Re: EVM 12L vs Celestion V90
Are you talking about the Celestion V-30...or the C-90? I don't know of a V-90.
The EVM in Mesa amps is my favorite. I have these in Mark III and IV combos and their matching 112 Thiele cabs. The handle 200 watts, so the don't have much breakup. What you put in is what you get out of them. Please note that I am often playing very clean, or fully distorted ala Santana; I dont do a lot of crunch rhythms.
I have a C-90 in my Mark V combo. I am using this combo with a Mesa Closed-Back Wide-Body 112 with a Celestion Vintage 30. The C-90 has that Celestion "snarl". The V-30 in the big Thiele-ported cab adds a lot of deep fatness. It is a very nice blend.
The C-90 also works well with EVMs. I have a Mesa 412 Half-Back cab with the C-90s in the open top and EVMs in the closed bottom. Favorite cab with my big Mark III head. Great blend of clean power with just the right amount of top end bite. I have this cab with four EVMs, and I think I like the mixed cab better. I would add though, I'm not as fond of the C-90 when used as the only speakers in some Mesa's high-powered 212 combos...Heartbreaker, Tremoverb, et.al. Did NOT like them in a Maverick.
I also have the C-90 in a 212 Half-Back, with the Mesa/Eminence Black Shadow MS-12. Another good combo; the Eminence is reputed to be a JBL D-120 clone...very smooth, creamy mids with a slight high-end roll off. The C-90 again fills in nicely what is missing in the MS-12.
I really like the V-30s too. I have these in a Mesa Horizontal Recto 212, a DC-3 112 combo, and a Maverick 212 combo. Not much to say about them...they just work...and work very well.
I also have a Celestion 100 in a blue-stripe Mark III combo; have to add that I'm not crazy about this one. It's a little TOO aggressive for my taste...the blue-stripe Mark III is generally regarded as the most aggressively voiced version of this amp, so that may be part of it.
So I'd have to say that all of them are good choices. And I can tell you that mixing them ain't a bad idea either.
Bill
