Celestion Vintage 30

Loud and proud

Stuck one into my old Blues Deluxe after the replacement Celestion Sidewinder blew its top. Lo and behold!!! I had to get them old screws on the combo all nicely tightend up because the unit started rockin'. I play a Tele and lots of bottleneck, so I've got enough treble to spare. I was after a tight bottom and crunchy mids. That's what I got. Thanks Celestion!

Can take punishment. Haven't bust one yet.

Good Homepage. Will take a phonecall. What more do you want?

I do the Blues strictly Telecaster and old fasion sound. This speaker is great for clean and a little crunch. Don't go for heavy overdrive and the likes, because it doesn't like those and responds by booming around in the middrange.

second hand trade, no problem with that anyway

I have a very humble gear: epiphone lp 100 with seymour duncan 59' model on bridge, a workalike proco rat distortion pedal, home made marshall 1987 "plexi" (all tube 50w head) and this huge piece of... heaven. I played my head for a month with crappy 10" thai speakers(i had no money then)and still sounded glorious!. Then ,for a job , i was noticed that a last v30 was on stock on a very misterious store.75 bucks was the last offered price for this one.I have the money on my hands, so i bought it in just a few seconds. on home i checked if the speaker was ok.The head was on that classical crunchy setting(both volumes at 10") and the master volume(custom feature)almost on 0". the pedal settings on that "classical" overdrive, 1/4 distortion, half volume, and the sound was f...ing articulate!!i couldn't believe it. i cleaned the sound(was that zep,b sabb even tones)with the guitar volume knob and there was the bastard, sounding like an "on steroids" fender bassman clean setting...gorgeous!!i have the sound that i was looking for many time( even wih the speaker without the enclosure)i think this isn't that previously chinesse version, 'cause seems to be all english made... i don't know, probably mistaken on this...just a detail: on the sixth string i have found some sound saturation, on the first three spaces( maybe that is ' cause my guitar is cheap built) the rest, ok, is loud and doesn't suck at high volumes (and it's only one!)

no problems

i don't need it yet

i never listened a cheap gear sound too good!!

This amp can be very versatille, but you will have to bother tweaking the knobs of your eq around most of the time. it is freacking loud just like a celestion g12-75

This speaker has its issues but they can be solve. my styles that i play are from metal to jazz so my styles of music are very very broud.i changued theses fot the g12-75 too many pierceing highs, they make my ears bleed! not really but you know what i mean. Anyways like i have read on another reviews this amp has too many mids, lots of treble and very few bass, unlike the g12-75 who has an excellent bass prescence but too many highs and very few mids.This is how i perceive the sound of the vintage 30's from i to 10: treble:6, mids:8, bass:3, when i listen to the sound of it there seems to be a hole on the sound the bass!, it lacks bass. that bothers me a lot when i want play metal and punk,and not just that but also jazz nad blues.i don't play with cheap stuff by the way so it isn't my equipment. So i came to the conclusion to buy 2 celestion g12h 70 annyversary speakers to give more bass to my other two vinatge 30 speakers in my cab. Now the sound its much much better this is how i perceive my sound after from 1 to 10: treble:7, mids:9, bass: 6. i still have to kill the mids but that is just me.

Is a celstion what did you expect?. No problems

i haven't deal with anything with celestion

it is an okay speaker, i can't be a jerk about them, they have their own sound it seems ti be better southed for pop music, it is excellent for surf music by the way. i only wish it had more bass and this will be a perfect speaker.

Listed below. 30 watts, 8 ohms.

I used it in a solid state amp which was a mistake. It sounded way too honky and harsh. I have since used them in a 2x12 cab with a 100 watt tube head, and this is where I think they shine. They are hungry for power, but can handle it.

I think they are reliable and can probably handle a lot more power than they are rated.

I would not know where to begin to lokk for them. Anyway, what support would you need for a speaker?

I really did not know what I was doing when I bought this. I learned a lesson; putting a great speaker in a low power tranny amp will not help much. In a tube amp, you can change output tubes and preamp tubes
as well as the speaker, so you can alter the sound somewhat. RThis speaker is not for everyone. It will not necessarliy improve your tone. I think they work best with Marshall amps, although I used a Crate Blue Voodoo 100 watt tube head and the V30's sounded awesome.

12", 60 Watts and a big honking magnet!

