Carmen Ghia Owners:

For the Dr Z voicing, I'd go with either a Red Fang or a G12H-30.

Dr Z's voicing, which is heard in the Ghia, is a sweet clear top end, a soft round bottom, and a little bit of a scoop in the mids.

The V-30s tend to be midrangey, so I think you'd be hearing the Ghia a little more clearly with either a Red Fang (very close to an alnico Silver Bell) or the G12H-30. Or both!

Kiwi

 

i like the V30's, but a little too aggressive and harsh for my tastes. same with the G12H30, which has even more bottom end, but doesnt do its cleans justice at all.

IMHO, something alnico with a voxy flavor really brings out the best from a CG.

the Celestion Blue is my goto speaker with my CG, but the wattage of the Red Fang gives me better peace of mind. not quite as glossy in the upper end, but in the ballpark. i also like the Weber Blue too, but tends to smooth out the CG just a weee bit too much.

a terrific yet underrated speaker for that voxy sound is Weber's Silver Bell, which has a bit more of a fatter upper mid character that i've REALLY been digging these days. terrific if you're a single coil gent like myself.

 

+1 for the Red Fang.

I used a Red Fang in an oversized 1x12 sealed cab with the Ghia and the resulting tone was great!

 

for the money cant beat the avatar stuff,

but if you have a bit of a windfall, cant go wrong by investing in a Bob Burt cab. after owning two of his cabs, there's little else that has impressed me. nothing i've used can even compare.

www.bobburtcabinets.com

 

I just sold a Carmen Ghia & Avatar 1x12 loaded with a Celestion Blue yesterday. They both went fast, like in 2 hours to two different people.

Excellent little rig and I'll probably regret the sale, but I have to keep moving forward If you're a little tight on cash, go with the Avatar/ Red Fang which is reportedly very similar to the Blue, but rated at 30 watts. With the Ghia's massive tranny and ability to push a speaker, not only would the RF save some bucks but would also be safer...especially if your hitting it hard with a boost pedal.

If you can free up a little more money, I can't say enough good about Dr Z cabs. The 2x10 is huge sounding, and the 1x12 cab is the best sounding one I've heard yet. Either open or closed back works well with a Ghia, depending on what you're seeking. My Avatar was open, my Z is closed back.

 

Just goes to show how tastes vary. I don't like my Ghia with Celestion Blues at all.

I think the Ghia sounds best with G12H and G12M speakers (and equivalents).

As for open or closed back, I'd say that's a matter of taste. To me, open back is airier, closed is punchier. Open is better for the high end, closed is better for the low end. Open is better for cleaner tones, Closed is better for distorted tones.

I really like the combination of Ghia/Z-Best 2x12.

But YMMV.

BH

 

I second Weber's Silver Bell's. I like the ceramics with a
CG for their crisper high end. SIlver Bell are great in any
British-flavored openback cab application.

 

i ran my ghia with a open back (3/4) 1x12 with a greenback. i thought it sounded awesome (but i think greens sound good with anything). i found it to be a very good match.

 

Sounds good with an Eminence Govenor - Mike has a little boogie 1x12 with Govenor that sounds great with a Ghia.

 

Different speakers with the Ghia yield some satisfyingly different results.

The Ghia's tone control just seems to wrap around a Vintage 30 in a closed back or ported cab really well... This accentuates the tight bass of the Ghia, and has a really greasy glassy midrange tone.

Blues sound OK, but IMO the Red Fang sounds much better with the Ghia... You still get that british AlNiCo sound in the mids and highs, but with bottom end that Cele Blues can only dream of... and given the tight bottom end of the Ghia, I always enjoy using a speaker that makes the most of it.

My favorite speaker with the Ghia though, is the Scumback G12H30 (SA-12)... This is the most articulate speaker of the bunch, which I think definitely plays well to the Z sound. It has a tight low end, nice richness in the mids, and a great musical chime in the highs... Really, this speaker has the tone that I was always looking for out of AlNiCo magnet speakers, but could never really quite get to. Fantastic speaker clean or dirty. The Ghia also sounds FANTASTIC through a 2x12 that has one Scumback and one Vintage 30...

 

o/t , but I was thinking of getting an amp for practice at home and was wondering if I got a ghia what pedal would go well with it if I wanted to go from SRV to Judas Priest...lol.... or should I just look at a different amp....I thought it would be a cool bedroom amp, nice and small...sorry to jump off topic, maybe this is the wrong forum also

 

The Ghia is pretty friggin' loud for use as a bedroom amp.

 

lol..friggin...

 

That said, it makes a phenomenal basement amp!

Seriously, if you live in an apartment or something like that, it really won't work for you if you're trying to avoid pissing off close neighbors through paper thin walls. On the other hand, if you've got your own place and can occasionally crank it to get the amp to the sweet spot, you may be very happy w/ the Ghia and a few pedals. It really is a good platform for pedals, but to get them to sound GREAT, you've got to have some volume behind it.

I actually think the best bedroom amp tones are produced by modelers like Line 6... They can sound and even FEEL really good at really low volumes, and might be better suited towards acheiving the versatility you describe.

Is that more of a help than my previous post (sorry about that)?

 

I was kinda looking for a bedroom/slash backup small club gig amp... one that would be good with pedals....I'm getting a new zinky head in 2 weeks thats non master thats supposed to be good at low volumes, but I plan on gigging with it and leaving at our practice space. So I was thinking maybe a Ghia for practice at home and occasional gigging with it...plus I'd like an amp that I can try different pedals with so I can spend more money that I dont reallly have....lol.....also, I was thinking atomic 16...but, of course, Ive never heard either of these in person..