Celestion Vintage 30

i just got a v 30 today and i put it in my hybrid marshall and it was the most amazing sound i have ever heard out of that amp, it gives me such a clear tone wen playing very loud. i dnt know wat celestion did to that speaker but they did it very right

They're 12" guitar speakers... Original "Ipswitch, England" models.

Here's where I have something to say... Replaced a pair of G75t's in my 64 "Bassman" cab. with these Vintage 30's and WOW am I a happy camper! Was looking for loud n' clear and the 75's were loud but that's where it ended. I play "bluesy" Classic-rock, Blues and Funk and the 75's were just too "scoopy" w/no mids. Two major first impressions of the 30's: accidentally bumped my low E-string when I first flipped the "stand-by" on my amp and my son and I both looked at each other and said,"HOLY S@#T!!!!" I'm talkin' a good 20% volume increase over the 75's! I think it's because ALL of the frequencies are represented here. Ton's of bass, mids and high-end!!!

Have only started to use Celestion products in the last year but I have'nt seen anything bad yet. Even though I did'nt like the sound of the 75's, they were "butt-kickin'" and built like a tank... Same for the 30's.

Have'nt used yet...

These 30's were a great value to me as I got them off of "craigslist" for 125.00 (pair). I've been playin' for 45 years and had a bunch of amps and most of the time just left whatever speaker came in the amp in it, unless it blew out. This is the first time I've gone through several pairs trying to find "just" the sound I wanted. It's a little pain in the butt but I have to admitt it's been kinda' fun and rewarding now that I've found a set that I really like.

First off, speakers are a matter of prefernce and the overall result depends heavily on many variables, e.g. amp, guitar, effects, room, personal taste. So, anything I say here is my own personal taste. I will tell you that I am a strat user who plays through Marshall JCM 800s and 900s. My style is blues based rock that ventures into the grunge/noise/feedback territory. I like a warm pretty heavily overdriven sound but I prefer the attack clarity of ceramic magents over AlNiCo. I absolutely love the way the Vintage 30s sound in my Marshalls.

If you buy a brand new V30 and stick it into your amp and think that it is going to be warm and creamy, guess again!!! As with any speaker, you have to put the time and effort into aging your speakers before they "loosen up". I have a pair of V30s that I put into my 4104 around 1988, I believe. They were an improvement over the stock speakers at the time and today (20 years later) they are warm, creamy, very fullbodied, yet retain clarity of individual notes to allow me to play complex chords at high, overdriven levels. I recently replaced the stock speakers in a 2502 I acquired a year ago and they were definetly harsh with a very prominent mid/upper-midrange when installed. With a year of rehersals and gigs on them, they have really started to loosen up and get warmer. I was concerned because I have heard some bad things about the new V30s, but overall, they are pretty good.

I have never had an issue with my V30s.

I have never had to use customer support.

Again, its all a matter of personal taste. I have some different amps with mixes of Celestions, Webers, and Jensens...AlNiCos and ceramics. I love the way my V30s sound with my Marshalls. They age very well and become warmer, losing their harsh characteristics as they age. If you are buying a new V30, be patient. Play them often and play them loud and they will only get better.

I have it in a Class A tube combo

This category deserves two ratings 1 rating for the speaker without a Diffuser and a second rating other with a diffuser. You can buy a diffuser blocker for around $17 on eBay or directly from Weber for those of you who do not know.

Without the diffuser, this speakers sucks big time and can make you angry at high volumes due to the ICE PICK shooting into your ear. Seriously, it completely sucks when turned up. The highs and mids become so pronounced that you can not stand to play it. You want to throw your amp out the window.

However, if you buy a diffuser or if you simply put an empty guitar case, etc in-front of the speaker, IT Kicks ***.

With something blocking the piercing highs, the distortion sounds rich, articulate, fuzzy and ballsy all at once - lots of overtones - the distortion sound that sounds like it comes from a speaker - not a processor. The cleans are tight and shimmering.

I don't know why Celestion does not ship these with a pre-installed blocker or maybe have a vintag 30(a) with cut mids. So, if you have one of these speakers and think it is your amp that sucks spend the $17 bucks and you will be amazed.

Because iot requires outside help to achieve a great sound I give it an 8

great

Ahh, I have never played through a speaker that has more of a love/hate relationship with musicians than the Vintage 30. For me, it was a middle of the road experience. It features 100db sensitivity, 60 watts, and enough upper mids to kill your grandmother.

