They say that the core of every good amp is the electronics that you can find inside when you pull everything apart. But there is also another important element which is often overlooked.
The type and configuration of speakers you are running in your combo amp or cab is what can make or break the sound.
Look at it this way. You can have the best tubes in the world packed on the most expressive board, but none of that will matter much if you don’t have a decent set of speakers to back up this great fictional amp.
Great thing about guitar speakers is that you can change them As a matter of fact, many people do. This is already entering a very specific amp tuning territory. However, sometimes it comes down to pure necessity.
Speakers, just like any other piece of tech, are known to fail from time to time. Instead of going out and buying a whole new amp, you could just take out the broken speakers and replace them with a new set. When it comes to aftermarket speakers, WGS ET-65 is one of the most cost effective options at the moment.
Today we are going to see why that is the case.
WGS, or Warehouse Guitar Speakers is a small company out in Kentucky, which produces a variety of hand made guitar speakers. The town they are in is known as the speaker manufacturing center of hat part of continental US.
Needless to say, them and people they are surrounded by definitely have the knowledge necessary to create some impressive speakers.The one we are looking at today belongs to their British Invasion series. It’s a bit different from their usual models, but it brings a number of benefits.
Features
WGS ET-65 was designed to replace Celestion G12-65. This is apparent both from the way this speaker is made, and the type of tone it offers. Since Warehouse Guitar Speakers makes all of their speakers by hand, you can expect to get great build quality as well as reliability.
ET-65 is rated at 65 Watts, and comes in several impedance versions. There is 16 ohm, 8 ohm and 4 ohm variant available. Installation is pretty simple, and can be done with little to no effort.
If you are replacing all of the speakers in a 4×12 cab, Warehouse Guitar Speakers recommends you install two of these in combination with two Veteran 30s, which is another great model. If this is something you’re interested in doing, make sure you install them in an X pattern for best results.
The resonant range you can expect from the ET-65 is 98.69 Hz, which is actually pretty decent. Even though this speaker weighs 10 lbs. the cone itself is pretty light.
Performance
The genre of music for which Warehouse Guitar Speakers recommends the use of this speaker is mostly centered around classic [su_highlight background=”#f5ff99″]rock[/su_highlight] and [su_highlight background=”#99b2ff”]blues[/su_highlight]. This is because the overall performance of the ET-65 is streamlined toward that type of sound on purpose. We are talking about very soft lows and crisp highs. This contradicting combination is only complemented by a very well defined mid range.
The light weight cone Warehouse Guitar Speakers installs on these speakers ensures a very quick response. This translates to a very active sound that just flows.
The name British Invasion doesn’t really mean that these speakers offer your standard British color of sound. On the contrary, these are pretty flexible. The only thing that might not sit right with ET-65 are high amounts of gain. But that depends on several things.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS-slR3FsPI”][/su_youtube]
WGS ET-65 vs Celestion Greenback
Generally, Warehouse Guitar Speakers ET-65 is a great replacement for more than just the G12-65 model of Celestions, it can actually cover a wider range of these legendary speakers. In terms of price, the WGS ET-65 is reasonably priced. It’s definitely not cheap when compared to the market average, but you get what you pay for. A good sound is always worth an investment, that is for sure.
Only thing you need to be careful about with these speakers is to break them in properly. If you overload them right away, you can irreversibly damage them.
What we like
When you go out to buy a speaker and you find out it is hand made in United States, you know you are dealing with quality. The performance of these speakers puts them on the same plane of excellence with most Celestions, vintage or new.
Compared to other aftermarket guitar speakers, Warehouse Guitar Speakers ET-65s are definitely near the top of the list.
What we don’t like
As long as you follow manufacturer’s instructions, you shouldn’t have a single issue with this speaker. We found it to be quite pleasant within the range of genres Warehouse Guitar Speakers recommends.
When pushed to more extreme types of metal, it loses some of the edge, but that definitely doesn’t affect the overall performance too much. The Veteran 30/ET-65 combo is probably the best way you can use these speakers.
Final thoughts
When it comes the time to swap the speakers, you are presented with a very delicate issue. If you install something that doesn’t fit your amp aside from being the right size, you are in trouble.
A wrong speaker can make an otherwise great amp sound dull and empty. Doing some research is not only recommended, but it’s necessary if you want to get your amp back. On the other hand, if you just want to upgrade the existing speakers with something better, you probably already know what you’re after.
With that being said, we were pleasantly surprised by Warehouse Guitar Speakers. This small company offers all kinds of great speakers. British Invasion ET-65 is just one that we found to be particularly interesting, however they have so many more awesome models.
It’s safe to say that Warehouse Guitar Speakers is the type of company you can trust to refurbish your amp or cab with a great set of aftermarket speakers. You would be surprised at the difference a fresh speaker can make.