Speaker Choices

SidNewton

I'm currently using a Marshall JCM 800 2204. At the moment I borrow the drummers 1936 Lead 2x12 with Celestion G12-75 spreakers. I contacted Marshall a little while ago and they suggested the 1936v with Celestion G12 Vintage speakers would be the best option.

I've put off buying a cab of my own as I'm not 100% sure I'm going to stick with the JCM 800. I fancy having a crack at a JTM45 at some point. So my question is this. What is the best speaker choice in a 2x12 format for a JCM 800 2204 and a JTM45?

Cheers. 

ICBM

In my opinion, two G12H-30s.

Two Greenbacks would be good but won't really have safe power handling for the 2204, in which case either two G12M-65 Creambacks or a mixed G12M-65 + G12H-75 Creamback pair would be another option, although I haven't tried them yet.

I wouldn't take anything Marshall says as gospel on the speaker front… this is the company that puts G12T-75s in almost everything, and uses "custom design" Celestions in almost everything else that invariably sound worse than any standard classic Celestion, even the 75!

SidNewton

You are a star. It doesn't have to be a Marshall cab so I'm not averse to the idea of getting Zilla build a cab to my spec.

phase3

I took the stock G12-75's out and put in a pair of well broken early vintage 30's ... totally transformed the 1936. A mate of mine has just put some WGS's in his....Retro30's ...sounds awesome. That said, it's a really personal thing and different players-guitars-amps prefer different things. Speakers can has as big an influence on overall sound as  anything else, so take your time and try as many cabs as you can. Talk to others who have similar tastes and gear. In general the speaker will have more of a tonal influence than the cabinet assuming the cabinet it 'reasonable'. The Montage cabs are really well priced, pretty well bult and a good place to start 'tweaking'.

xscaramanga

I'm interested in this too. I recently bought a 2204 and I've been using it with my Zilla V30 cab. Conventional wisdom is that's not the best pairing, but I've been getting some great sounds.

A lot of people like G12-65s with JCM 800s, but I don't know how they pair with JTMs. They are a slightly darker speaker in the top end, which works well for people who want to tame the 2204's treble.

simonk

I have a Zilla 2x12 loaded with Creambacks and can't fault it - great match for Marshall type amps.

I had a Marshall 1936 some years back and didn't think that much of it, well, apart from 'Christ this thing's heavy'.

SidNewton

OK, I picked up a 1936 2x12 cab locally a couple of weeks ago. Having used it a couple of times it was clear it didn't sound as good as the drummers cab. There's a few songs where I roll the guitars volume back to around 7. When I done this with the new cab it sounded harsh, just horrible. I took the back of the cab to see a pair of Chinese made G12 75's, not sure what was in the drummers cab as I don't know how old it is but it definitely sounded better. 

So I bought a pair of G12M 65 Creambacks. I fitted them last night, gave them a little use for about half an hour.

First thing I noticed was an increase in volume. An initial top end harshness disappeared after a short while. They clean up much better than the G12 75's. Gave them a bit more use this afternoon at rehearsal. Early days with them but clearly a big improvement from before.

timmysoft

The British t75 is far better than the newer versions that Marshall use, it's one of my favourite speakers. 1936 is a great can, really portable but sounds nice and big.

ICBM

There are actually three versions of the G12T-75. The first (UK only, 1980s) has a vented magnet - look for a small grille in the back - and sounds by far the best. The second (UK) has no vent, and the third (China) is similar in construction, but still sounds different. The UK vs China difference isn't consistent from model to model… some - eg the V30 - sound identical. Others sound different - the 75 the most so out of all the models I've heard.