Celestion Vintage 30

bought brand new...8 ohm speaker...solid design, semi heavey (could be worse) rated for 60 watts per...but some say 70...either way, unless your running a dual head setup into 1 cab does it really matter?

Ive switched over to Vintage 30's for thier "old style" tone, without the honk and farting out that greenbacks gave me. The trade off is a fizz thats common with the 30's, and makes the tone sound more accelerated in the mid-highs and highs, but if your running this head with a high gain amp which is what thier best with, you shouldnt notice much. Im playing with a Mesa Mark IV and Les Paul and its just beautiful. The balance of the 6L6 clean is exactly what these speakers are built for. the bottom end isnt super tight, but rather, just there and solid, and the highs are just sparkling without brassiness of my former speakers, but they do break up just a hair when pushed, but its is so natural sounding, you dont really know if its your preamp clipping or the speakers. As for dirty, great tone over all, just alot of high focus and fizz, which can get annoying if a more overdrive based tone is desired.

its a speaker, if your a retard, youll break it

never dealt with them

beautiful cleans...SEARING LEADS...find a great 6L6 head and turn it up with 4 of these underneath, its like santana and dave ghrol had babies

Great tone. That's the only feature.

100% incredible. Made an unbelievable difference in the sound of my amp.

Used the Vintage 30 for 15 years. Never blown one yet.

Replaced the Mesa Black Shadow in my Mesa Recto-Verb Single Rectifier 50W combo with the Celestion Vintage 30. It was a tremendous improvement.

12" Vintage 30 16 ohm speaker

I absolutely hated this speaker, when A/B'd and compared to my Celestion 12T-75's. I play mostly early VH to Alice in Chains type of music. Without any sound adjustments, this speaker is nothing but massive midrange and highs. The low end lacks tightness. The T-75's have more of a "scooped" sound, which is reminiscent of Metallica.

However, I was able to get a very cool tone once I incorporated the Boss GE-7 EQ into the effects loop. The settings were as follows: 100K @ +5db, 200K @ -2.5db, 400K @ -10db, 800K @ -15db, 1.6K @ -2.5db, 3.2K @ 0db, 6.4K @ 0db, and line level @ 0db. I also used a Marshall Jubilee (tone controls set flat) and a Seymour Duncan Screamin' Deamon Humbucker. Of course tone is very subjective, and I have chosen this for my leads only.

This speaker is suited for more bluesier type of players in my opinion, and not the Metallica type of players. Due to the overwhelming midrange, this speaker is good for lead work though.

If you're a younger player and are looking for today's contemporary tones reminsicent of Korn, Metallica, etc. Then this is not your speaker. Stick with the Celestion 12T-75's, especially for those chunky tight bassy rhythms. However, when the signal is modified with an EQ you can achieve some great tones suitable for early 80's type of lead work. I would say this speaker is better suited for bluesier sounds, but still needs some EQ to cut some of the piercing highs.

This is for the benefit of people who dont know how what the rating in watts RMS for a "Vintage 30" celestion speaker is.A person reviewing a mesa recto cab provided incorrect information.A "Vintage 30" is rated at 70 watts RMS making the total RMS rating for 4X12 loaded with these speakers 280 watts.But dont believe me go to the source->celestion and inquire.

Sounds good if you like its "sonic print"

12 inch, 60 watt, ceramic magnet, guitar speaker

These speakers came stock in my Fender Tonemaster 2x12 cabinet. At first I was disappointed with their sound. They had a floppy low end, with a lot of mid-bass honk, and too much treble. I was confused - the demo cabinet in the store sounded amazing. So why did my brand new cab sound like this? In short: these speakers need to be broken in! After about a month of gigs and rehearsal, these babies just smoothed right out. Now the low end is tight & punchy, the mids are fantastic, and the highs are just right. They sound warm and round clean, and they sound fantastic when driven hard. I love 'em.

I've never had a problem with Celestion speakers. So I expect these to last for many years to come.

I emailed celestion, for tone advice about their speaker line. They responded within a few days, and were very helpful & informative. (Thanks dr_decibel)

I've tried Celestion G12T75's, Greenbacks, and Vintage 30's. They are all great speakers.

The G12T75 (in a Marshall 4x12 cab) has a very tight bottom and minimal cone break up, so they stay cleaner at high volumes - great for jazz, 80's rock, thrash, speed metal, or any style that requires tight bass and definition.

The Greenback is all about midrange break up. It is great for classic rock & blues, in low to medium gain amps. It gets too compressed and biting with high gain.

The Vintage 30 is louder than the other two. In fact it sounds about twice as loud at the same power level. It has tight bass, fat mids, and a smooth, harmonically rich top. It's great for warm cleans, fat & reponsive medium gain, and modern high gain sounds.

Hard to detail features for a speaker but, came with a gasket (which is nice) mounting holes are proper distance and evenly spaced.

Switched out the stock "Made for Marshall" piece of junk in my DSL 401 and put this baby in. At low levels it was hard to tell the differance. But when pushed, WOW. The sutain is two to three times better out of the Japan Strat with stock middle and neck pickups. The S.D. Hot rail sings like it should. I knew I should have been able to get a better sound from this amp.