Im not sure I would call this speaker versatile. It has that good british tone, and is great if you love mids in your face. If not, this may not be for you.

I use both Fenders and Gibsons through a Mesa DC-5 head, and gave this speaker a try in conjunction with a Budda Phat 12" in a 2x12 cab. The Budda sounded smoother and a bit warmer, while the vintage 30 was definitely more "in your face". The mids are pretty harsh when using a distorted tone and cannot be EQ'd out well. Attempting to EQ mids out of the Vintage 30, left it sounding somewhat dull and unnatural. It truly craves its originally intended form, which are highs and mids.

A couple good things I can say about it are that it has a punchy, tight low end and is great for clean tone. I was highly impressed by its ability to create a killer slightly distorted/clean tone for bluesy or classic type stuff. Its unfortunate that it didn't fit the bill for much else imo.

Solid = Celestion

Overall I would only recommend this speaker to those using it in conjunction with another scooped speaker, with a lot of low end. If you get 2 Vintage 30's in a 2x12 cabinet, be prepared to hurt your ears. That is, unless you love upper mids and a somewhat raunchy tone.

Ultimately I decided it sounded to similar to the Budda Phat 12" (which actually sounded better to me), so I ditched it for a Hellatone 60L, which is actually a modified Vintage 30 (Marshall Mode 4 speaker) with a 55hz cone for better lows and smoother midrange. The cab sounds fantastic all the way around now!

Celestion V30 60W 16 ohm. Used in two 4x12 Bogner cabs. I'm rating this low because I feel this speaker is very limited to certain types of music & is also very harsh & peaky.

A very modern, edgey, "in your face" type tone. Best suited for modern hi gain tones. Very loud at 100dB sensitivity. There is an upper mid peak that I find very irritating & fatiguing after a while.

Very reliable. At a 60W rating these are durable speakers.

No opinion.

I think these are best suited for very modern aggressive type tones, detuned dropped D stuff, etc. I find each note just jumps out and doesn't really follow picking dynamics very well. I also find them very fatiguing to listen to after a while.

Speakers are a critical part of the sound chain. These are way to limited in sound and fatiguing for me.

Celestion Vintage 30 8ohm

I own a VisualSound Workhorse Stallion 2x12 60watt all tube botique combo.
The thing is Beautiful!
http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a165/Tat2sByLoLo/guitar%20forum/?action=view¤t=IMG00068.jpg

It came with Celestion Seventy80's in it. Though they sounded nice and warm, I wanted something that had really beautiful tone and projection. I researched and went with the V30's.
http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a165/Tat2sByLoLo/guitar%20forum/?action=view¤t=IMG00063.jpg

WOW!....Now in it's second month of being in the amp it has really settled in. Clean and dirty, this speaker is a tone monster. Beautiful highs and tight bottom and the mids just cut right through.
http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a165/Tat2sByLoLo/guitar%20forum/?action=view¤t=IMG00064.jpg

Celestions......Come on!

Never used it!

These are upgrades to any speaker out there for the guitar. They do take a little while to really loosen them up(me, about a solid month of 4-5 hours a day playing). But when they lose that initial stiffness they sweeten out perfectly. Worth the wait for sure!

See others!

A real Vintage 30 (older, or even some of the newer Chinese) takes a while to break in, so reviews on new speakers are misleading. Also, I purchased three of the newer Chinese V30's on Craigslist, and they are pretty bad. I think they are knock offs, because they don't sound anything at all like the older models, or the newer models that friends have bought through legitimate sources. SO, BEWARE, there are apparentl knockoffs (or factory rejects, or maybe some shenanigans going on in Chinese factories), so unless the reviews are of speakers from reliable sources, they may be misleading

See Above

AGAIN, a real Vintage 30 (older, or even some of the newer Chinese purchased through reliable outlets) take a while to break in, so reviews on new speakers are misleading, and this should be stqated. Also, there are apparently knockoffs (or factory rejects or some shenanigans in Chinese factories) for the newer Chinese speakers, SO, BEWARE! Unless purchased from reliable sources, they may not even be real Vintage 30's, so this should also be specified in the review. Thanks! M

this speaker was designed to emulate the celestion blue,but with higher power handling,quite a bit heavier than the eminence supplied with fender hot rod amps,but is a straight swop for the eminence insofar as the holes all line up, they don't on the celestion 70/80!!

swopped V30 into blues junior,and was amazed at how bad it sounded and promptly changed it back.
several months later I was still annoyed at having wasted money on a speaker that was supposed to be fantastic,and decided to put it back in so I could at least get some use out of it for a while,and then use it as a plant holder.
It still sounded dead and muffled and undynamic,but I could not be asked to take the amp apart yet again,so I thought I would just live with it.
Then weeks!! later, a transformation! it sounded totally different,
clear ringing highs, a sweet touch sensitive mids, it now sounded truly amazing.
The moral is, this speaker takes a long long time to break in,and patience is required to find out what an incredible speaker this is.

its a celestion

dr decibel is the man

I have been playing 25 years and I will never be famous,I use my ash tele and a parker pm for humbucking duties,I also use rolands gr20 for backings, violins,and bass lines etc.

