swamp thang & general speaker question

DankStar

Her Little Mojo Minion
First, I don't know why, but I'm intrigued by the swamp thang. What's its closest celestion counterpart?

On another note, is there an eminence or celestion that's sort of an in-between a greenback and a v30? A little honk but not super harsh.

I've got a v30 in a cab, but it's 16 ohms (due to a previous amp requiring a 16 ohm extension speaker cab) and I'd like to switch it out for an 8 ohm to stay consistent with my current amps and it'd be a good time to maybe try another brand/speaker type. Maybe I should just sell the whole cab, I dunno. I have a love/hate relationship with the V30 - against my other cab (mesa 1 x12) I don't care for it - it's just not as rich and punchy sounding, but in recordings I kind of like it. Plus I think a lot of the players I'm trying to emulate used a v30 probably in the studio.
 
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Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

I don't know if there IS a Swamp Thang equivilent!

It's very hi-fi to my ears. Lot of everything. Loud as all getout.

I like pairing it with the Wizard, which really pushes the mids but is not harsh.

The Wizard is 1dB more efficient. Together, they are deafeningly loud!!
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

a g12h-30 is kinda between a greenback and the v30. how much power handling do you need?
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

There is no Celestion equivalent to the Swamp Thang. It is an American-voiced speaker with a slightly heavier magnet than Celestion's heaviest. The Celestion A-Type is the only American-voiced Celestion, but I'd say that's probably closer to the Texas Heat (yet still probably different).

Celestion's heavy magnet modern clean speakers would be the K-100 and Classic Lead 80, but both are neither as loud or as smooth/dark as the Swamp Thang.

Technically, a Celestion H30 is in between a V30 (same heavy magnet) and a Greenback (same cone and voice coil), but tonally, it's got more highs and lows than both with a similar breakup to the Greenback. There are a few other speakers that are kinda like a tweaked V30, though. Mesa-propietary Celestion V30, WGS Veteran 30, Eminence Governor and CV-75 come to mind. Check out some clips of the H-75 Creamback as well.
 
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Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

The Swamp Thang reminds me reminds me more of an EV or JBL or other efficient speaker that doesn't break up much at all. It's great on cleans but also has a big tight sound with distortion.

Next time you come up I'll let you listen to all my cabs, since I've got V30, H30, G12T-75, Creamback 65, and a Swamp Thang.
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

There is no Celestion equivalent to the Swamp Thang. It is an American-voiced speaker with a slightly heavier magnet than Celestion's heaviest. .
It is a heavy driver; the magnet is also strong enough to pull your screwdriver out of your hand when you are mounting it; the Wizard is even crazier ...
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

The Swamp Thang reminds me reminds me more of an EV or JBL or other efficient speaker that doesn't break up much at all. It's great on cleans but also has a big tight sound with distortion.
Agreed; I think you would go deaf before you started hearing the Swamp Thang break up. What's great about it's transparency, though is how well it handles your AMP being pushed to power valve distortion. I put it on my EAST Studio 2 and just wind thing all the way up ... glorious!

These are raw reamp tracks from Saturday night. Single SM57, SSL channel strip. Left heavy guitar is the Swamp Thang. Right heavy guitar is Wizard.

 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

based on the comments, a wizard might be closer to what I'm thinking. I basically need it to handle 50-75 watts. Thanks GJ, that'd be cool.
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

Wizards are super loud and super present. A bit too much for me, but that is maybe personal taste.
I think you might fight that the celestion g12H creamback will fit the bill for you. They sound like a g12h30 but can handle 75 watts with a little more thickness in the mids.

Re: recording....don't forget how massively your choice of mic (and placement) can affect your tone and how your sound sits in the mix. Then of course the settings on the mic pre and all the stuff that happens at the mixing stage can drastically alter how you sound.
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

I don't know if there IS a Swamp Thang equivilent!

It's very hi-fi to my ears. Lot of everything. Loud as all getout.

I like pairing it with the Wizard, which really pushes the mids but is not harsh.

The Wizard is 1dB more efficient. Together, they are deafeningly loud!!

I have a cab with the same pairing, a Mojotone horizontal slant....great pairing IMO, especially for lower wattage amps due the their high sensitivity.
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

Yeah, there's not really anything quite like a Swamp thang. I'd say the closest is the Celestion K100, but that's still a far ways off. I currently have a 4x12 loaded with a mix of Swamp Thangs and Texas Heats and it sounds HUGE.
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

Swamp Thangs are awesome!!! Like a thicker crunchier (in a non breakup way) evm-12l. Infact, the ev's sound lame in comparison to me.
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

I also have a 4x12 loaded with 8ohm swamp thangs and Texas heats. I push it with a 200watt Randall.
It is loud as all hell !

They seem clean and don't break up nearly like anything celestion makes.

Heavy thundering mass of a speaker! If you drop tune it really starts sounding better the lower you go.
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

I have an Emperor 2x12 with Swamp Thangs that i love. Big, solid tone. It's the cab i usually take to shows and rehearsals.
 
Re: swamp thang & general speaker question

Swamp Thangs are awesome!!! Like a thicker crunchier (in a non breakup way) evm-12l. Infact, the ev's sound lame in comparison to me.

EV 12-l's CRUSH Swamp Thangs- ya just gotta feed em more power. Ask Zakk- would he use Swamp Thangs?, nah.For practical purposes, unles you wanna build custom cabinets, the Thangs and the Celestion 12-85's/100's are great.
 
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