Avatar Hellatone 30

My experience is a bit different than some of the others on here as I didn't install mine in a nice high end tube amp. Mine went into a lowly Marshall 8040 - a first generation Valvestate. It's a 40 watt combo with 1 12" speaker and a single 12ax7 tube in the preamp. It came with a stock Celestion - I forget the model number but it was one of their cheaper ones, G12L or something like that. I bought the amp used for a pretty low price just to use as a back up for my Mesa Boogie. Before the swap the amp sounded fair at best, pretty thin sounding. But after installing the Hellatone, it was like a totally different amp - absolutely night and day! I've done speaker swaps in amps before, but I've never heard such a radical difference. If you heard this amp in a blindfold test, you'd be very surprised to find that it's a Valvestate. It sounds fantastic now - so much fuller and richer.It's got a low end presence that it didn't have before, and the highs are much more sparkly without being brittle. Overall, it's a very balanced sound.

I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and have owned many amps and done a number of speaker swaps. But I've never been so impressed with a speaker before. I found this one at a music swap meet where it was new and I bought it for $60. I hadn't heard of the company before, but the fact that it was based on one of the better Celestions was a selling point. Definitely the best $60 I've spent.

I want to make it very clear that I don't play blues, jazz, or anything clean. 6505+ head modded to high heavens. I have been searching for 2 speakers to match with the stock Celestion 75s in a Marshall 1960A. The 75s took care of the bass and treble punch, I needed something with more mids that didn't come off as harsh. Vintage 30's, WGS Veteran 30s and Celestion G12H30 speakers all sounded very harsh or boxy. I tried these speakers over 3 years ago and was VERY pleased, but sold them because I wanted to try a different speaker combination. After about 3 years of dealing with some really crappy tone, I broke down and bought a pair of these Hellatone 30s again. I play punk, metal and hard rock in a pretty successful band here in Hollywood. I don't care if I get compliments on tone, my guitar cuts through and chunks VERY clearly. Leads stand right out and power chords melt walls. I've got these speakers in an X pattern with the 75s so I don't overpower any degrees of tone in the sonic spectrum. If you're looking for a pair of speakers to help cut through the mix, don't bother with Vintage 30s. These are THE speakers to try. These speakers are super punchy with not much real breakup happening, even at volume 6 with a 120 watt tube amp. I can't imagine you'd really want to drop these in a Crate solid state, but I'm sure the tone would upgrade substantially. These are THE speakers for rock tone. Alot of manufacturers and businesses think that metal musicians need to scoop mids. THEY'RE WRONG. Maybe 12 year olds think that kind of stuff is cool. Real musicians need to cut through the mix! Blues musicians and jazz wankers need to stay out of the hard rock business; Their ears for tone are justified by Eric Johnson, Gary Moore and Allen Holdsworth, not exactly the gurus of hard rock tone. No, we don't all want to sound like Metallica or Slayer; GET OVER IT. No, not all of us want to sound like "nu-metal" artists (Come on, that's soooooooo 10 years ago.) In fact, we want our own tone! None of us "palm mute" slow E standard riffs, so stop doing amp demos with blues/jazz musicians who play like that. Hell, most of us are in Drop C these days.

Worth buying twice. Don't waste your money on Telecasters and $400 overdrives. This is where it's at!

I use a Fender Blues Junior. I built a custom cabinet for it from solid pine, but other than the speaker change everything else is stock.

I also use a hollow body guitar that is a no name, but is on par with a high end Epiphone.

I play folk music in small venues mostly, but I would feel completely comfortable in a large hall with my set up.

This speaker is awesome. The low end is perfect. The mids are deep and clear.

This is a good speaker for the Blues Junior if you are looking for a clean to slightly dirty sound. I also use it for lap steel in another band, and it sounds great.

I talked directly to the owner/operator of Avatar on the phone, and he was a really nice dude.

I would buy it again.

