Celestion G12M-65 Creamback 8 Ohm

My first impression was WOW. My first thought was it's about time! In my opinion, Celestion is to a guitar amp's tone what water is to a fish swimming in the sea. It makes up 90% of it, and without it your tone would die a slow and horrible death. That's me hearing Creambacks for the first time – Yeah, I'm in disbelief.

I'm a 212 cabinet greenback player and have been for a while. I have always loved the tone I can achieve but never loved the volume restrictions. Now there is no way I was going to change my setup just to be louder, but I do get buried in an unmiked environment. The amp I'm currently using is a JTM45 Marshall clone with a 212er cabinet made by Tube Town. With the Greenbacks I can not turn up past 3 o'clock while retaining my desired tone; so to say the least, I was excited to hear that the Creambacks were at 65 watts and had similar voicing to the Greenbacks.

So, back to business and the review...I was playing a set of Creambacks recently at a friend's occasion in his house. He's using similar equipment as I do. I was a happy camper at that day, as they were sonically really really great and nailed the sound I was looking for quite scarying on the spot. They sounded like broken-in Greenbacks with a bigger bottom and a ton of headroom. The amp gods were smiling on me. It is what I have always wanted; my Greenbacks just to be LOUDER! To sum it up!!! There's not much to say about this speaker except, if a Greenback is your best friend and the Creamback is his loud big sister with a big bottom, you need to play with her. :-)

My advice:
If you are a Greenback player that wants the headroom --> Buy this speaker!

I ordered this speaker along with a low cost 'american style' tube amplifier and boy do they sing. The speaker is perfect to provide that crystal clean sound, heard from famous names like John Mayer. The clean sounds are terrific and it really lets through all the touch sensitivity of the amplifier. Bass is very tight and clear, and the high ends are bright but not overdone. Many people use this speaker for overdriven british style sounds, however this is not to be mistaken as capable of just that, It is used by famous boutique amplifier manufactures who know this, two rock, morgan and matchless to name a few. The overdriven sound is equally pleasing, and produces a dark rock/blues sound with plenty of bass. I found myself having to back off the bass and turn up the tone, as it shakes the whole room!

Build quality is as usual, excellent from Celestion, this speaker is made in the UK and is rock solid in construction.

A brilliant speaker, I would recommend it very highly to anyone!

The Celestion Creamback I got from Thomann completely changed the feel of my amp. It has that perfect balance between vintage warmth and modern clarity. The low end is thick and punchy without getting muddy, the mids are rich and musical, and the highs stay smooth even when pushing gain hard.

For clean tones, it gives a warm, full-bodied sound with great depth, especially for blues and fusion styles. With overdrive and distortion, the speaker really shines — chords stay articulate, lead tones become creamy and vocal-like, and palm mutes hit with authority. It feels more dynamic and responsive compared to many modern speakers that can sound too stiff or harsh.

What impressed me most is how well it records. The Creamback sits in a mix naturally without needing excessive EQ, and it captures that classic rock character while still handling modern tones beautifully. It pairs especially well with Marshall-style amps and edge-of-breakup sounds.

Thomann delivered everything perfectly, and the speaker arrived in excellent condition. Definitely one of the best upgrades I’ve made to my guitar rig, especially for studio work.