Celestion Vintage 30

12' Vintage 30, new. Made in China.

Look no further for that "Marshall" crunch. I placed this into a 2 by 12 cab alongside an older Eminence. My main guitar is an Epiphine SG with 57 Classic pup neck and Seymour Duncan JB bridge pup. The Vintage 30 made an unbelievable difference. Just beautiful sounding, epecially when cranked.

Had it for 3 days. So far, so good!

Not Required

If Townsend, Page or Clapton are your mentors, this is your baby.

8ohms Vintage 30

Im using this speaker with a Splawn Competition, which i've previously used Eminence Governors and Eminence Private Jacks with the Governors are slightly warmer than the vintage 30's but in doing so lose all the sweetness of the high mids and clarity of the bottom end.

The Vintage 30's for me have a very clear high end and are quite beamy and directional, i've used weber beam blockers on my 2x12 L ported cab to help with this. overall I think these are my favourite speakers I've used these speakers before with an ENGL screamer 50 with great sucess.

If your after a great mid range, searing solo voice then this is the goto speaker.. as used by Vai, Slash, George Lynch, Satriani, Petrucci, Greg Howe and the list goes on.. you know the sound and love the sound of this speaker.. but as with all speakers it depends on your guitar, amp and pickups. so i encourage you to try everything you can to find the tone you want.

Vintage 30 (8)ohm speaker
Made in China

I currently have 2 Genz Benz GFLEX 212's which I like but they were lacking something. I have a B-52 412 which I actually enjoyed more even though the speakers were "generic". I took a gamble and swapped out the speakers in 1 cab for the V30's and I'm pleasantly surprised. It seems that what I was missing was mids. I guess I get a flatter sound now, the EQ seems more responsive. The speakers also sound very clear and articulate. I play mostly Metal and I think they are a good match. I may get 2 more or mix them with the 12T-75 or classic lead.

I guess I'd give it an 8. I'm very happy but not like I found the holy grail. Definately worth the $110. I did have a pair of Eminence Texas Heats in there for a while but the results were average at best.

60 W power handling / 16 Ohms, Ceramic magnet

I had two of these stock in a 2 x 12" open-back combo (Ashdown Peacemaker 60). Hard to describe, really. I loved the clarity, but hated the punchy & frankly harsh mid-spike that many other reviewers have referred to (this is even more pronounced in an open-back). I got 2 G12H30s with the intention of replacing both speakers, but feeling experimental decided to replace just one of them & see what happened. Best of both worlds. The G12H30 brings out the low end, warming up the overall sound and subduing the harsh mids, while the remaining Vintage 30 ensures that the pristine hi-fi clarity is still there. The result is a very widescreen sound covering the whole frequency spectrum. Just the right blend of vintage & modern. For me anyway. Oh yeah, I play rock.
However, two Vintage 30s in an open-back 2 x 12 is something I can't quite recommend. I've heard they're good in closed-backs though.

Solid as. Mine were made in the UK if that changes anything...

Dr Decibel has always promptly answered my queries & that's about all I'd expect

I'm using 2 amps - Ashdown Peacemaker 40watt valve combo which has a V30 as standard, and a Fender Blues Junior Valve combo which until recently had a stock Fender/Emminence driver. Strats and Toronado are used to drive the things.

All I can say here is that the V30 has saved my 10 month old Blues Junior from a premature sale. As much as I wanted to like the Fender, having bought into it's concept, I couldn't escape the fact that it was a harsh thick mess with anything over the smallest amount of output power.

In desperation I decided to try a driver transplant and acquired a brand new Celestion Vintage 30. The decision was based on the splendid sound of my Ashdown tube amp , which had a V30 as standard, and some of the reviews here and elsewhere on the 'net. I pulled out the crappy stock Fender/Emminence speaker and popped in the Celestion. Result? Amp completely transformed..

Either clean or with the modest amount of gain offered by the Junior full on, the sound was a revelation. Creamy & warm certainly, but most importantly, superb clarity even run flat out.

God bless Celestion is all I can say..

Celestion? Expect high level of reliability no danger.

never dealt with the Company

Been playing electric seriously for 2 years, but played classical guitar for over 35 years prior to that.

I'd buy the speaker again tomorrow if I had to.