I recently purchased a 1983 Fender Concert amplifier (designed & built during the Paul Rivera (Mesa Boogie guru) era. The previous owner had the capacitors replaced, and replaced the worn-out original speaker with a Hellatone 60 speaker - other than that the amp is all original & in MINT condition (footswitch, casters and cover incuded. HIs amp tech's choice of he Hellatone was inspired - its outperforms any EV I've heard, and the break-in period the perform before shipping really changed the speaker overall - clear, crisp LOUD, and plenty of depth & space throughout the spectrum. I had never even heard of Avatar,but am now a fan & believer - whatever magic they perform to a Celestion Vintage 30 to transform it is just that - magic. The speaker has so much more "punch" than the Fender Special Design 12" in my previous amp (FM65DSP). I am VERY lucky to own this amp - the Rivera-era amps have fallen in the sights of collectors & I rarely see one for sale, let alone one so clean. The previous owner took great care, which is why it's still performing flawlessly daily for 26 years - whoever says America doesn't build quality products is full of it.

I play rock, blues & my own stuff, and this amp suits me perfectly. As you can see from the other reviews - flawless reverb, period. Channel Two has plenty of room to experiment & kicks out some mean distortion, but if you want to sound like Tony Iommi, it ain't gonna happen with this amp. The effects loop does produce a moderate hum above 5, but I'm planning on replacing all the tubes (thanks to recommendations made on this site) to Mesa Boogie 100%, so we'll see.

Only had it for 4 months & it performs like it as just made.

Haven't the foggiest........

This is a great site - probably the best overall - to get real, honest product reviews before purchasing, or even just for general info, and I've consulted it many times, to my advantage. It's what convinced me to jump on this amp,especially at the price - you cannot fin a NEW amp built to such high quality, let alone a "classic" and "collectible" that performs like new - and looks better, too!

It's a 12" speaker!

I put 2 of these in my TopHat Super Deluxe.
I replaced the 2 Weber alnicos that I did not care for.
I don't know how they do it at Avatar, but these speakers
rule in my combo. Over the past few years I've been
using Eminence Governors or Private Jacks. I still really
like the Governors. These Avatar/Celestion G12H/Hellatones
are better. The Lows are as tight as the Governor & the
mids are even better. I'm not a big fan of Vintage 30's.
That being said I would be willing to try the Hellatone 60
at some point.
They kind of remind me of a Greenback with tighter/fatter Low-end
& far superior mids.
Great Speaker, Great Price.

?

I have bought 3 cabs & many speakers from Avatar.
I had one shipping problem about 3 years ago & within minutes
they took care of it!

Great Speakers. I'm sure they would sound great in a 4x12 cab.
I've been at the Rock & Roll thing for a long time. It's nice
to come across a great deal once in a while. I don't care as
much about price as I do performance.
These Deliver Killer Tone.
My first choice in any open back 2x12 cab would be the Hellatone 30.
I didn't see myself going back to Celestion speakers again.
Never say Never!

Haven't had it long enough!

I have sent emails to Dave Noss and he has replied almost immediately!
This guy really cares about his products and is extremely comfortable to deal with.

I had a custom boutique 65 blonde Deluxe Reverb made and a Hellatone 30 came with it. This speaker is "THE BOMB"! Beautiful bottom & mids with a sparkle in the treble ranges. Mercury Trannys & PTP wiring help but lets face it; this speaker sounds like nothing else I've ever heard! Anyone with a DR or DRRI would be insane not to try this pup out. I cannot say enough good things about this speaker or the people that put it out. If you have a DR or DRRI, I would contact these people immediately, you won't be dissapointed.

