Re: Tone search revisited.
Both the G12H-30 and Vintage 30 have a similar frequency response sporting a smooth top-end, pronounced mids, and a strong but tight lower-end. The 30's are a bit more peaky in the mids and G12H-30 have slightly more bass.
The major difference being is that the V30 is more aggressive and the G12H-30 is more mellow and sweet. V30s sound more compressed and G12H-30 are bit more open. They compliment each other well and seem to handle most styles across the board. Under heavy gain, V30s are more clear but it you really want to ROCK in a more traditional sense, the G12H-30 is THE voice of rock n' roll! Taking it one step further, Greenbacks will give off more edgy/dirty character.
Using the low sensitivity input with the AOR to get a clean sound, the G12H-30 and Greenies win for me as with their openess and brillant top-end. That's not to say the V30s are no good, maybe just slightly stiff/dull.
On the high-input using the normal channel, it's classic rock all the way with the G12H-30s and Greenies. Chords ring with complexity. V30s sound more sustained, focused and compress a lot easier for lead work.
The AOR channel will favour the V30s for the most extreme settings. Again they stay more clear, focused and sustained. G12H-30s and Greenies will fuzz out easier, which could be more favourable for a stoner rock/doom metal type of sound. Greenies are the biggest culprit for this. In any instance, the pre-gain knob on the normal knob channel whilst using the AOR channel in high gain should be kept at a minimum to avoid fuzzing out too much.
I know I'm sounding like a broken record but you'll get the most versatility with a V30/G12H-30 combination. I've haven't used each of them enough though to really favour either one. If you get a pair of G12H-30s and stick in an x-pattern with your 75s you may love them or hate the fact you can still hear them. They won't "cancel out" what you don't like about the 75s. If you want to do away completely with modern tones and remain strictly in the old-school realm then I would go with all G12H-30s. Go with Greenbacks if you want maximum speaker colouration.
FYI, I'm not actually using real celestion Vintage 30s. I've got a pair of those cheaper WGS Warehouse Vintage 30 clones. To my ears, they sound very much like the real deal for only a fraction of the cost.
http://warehousespeakers.com/proddetail.php?prod=veteran30_12
Some people say that the WGS Veteran 30 is like an improved version of the Vintage 30. I've had limited real world experience with real Celestion V30s but I will say that my WGS V30s didn't sound as anywhere near as peaky in the mids as I expected them to be.