I used a pair of these in a Fender Dual Professional (100W 2 X 12" combo) built in '01 for a couple of years for gigs and rehearsals. I typically used a Les Paul or Strat with this set up and occasionally a Gibson Lucille. My overall impression of these speakers was big warm fat mid tone w/ less emphasis on the highs and bass. The sound was OK, but I did feel I wanted to reign in the mids a bit. Especially playing through an OD pedal like a TS-9, I felt these speakers gave off too much mid honk. It was hard to play relaxed jazz clean tones due to the agressive mids - not very transparent for gentle comping in the background behind the soloist - too thick and chunky. I think that the issue was very good speakers (for Marshalls), but wrong application. I eventually offed this amp because of this issue, but looking back, I probably should have lost the speakers instead and got differently voiced replacements. Today I play through a 50 watt combo using Eminence Texas Heats and am quite happy with the tone (more bass, tighter relaxed mids, sweet highs).

In summary - the V30 is legendary in the right setting - think blazing rock through some kind of Marshall where you want crushing mids in your cranium (good example would be Slash's tone). But if you want to get subtle clean with jazz or similar music, look elsewhere for a good speaker.

Celestion Vintage 30 purchased from http://www.avatarspeakers.com/
60 Watt, 8 ohms, VERY Heavy ceramic magnet
(Made in China, as are most current Celestions)

I originally purchased the Vintage 30 for my Mesa Boogie DC-2 1x12 combo. Based on some reviews, I thought the V30 would make this already great sounding amp even better. Boy was I wrong! The stock Mesa 50-watt Black Shadow speaker (made by Eminence) outperforms the V30! The V30 has less bottom, and way too much mid range!!! I even tried "breaking in" the V30 by running a 50Hz sine wave into it for a full day. This seemed to smooth out the highs very slightly, but had no effect on the overwhelming mids.

Next, a good friend of mine wanted to give it a try in his 1969 Fender Deluxe reverb. The V30 handled the bass better than the stock fender speaker and provided more loudness, but once again the mids really dominated the sound. Neither of us liked the results. The V30 just seemed to suck the character right out of the DR, and replaced it with a very generic, mid-heavy sound.

Next I tried the Vintage 30 in my Peavey Bravo amp. The V30 sounds more open than the stock Peavey Blue Marvel speaker. Also, the Blue Marvel has shrill highs, in contrast the Vintage 30 has a smoother top. Unfortunately the mids once again dominate the spectrum. Luckily, the Bravo has very versatile tone controls that allow me to tweek the mids a lot. It's not perfect, because I lose body if I turn the mids down too much. I think an EQ in the effects loop may help to tune out the mid range honk of the V30. I think the problem lies somewhere in the 700Hz to 1200Hz frequency range.

Celestion speakers have a good reputation for reliability.

I've emailed Dr Decibel at celestion.com, for speaker recommendations. I described my amp & musical preferences. He/she replied within a few days, and recommended the Vintage 30 as the best Celestion for me. That's nice to know - I won't bother trying any other Celestion models.

I've been playing electric guitar for over 16 years. My main gigging axe is an Ibanez RG570 with Dimarzio pickups installed (PAF Pro neck, Blue Velvet reverse wound middle, Norton bridge). I also use a stock Fender USA Strat, and Ibanez USA custom with mahogany body/maple top & H-H Dimarzios pickups stock (PAF Pro neck & Tone Zone bridge).

I would NOT recommend the Vintage 30 for use in a 1x12 combo. It has an overwhelming spike in the mids that's nearly impossible to dial out. However, if you are looking for an aggressive sound then it may work for you.

2005, I can be sure of that!

I use a Washburn A20 with dual humbuckers through a Marshall AVT50H, Digitech Bad Monkey OD, Boss Super OD, into a 2x12 home made cab (built to Marshall 2x12 dimensions from 19mm marine ply, fully braced with high quality cabling) with the Vintage 30 and a Celestion greenback. The combintaion brings out the Marshall in my sound. It is also very loud for 2x12s and a 50 watt head. The clean sound is not crystal clean as I believe both of the speakers are designed for overdrive of varying sorts. In fact I bought a Strat to try to achieve some cleaner sounds for soem of the songs we do. Dont bother me much , I love the sound and my other guitarist plays a Strat into a Roland Chorus and it dont get muchcleaner than that.
As I said it is loud. It hurts and I have to constantly make sure I am not deafening the other band memebers and myself.

Until it blows.

Well,well. I ordered this speaker back in November 2004. A couple of weeks later I ordered the Greenback. The Greenback arrived a couple of weeks later. I was told there were no Vintage 30s in the country (Australia). I waited and waited and finally contacted the Australian agent and was told they were on a boat and due in a couple of weeks (in January 2005 I think)and to contact my local dealer. I contacted them again about four weeks later and recieved no reply. I emailed Celestion in UK and was told to contact my local suplier. I recieved an email form the Australian agent in March some time and told they were in the country. Acouple of weeks later Walla! Imagine my dismay/amazement/whatever to see a made in China sticker on the magnet. This has led me to suspect that manufacturing of these particular drivers has recently changed from the UK to China.
In any case they sond great, dont know if they sound any different from UK made ones though.

