Celestion Greenback vs Alnico Blue

[Kris]

Good afternoon all!

I’m going to treat myself to a 10w Milkman pint amp, I’ve been eyeing them up for some time and have decided to bite the bullet. I have a choice between a 25W Celestion Greenback Speaker and 15W Celestion Alnico Blue speaker and have been uming and ahing over it. I have a National Slim line pickup on one guitar and a National hot plate on another which I’ll be playing through said amp. I’m looking for a low down and dirty bluesy growl with some distortion and overdrive rather than a clean reso sound (which I just use a mic for when recording.)

I’ve watched a number of videos on YouTube comparing these two speakers and find myself still on the fence, it would be nice to hear the particular style of music I’ll be playing to really get a feel for which speaker would tip the scales for me. I thought I would put it to the expert for some advice and guidance in making a choice!

[leeophonic]

Jupiter ceramic is this not the top of the range from Milkman in terms of speaker???

Lee

[Michael Messer]

Hi Kris

I am sure you will get other opinions, but mine is...

10w is quite a loud amp. If you are looking for distortion at small gigs without splitting the enamel on the audience's teeth, my advice would be to go for a 5w amp with 10" speaker, rather than a 12" inch one. 10" is easier to push into a warm distortion, especially in small rooms. I have used amps of this power for many years on stage and in studios with bands. Things like Champs and old Supro amps are amazing sounding. I never use anything bigger. I don't use my resonator guitars for this type of playing, I use an electric guitar and always prefer Jensen Alnico Blue to most other speakers.

I started using using small amps in the mid 90s and have used nothing else since then. All my electric guitar recordings and performances since that time are 5w amps with no effects, just guitar plugged into amp.

I think you should try a few different amps and be sure of what you are getting.


photo by Alan Messer©

Shine On
Michael

[Kris]

That has a cleaner sound doesn’t it Lee?

[Kris]

Thank you Michael, that is much appreciated. I was leaning towards the blue from the YouTube videos I was listening to but as you say you need to try and hear them in person

Good call on the 5W, thank you.

Out of interest has anyone tried the National amps? I imagine they are thin on the ground in the U.K.

[Deleted]

Hello Kris

I just read some reviews on the Milkman Pint amplifier...sounds like an excellent bluesy brown sound amp... Two parallel output tubes in pure class A operation. Would be cool to try different 6v6s...

But I just want to float the notion that driving such an amp with a National Resonator with pickup is not like driving it with a Les Paul Junior or Strat...and as such the result may not be worth the expenditure.

I have no pickups on my Nationals so hopefully others will chime in on this. (I recall seeing your new Nats here....wow...phenomenal!,)

And yeah what Michael said is correct.

I dont know if these are available in the UK... i think they make the amps for NRP

www.vintage47amps.com/

[Kris]

Thank you Fred! I have read wonderful things about the Milkman and they are just beautiful too. I like the idea of a little boutique amp made with such attention to detail.

I hear you, the sound I really want to achieve does call for an electric guitar rather than a Reso. That is on my “one day in the not too distant future” purchase list! I thought it would be a nice amp to have a little play with on my resos when I do want to have a bit of fun with not-so-clean tones, with a view to get a more suitable electric guitar to marry with the amp in the future.

At this stage I am mind blown by the choices out there when it comes to electric guitars for slide. That is a whole ‘nuther question isn’t it, though I would love to hear your suggestions on this one, as an interesting aside! (Maybe this calls for a separate post!) I guess, more than anything, I hadn’t asked yet in a desperate attempt to prevent catching another bout of guitar acquisition syndrome!!

[Andymccann]

A LP junior with a P90 and 11s would be/is a great combination

[Deleted]

Kris

I think the basic formula for a brown sounding guitar to go with such an amp would be a hollow or thinline hollow or semi-hollow body guitar equipped with P90 or other single coil pickups. Think Gibson ES125, Kay Thin Twin, Guild Aristocrat...

NB Brown sound is a term that in my mind describes the Chicago blues sound, and the word brown is derived from the term “brown out” used to describe when a voltage drops down due to a heavy electrical current load...similarly derived term “black out” is when the voltage goes totally off. The old amps could not supply the required voltage for the tubes at full volume driven with powerful pickups, and they browned out...after as while the fuse would blow and black out...

[Michael Messer]

Kris, National and Supro amps from the 40s and 50s are wonderful, but if you mean recently made amps bearing their logos, don't bother.

The Milkman amps look good and are well rated, but I would really advise you to try them in person. Try the 10w and the 5w

Shine On
Michael

[vent]

Have a look at Rat Valve Amps, they're modded versions of commercially available amps.

No longer being modded but they crop up used fairly regularly at affordable prices.

I've got mods of Bugera V5 boutique amp and Epiphone Valve Junior (with added spring reverb tank). They have power scaling meaning they can distort a lower volume, ideal for practice. Easily loud enough cranked.

The power scaling on the Valve Junior has a "brown out" setting as mentioned by FC above.

Both are 5w, really portable and the modding has ironed out any problems that the original models had.

The website may tell you what need to know about the various mods that have been done. He may still handwire Fender Blues Juniors, I'm not sure.

www.ratvalveamps.com/

[Pickers Ditch]

A Vox AC4TV would be worth a try out - they're a lot cheaper and are switchable up to 5W.

I play a Danelectro 59DC through one.

[leeophonic]

There is a small Swart on ebay at the moment which would appeal to me if I were looking to re-stock the Amps, currently I am well catered for but the Milkman are also on my wish list should my numbers come up tonight!!!

Which electric guitar, well that is more of a bottomless pit than the reso world, I guess look at who you like the sound of and have a look at what they are using, but it is all in the fingers...

Lee

[Kris]

Thank you folks! A huge wealth of amazing knowledge and info on this thread as I knew there would be!

I know there will be an electric guitar in my future. I just want to pour a lot of research into it and get the right one for me which will involve a lot of travel and learning. Thank you for the recommendations! What do you fine folks think of the Tele thinline with an f hole (it’s semi hollow if I’m correct?) I know the Tele is popular amongst slide players but I always wondered if the fretboard radius would be less than ideal, unless it was a custom shop job.

[Deleted]

All good suggestions, except I would say stick with hand-wired all tube amps. Keep it simple, no built in effects other than tremolo or reverb. If you were willing to spend the $$ on the Milkman, there are many great options. You just have to be able to differentiate the coloration of the sound that the amp will put out... Most high quality amps are a one trick pony either Tweed, Black face fender, silver face fender, brit/vox, marshall, chicago/valco... so keep that in mind.