Staying Neutral with Celestion's F12-X200 speaker.
Conventional guitar speakers are, by their very nature, not neutral. To solve this, a full range flat response (FRFR) speaker is typically deployed. However, that all-important ‘musical’ character musicians get when playing through guitar speakers is lost when using an FRFR. John Paice, marketing and artist relations at Celestion, explains why the F12-X200 full range live response speaker provides an (almost) neutral characteristic across the entire frequency band, but also delivers the feeling of playing through a guitar speaker.
“For guitar players who use modeling and profiling amps, a full range flat response loudspeaker is viewed as highly desirable for delivering the output of your emulated set-up in all its glory,” begins Paice. “While this can provide an impressive amount of detail and fidelity, it can also lack the physicality and the tactile and auditory feedback you get from playing a bona-fide guitar speaker. It feels different; colder - more sterile, perhaps.”
Traditionally, electric guitar players have plugged into an amplifier connected to a speaker cabinet to create their sound. For decades, the guitar player stood in front of a wall of iconic Marshall stacks. However, Marshall - and companies like them - wouldn’t be where they are without the loudspeakers that partner with their amps.
“When making a purchasing decision, guitar players choose an amplifier brand based (at least in part) on whether they like that amp’s sound,” says Paice. “And it’s even more the case for the guitar speaker that is used with the amp. Unlike a home-fi speaker or a PA speaker at a concert, guitar speakers don’t just reproduce amplified sound, they significantly contribute to its tonality.”
“Conventional guitar speakers are, by their very nature, not neutral - their purpose is to contribute a desirable tonality to the guitar sound. The modelled tone already has a speaker tone built into it, so you don’t want to overlay another guitar speaker’s tone over it, adding an additional flavor to the one you already chose. We want the amp’s output to be reproduced by very neutral sounding speakers.”
This is where Celestion’s F12-X200 comes in! You can use the F12-X200 anywhere you are using a modeling amp with impulse responses: in a backline cab, a monitor wedge on stage, at home, or in the studio, …
What the F12-X200 speaker does is bring both key characteristics together in one loudspeaker. It truly is a full range driver, delivering a frequency response from 60Hz all the way up to 20kHz, with a sensitivity of 96dB. The F12-X200’s response is remarkably neutral, with Celestion technology built in to ensure there are no unwanted colourations that could overpower the input signal. The whole response of the speaker is live, delivering all the physical response and tactile feedback musicians would expect from playing a traditional guitarist’s set-up.
“It doesn’t just sound like you’re playing a guitar through a guitar speakers, it feels like it too. ”