Greenback G12M vs. Heritage G12M

[Sirion]

Has anybody compared the two back to back? I love my Greenbacks, but it would have been great to "scale down" the speakers I'm using to something less sensitive – and perhaps even get a better tone in the process?

Whilst versatility is good (I am making some forays into jazz), I would in particular want them to be able to do classic hard rock, with the 80s being more of a focus than the 70s. I quite prefer the mid peak in the Greenbacks compared to the Vintage 30s, which I, for want of a better term, find somewhat more generic sounding on their own. Beyond that, it is quite hard to explain what I like, since I, like too many people, have not experimented a whole lot with speakers. So I therefore very interested in hearing which observations others might have made.

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Greenback G12M vs. Heritage G12M

I have a pair of the G12EVH speakers in a 2x12. These are G12M Heritage speakers only with the EVH stripes sticker on a black magnet cover. I also have a 4x12 loaded with the standard G12Ms.

The Heritages were mellower and more compressed sounding when new, but then they opened up beautifully as they broke in. As they broke in it was different than most speakers because they weren't really spikey at all.

I was expecting them to be significantly less loud than standard G12Ms but they are not a lot less loud over all. They are less loud but not as much as I expected from the numbers.

[Ayrton]

Re: Greenback G12M vs. Heritage G12M

Starting with an empty cab, buy the heritage or EVH version over the "regular" every time. However, there is not enough difference to my ears to justify replacing G12M with G12M Heritage.

I suppose you could sell off the old ones and it would really be more of a hassle than a cost difference if you really wanted to.

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Greenback G12M vs. Heritage G12M

Both are nice speakers. I still keep a G12EHV (as stated, same as the Heritage Greenbacks, just cheaper) around because I really like it, though I don't have a cab to load it in.

The Chinese Greenbacks seem a bit rattier and more agressive in the high-mids compared to the EVH's. The EVH's are slightly airier higher up, though. The Chinese Greenbacks seemed to have a slightly deeper bottom-end, and the EVH's seem to have warmer, creamier lower mids. The Chinese GB's are also slightly louder with the amp set the same.

I feel they break up a little different too. The EVH's seem to smooth out and sound more controlled at higher volumes compared to the Chinese GB's. The Chinese GB's still sound nice. They've got more of that amp-about-to-explode vibe, IMO.

Like I said, both sound good, and both have got that woody, vintage Greenback vibe to them.

Take a look at the Creamback G12M-65 as well. It has the same cone as the EVH's and the Heritage.

[Sirion]

Re: Greenback G12M vs. Heritage G12M

Cool, thanks for the replies so far, guys! If anybody else has a view, please feel free to include them. For now, however, it sounds like I might be better served by the Greenbacks I have, as what Rex_Rocker aptly describes as the "aggressive … high-mids" of the Chinese Greenbacks is exactly what I love about them. To my ears, there is a real personality to that range. I will still have to try the Heritages out at some point, but I probably don't have to be in a hurry to do so.

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Greenback G12M vs. Heritage G12M

FWIW, I find this vid is consistent with my experience with EVH/Heritage and standard GB's.

[Ayrton]

Re: Greenback G12M vs. Heritage G12M

There are servers of info you can pour over, but basically, the MIC is the standard 25w version and the heritage is closer to the original 20w G12M. My Celestion brain is a little dusty, but I remember there being like a 2db difference between them. Both speakers have their own sound, and another is what I would call bad.

[Sirion]

Re: Greenback G12M vs. Heritage G12M

FWIW, I find this vid is consistent with my experience with EVH/Heritage and standard GB's.

Yes, I definitely recognize the upper mid peak in the first cab there. For what it is worth, I also think it sounds better to my ears. It is a pity that they didn't include a bass track, to give more of an impression of what it would sound like in a full mix: the Chinese Greenbacks have more low end, which probably helps give them an edge when there is nothing else to fill out the bottom end, but I'm not sure how much it is going to help in a full mix…

[Coma]

Re: Greenback G12M vs. Heritage G12M

FWIW, I find this vid is consistent with my experience with EVH/Heritage and standard GB's.

That's funny, I own an EVH cab and the first sample is a lot closer to my sound than the second one. Then again, pups, amp and EQ till make all the difference in the world as well.