I have a late 70's Fender vibrolx reverb amp which has been modified to put out 8 ohms and I have had custom made, a new cabinet made of pine which houses one 12" celestion Vin tage 30 speaker.
I was looking for the perfect speaker to handle a wide range of styles and tones. I always enjoyed the tone of this amp with most speakers such as: Kendrick 12" Black, Celestion Greenback, Eminence Texas heat, Mesa/Boogie celestion and even an old Jensen ceramic 12" C12N (Great for clean only). None of these gave me the all around great clean and great distortion tones that Vintage 30's provide.

Using this speaker in the above mentioned amp makes a great match with Fender Stratocasters, Es 335 with bustbuckers, and Lollar equiped Ibanez Jazz box. I love the sensitivity and dynamic feel and sound of this speaker. It's great for Jazz, rock, blues and even country. It nails classic rock tones distorted and clean. It breaks up just right at about 5 on the amp's volume to give me singing sustain.

This speaker has been with me for about 10 years. I bought 2 at Guitar center, both speakers have been used extensively at all kinds of venues, indoors and outdoor shows, never blowing or showing signs of any problem. This one was in my garage for about 2 years in Florida and has even been rained on at a gig. I took it home and blow dries it that night and it works great.

With a product this good, you might only need a waranty if you abuse it. I never needed to call the company.

I celebrated 40 years of guitar playing this year. I'm 47 and still love it! The Vintage 30 sounds like no other speaker. All celestions have their sound. I also like the Greenback, but it can only take 25 watts and My amp puts out 40 watts. The vintage 30 handles 60 watts and I'm sure even more, but I woudn't go higher. Amplifiers like guitars are all different, and some old purists don't like this speaker. I like to use current speakers for reliability. The old stuff was made using animal glue and naturally will fail sooner than a newer speaker. I love the old recordings but even the same gear today, will not sound exactly the same, due to ageing. Besides, Led Zepplin and Hendrix were trying to move forward not backwards. I choose to have reliable gear. Amps can be restored closer than speakers. I'm sure someone will disagree. It's humnan nature.

Bought 4 new v30's - 12" Guitar Speakers.

I have built a new rig in the past year. EB Musicman Petrucci model - Budda Bud Wah - Peterson Strobostomp - Keeley TS9 - Dual Rectifier - Carvin 4x12 sealed back with Brittish Series 100 Watters. The pedal rig is powered with a Godlyke Powerall and wired with George - L's. I had been using that Carvin cab for years. I bought all this new stuff and still was not satisfied with the tone. It was good, but not great. So I rolled the dice and got some V30's. Whammo! These were exactly what I was looking for. These things deliver the mids, and a lot of them. The Celestion website describes these as seemingly twice as loud as other speakers. There's no seemingly about it. These things roar with tone and clarity.

I intentionally try to blow things up before I take them out for performances. These are rock solid. My eardrums are another story...... Huh? What?

After the beating I gave these things in the last month there is no need for customer support. Great website. Check it out.

Jamming 20+ years. I've played / owned just about everything there is out there. Years ago I gave up trying to play like other players. The goal in the past few year has been to emulate great guitar tones. These speakers have allowed me to really experience true power tube / speaker distortion. The carvin cab is a well made plywood cab. I tested this rig (a/b) with a VHT 4x12 V30's 13ply baltic birch. The birch cab had more low end than the Carvin. I personally like the cheaper cab for a couple of reasons. First, the cab seems to take the majority of beatings on the road, covered or not. I don't mind watching some helper smash my cheap cab around. 2nd, I have grown to prefer less bass, less highs and way more mids. This combination of cheaper cab and great speakers nailed that elusive mid-range honk I've been searching for. I'm talking in your face mids that cut through the mix without a tremendous amount of gain. Looking back on the year of purchases, I should have started with the speakers and worked backwards. I really had no idea how varied speakers are and the impact it had on my tone. I'm so happy with the sound I can't stop playing. These things are that good. These are not for everyone. I happen to be one of those guys that really enjoys a rig that goes BLONK!

Its a speaker.lol
Only differance is it bears celestions H 50oz magnet.

