Emi GB128s or Emi V128s for a JMP/JCM?

[shooto]

I have GB128s....anyone have experience with V12s with a JMP/JCM?

or knowing both, which is prefered?

thanks

 

[MESA/BUDDA]

V12's will have a nice moderate, smooth top end. I like using these with bright amps.
They add some girth and punch to Marshall style voicings. They are also very clear and articualte speakers so you can pour on the crunch and not have it get mashed in with any cone breakup.
The lows are thick and tight, with no mud whatsoever.
The mids are in the lo-mid register so they pair nicely with amps that have an upper mid spike.

 

[dave_mc]

^ yeah, pretty much. I haven't tried them with my 18 watt clone (they're sitting in their boxes at the moment), but i've tried them with my laney gh50L which is (far as i'm aware) more or less a hotrodded 800.

I'm guessing the GB will be more "classic marshall", while the v12s are smoother and more lower-mid orientated. They're good for taming something that's too bright (i got them to use with my jet city).

 

[shooto]

thanks for the input...my JMP is bright...the GB128s are nice with it and I got them to tame the brightness, which they do...but the clips I've heard of the V12s sound more like where I want to be-

 

[shooto]

^ yeah, pretty much. I haven't tried them with my 18 watt clone (they're sitting in their boxes at the moment), but i've tried them with my laney gh50L which is (far as i'm aware) more or less a hotrodded 800.

I'm guessing the GB will be more "classic marshall", while the v12s are smoother and more lower-mid orientated. They're good for taming something that's too bright (i got them to use with my jet city).

dave, I used the have a GH100L (LOVED that amp) so I can relate to it's tone...how are the V12s with it?

 

[MESA/BUDDA]

I use V30's and V12's exclusively.
V12's in an 8 ohm 2x12 cab with my GH50L only.
When I feel like it, I run that same cab parallel with a 8 ohm V30 4x12.
V30's blended with the V12's (separate cabs) is fantastic.

 

[jcs]

Quicker breakup with GB's which are undoped and a bit darker than V12's but nice dispersion.

V12's i think have a bit more bottom end and slightly beamy and brighter.

To me both are somewhat lower mid oriented, but i have used them in a variety of cabinets so the cabinet comes into play.

 

[shooto]

Quicker breakup with GB's which are undoped and a bit darker than V12's but nice dispersion.

V12's i think have a bit more bottom end and slightly beamy and brighter.

To me both are somewhat lower mid oriented, but i have used them in a variety of cabinets so the cabinet comes into play.

^ they will be going in a Marshall 1960B....what do you think?

 

[dave_mc]

dave, I used the have a GH100L (LOVED that amp) so I can relate to it's tone...how are the V12s with it?

Thanks- I really like it. I wouldn’t say it’s the best amp ever or anything like that, but considering what I paid for mine, it’s killer. It can hang with the boutique (high gain and/or marshally) stuff for a fraction of the price.


it sounded very nice with the v12s, actually, but i'd have said it was more marshally with the gb12. the laney was smoother and chunkier with the v12. that being said, it might have been getting on for too bright with the gb12. I was actually surprised how nice it sounded with the v12s, considering i knew they were chunkier and more modern-sounding and I generally prefer the laney with more vintage-style speakers. that being said I still probably prefer the laney with more vintage-style speakers, but the v12 did sound really good with it- and it still sounded fairly british with them, as opposed to some other chunkier speakers which can completely change the character of the thing.

I should add though that (a) I'm mainly playing at lowish house volumes (I'd say it's louder than bedroom volume, but the master's not really above 1, either- mid 90s dB range, i'd say), (b) they're not broken in yet and (c) I only have the one GB128, I haven't tried a 2x12 or 4x12 loaded with several of them, which can change how the things sound, at least a bit. I was picking up a bunch of other speakers at the time, and the gb128 was cheap enough that I just picked it up too to see what it was like, as I know it has a good rep around here (and when something which is cheap has a good rep around here, there's normally something to it )

I also tried the v12 and gb128 together for a laugh. It sounded pretty good, too, though for taming brightness the v12 alone was better.

Quicker breakup with GB's which are undoped and a bit darker than V12's but nice dispersion.

V12's i think have a bit more bottom end and slightly beamy and brighter.

To me both are somewhat lower mid oriented, but i have used them in a variety of cabinets so the cabinet comes into play.

as i said, mine aren't broken in (which isn't likely to change any time soon since they're sitting in their boxes ), I've only tried the things at lower volumes thus far, so maybe it's completely different at volume, but that's the exact opposite of my impressions of them. To me, the gb12 was loads brighter and more vintage in tone and tightness etc. The v12 was a lot chunkier but also tighter in the bass, and also a lot smoother in the treble. I guess maybe the gb12 had a bit more lower mids than a greenback (though i'd have said it was maybe more just a wider frequency response- it seemed both brighter and deeper than the greenback, but not as woody and with fewer mids... bit cleaner-sounding, too), but compared to other speakers with lots of low mids (v12, say, or texas heat/swamp thang or something like that) i'd say it was more high mid and still pretty british-sounding.

yeah, you're right, cab will make a difference. I tried mine in the same cab. I had the v12s in there and then ripped one out and put the gb12 in its place (stereo cab, so i could listen to each speaker separately as well as together).

of course, i'm terrible at hearing different frequencies etc, so how much stock you want to put in what i think...

 

[jcs]

To be honest my V12 and GB are very early versions, these are like late 90's or 2000 built.

Also none of mine have a lot of break-in either as i have a lot of other cabinets and amps in general, so take what i say with a grain of salt!

I am thinking my V12 need more break in time especially.

I actually thought about applying pre rola doping around the dust cap to smooth out the highs....and i may just do that yet!

 

[dave_mc]

oh right- i have no idea if they've ever changed them or not, but i guess that's possible. Mine are brand new (or at least I bought them brand new like last month- how long they've been sitting in the warehouse, I have no idea).

Doping the thing would be way beyond me, lol. I can just about manage a speaker swap when the cabinet uses spade connectors. But if the thing isn't doped and you can do that, I'm guessing it might be worth a try- I know the weber site says that doping might help with that (but I have no experience myself of two otherwise identical speakers, one doped and the other not, or better yet, the same speaker tried before dope was applied and after).

 

[MESA/BUDDA]

To be honest my V12 and GB are very early versions, these are like late 90's or 2000 built.

Also none of mine have a lot of break-in either as i have a lot of other cabinets and amps in general, so take what i say with a grain of salt!

I am thinking my V12 need more break in time especially.

I actually thought about applying pre rola doping around the dust cap to smooth out the highs....and i may just do that yet!

My V12's are early as well. 16 oms each and pulled from my 2000-01 Krank 4x12.
They have no sticker on the back of the magnets. Only way to ID them is by the small white sticker tab on the side of the magnet. Eminence doesn't sell the V12 in 16 ohms anymore either. Only availble through Krank now for some reason.

 

[dave_mc]

My V12's are early as well. 16 oms each and pulled from my 2000-01 Krank 4x12.
They have no sticker on the back of the magnets. Only way to ID them is by the small white sticker tab on the side of the magnet. Eminence doesn't sell the V12 in 16 ohms anymore either. Only availble through Krank now for some reason.

i think soldano uses the 16 ohm ones, too.

 

[shooto]

thinking about mixing them...anyone do that?