Vox AC30 Speaker Showdown (UK Celestion Blue vs. Wharfedale GSH-1230-8)

Wharfedale GSH-1230-8 vs UK Celestion Blue--------------------Works best in 480p

Category:

Music

Tags:

• AC30
• Vox
• Celestion
• Wharfedale
• Guitar
• Amp

[suffXmusic]

@danthewelch Well, I´ll do, but I can´t promise when I find

the time, maybe this weekend or next week. So long, any tips for recording for a "real" sound, I would record with a beta 57A mic, in case my camera mic is great but it will be too loud for it.

I´ll post it under my personal account ´cause this is the band´s ones

[danthewelch]

@suffXmusic Sounds like you've got a good setup. For this video I used a sm57 recorded @ 96k, 24 bit. The music was imported uncompressed as I edited the video so that there is only one step of compression. Feel free to post on here once you have the video ready. There is a lot of discussion on user forums comparing old vox amps to the new ones, so I'm sure you'll get tons of views for the real deal.

[suffXmusic]

One interesting thing...

I´m owning an AC30CC2 with Wharfedales and an old end 60s AC30TB with the original Greenbacks AND I also got a cabinet with UK Celestion blue. So I tried several things and SURPRISE. The old AC30TB sound exactly the same with the Blues as the AC30CC2 with the Wharfedales... So they do with my settings which are queen-like, normal channel fully up with treble booster. So the new with the Wharfedales gets the classic vox sound like in the old days with the blues... part 2

[danthewelch]

@suffXmusic Prove it. I'm legitimately curious. Would make a great vid.

[DanThomasMusic]

I am selling a pair of the Wharfedales on eBay if interested... search for 150747269251

[bootlegapples]

It wasn't until I yanked the Blue that I realized the effect it has on the tone/envelope.The Blue,and alnico speakers in general,react differently to pick attack.Ceramics sound fast and stiff by comparison.

The attack envelope is softer and "bloomy",giving a perception of depth to the sound.Once you identify it you don't want to go back to ceramics,at least I don't.

[bootlegapples]

@danthewelch

HA ha,that was a bogus claim by suffx.I too owned a wharfedale and Blue and a vox AC30cc1 as well as an AC15cc.

The Blue has a blooming/compression effect the wharfs do *not* have,especially noticeable on lightly muted E chords(with low E)..the notes bounce at you like a rubber ball.I hear it quite easily here.

Great speaker in open venues and recorded,but too upper middy in close quarters.

[DanThomasMusic]

Wow. Currently experimenting with a Brian May setup with a CC2 and Wharfedales... I was prepared for the Blues to sound much better but going by your clips, I think I prefer the Wharfedales!

[lennythefence]

The Blue sounds a bit more nasal than the Wharf, maybe a bit more present. Probably cuts through the mix better. But tonewise, sounds different, not better. And definitely not $280 apiece better. Although I am a bit partial to the G12H-30's sound.

[melindagreenjeans]

@suffXmusic That's just not really going to happen by any real stretch of the imagination when you start to turn up the volume they won't be the same by a long shot.

[suffXmusic]

If you can get a CC (Custom Classic), get one with the blues and if you´re not sattisfied, try the wharfedales (or similar celestion g12h30). You can get the wharfedales on ebay for around 30Euro. If you get an AC30 C (Custom), get the cheaper ones with the Greenbacks and if you´re not sattisfied, try the blues. The reason why is, that you can resell the greenbacks much better than the wharfedales (just cause it´s named celestion) but you can buy the wharfedales much cheaper than the blues.

[suffXmusic]

@keaulana1 Depends on what you like and also on the type of AC30 you wanna get. AC30 CC ist discontinued, you just can get a used one. For AC30 CC, I like the Wharfedale better, it´s a rockier type of sound. The Flues are more bluesier I think, and sound more open than the wharfedales. After a while I think, the wharfedales are better for clean and distortion and maybe the blues are better for a crunch sound. My suggestion.

[keaulana1]

@suffXmusic wanna get a ac30 cc, which one sound better?, the alnico blues, or the other ones

[LarryRickenbacker]

IMHO the most dramatic difference between the two speakers would occur at lower volumes; think "Green Onions" type of tones. Honestly, this AlNiCO snob came away pleasantly surprised with the "lowley" Wharfdale's ability to hold it's own, at least for the more heavily distorted passages. Of course Ceramic speakers are best for heavily distorted or very clean tones..