Celestion G12H-120

This is not about the amp into which the speaker went, but mainly about the speaker itself. I do own some combos equipped with 1x12" ElektroVoice 12L models, i.e. these things do weigh far too much. Looking for a useful, lightweight replacement, I decided to toss the EV out and replace it with a Celestion which could handle an all tube/100W+ amp. So the G12H-120 (8 Ohms) was the recommended choice, and I knew by this time that Celestion is a specialist for guitar speakers, and their website is pretty informative. Change done, finally I was able to move my 100-watters around without entering hernia-city. The craftmanship is well done, no flaws to be seen. As for a speaker, I give it a 9.

Here we come to the big disappointment and the big surprise: after the change last year in March, I switched the amp on, and...ouch!!! It sounded harsh, with way too much stinging treble, and hardly any bottom end. Man, was I disappointed! Ok-that could be smoothed out with tweaking the graphics EQ, + I took the E-Voice and built it into a selfmade Thiele-cabinet which brought the bottom end back.

I didn't change the speaker since it saved me 14 pounds on the combo's weight, so I kept playing mostly the combination on bigger gigs (where I was playing the amp on a 5 to 7 setting. I was hoping for the famous "break-in" to occurr, but it just didn't. In July of this year I got so frustrated with that sucker that I planned to toss'm out.

Then the surprise came: Open Air-gig in August (where a lot of volume was nrcessary), and during the second set I could literally hear how this pup "broke" finally in during about an hour, i.e. it smoothed out, sweetened up, and finally came to the point where it sounds superbly balanced: nice, tight bottom end, focused, but cultivated mids, and sweet, crisp highs with no shrillness. Now I love this pup, since it sounds so sweet! Fantastic speaker for guitar. I have to add that even before break-in, the speaker was always focused, never mushy or distorted. The patience has paid out, I give it a 10!

This sucker is built extremely well, Celestion do only one thing: they build speakers, and they do this absolutely well. No complaint! I would always gig with that pup without backup, but in most cases I do carry extension cabs with me.

No idea.

If you do have the patience to break the speaker in, it's worth it. I guess that the higher wattage models just need longer for that. I've been playing for over 30 years, and I remember the old Celestions, and how they sounded. This one has all the vintage vibe with some added modern touch. Niiiiiceynice! Go, get one today!