I have been palying on and off for 20 odd years, mostly off but on again now obviously. I bought these cause of the hype and recommendations and history of Celestion speakers and because of the association with Marshall. I nearly bought some of the new Eminence Red Coat speakers but decided to go with the traditional Celestions. I am happy with the choice despite the Chinese origin and would proabably buy them again. I love the sound of the combined drivers and love how loud they make my set up for a 50 watt amp.

It's still a speaker . . .

I feel obliged to modify my earlier review (which was a modification of a review before that). I gave the Vintage 30 less than stellar marks previously and have since had a change of heart or, put differently, been given a lesson. Here's the bottom line on this speaker: To get the "Vintage" out of it, it needs to be run LOUD. It also needs room to breath in a cabinet. I complained about the midrange honk in my Marshall 2X12 and replaced the Vintage 30s with Avatar Hellatones (modified Celestion G12H-30s - awesome speakers). So I had a bunch of speakers sitting around my home office. I came into the possession of an empty Marshall 1960 BX cabinet and decided to throw the Vintage 30s along with two Greenbacks into it. So now my live rig is the 1936 (running at 16 ohms) stacked on top of the 1960 all topped with my JCM 800 2205 head. I've used it with my band a couple of times now and all I can say is GAME F***ING ON! In the 4X12 at moderate to high volumes the Vintage 30 comes alive, especially when paired with the Greenbacks. The honk is eclipsed by tight lows and wonderful singing highs. Classic chime, sustain, and harmonics. Perfect response for classic and alternative rock, which is what my band plays.

Well built.

None required, yet. If it blows I'll buy another one.

This drill I've gone through over the past six months has been a lesson in gear, one that other wise folks have posted on Harmony Central. As a great guitarist whom you all know told me a few weeks back: "Every amplifier and speaker is a compromise." I interpret that to mean a guitarist has got to get a handle on the environment in which he intends to use his stuff. If you're a bedroom chord banger, you'll probably find the Vintage 30 too midrangey and honky. If you're a rocker with a Marshall stack who has the luxury of crankin' it up with the boyz, then you probably already have two or four or eight of these in your rig.

It's all about the proper context, my friends . . .

2004 V30's ina 2x12 cab.
I play Rock & Roll (punk rock). I don't really care for the new V30's from china. I have an 8 ohm V30 I bought from Mesa Boogie & I love it.
The new ones are lacking something.

72" Tele Custom Deluxe w/humbuckers.
Ampeg & Laney heads. Still a nice speaker just not what I expect from celestion & their vintage 30.

Durable speakers

Is there any?

I'd think twice before going with a new V30. Maybe I got some bad ones. They don't really sound like the old ones. They have a midrange fart that no one needs to have coming through their cabinet.

60 watt ceramic magnet speaker.

I'm pretty amazed at the mixed reviews the V30 has received here. Guitar tone is highly subjective to the player and listener. What I'm perceiving from many of these reviews is that the players who describe the V30 negatively are the ones who are after a very specific tone. To my ears, the V30 is as close to an actual high-fidelity speaker as it gets for guitar. That being the case, it won't fair especially well for those seeking the greenback mushy distortion, the G12H bottom/low mids or the G12T-75 slashy highs. Those, in my opinion, are specialty speakers and are suited to specific tonal characteristics. I?ve read the complaints of V30?s as overriding the tone of the amp. I think the V30 does have a noticeable sound print all its own, but so do they all. The V30 has the widest ?hearable? frequency response, and is the most balanced and honest sounding of the Celestion bunch, to my ears. The 15 Watt alnico blue is in a category all its own; a gorgeous and full sounding guitar speaker, I can?t overstate that, but not with the same over all hi-fi quality of the V30.

Never had a problem. Seems to be constructed very well.

Never needed them.

I believe that those who complain of ?flappy, honky, mid-boomy? tones from the V30 should take a closer look at their cabs, and also consider reconfiguring their amp eq settings. It could be that their amp and cab were designed to work with its stock speaker, or one with similar characteristics. In a well tuned cab, the V30 sounds crisp and even, tight lows, nice mids and pristine highs, clean or over driven. It isn?t a very forgiving speaker, though. What you play is what you hear.

One other thing. They really do take awhile to thoroughly break in, and they can sound sterile before that happens.