Zed
Full Member
Posts: 236
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Post by Zed on Apr 25, 2023 19:54:07 GMT -7
Hey all! I couldn’t wait any longer so I scooped up an older ghia head. It came in today. Man, what a fun amp! I havnt had fun playing in a while! WHAT A GEM! What speakers pair the best with a ghia? I’m thinking something that will allow it to breath and maybe, fingers crossed, give me a little more db? Also, I think if the speaker were able to tame some of the bass and maybe accentuate the high mids? Any recommendations? I think I found my forever amp!
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Post by simpleton on Apr 25, 2023 20:06:49 GMT -7
My favorite was a pair of 10” Eminence 1058 Legends. Not sure if the EQ is what you want, but I loved them. They are 100 db I think. I have a 12” now that I’m running with a Swart and love it in that too. For extra volume consider an old Eminence Red Fang alnico…I think they were 103 db.
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Post by Stephen on Apr 25, 2023 20:45:41 GMT -7
My favorite Ghia speaker was a 10” 8 ohm Greenback. It was not as loud as the Z speaker, so it was right in my wheelhouse for club gigging.
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Post by j4gitr (John) on Apr 25, 2023 21:16:57 GMT -7
Got mine running in a 1x10” combo with a celestion gold.
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Post by mrcapers on Apr 26, 2023 2:39:21 GMT -7
Believe it or not, I really like a Vintage 30 with the Ghia in an open back 1x12 cab. It's the ONLY amp I've had that paired well with the V30. It should check all your boxes - accentuated upper mids, tame bass (via open back cab) and 100 dB efficiency.
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Zed
Full Member
Posts: 236
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Post by Zed on Apr 26, 2023 3:27:09 GMT -7
Believe it or not, I really like a Vintage 30 with the Ghia in an open back 1x12 cab. It's the ONLY amp I've had that paired well with the V30. It should check all your boxes - accentuated upper mids, tame bass (via open back cab) and 100 dB efficiency. wow. I wasn’t thinking v30 at all but I’ll try it, thx! The red fang option seems interesting too lol |
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Post by adam on Apr 26, 2023 3:40:08 GMT -7
+1 for v30
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Post by John on Apr 26, 2023 3:47:49 GMT -7
Hey all! I couldn’t wait any longer so I scooped up an older ghia head. It came in today. Man, what a fun amp! I havnt had fun playing in a while! WHAT A GEM! What speakers pair the best with a ghia? I’m thinking something that will allow it to breath and maybe, fingers crossed, give me a little more db? Also, I think if the speaker were able to tame some of the bass and maybe accentuate the high mids? Any recommendations? I think I found my forever amp! You don't say what current speaker you use.
But two things you said jumped out at me: 1) a little more db 2) accentuate the high mids
Those two comments point me exactly in one direction: VINTAGE 30!
The V30 is a 100db speaker (pretty loud for a given amount of power) and it's well known for it's spike in upper mids. So much so that some people don't like it.
If you do decide to try a V30, I highly recommend getting a used one. When new, V30's can sound terribly nasal. They're not broken in, the cone is stiff and doesn't move back and forth as freely as it should. This reduces bass, and accents mids...on an already mid heavy speaker. So you have mids on top of mids...nasal tone. (ask me how I know this!) If you buy used, there's a chance it's been broken in and will sound more open and balanced. It will also save you some money. I question whether an 18 watt amp has enough thump to break in a V30. See if you can find some metal guy that plays at ear splitting volumes. Chances are, that's a broken in speaker! ha ha
And if you use an open back cabinet, that will help tame the bass.
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Post by lowbudget on Apr 26, 2023 7:51:52 GMT -7
Believe it or not, I really like a Vintage 30 with the Ghia in an open back 1x12 cab. It's the ONLY amp I've had that paired well with the V30. It should check all your boxes - accentuated upper mids, tame bass (via open back cab) and 100 dB efficiency. Keep in mind that back in the day the V30 was the Doc’s recommended pairing for the Ghia. For any of you newer members, it’s kinda funny to see folks try different speakers in a particular Z amp then eventually circle right back to what the Doc thought to start with. |
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Post by gfreak on Apr 26, 2023 7:58:33 GMT -7
Had an Eminence Governor(their version of a V 30) and it sounded great with the Ghia.