Um, it's a speaker.

I've been reading the reviews for this speaker and feel that it is necessary to say that THESE SPEAKERS TAKE SOME TIME TO WEAR IN. When they are new, they can sound very honky and midrangy. But after they wear in the mids mello out a lot, resulting in a nice open sounding speaker.

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.

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.

its a speaker so it has no channels or knobs or anything. I am running this in a 2 x 12 in a homemade semi-open cab. I am pushing it with a Fender Twin Reverb II (rivera era) that I re cabbed because of weight. I have it paired with a EV 12. all I can say is it does wonders for the tone of a Fender. I bought these used, but never out of the box...

I use a homemade strat-o-clone and a gibson 125tcd. I play mostly blues and blues rock (I do play some rock). when in the right cab running the right amp these are just wonderful. I have a very clean and kinda dark head. these give me a nice early break up and paired with the EV gives me great lows and stays very articulate. they are very effcient... that means loud. these handle a lot of power well and are very nice when you just practicing. this give a really nice cutting tone and works well with a band. I have been gigging for a while with it now and it never seems to wash out or mud up. let me be clear about this:

THIS IS NOT A METAL SPEAKER

I haven't blown it up yet. not that I'm trying

don't know... always worked

I love the tone and punch I get with my current set up all the lows with all the highs. nice balance when set up right. not sure if I ran then as a pair but they are wonderful in my set up, I wouldn't like them in something like a plexi or other high gain amps. I have been playing since 1965 and have been gigging since 1975... I love my tone now. I covers me well, I gan get to SRV or freddie king, duane allman or frank zappa.

Max. Power: 60 Watt. Large magnet (50 oz = 1.42 kg). It has a high sensitivity of 100 dB, that means that the speaker is very loud.

I use this Speaker in a selfmade Box (1/4 of the back is open), with a Mesa Boogie 50/50 power amp and a Digitech 2112 Preamp. This combination is very versatile. Maybe not for Jazz, but for most contemporary styles.
The speaker has a very accurate and fast response. The sound is pretty aggressive in the upper mid-range. Many people talk about an annoying "honk" at 800Hz. Well, I like that sound and it is really good in competition with the snare drum.
I don't have that speaker for to long, so I don't give a rating.

I have Celestions in all of my Amps/Cabs. Didn't ever have a problem.

classic 12" Speaker. Very loud.

Here is the big mistake some people made: The Vintage 30 is NOT the build in speaker of the silver jubile Marshalls. The jubilee series build in speaker is horrible sounding and no comparison to the real V30. There is only Vintage written on the label NOT Vintage 30. I had a 2554 and a Little Fatty combo which both sounded awful with this speaker but installing a real V30 made them sound very good. I also changed the stock JBLs from my 1972 Twin Reverb with V30s and it's a killer blues sound with my loved 1960 Strat but also with my VR Telecaster. This speaker doesn't has a mid honk. It handels all sounds from ultra clean to high gain like no other. I also replaced the stock speaker from my Blues Junior (the worst one I've ever seen/heard. Cheap Emminence) with a V30 and this made the amp gigable. But the Blues Junior isn't a vell made amp so it died after a few gigs. Now this V30 is in a 4210 Marshall Combo and it's much better than the stock G12T-70. Don't get me wrong: the G12T-70 isn't a bad speaker it is much better than the crap they sold the 2554 with, but it hasn't the quality of a V30. I think that some people don't like the V30 may be a result of using cheap stock tubes. Use quality NOS tubes and get your V30s alive.

It's a celestion.

Never dealt with them.

The one and only.

It is loud with an upper midrange punch.

I don't like this speaker in combos, but I like them in cabinets.

A Vintage 30 came in my Gibson Goldtone GA-15RV which is a 1x12 El-84- based amp. I hated how punchy and honky it was. It was really "in your face". It made the amp sound "boxy", especially at higher volumes. Another reviewer mentioned an 800Hz tone. That is exactly the frequency I found offensive. You see, I added an EQ pedal to my signal chain and I tried different settings to get a decent clean sound. I found that lowering the 800Hz slider did the trick.

I noticed that a Rivera Chubster combo I once tried had similar tone. At loud volumes it was too punchy, honky.

In constrast, I think the Vintage 30 sounds good in cabinets. I once tried an older high gain VHT amp through a Top Hat cab with Vintage 30 and it sounded great.

I also put a Vintage 30 in my Mesa 1x12 3/4 back cab and I play my Gibson Goldtone through that. That gives me a rich clean sound and a nice distortion sound. I'm assuming the bassiness of a cabinet seems to balance out the upper midrange spikiness of the speaker.


Comparison to other speakers I've used:

- Mesa Black Shadow (similar to Celestion Classic 80 I guess).
Vintage 30 has more bass and mids. Sounds better in my Mesa cab than the Mesa speaker.

- Speaker from Crate Vintage Club amp
(supposedly it is Eminence's version of the celestion Greenback).
Vintage 30 is quite a bit darker.

- Celestion G12H-30 (70th anniversary reissue)
Vintage 30 has less bass. More upper mids.

- Weber California
The Weber California is a lot more "neutral" than the Vintage 30.
I suppose the Vintage 30 imparts its tone on your amp while the
Weber California doesn't.

It's a speaker . . .

I want to modify my earlier review: I've gigged with the Vintage 30s a couple of shows now and I want to throw my vote in the direction of those who say this speaker takes over everything else. They're great for clean and one-note stuff like leads, but they're obnoxious for power chords and drop D. Nothing but midrange! And the "honk" gets worse with volume. I stuck a G12T-75 back in my Marshall 1936 cabinet to try and get some of the scooped crunch back, and I think that was a step in the right direction. Might eventually go with the ever-emerging V30/Greenback combo.

Read all of these reviews before buying them. Ignore the retail sites and the guitar magazine write ups. If possible, go to your local music store and try them, but be sure to crank 'em up and see if you like the honk they give. Some do . . .

8 or 16ohms heavy magnet

If your after a bluesy or vintage Marshall tone these are the last(and I mean last)thing you want,they have a midrange honk to them that will make a great amp sound bad and a weak amp unplayable.I have one in a Marshall Silver Jubilee 1x12 combo and the amp actually sounds chinsy w/ this speaker.I tried it on a 2210 channel switcher and same thing.Just a horrible speaker.Very shouting,all your notes attacks will be in your face,very harsh and "bonky" sounding.Literally my Jubilee resembles a Roland cube 60(terrible solid state amp)when played though the V30.Makes the amp sound boxy sounding all the midrange sounds like theres a Wah midsweep but REALLY pronounced.I use a greenabck loaded 4x12 and this same amp sounds fabulous live.
I would highly NOT recomend this speaker to ANYONE!!They say there so so for high gain but the G12T-75 is a better choice for metal type playing.I would seriously recomend one of Celestions lower-end speakers(Silver series V12-60 etc..) over this.

Well mine hasn't blown(but I'll be working on that)LOL.

No rating

Terrible!!!God awful terrible.I have been playing 11yrs playing in gigging rock bands every weekend.Played a year in a National act.And practice everyday.I have played though many Celestion speakers and this is by far THE worst speaker I've ever heard for guitar bar none.I've tried everything including removing the doping on the cone suround and its still terrible.Makes my amp sound like its in a box.My bassist says it sounds like its in a tunnel.Only thing going for it is I can't get it to blow up.Mine will be coming out of my amp and going into a vocal monitor for rehearsal.

I use a Mesa-Boogie 50-cal Plus in a three-piece power trio that plays classic and alternative rock covers. We play small to medium-sized clubs, and my cabinet is always miked, even in the dinkiest venues, so I never take the master volume past "2." Usually have the gain at "7" and use guitar's volume pot to shape the sound. I also have a ProCo Turbo Rat I step on for "that extra push over the cliff" when required.

My main guitar is a stock Les Paul. I stuck Vintage 30s in my Marshall 1936 cabinet as replacements for the G12T-75s. The V30s are definitely cleaner and more focused across the clean-distortion spectrum compared to the G12T-75s. The V30s have a very distinct growl (what others have described here as a "honk"). I play a lot of power chord/open chord stuff and I think the V30 is the right speaker for that sort of style. I'm also happy with the attitude the V30s give to my leads; they more readily leap out of the mix now. As others have suggested, anyone in the market would be well advised to go up the Celestion website and listen to the sound samples there, short and limited as they are.