Celestion g12h30 broken in and relabled by Avatar--I have a 16 ohm version that I run in a Crate Palomino (Class A, 15 watt open back combo)

I've not heard a non-pre-broken in G12H, but, compared to the stock speaker --another type of celestion--this speaker is warmer, less boxey sounding with no shrill highs, it's quite full sounding now and overall sounds more rich. The Palomino is a great little amp, and when you get it cookin', just on the edge of breakup (Master dimed and gain btw 2-4) she just blooms with class A goodness--very responsive to touch. Like I say, the switch to the Hellatone got rid of the boxey mids and spikey highs(which I hate) and made this amp very musical. It's not a cheap speaker but it's cheaper than if they had left the Celestion label on it!

after alomost a year, she's still kickin'

The guys at Avatar are super friendly and helpful. This is the way all companies should be.

Worth the money for the tone, but not a "fanastic deal". I finally decided on this after much researching on the web...who can afford to test products you can't bring back? I am very pleased with my purchase and would recommend this speaker to anyone looking for what I was looking for in a speaker.

From the guys in Dalton Gardens ID. comes the Hellatone 30 ... Features? .... EASY.. MORE LOW END...GREAT LOW MIDS... BUTT-KICKING MIDRANGE... AND THE SWEETEST NON-SPIKY HIGHS OF ANY CELESTION G12H 30 EVER MADE !!!!!

This speaker made my Bad Cat Hot Cat 15 sound so good I could not believe it !!! More bottom than the Bad Cat modded Celestion Vintage 30... tight, solid mids and the best of all... no more spiky highs !!!! All the chime and charm of the amp still comes through, it just sounds smoother and like this speaker was made and voiced just for this amp !!!! OUTSTANDING !!!!

I cant comment on this point.... only owned for 1 week ...

I taked to Dave to pay him with my credit card ... he put people on hold just to chat with me about his products... Im in his fan club !!!!

I am an old guy who has played off and on for decades... This is one of those rare (no down side-couldnt be better) buys for me !!!! I cant rate this product high enough !!!! Way to go Dave !!!!

8ohm 12" 30 watt speaker. Only 4 holes to bolt it into my fender deluxe reverb ri which has 8 bolts, originally. I had to rip off the grille fabric and remove 4 bolts and then glue and staple the grille back together, which pissed me off, but when i plugged in the guitar it was worth it, even though the hellatone logo on the back of the speaker is at an angle...but, really, who cares. It's a broken in celestion G12 and it's cheaper than one that's not broken in but has the celestion sticker on the back!

Hella good. I have a tokai hummingbird. The P90s can be really harsh and piercing with the wrong speaker. I had a weber 15 watt alnico speaker before. It's a great raw sounding speaker with humbuckers on a clean setting. It was still piercing when turned up, though, and buzzed with distortion. The hellatone has a lot of depth and sounds good clean and with any distortion i put in front of it. Of course, it blows away the stock celestion i had in the fender deluxe reverb ri. I haven't heard a celestion G12 that's not broken in, but don't all guitar amp speakers sound better when they're broken in?

It's heavy. The four bolts seem to hold it to the amp fine. I've only had it about a month now.

I emailed dave with questions before i bought it and recieved a response back pretty quickly. I paid for it and it shipped out right away.

Great Deal. I'm happy every time i turn on my amp.

I believe this speaker is broken in by Avatar for 15 hours. It's a Celestion G12H30.

I bought this speaker hoping to improve the low end in my Fender Deluxe Reverb reissue and it did just that! I liked the high end and mid response from the stock Jensen speaker but the low end was too flubby for my liking. I was told that the Hellatone would take care of that and did it ever. Nice, tight low end without sounding stiff with a great smooth mid response. Not at all barkey, and the high end seems to be a bit crisper but without being shrill. Gave me more clean headroom also. All in all it seems to sound more detailed than the stock Jensen speaker. I use a Barber Direct Drive SS for my overdrive sounds and it sounds so much better now thru the Hellatone. A 100% improvement.

Time will tell. I'm thinkin about ordering a second one to use as an extension.

Avatar seems like a good company to deal with. I've talked to Dave on the phone and he seems like a very good guy to deal with.

I'm very happy with the way my amp now sounds. A HUGE improvement over the stock speaker. I'd definatley recommend trying one for yourself.