DCCC99&FORM=VRDGAR
 
From the video I saw, it sounds like a V30 blended with a Creamback, also similar to the Crème 90W Alnico.
Would be interested in feedback on the Redback once you get it. I am considering a pair for my RA100 if not in that something else.
 
The speaker should be here in a week or two. I'll post some initial feedback after I install it and then later after I break it in. I've been looking for an alternative to the Mesa MS-12 and MC-90 speakers. I have a couple of EVM12L's which I like for cleans, not so much for overdrive.
 
Installed the Redback last night in a vintage Boogie 1x12 open back cab. So far so good. I tried it with a Les Paul and Strat HSS thru the Mark V 25 and one of my HR's. It's very balanced and has smooth highs. I pushed it with the HR and it just sounded better the louder it got. I think I might have finally found a replacement for the MS-12 speaker.
 
Update, I ordered one to start with. Going to stuff it in the Mark V combo. I think the EV sounds better in the 412 cab. I have 6 of them actually. 4 that have the EV logo on the dust cap, two that do not. All Black Label speakers. Figured I would give the RedBack a try and if it would out in the Combo I may consider something else to upgrade.
 
I'm interested in seeing what you think about the Redback. I converted my upgraded c+ HR today to a combo with an MS-12 speaker so I could ship the DRG to Mesa in a headshell. The Redback sounds really good combined with the MS-12. The EVM12L that came with the new DRG actually sounds really nice, I like it better than the other 2 EV's I have. I might have to try it with the Redback.
 
I will probably get it by Wednesday. Should be easy to get it into the Mark V. So far may favorite speaker for the Mark V was the Celestion Crème 90W Alnico. Too bad I cooked it with the JP-2C and to do more damage, when I hooked it back on the Mark V, the FX loop send was maxed out which allowed for a higher than typical output. Sounded great for a while but started to get the burnt smell. Once you smell it, too late :cry: I will have to try it again as it may have just been the paint on the bell burning off as that sucker was hot to the touch. The Ceramics seem to remain cooler than the rare earth magnets. Even the Neodymium magnets got hot with heavy use. I have an Emminence Tonker Light that I tried a while back. Smoked that one too just after I cooked up a WGS Black Hawk HP with the Mark IV combo. One reason I sold the Mark IV as it ate speakers easily. Only speaker I could find that would survive the abuse was a FANE Studio 12L. Similar and different than the EV. I like the EV a bit more in a closed back cabinet. Not so happy with it in the combo as much. The Celestion Crème 90W Alnico was the winner for that application. Jensen BlackBird Alnico was ideal for a clean amp though, clean channel on the Mark V never sounded better with that Jet series speaker but it struggled with the high gain channels a bit. Took a long time to break that speaker in. Then I punched a hole in the web when I was swapping speakers out. oops..

Not sure what to expect with the Redback.. What is the tone like? At least I am starting off with just one. What type of gasket is used on it, foam, rubber cork or waxed paper? (yes, I did say waxed paper as this is what is used on the Crème, similar to the thick paper gasket on the EV).
 
I would describe the tone as full and detailed with little coloration but not sterile like the EV's. I just tried it with the Mini Rec. The cleans were chimey with no ice pick and the vintage/modern didn't have any fizz.
 
I finally got around to installing the Celestion Redback into the Mark V combo. At the moment the speaker is still green but the immediate results are impressive. I must have gone threw a few speakers in my time to find the best 1x12 format to meet the power requirements of the Mark V. Sure I started some of this with the Mark IV combo but I sold that amp a while back.

Rundown of what I thought was an eye opener with the Mark V combo.
Clean channel compare:

Jensen JET Blackbird, 100W Alnico speaker: I thought this particular speaker was king for the clean channel. To date I have not heard anything better until yesterday. My new bench test guitar for evaluation is a Kiesel DC600 with acoustic saddles on the bridge. It sounds as good as any Martin with a piezo sitting under the monolithic saddle (this includes the Takamine that I have). I also have a Fishman Aura preamp that has built in IR response of a multitude of various guitars and different microphones. (I have not tried it yet with the REDBACK.). I am blown away how the RB sound on the clean channel. Very articulate in detail and the chime and clarity is amazing. Definitely worth the cost of the speaker alone.

Celestion Crème ALNICO 90W. This one did not surpass the Jensen JET Blackbird on the clean channel. It seems to have a vintage tone and may color the tone a bit. Still it was nice and great for the blues. REDBACK has this one beat and costs much less. The Crème does have a V30 tone blended with an EV tone as it has bold bottom end, a bit of a midrange hump and nice roll off on the top end. The Jensen Blackbird was a better performer on the clean channel.

Celestion REDBACK. WOW. I am impressed with the tone and character of this speaker pushed by the Mark V. I will have to couple it to the TC-50 and the JP-2C just to get an idea how it sounds. I can even run the Roadster or the RA100 at full power an not blow it. This means the JP-2C too as it peaks at 150WRMS as seen on my attenuator (Roadster and RA100 never went above 100W) and the Mark V peaked at 110WRMS. Perhaps I know why the Celestion Cream ALNICO had suffered when I coupled it to the JP-2C. Back to the Mark V, I ran CH1 on clean and fat. I have yet to try the Tweed setting. I also grabbed another guitar to try out as the acoustic saddles on the other are amazing, I wanted to try one with active tone controls and will get to the Super strat soon enough.

