celestion vintage 30s

[esandes]

i'm in the market for a new cabinet and i'm thinking of a 2x12 or 4x12 with vintage 30s. i used to really like the marshall 1936 2x12 celection g12t-75 cabinet i used to rock out through but i'm hearing clips of the vintage 30 compared with the g12t-75 and the g12t-75 sounds really scooped with the mids. the vintage 30 sounds way more clear and has more mids.

what are your thoughts? the 4x12 greenback loaded cabinet i currently use sounds similar to the vintage 30 from what i hear online but the vintage 30 sounds a bit more clear and crisp with some extra nice overdriven clean chimes.

are these speakers still built in england?

when mesa boogie refers to it's cabinets with V30 speakers, does that mean they are really celestion vintage 30s? or just a knockoff?

 

[everdrone]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

not sure if this helps, but I have v30s in my orange 212PPC and will be replacing them with neodymium speakers to make it weigh 15 pounds less. I checked out the specs on the speaker websites and am prolly gonna go with eminence tonkerlites...

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

A good number of my cabs have Vin 30/G12T-75. After all my experimentation, I don't like criss crossed speaker configurations anymore. I like two of the same on bottom, and two of the same on top. Side by side, only if it's a 212 cab. By doing it this way, a 412 sounds the same as you walk around it side to side. I use the bassier set on the bottom.

So I really like 412's with Vin 30 on top and either G12T-75's or H30's on bottom.

Overall, I'd say to mix Vin 30's with either of those two. The 75's for rock/metal, and the H30's for pop/classic.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

IMHO, Vintage 30's are boxy and stiff until they are fairly heavily broken in. They also need to be played at high volume in order to sound their best. When they are played loud, and broken in, then they sound awesome; they have a great "sizzle" to them once they loosen up a bit. But played quiet, and not broken in, they are pretty boring sounding speakers to me.

Greenbacks can have the opposite problem. They sound dirty, aggressive and loose, but they can get too loose sometimes. They get sloppy on the bottom end, and and don't cut through the mix well enough. They are absolutely killer at low volumes, but don't really hold together that well when you turn them up.

However, these two speakers together is an AWESOME combo. When each one's deficiencies would normally be kicking in, the other one is there to take up the slack. In a 4x12, two Vintage 30's on the bottom and two Greenbacks on the top is a killer setup.

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

but the vintage 30 sounds a bit more clear and crisp with some extra nice overdriven clean chimes.

Yep that's V30s compared to GBs. However, I don't like V30s with non master volume amps anymore. With channel switchers there are fine.

but i'm hearing clips of the vintage 30 compared with the g12t-75 and the g12t-75 sounds really scooped with the mids. the vintage 30 sounds way more clear and has more mids.

The 75s are way scooped in the mids. The V30 has fat mids. The H30 has slightly scooped mids but not as bad as the 75s. Therefore mixing a H30 and V30 together has become a popular option in recent years. The H30 works with non master amps better than the V30 because of nicer breakup though.

 

[esandes]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

i'm also looking at fane speakers but i can't find any clips online for reference. the original hiwatt cabs were fane loaded and the same purple back speakers are discontinued. i do enjoy the chime and clarity of the hiwatt tones i hear from albums. plus randy rhodes used fanes and we're all aware of his tones.

 

[some_dude]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

when mesa boogie refers to it's cabinets with V30 speakers, does that mean they are really celestion vintage 30s? or just a knockoff?

Mesa Boogie's V30s are made in England by Celestion.

Most other V30s are made in China by Celestion.

Mesa's are based on the original Celestion V30 design. Quite early on (1990?) Celestion changed the design and in the process changed the sound. Mesa didn't like the change and insisted on the old design so Celestion produces them as a custom build for Mesa. The rest is history.

 

[CTN]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

i'm in the market for a new cabinet and i'm thinking of a 2x12 or 4x12 with vintage 30s. i used to really like the marshall 1936 2x12 celection g12t-75 cabinet i used to rock out through but i'm hearing clips of the vintage 30 compared with the g12t-75 and the g12t-75 sounds really scooped with the mids. the vintage 30 sounds way more clear and has more mids.

what are your thoughts? the 4x12 greenback loaded cabinet i currently use sounds similar to the vintage 30 from what i hear online but the vintage 30 sounds a bit more clear and crisp with some extra nice overdriven clean chimes.

are these speakers still built in england?

when mesa boogie refers to it's cabinets with V30 speakers, does that mean they are really celestion vintage 30s? or just a knockoff?

your ears are serving you well. your descriptions are BANG ON.

Modern production V30s are made in China, but they sound just as good as the old English production ones.

As for Mesa V30s, I'm pretty sure they just use the standard off-the-shelf V30s, definitely not a knockoff. If anything, they might be very slightly customized by Celestion for Mesa's amp voicing.

 

[esandes]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

Mesa Boogie's V30s are made in England by Celestion.

Most other V30s are made in China by Celestion.

Mesa's are based on the original Celestion V30 design. Quite early on (1990?) Celestion changed the design and in the process changed the sound. Mesa didn't like the change and insisted on the old design so Celestion produces them as a custom build for Mesa. The rest is history.

good to know. if only my long & mcquade stocked a lot more cabinets, then i could try them out and see.

i guess alot of folks are really fond of the celestion blue and gold for their alnico magic and mids/highs emphasis. my ceramic greenbacks sound a bit flabby on the low end. i prefer tighter bass. maybe the mesa is the way to go.

 

[Ascension]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

I have sold off all my Vin 30 Celestions in favor of WGS's.

Bottom line the WGS's are 1/2 the price assembled in the USA and they SOUND better!
Retro 30

Vet 30/ Vin 30 shoot out

vet 30/ retro 30 shoot out

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

G12K100's have more mids than g12T's and more bottom end than v30s. Good sounding, often overlooked speakers - they even sound fat in open cabs.

 

[GregJr]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

i'm also looking at fane speakers but i can't find any clips online for reference. the original hiwatt cabs were fane loaded and the same purple back speakers are discontinued. i do enjoy the chime and clarity of the hiwatt tones i hear from albums. plus randy rhodes used fanes and we're all aware of his tones.

Eminence equivilant of Fane/Hiwatt= Tonker. http://www.eminence.com/speakers/speaker-detail/?model=Tonker

Checkout Eminence / Celestion Speaker Cross Comparison Chart. http://thetoneking.com/wp/eminence-celestion-speaker-comparison-chart/

 

[mwalluk]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

I love English V30s. My 212 has v30s in em. I had the MIC one, doesn't compare to the UK

 

[Louisiana Boy]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

When I had my VOX 2 12 Cabinet built I auditioned all celestion speakers.
I think at the celestion website you can hear them.
I chose the Vintage 30's, because they were the clearest, brightest, ones.
I found a Fender 4 12 Celestion Vintage 30 at Musician Friend
They were giving them away at $299, but now are $900
I got minw around 2002.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ampl...per-sonic-100-412-4x12-guitar-speaker-cabinet
The Celestion Vintage 30 are $145 Individually.
If you already have a cabinet you might want to just replace the speakers in it. Everything has gone up so much in the last 10 years.
I am always looking for a bargain and Fenders Squier line of guitars and bass's are real good deal, as long as you get the top of the line Squiers at about $400.
Well that's about all I know about the Celestion V 30's. Oh and you can listen here. http://celestion.com/. Good Luck.

 

[esandes]

Re: celestion vintage 30s

I found a Fender 4 12 Celestion Vintage 30 at Musician Friend
They were giving them away at $299, but now are $900
.

:eyecrazy: