Note: Summarize (Reader Digest Version): Read everything in bold and underline. :wink:
You can't go wrong with a pair of Celestion Blues. Goes good with quartet of EL84s.
If you want to go with 1-12" what about a Celestion Gold? Basically a Celestion Blues that handles 50 watts. From what I read, it does sound slightly different than a Gold.
But these speakers are quite expensive.
I play mostly covers nowadays. Not going to be rock star. That boat left the dock ( lol )
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To give you some background on the Weber speaker combo (Blue Dog, Silver Bell) I mentioned here it is:
Weber's Blue Dog is poor man's version of Celestion Blues. Only a real discriminating ear could tell the difference between the two.
Weber's Silver Bell is basically a Blue Dog with more and tighter bottom and a smoother top end. And some say the Blue Dog (like the Celestion Blues) have a harsh top-end that they would like to be a little more "rounder" "smoother", thus the design of the Silver Bell.
My application, its great for clean, moderate clean (hint of break up) to moderate gain. You don't get much of a trace of gritty-ness especially if you switch to the rectifier tube.
For me, Weber Blue Dog / Silver Bell covers 60's, 70's. Even if you push the gain on the "bottom" (hi-gain) channel, lead mode, you still get a smooth gain tone.
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Now say you need some edge-ness, hi-gain 80ish, say Van Halen like, switch to the silicon rectifier, "bottom" channel switch to "lead" setting, dial in more gain. Scoup out the mids, raise the bass ...
=> The Celestion Greenback / Celestion G12H-30 is great (for me).
But if you need more SPL and grit then go with Vintage 30s. If you asks me, a Vintage 30 is like a Greenback with more bottom end, more high mids, more SPL. The G12H-30 is in-between those two.
For me, the Maverick likes British type speakers.