+1 on a Vintage 30!
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Post by John on Apr 26, 2023 11:44:56 GMT -7
Believe it or not, I really like a Vintage 30 with the Ghia in an open back 1x12 cab. It's the ONLY amp I've had that paired well with the V30. It should check all your boxes - accentuated upper mids, tame bass (via open back cab) and 100 dB efficiency. Keep in mind that back in the day the V30 was the Doc’s recommended pairing for the Ghia. For any of you newer members, it’s kinda funny to see folks try different speakers in a particular Z amp then eventually circle right back to what the Doc thought to start with.
Guilty.
1st gen Z-28....came back to the greenback.
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Zed
Full Member
Posts: 236
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Post by Zed on Apr 26, 2023 17:45:09 GMT -7
Hey all! I couldn’t wait any longer so I scooped up an older ghia head. It came in today. Man, what a fun amp! I havnt had fun playing in a while! WHAT A GEM! What speakers pair the best with a ghia? I’m thinking something that will allow it to breath and maybe, fingers crossed, give me a little more db? Also, I think if the speaker were able to tame some of the bass and maybe accentuate the high mids? Any recommendations? I think I found my forever amp! You don't say what current speaker you use.
But two things you said jumped out at me: 1) a little more db 2) accentuate the high mids
Those two comments point me exactly in one direction: VINTAGE 30!
The V30 is a 100db speaker (pretty loud for a given amount of power) and it's well known for it's spike in upper mids. So much so that some people don't like it.
If you do decide to try a V30, I highly recommend getting a used one. When new, V30's can sound terribly nasal. They're not broken in, the cone is stiff and doesn't move back and forth as freely as it should. This reduces bass, and accents mids...on an already mid heavy speaker. So you have mids on top of mids...nasal tone. (ask me how I know this!) If you buy used, there's a chance it's been broken in and will sound more open and balanced. It will also save you some money. I question whether an 18 watt amp has enough thump to break in a V30. See if you can find some metal guy that plays at ear splitting volumes. Chances are, that's a broken in speaker! ha ha
And if you use an open back cabinet, that will help tame the bass.
lol, good point…. So far I used a cabinet with older Weber alnico blue dog and silver bell speakers. I have a z28 mk2 with a creamback and a maz 18 with an H-30 celestian. I’ll try them out sometime. Speaker selection is a new rabbit trail for me lol |
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Post by scottyc13 on Apr 27, 2023 6:00:03 GMT -7
Another recommendation is a Scumback speaker. They’re made in Arizona and are basically different versions of Celestion Greenbacks and Creambacks. I got one for one of my amps and love it. They come pre-broken in. The amp I got it for is basically a Plexi with 6v6 tubes. The Weber Blue Dog and 12A150s were too bright for that amp. I got the M75, 8 ohm 65 watt for a 20W amp. It has a nice smooth breakup, nice midrange and low end. I play a Strat and Tele with it both with Fralin Pups. www.scumbackspeakers.com/m_series.html |
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Post by frankie on Apr 27, 2023 9:15:48 GMT -7
Vintage 30 is the recommended speaker for the Ghia. And it also happens to fit the bill on everything you described! High mid focus, tighter on the bass, and loud sensitivity rating. And it also happens to be a speaker you don't have already that works pretty well with a lot of other amps.
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Post by John on Apr 27, 2023 16:01:03 GMT -7
And I'll add, the V30 can sometimes not sound all that great when playing alone. But live, it sounds great and really cuts through the mix.
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Post by jpaul7 on May 29, 2024 19:36:26 GMT -7
Reviving an old thread, I am using a Ghia head with 1x12 Mojotone cab with an Eminence Red Fang in it, I honestly can't think of it sounding any better. I also have an Eminence CV-75 I am not using...(it's a High powered version of a V30) maybe I'll give it a try sometime
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