Well I found it interesting anyway. I have a home brew 5E3 tweed Deluxe that I built with a choke and a few other little mods and it's one of my fave amps. I have been using a Celestion Gold in it for a while, but recently a friend lent me a Scumback 30 H55 30W to try. So I thought I'd compare it with the Gold and a Blue. The Blue has been in the amp for about a month and I was going to switch back to the Gold anyway. So I tried the Scumback in between. Guitars were a 335, a Guild Starfire III and a PRS McCarty in Korina. All have stock pickups.
The Blue is very clear and chimey as they are known to be. With vol on the amp at about halfway and guitars maxed there is a lot of volume and a hint of fizz to the tone. Turning guitar vol down a hair reduces the fizz. Bass can be a little loose. This particular 5E3 is reasonably tight in the low-end because of my mods. I suspect most guys would love this tone.
In comparison, the Scumback was a tad "drier" sounding, but not in a bad way. It made the amp sound more like a tweed deluxe. Bass a tiny bit tighter than the Blue but highs a little hairier and loose. Not as much mid emphasis. Overall not as sparkly but a very good sound - more traditional I guess. Not as loud either. A very likable sound!
But when I put the Gold back in it was all over. Loud! More mids than the Scumback and maybe even the Blue - certainly much more bass. But the bass notes are so much clearer than either of the other speakers. No fizz even with guitars maxed. Beautiful sparkly trebles and much chimey goodness. My 335 bridge pickup honks like I'm playing through a stack when cranked and the neck pickup gets almost BF Fender tones when the vol is rolled down a bit on the guitar. Just leave vol and tone on the amp around halfway and work it from the guitar and there are so many tones to be had. No crap in the tone, no flub, no fizz - amazing.
I knew from memory that the Blue wasn't as bassy or tight as the Gold but didn't expect the differences to be so clear. The Gold IS quite bassy and the 5E3 can be a bassy amp, so I have changed a couple of caps in the amp to reduce the boom. This amp is incredible but it's definitely partly due to the Celestion Gold.
I would love to get another Scumback to try as a 2x12 with a Marshall though. I suspect it would be great.
The Blue is very clear and chimey as they are known to be. With vol on the amp at about halfway and guitars maxed there is a lot of volume and a hint of fizz to the tone. Turning guitar vol down a hair reduces the fizz. Bass can be a little loose. This particular 5E3 is reasonably tight in the low-end because of my mods. I suspect most guys would love this tone.
In comparison, the Scumback was a tad "drier" sounding, but not in a bad way. It made the amp sound more like a tweed deluxe. Bass a tiny bit tighter than the Blue but highs a little hairier and loose. Not as much mid emphasis. Overall not as sparkly but a very good sound - more traditional I guess. Not as loud either. A very likable sound!
But when I put the Gold back in it was all over. Loud! More mids than the Scumback and maybe even the Blue - certainly much more bass. But the bass notes are so much clearer than either of the other speakers. No fizz even with guitars maxed. Beautiful sparkly trebles and much chimey goodness. My 335 bridge pickup honks like I'm playing through a stack when cranked and the neck pickup gets almost BF Fender tones when the vol is rolled down a bit on the guitar. Just leave vol and tone on the amp around halfway and work it from the guitar and there are so many tones to be had. No crap in the tone, no flub, no fizz - amazing.
I knew from memory that the Blue wasn't as bassy or tight as the Gold but didn't expect the differences to be so clear. The Gold IS quite bassy and the 5E3 can be a bassy amp, so I have changed a couple of caps in the amp to reduce the boom. This amp is incredible but it's definitely partly due to the Celestion Gold.
I would love to get another Scumback to try as a 2x12 with a Marshall though. I suspect it would be great.