Clean channel result with the Mark V: The winner is the Celestion Redback. I will eventually compare it to the Celestion G12H75 Creamback that I have in my RA100 combo. For a ceramic magnet, 2 inch voice coil speaker it tops the Jensen Blackbird and beats the EVM12L black label with ease. If you are one who just stays clean and rarely ventures out into the darkness so far the only two speakers I would recommend for that would be the Celestion RedBack 150W ($169) and the Jensen Blackbird 100W ($258). In my opinion the Redback is the winner and not just for the price either. I am more concerned over how it sounds and responds (so cost is of no issue to me unless it is too far out of reach). Note the Blackbird took 3 months of use to break in so I can dive into distorted sounds. The Redback (probably needs some break in but not as stiff as the blackbird).

How does it relate to the MC90? The C90 has some color of tone thing going on. Almost has a nasal tone. It does not sound bad on the clean channel but there is a better speaker that does. RedBack would definitely change your opinion on the C90. Overall the MC90 is a good speaker but seems to have difficulty preventing speaker breakup at higher volume levels (has always been my experience with the MC90. However the new one I bought is much better than what I have had in the past. I have it back in box so I can install it if and when I sell the Mark V.

More on this later as I need to venture into CH2 and CH3 ( side note: I did experiment with preamp tubes for use with CH3 and went back to what I had in there from the start using the "saturation mod" . I also changed the power tubes as the one's I was currently using were rattling too much and the mechanical noise was making it into the signal path. Those tubes have seen better days.
 
One last comment on the clean channel of the Mark V, the Celestion Redback is way better than I expected, not only does it surpass the Jensen Blackbird Alnico it also steps all over the EV. Note that the EVM12L sounds great from the clean channel but not as good as the Redback. I did not expect the clarity and chime from this Celestion speaker. Very bold bottom end, piano like in detail and crisp response from the top end. You finger pickers would love this speaker ( I am learning but never really practiced finger picking much but now I am rewarded with this amazing sound I want to learn how to do it).
 
20170616_180450_zpscdss1njx.jpg


Picture of the Celestion Redback installed in Mark V combo.
Best thing of all, no mods are required to install it as would be the case with any Celestion speaker in the 12 inch size.

The install of the EVM12L required front mounting. (removal of the 4 speaker screws or bolts) opening up the baffle board just a bit with a rotary sander drum (not much) and then using a router and carefully routing the grill frame to have clearance for the aluminum basket flange. I tried rear mounting the EV speaker but found that clearance between the magnet and power tubes was not sufficient, I could not remove any preamp tubes unless I removed the chassis from the shell. The extra work to front mount the speaker made life easier.

Since I had the 8 holes already drilled out, I used 8 bolts to mount the Redback. I bought the Mark V shell for about $245 used as the individual was converting their Mark V combo to a head. I went the other way.

This weekend I will be spending more time comparing the few guitars I have, as well as the other two channels. I did manage to run though the channel set but wanted to explore some time with the clean channel as that is what impressed me the most. Generally speakers when they are green do not perform their best on the distorted high gain channels. (actually it sounded good) but in light of the Alnico driven speakers I had to work my way there (Jensen Jet Blackbird) in fear of damaging the voice coil pushing the speaker too hard with a tight suspension just out of the box. I killed a WGS BlackHawk HP100 Alnico speaker that way. The case with the Celestion Crème was not as long and it performed well from the start. The same would apply to the Creambacks I installed in my RA100 Combo, the MC90 I bought as a replacement and the EV speaker. Just do not over do it for the first few hours of use.

Eventually I will get to my other amps and use the combo as an extension speaker. If I really like its performance I will get 4 more and rebuild my old OS Recto 412 cab. At the moment I do not miss the EV I took out of the Mark V. I did miss the Celestion Crème 90W alnico. I do not miss the MC90 either but at low volume playing to medium or moderate it is fine. The EV on the other hand just went beyond loud and never gave an inch in is performance but at lower volume levels it tends to sound sterile. the 90W Crème Alnico was also similar to the MC90 in respects to how loud you can drive the amp before you end up in breakup of the speaker. It could tolerate a bit more than the MC90 but do not run a JP-2C though it set to 100W (oops) thought I had set it to 60W but, oh well, I have made a $300 mistake. Speaker still works but fear the voice coil is done. Will have to check it out again later.

I will have more when I get the speaker broken in.... but I will relate how it sounds on the other channels before I get there.
 
I had to compare the CH2 and CH3 characteristics of the speaker to the Vertical 212 and the RA100 combo speakers (Celestion Creamback G12H75) and the EV I still have in an 1x12 Extension cab. It is more than evident that the Redback will require some break in time as it has a bit of treble cut with a distorted signal, a good sign it is still stiff considering how bright it is with the clean channel. the Creambacks were similar as I recall as well as the Crème 90W Alnico speaker. Blackbird took a few months to break in before it would sound good with distortion.

Playing on the clean channel is one way as that will run all of the frequencies of the guitar. Every now and then use the CH2 or CH3 to get the other harmonics into the mix and then back to clean.

Note that the blue base tubes are the Preferred series similar to the TAD 6L6GCMSTR but different. They sound a bit closer to the =C= tube than the TAD. I believe Ruby also has this tube as well (Ruby 6L6GCBSTR). At least the blue base does not loose the center pin when you remove the tubes. The TADs had issues with the plastic pin getting stuck in the socket. Just for ease of figuring out where the guide is on the center pin I marked the base with a line for a reference point in case the plastic part breaks off so I can still use the tube.
 
Still breaking it in. Clean channel sounds amazing but the CH2 and CH3 still sound like a blanket is draped over the cab. It is beginning to get brighter but not bright enough. May have to do other method to break in the speaker (6v transformer and timing relay for on/off control). I do recall I had to work my way to break in the Celestion Crème 90W Alnico as it too did not deliver out of box but not as blanketed as the Redback. I believe the tone is similar, still preferred the grinding chord from the Crème 90W. I am hoping to get the same from the Redback but still has not relaxed enough to get there.
 

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