No problems so far, but I've only had them a short time.

Like I said, I'm satisfied with the switch, but like all tone junkies, the search never ends. The only other thing I might try at this point is the V30-Greenback combo, although I think the Greenback might get killed by the Mesa-Boogie head I'm using. If only my wife would let me get that Budda head I've had my eye on . . .

Bottom line: If you play medium- or high-gain stuff and are using a Marshall with G12T-75s, you'd probably be happier with V30s.

Its a speaker!

I'm using a Jackson Dinky with Evolution pickups. Homemade 4X12 sealed and 2x12 semi open back cambs. I wish I never bought 6 of these things. But when your young and you have under developed ears you do things like this.

They have this grany texture that I hate. They are mid heavy. And the high end rolls of quite a bit. I love mids but not these kinds of mids. My amp (ENGL Powerball) I keep the mids at 5 with the bass and treble at 10. I think you get the biggest overall sound with the 10 5 10 configuration on any amp.

I think metallica uses these and alot of nu-metal bands with their boogie cabs and such. I use to like metallicas sound back in the day untill I got into Zakk Wylde. He loads hes cabs with the EV 12L's and this is about the biggest sound I have heard. I am in love with the EV's clearness. Even though I never tryed and EV yet I am willing to bet they are everything a vintage 30 is not. CLEAN WITH HUGE BASS AND BITTING MIDS. SRV is also rumored to use the EV12ls.

If anyone wants to sell me some EV's or talk amps please E-mail me. I love tone.

Never had a problem

Never tryed.

Over all I would describe these as "Weak" "Thing" "Unclear" "Pussy" "Muddy" BLAH!

I hope I can find a non celestion speaker that will reck any of the celestion models soon. I love my amp and guitar but I hate these. Speakers are the only thing I need to get my sound dammit!! >:O

12" guitar speakers 8 or 16ohms.

Frankly I hate these speakers!!I play a low gain clean,power tube distortion,Marshall tone.These speakers will give a beutiful snappy lead tone with this type of sound.Very snappy but will not do sweet singing warm bluesy lead tones. BUT!!!The rythm tone is ungodly terrible.There is like a 800Hz Honk to it it sounds like its in a box and has a very AWWNNNKKKY tone.Very annoying.Now for High gain playing it might be OK but its still a middy speaker.this is the stock speaker in in My 1x12 Silver Jubilee combo.I plan on replacing it w/ either and Eminence Private Jack or GB12

Very durable.I wish it would blow I hate it that much

Great if all you want it a snappy lead tone.But it don't sing to ya and it honks at ya,when ya play stacato rythms.

Can handle high power. Now that's the only feature that I can think of in terms of speaker features...

The Vintage 30 is an instrument of its own. These speakers have very distintive sound and are instantly recoginizable when you hear them live or on a CD, etc. It has the signature midrange "honk" (you can't miss it), edgy snappy upper mids and tight bass. I happen to like those qualities, so they are my favorite speakers. So I strongly recommend hearing these first before you buy them, because, if you put Vintage 30's in your amp, your amp will sound more like Vintage 30's than your amp itself. They really do have their own character.

I've owned a number of different Celestion speakers in the past. No problems at all.

If you're a serious player, you've probably heard these speakers before. If you haven't and are looking for replacement speakers, give these a try. You'll probably love them or hate them.

used in 2x12 cab with soldano decatone, with 30 watt marshall, and with deuluxe reverb II. used in open back combo with deluxe. tried with strats, les paul, hss trem guitar, 52 ri tele, gibson L6S.

having owned these for 2-3 years and having tried them with several amps and guitar-pickup combinations i have come to the conclusion that these are very overrated. true, they have a big sound and are louder than most speakers, and they won't rip your head off with treble like many of the celestions, that said, i have found them to be lacking in tone. no matter what guitar i use, what pickups, what amp, the sound always comes out the same, like you are talking with your hand over your mouth. the only place they really work nicely is in the low gain bluesy chord stuff where they are ok. other than that, for clean, forget it, hand over your mouth, for higher gain rock tone, few pinch harmonics come through and crunchiness is hard to achieve. these speakers make high end gear sound like cheap gear. i switched to g12h30's and what an improvement in tone, everything just opened up.

no problems with reliability

never had to deal with repairs

been playing 28 years, still gigging in my 50's. have owned many guitars and amps through the years. i play a wide range of styles from classic rock and blues to old standards, have quality amps and guitars capable of great tone, but except in limited (low gain, very loud) applications, these are mediocre at best. i'll leave my car unlocked and show you which one it is if you want to steal them. these are not the most expensive speakers out there, neither are they cheap. there are better speakers out there for the same or less. money.

Well, I have 4 of the 16 ohm versions in a marshall 1960 cab--a mid 80's model. Speakers are brandnew however. The cab is wired for 4 ohms instead of 16 so as to give my amp the lowest possible load on the transformer--I don't know if this really affects anything tonally but what the hay. Two of them I got from Dave at avatar speakers and the other two are out of a mesa 2x12 recto cab and yes there is a visible difference in the mesa vintage 30's--the magnet on the custom mesa speakers is another 1/2 inch in diameter larger than the standard vintage 30's probably giving them more control over the lo-end and the higher wattage rating that everyone's been trying to figure out (mesa & marshall both rate their vintage 30 4x12's for 280 watts but the standard wattage rating for vintage 30's is 60 watts a piece... go figure). Anyways thats the story as far as I can tell it.

These things sound just like guitar speakers should in a 4x12. They can handle lots of lo end and have an awesome "ripping midrange." I play a redbear mk 120 through the cab which is a very beefy amp and these speakers handle it very well. I can get classic 70's marshall tones through this setup--think Page's live sound. Very snarly. These speakers seem to like pretty much anything GUITAR--duh... These have been recorded on so many platnum albums its not even funny. The sound is pretty much instantly recognizable.

I'm guessing that they'll hold up for a long time. No problems with celestions reputation...

I've been playing for about 10 1/2 years and this is the most satisfying cab I've ever owned. The only other cab I've had that would be in the same realm would've been my mesa 1/2 back 4x12 with 2 celestion custom 90's and two EV's-but even that cab didn't sound great with everything. In my experience, Celestions seem to like pretty much every amp yout put through them.

Am using Vintage 30s in a Dave Hafleresque front channel stereo set-up; powered by a modded vintage Marantz MR-235 dc-amped receiver. CD playback is via pitch-controlled Denon DCM-450, vinyl via Yamaha P-07 turntable with Shure V15-Type IV hyper-elliptical & micro-ridge stylii. With 100db sensitivity, those Vintage 30s deliver Winterlandish volume from only 1/3rd of that 235's 35 watts-per-channel output(pre-amped with modded Dynaco PAT-4). Adds a tubesque tone to that Marantz solid-state clarity, for a best-of-both-worlds vintage vibe. Excells in realistic percussion projection, sonorous Hammond B3 swells, and adding extra oomph to twangy 50s-n-60s-era tele-n-strat recordings. Though not as n-th degree in hi-fi clarity as that true vintage Utah-Jensen combo it replaced, subtlties in the mix are still revelatory. First heard Natalie Merchant's piano stool squeak at the begining of "My Body", on her "Ophelia" album, through Vintage 30s. On the Beatles "White Album", you can hear Paul's bass tone get molassas thick on one track, then become almost whisper thin on the next. Steely Dan fans can follow engineer Roger Nichol's album-to-album aural ascendancy. Roy Thomas Baker's compressed production on "The Cars", "Candy-O" and Journey's "Evolution" becomes obviously apparent, as is the relatively narrow bandwith on Thin Lizzy's "Live-n-Dangerous"(Phil Lynott's best recorded live effort). Aston "Family Man" Barrett's bass contributions with Bob Marley's Wailers never bottoms out. Jimi might now be a million dimensions away, but at the same time he's right there amidst them speaker frames!

Marantz' MR-235(a Phillips-era re-badged Model 1530)utilizes lateral mosfet output drivers, so it's got faux-tubesque midrange in spades! Makes for a truly euphonic blend with the Vintage 30s' warm-yet-woody flavour; instant tube tonality without all those thermionic headaches! Sony's STR-6800SD still sounded polite, despite its' 80 wpc output; Rotel's RX-602 was relaxed-yet-expansive from its 50 wpc mosfets, and Pioneer's SX-780(which lacks that Pioneer mid-70s-era midrange-centric house sound, favouring a Marantz-esque musicality) was a sonic shedgehammer well beyond its 45 wpc Darlington ic amp-chip output! Tweeters are Motorola piezos with 12uf non-polarized caps, for British-stylie west-coast sizzle-n-boom! Whatever your amp's sonic signiature, Vintage 30s will deliver it, be it warts or warmth!

