Or Defence if you're from across the pond , like the speakers .... Over the years Ive seen a lotta 75 & 70 bashing ....hell ,I even participate in it . They get a bad rap for being too top end harsh But my eyes began to open a few years ago when I got a 1966 with 2x75s . I coupled it with one of my homebrew tweed bassmans and they sounded great (though I still replaced em with 65s) A friend of mine had a 4104 with a pair of lousy light Pyle 12's in it .I gave him a pair of 70's ,while I had the amp open ,I did my personal tweaks on it . Sounded fat n like a proper Marshall Then I had a Peavey Pacer with a late 70's square mag Eminence . I thought a Celestion might improve the tone a little . I stuck a 75 in it .....It was DARK as fck !! Too dark /muffly to be useable . This proved to me ,the legendary harshness was not the 75 MY conclusion is that the bright / harshness is from the Marshall amps of that era ,rather than those speakers Anyone else notice this ? Im using my stockpile of 75s n 70s more nowdays in stray cabs ,$45 Crates and other stuff
I like my 75's. A nice bottom, little scoop and enough highs if you want them. People constantly say "That was with everything at 12 o'clock" or "all controls maxed." That is not dialing an amplifier in for any sort of sound. Still even if dialed in what they are hearing is their preference.
I like my 75 2x12 very much with my amp, not dark, not bright, just perfect in the middle. Dont forget pickups have a lot to do with your sound.
Nothing wrong with 75s...used them for years without thinking. Their a good moderately priced speaker. There are 'more expressive' speakers that I prefer. There always at least cool to mix!
I just put 4 75s in that old Crate bv412s I got for cheap last week. Sounds great for what it is. I do prefer Greenbacks, but that is just a little more vintage sound versus modern. It's good to have options.
I have heard some GREAT 75's, mainly from the 80's/early 90's, so I will go along....but the G12M70's? Sorry.
I've got a quad of 70's, they sound too muffled to my ears. The 75's have been my speaker of choice for the last five years now.
I had some 70's, in a '84 or so, 4104. Didn't like 'em. Changed them out. I've used 75's and don't have anything negative to say about them. I even have a pair of 75's on the shelf that I keep as spares, so I must have decided they were ok, otherwise they would have ended up on the 'bay. Lately I been sucking down a lot of that good old greenback kool-aid.
I dunno, my feelings about the 75s are kinda mixed. I never played 70s so I can't comment on those. We have a Marshall 412 with 75s at the rehearsal space that belongs to another guitar player, I use that with my DSL 100. I have noticed that the highs sound kinda thin and grainy, so you gotta be careful with the presence and treble controls. Does it work in a mix? Not as good as my V30 equipped cab but they get the job done. I use a slant Marshall 412 with original G12-65s and a straight one that came with 75s where I have put in some Marshall branded V30s quite a while ago. I must say I can hear some similarities between the 65s and the 75s, they have a certain graininess to them that identifies them as relatives. The 65s however have a more rounded top end, more pronounced midrange and the lows are less boomy but still tight. I much prefer them even though sometimes they can be a bit too wooly and "well behaved" for my liking. Leads do sing though and they do the old school metal sound very well. The 75s on the other hand fare well for more aggressive stuff because they have that attack and rasp in the high end. You can bump the mids on your amp to fill em out a bit more and the lows have a full and chuggy quality to them. So I don't hate them, but given the choice I'd take my V30s or 65s over them any day. Especially the V30s that can sometimes sound too honky and nasal by themselves, in a mix they never fail. So I think the 75s are kinda industry standard. If you go to a gig and have a cab with them provided they'll get the job done. Just don't scoop the mids on the amp or you'll dissappear.
It is nearly always the amp/speaker combination. I have a pair of 75s in a 2x12 and they are quite decent speakers - you seem to get out what you put in. Darker than Goodmans, more scooped than T12221s an lot less than golds or blues. No magic fairy dust but quite ok and enough capacity not to blow them up.
For a long time I would have totally agreed with you, I had a pair in a 2x12 as an extension cab for my HR Deville - harsh, spiky and thin. Latterly my son has been using them in an open back Orange 2x12 and for higher gain/metal sounds it is pretty good. The demerits did show up when you A-B them when we were trying to find a good match for an Orange ORST. We tried back to back with T1217s, T1511s and T1221s, Celestion Alnico Golds, Goodmans Audiom 50s and Fane Alnicos. The T1217s came out top with warmth, depth, smoothness and general complexity of tones, although the Fanes sounded pretty good in the clean range.
In fairness, I think they're a speaker you really have to beat on . They're not MY thing , and neither are G 12 H ....though I got a few
I am talking the 102 3 coned 'prerola version from late 60s, early 70s. I had some G12H anniversaries and they had to go!
I use a pair of V30's in the bottom of my B cab with 6 greenies above. They work pretty nice for that. Don't think I would like them by themselves.
The internet has sullied the t75 pretty badly... Everyone now thinks a t75 will automatically make you sound like an "scooped" 80's thrash metal band...couldn't be further from the truth. I had to mod out some of the mids in my 3203 Artist to compliment the t75's a little better. Just way too mid heavy like a Mesa Mark series amp before the mod. Great speaker. Even better mixed top/bottom with 25 watt GB's!
I find a lot of variance in the exact same type of speaker. This is why I think a stack sounds so good. A mix of lots of different sounds. Each of these speakers in the same Quad box sounds very different. The four phrases at the start are each speaker, I tried as best I could to get the mic in the same position on each one. I then used the two I thought suited what I was playing on each track.