Let me start off by saying this speaker sickens me!!!!!!!!!I've played many Celestions Pre-Rola G12Ms,RI G12Ms,T75s,M-70s,G12-65s,Blackback 25s,cheapo rocket 50s,G10-30.All of which stomp this POS into the ground and backout to china were they(now)originate. lol Anyway all midrange like a megaphone.Oh high sensitivity,great now your guitar shouts in your face.Delicate pick attack BLONKK!!!Hard pick attack BLONKKK!!!Chords BLOKKKK!!!Leads....allot of BLONKKs.Very overpowering.I've had two of these in two differant 1x12 combos and both were horrid and make whatever amp you play sound allike.If I wrote the dictionary there would be one of these next to the definition of harsh.Absolutly Horrid!!!!!!I'm sure they serve a purpose but for what I want I find them totaly inspiration draining to play.I like rock to blues rock to hrad rock.Some tones I like are Ritchie Blackmore,T lizzy,Priest,Maiden,Allman Bros......
TERRIBLE!!!!!!!

Won't blow up.....Splendid now your tone can suck night after night.Gotta give it that its durable.

Well I'd like an apology for creating this thing but I don't think I'll get it.lol
Anyway Dr.Decibal has allways responded to my emails so I'll give celestion a good rateing.

If you want great tone an astounding NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!If you want durabilitie and don't care about tone then I guess yes.
I've plaed in many bands and rehease daily.I've owned and played on some of the best tweaked out NOS tubed Marshalls and these are by far the worst speaker on earth.
I hope my rantings don't curve people from listening to my oppinion cause you'll probably be disapointed with this speaker.

I'm writing to tell my experience about the Celestion G12T-75 vs Vintage 30 issue.
I have a Marshall 1922 2x12" cab which came with two Celestion G12T-75 and I always found my sound harsh, too much treble and presence. I have a JMP-1 Marshall preamp, which is a bright piece of gear itself, so I for long wondered whose fault the harshness really was. (By the way, my power amp is a EL84 20+20 Marshall). I couldn't try out the Vintage 30s with my gear, because I didn't know of anyone or any shop in my city who had a 2x12" cab loaded with them, so I got information by the net, including this forum. Then I made my decision and bought the two loudspeakers never having heard them (except for guitar albums...).
Now I'm wondering why I waited so long!
I passed five years struggling with the G12T-75 excess of highs, which gets worse and worse the louder you play them! The Vintage 30s, instead, are really balanced speakers for guitar, that's why so many great guitar players use them. Other than less highs, they also have a bit less bass, that's why someone perceive them as midrangy. The beauty of the sound of electric guitar, however, IS in the midrange, so these speakers are a perfect match because of their accuracy in that band of frequency. Also, these speakers taught me that I used to have too much bass in my sound. This is because when trying to replicate the sound of guitar in albums, I did the common mistake of not considering the impact of the bass guitar on the overall sound enough. However, don't think that these speakers can't deliver bass: my bass setting is way distant from max in my preamp and I actually prefer this bass response over the G12T-75s one, because the latter is too boomy and undefined.
The Vintage 30s also have a good constancy in sound at different volumes, so I don't have to totally reset my equalization when playing live anymore (I usually first make my sounds at home), as the G12T-75s compelled me to do (mostly because of more and more highs the louder I turned my amp).
Last, but not least, finally the sound I get from the cab and the emulated direct output sound in my preamp are comparable: this means the cab emulation circuitry in the JMP-1 was designed with a Vintage 30 or similar sound in mind. When I still had the G12T-75, I had to use a totally different equalization when playing with the cab and when recording or playing in line.
I play from progressive metal to swing, passing through classic rock and blues and I really can't imagine any good application for the G12T-75. The Vintage 30s, instead, finally set a reference point for making my sounds.

I first bought a G12T-75 for my 1-12 tube combo open back. The G12T-75 is a great speaker with chimey highs and nice tight bass with scooped mids. Great sounding speaker with a real bitey crunch. The G12T-75 is real responsive to attack and the more agressive you play the more this speaker gives back in tone! I went out and got a v-30 to see which speaker I would prefer. As much as I love the G12T-75, which I use in another combo and sometimes run as an extended cab in my main rig, I like the sound of the v-30 better. The v-30 is more mid and bassy compaired to other speakers. The V-30 has more tonal character which I like butt it is not as transparent as as some might prefer. Nothing beats the growl the the V-30 pushed with overdriven power. Real thick and chunky tone with this bad boy. What I love most about this speaker is just how great it sounds. When I'm ripping it up and doing blazeing leads, I think to myself, damn, I got tone!!!

What can I say that I haven't already? I have four guitars and they all sound great in my set up. I run the V-30 all the time in my rig asnd sometimes run an extended cab with the G12T-75 in it. The two speakers compliment each other well, butt I just run the v-30 byitself most of the time. The only other speaker I would think about trying would be a greenback.