They're Celestions! Electro Voice Force speakers might be a bit more hi-fi-ish, but one gave up da ghost in me 2 X 12 stereo-phased guitar cab, whilst an overdrive Celestion G10T-75CE(powered by the hot wires from both stereo channels, and purchased at the same time as those EVs)is still rockin' in da free world 14-plus years on! That cab is now Vintage 30 loaded, and delivering heavenly open chord blues-n-rock from a '64 Fender Jag & '76 Ibanez Les Paul Custom copy(lawsuit model) and a Realistic 65C(15 wpc of mini-Marshall)!

Haven't had to find out, thang God!!!

As a hi-fi source, Vintage 30s deliver complementary tube tonality to vintage solid-state units! One/third volume is all that's necessary to deliver Winterlandish decibles, without straining! Adds a nice touch of added compression to recorded material when applicable, like on Bill Nelson's Be Bop Deluxe excursions! For seamless bass-to-midrange tonal transition, the Century's are probably the Vintage 30s' only competition! For this hipster, Vintage 30s were the cure to his mid-life crisis!!!

I am submitting a review on these wonderful speakers that amazed me at first. I was very happy for awhile,but found that playing for extended times, the vintage 30's easily breaking up sound was just too easily breaking up for my likes. The amp I'm refering to is a Vox clone of the AC 30 with another distortion channel to boot(big boot). At low volume it sounded very good, but I found when turning it up the easy breaking vintage sound was grinding on my nerves, just too predicable.

I kinda got into the sound in the first catagory, but this is why I decided to write a review here, I was looking for something along these lines, but a little tighter & punchier, while still having that sweet vintage sound. So I investigated and found through researching, others had the same likes and dislikes that I had,in desiring a tighter sound while still retaining that vintage sound. I ran across info that stated that for example, a Dr. Z 2X12 amp had one vin. 30 & a G12H in the cab.. I eagerly found one & made the switch. I cranked it up and I was blown away, first time in years! The G12H seems to dominate the sound, while the 30 "flavors" the sound, it gives all of these great nuances and articulations,not to mention KO power with balls. While I was in my headroom the glass light globe from the ceiling crashed to the floor and bounced and didn't break, due to carpet & heavy rug.That really brought a smile on. I only missed a couple o beats and I was back in that special place. My house is an old one, with all plaster that is like concrete, so I was playing past noon on the amp, and sweetness was all around.

Put the lime in the coconut and mix them both up

I played in the late 60's, and then quit in the mid 70's. I just picked it up again a few years back. I think the vin. 30 in a 1X12 would be very pleasing, but the 2X12 setup just was taxing to me. I am real happy with the mix of speakers. I own a Randall RT-30, and a Legend R&R 50 2X12,a Korenian 335 copy that I can't find anything wrong with except that it will kick your butt, an old Skylark 96 that rocks the house(my baby),I've owned many, but keep a few, let some really good ones go. I sold my Marshall 2X12 Valvestate, good amp but not GREAT. Now the Legend R&R 50 has G12-65's, try to find info on these. They don't rock the house, they bring the house down! You talk about vintage? IMHO the 30's don't come close to the raw sound of the G12-65's. The 30's are very responsive, but just too responsive, they sound too busy to me, the others mentioned here are more artistic to lay down your sound, since this is about the 30's I rate it a little lower, cause I've just heard better!

I replaced some old Musicman square mags with a set of Vintage 30's.
These speakers were new, so I expected then to be in good shape as they were. Very sturdy and nice looking, and rated for 60 watts.

I use a Line-6 Variax with a Vetta head into these new speakers, and all I can say is WOW! The muddys are gone- no boomys and no spikes either. Just nice toneful sound. If these sound this way now- they are going to be great when they get broke in. VERY pleased...

NA- No clue on this one...

Again- no clue.....

Been playing over 30 years, all kinds of music. I read and elsewhere on these Vintage 30 speakers BEFORE I purchased them. I can truthfully say that they live up to their high ratings. I would buy these again, in a heartbeat if and when.... Makes my old cab sound wonderful !

Its a speaker!

I play rock, but i guess my tone would be best described as blues/rock. I like bright (but not harsh) cleans and smooth singing overdrive. I struggled with G12T-75s for 12 years - just because thats what was loaded in my 4x12 - but never really nailed the sound I heard in my head. I put this failure down to my own short commings! With a quartet of V30s I can finally say the sound in my head is completely nailed. A massive improvement over the 12T-75 in my opinion. The sound files on the Celestion site do reflect the charachter of the speaker well.

