A long time coming but eventually I pulled the trigger on a pair of remaining stock Liberator 80s for my dirty rhythm sound - interestingly enough they're the earlier blue label, WGS logo ones. Couldn't be happier as they seem to do just what I wanted them to, just the right amount of lows and mids to keep it fluid yet retain tonal integrity.
This obviously fanned the fire to do the dirty lead sound. We're still talking Marshall JMP based woman tone/ violin tone here, leaning into fusion and progressive.
We had the ET65 up for discussion before but have never experienced this type in the above context. It being described as 'scooped' shouldn't exclude it from the investigation but obviously may require some more aggressive EQ-ing to getting there. In my past experience of the Reaper HP, comparatively, it proved a tough cookie to tame in this fashion, with its ample lows and highs.
Such a shame you don't have a fair demo of the Invader - an A/B of it and the ET65 would obviously be a smash, the one or the other being quite frequently discussed. Although it's described as more aggressive and honky, in clips it seems to take to my kind of tones more easily, although I usually don't care much for bullet dustcap speakers. A user of the Invader (sorry, forgot the name) said they're even quite smooth on top and paired one w. a Lib to add brightness, wouldn't you know.
Sooo ... the Liberator was a very greenback voiced speaker ... as is, of course, our Green Beret and ... yep, the Invader!
I currently have a Lib in a 1/3 open cab as my "shop speaker" ... so I've heard it a lot and with a lot of different amps. The Lib certainly speaks with a very mid-heavy voice! I think the main issue with the Lib is that ... as an 80-watt speaker ... it just doesn't loosen up and start to sound good until it's hit fairly hard. The Invader, at 50-watts, it a lot more in the sweet-spot. It opens up and sounds full with even the 7-ish watts of a Fender Champ ... but can also take a full 50-watt Marshall all by its self! Overall, if you like the Liberators ... you'll love the Invaders!
Thanx, mate! Great input and an interesting point you're making. Would have been enriching to hear you demoing this cab and speaker to get your point of reference, as the Libs I have seem rather neutral. But then the cabs I use were made to impersonate 4x12s in the lows, which could influence the outcome by a bit.
Anyway: the difference between the two speakers being what it is and from what you're saying, the Vaders do seem like the way to go in this context. And the Vaders being smoother and more capable GBs it seems about right for it.
Coming to think about it I may just get the reference you were making the Lib having a GB quality to it. The mids are more rounded than the jaggy mids a comparable, high power Celestion would have. Perhaps this is why
Oh, anyway, I have a pair of Invaders on their way at this very moment. Shouldn't be too long now... 3 more days or so. Should I find the pair overly honky I'll just find some way to fill them out, possibly replacing one of them with something else.
I don't think you'll find them overly honky ... and yes! "The mids are more rounded than the jaggy mids a comparable, high power Celestion would have" ...Exactly.
Please post back here with your results!
Just got them today and slammed them into the lead cab first thing. They still have a long way to go before fully broken in, but they sound just lovely out of the box. This shimmer on the top end is just so delicate and airy once the amp is dialed in right. Mids, like you said, are very round and vocal. Lows are round and decently tight
For somebody like myself who take good care with their tone and may be using pedals of a particular character they want to come through properly, you really couldn't go wrong with these. You want to add layers upon layers of overtones, safely assured they would be treated gently and honestly. Pedal dirt doesn't sound so pedally at all.
Like the Lib the Inv is easy and straight forward to dial in. The descriptors for the highend had me befuzzled and they did seem quite woofy and muddled before I set to work on the knobs. Soon, however, I found a setting that's about 90% of where I wanted to go with them. There's something about the mids and highs that seems to tie in with WGS speakers that's a new experience for me.
And I have to say they do look quite tasty in person. This light green, 'cucumber' hammer finish is a treat for the eye as much as their cones are to the ear. Such a shame I have to cover them up. I had anticipated them to be grassier or limier in colour, basically asking me to hide them away in a cab, and I can only assume they tend to photograph that way.