So far so good.

Don't know yet.

Been playing off and on for 5 years. I have a JCM 800 50W but have no cabinet to play through. I will build my own cabinet and will probley use the Vintage 30's. I can only imagine what four in a cabinet sounds like.

This ones are new, and I think it has everything a speaker needs. I guess otherwise it wouldn't work, right? 60 to 70 watts of output, depends on who you trust, manufacturer (Celestion says 60) or companys making cabs (majority of 'em say 70). Nice big magnet, weights 50 oz., paper cone, vintage, what can I say?

Well, I have to say that there is nothing like Vintage 30. I mean there are some expenciver and better speakers, but this one is being used for THE THING it was built for. And that, my friend is to be extremely LOUD. Did I say loud? And to handle distortion levels at which other speakers would only melt. I'm a sucker for Neurosis, Sleep, High On Fire, EyeHateGod, Isis, Crowbar, Iron Monkey... sound. What can I say; all of those bands use Vintage 30 speakers in their rigs. Vintage 30 is THE sound of the modern aggro rock, or metal sound. In my opinion you can use this speaker for scooped mids, but it really works best with open mids. You can get fantastic 70's rock sound and add all the bass and all the overdrive you want, and you have a growl that can be compared only to howlin bear when he's very, and I mean very angry. You can play some smooth cleans on it, but I think it is a bit to bassy, but when it comes to distortion, whooa, man, run for a shelter. Bottom line; a lot of treble, a lot of mids, and a shitload of bass. Be aware, and if you have some cardiac problems, I suggest something more subtle.

I have made my box with the knowing help from my friend, and I expect it last almost forever. The speakers themselves seem robust, but you have to keep an eye anyway. I didn't put sheet in front of 'em, but grill, so I am almost sure they will last a long time.

well, I wrote to them and they seem knowledgable, maybe even to much for me. I hope I never have to deal with them, because it would mean they (speakers) died.

My search for speakers seems to be over. The Vintage 30 speakers are great. I can not believe how easily it handles any amount of bass and distortion. Rock til you die.

Fairly heavy speaker with paper cone. Handles about 60 - 70s watts easily. Loud and British. A speaker that will improve any mid-priced combo or cab.

I use it in a Valvestate single 12" cab (closed). I use a Marshall JCM600 valve head with it. Sounds very British and punchy. It has a lovely mid-high bias that sings the English blues from the 60s. No Mesa / Rivera tones here.
- Bass is tight but not too present, just the right amount.
- Mids are there but the upper-mids over take from the the rest. Tickles my ears in a very nice way.
- Treble sing happily yet it doesn't rip as much as the Greenback.

Well made. Fairly sturdy and up to Celestion's reputation.

no idea

If you like the tones of early Clapton, Mick Taylor or Peter Green this is the speaker for you. A lot cheaper than the Alnico version and not that different. Also power handling is 60 -70 watts so you can use it with most combos. The Greenback is just too brittle to my ears. Good price for a more than decent speaker.

Said that, people like it for everything -including metal- but it'd be happier singing the blues.

The Vintage 30 was developed as a less costly(and more reliable)alternative to the original alnico magnet G-12. Alnico reissiues cost $350 a piece and only handle 15 watts. Celestion says it handles 60 watts but Marshall says it handles 70. This speaker uses a ceramic magnet. It is rated at 100 db sensitivity but this speaker is so loud that I wonder if this is not a conservative rating. It will make a fifty watt amp as loud as a 100 watt amp- no problem.

I have many different speakers including Altec alnicos, Jenson alnicos, and a Kendrick Black Frame speaker(also a ceramic designed to sound like an alnico). One of the charcteristics of Alnico magnet speakers is sweet singing sustian with a warm smooth midrange break up. The Vintage 30 has this and more. Compared to real alnicos the 30 has a more aggresive and fatter midrange, particularlly under distortion. The lower midrange response is much like the H30 greenback speakers from the early 70's. Is this why Celestion named it the Vintage 30? If you like big fat distortion sounds with singing sustain this is your speaker. Clean sounds are also very good, detailed but rather round, much like Black Faced Fenders. Is this why the Fender Custom Shop uses this speaker? Since this speaker is so loud and punchy it can be a bit unnerving at times. If you like to vary your pick attack to soften your tone the Greenback or Kendrick may be better for you. This speaker doesn't have the upper midrange "ripp" of the Greenback or Sheffield either. I don't like that "ripp" myself, so the 30 is perfect for me.

Absolutelly bullet proof, Handles twice the power of a G12H-30 and 5 times the power of the Alnico blue

Friendly people that are very Knowledgable about giutar speakers and are very willing to help.

If you like lots and lots of sustain with a BROWN distortion sound you should check out this speaker. This speaker sounds very close to an alnico but cost about 1/3 as much. The Kendrick sounds warmer and rounder but not as punchy, nor as loud. This speaker is more cost effective than seeking out original Greenbacks, that have recieved who knows what kind of punishment over the decades.