I am currently using a custom built strat loaded with Seymour Duncan Custom pickups, a Cornford MK50H head, 1960A cab. Minimal use of FX (chrous & delay)

Never had a problem with any Celestion product

Dr Decibel took a few days but did answer all my questions

This is a great speaker - I would never go back to 12T-75s - it gets a 10 because I now get the sound I want. Works with the Cornford in a most pleasing way. It may not suit everybody, it is very loud - but very satisfying!

I submitted a review on the Vintage 30, a while back, when I first got it...

12" / 16 ohm / 50 oz. magnet

I am updating my previous review...I originally purchased this speaker to make a solid state Line6 amp, sound better...Well, it did that...But, then I realized, I need tube tone to really get that over-the-top sound, that I'm looking for...So, I traded my old amp, for a Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401 (all tube, 40 watt, 112 combo)...Immediately, upon arrival, I plugged into the new amp and jammed...WOW...drool...What an awesome sound...Then I grabbed my trusty Vintage 30 (that I had removed from the Line6 amp), and popped it into the combo...WWOOOOWW...drool...more drool...Now, this is the sound that I was looking for...The Vintage 30 had blown away the Marshall issued Goldback, hands down...

I realize that I have rambled a little bit...But, the bottom line is; THE CELESTION VINTAGE 30 IS "THE" ROCK 'N ROLL SPEAKER...From the Blues, to full-on Metal, the V30 is it...Look no further...

'Industry Standard'...The highest of quality...

N/A...

I have given this speaker nothin' but praise, because, that's all it deserves...Nothing negative to say about this speaker...This is the 'Industry Standard'...Any other co. who designs professional loudspeakers should halt all production...This is the only speaker that is necessary...

New. Heavy.

My setup: Hamer Explorer (EMG 81 and 60) or ESP Ex 351 or ESP V-350 --> Morley Wah --> Guyatone Metal Monster --> Boss Super Choros --> Morley Volume --> Crate GFX 212-T with a MXR Noisegate pedal in the effects loop. OK, I noticed that the stock "Crate Custom Design" speakers could not handle any low end I threw at them, and the highs were ear piercing and hardly controllable. If you turned up the mids at all you just got more mud. So I bought 2 Vintage 30s. All I have to say is WOW. No matter how much you screw up your EQ the Vintage 30s never sound bad! They are louder, have more precense, and just plain sound better than my stock speakers. I got a COMPLETELY different tone out of these (in a very good way).

It weighs alot and handles pretty much any EQing you throw at it (at lower volumes). When you turn it up you MAY have to cut back on some lows.

Never dealt with them, GREAT website though.

Overall they are great speakers, I'll probably use these speakers and nothing else in any new amps or cabs I get...

This speaker is awesome...Rated at 60 watts for a 16 ohm load, with a 50 oz. magnet...

I very recently put this speaker in a Line6 112 combo...The amp is decent, if you want versatility and convenience, especially for a beginning player...But, maybe not for a veteran player, who is well on his quest for the ultimate guitar tone. Anyway, back to the speaker...The Vintage 30 is the "creme of the crop". I read a little about the V30, and I wondered if it was as awesome as people said. Well I found out...This speaker sounds like it's on fire, compared to the stock speaker from my amp. Besides all the added tonal capacity, this speaker is at least 30% louder, volume-wise.

As another reviewer stated...This speaker is an industry standard, there shouldn't be any problems in this area.

I have never dealt with them, but I have heard wonderful things...

I have owned several amps and guitars, but I haven't ever replaced any of the stock speakers until now. Needless to say, I will only use Celestion's Vintage 30 speakers from now on. This speaker is a killer, PERIOD. I play mostly rock and blues rock, with a little metal. I hear that the G12T-75 is great for that nu-metal "scooped" sound, but I not into that. The V30 is the speaker for me...

New.

Because the Vintage 30 will break your foot, if it falls on your foot,
I have to rate it a 10.

I put a Vintage 30 into a mediocre sounding Solid State Peavey
Studio Pro 112. It no longer sounds mediocre. Smooth and chimey.
If the the Vintage 30 can make even a Peavey sound good...

Dependable.

(Very poor as a chamber pot.)

Celestion is imported into the 'US of Hey' by
Group One Importers, some place in Long Island, NY.

Had to deal with them once, about a Greenback with a coil rub.

The 'job' got done, but dealing with them was like
trying to get a Pep Boys Service Manager to
work with you after you've paid.

Nifty speaker, albeit a pricey one.