Do Vintage Guitar Speakers REALLY Sound Better?
Does speaker type matter? In this episode we test whether speakers of different types and from different eras actually make a huge difference. Rhett Shull, Dave Onorato and myself compare a NEW Celestion Vintage 30 12″ Guitar Speaker vs VINTAGE 70’s Celestion G12H 12″ Guitar Speaker inside the same Orange 4×12 Cabinet. Using a 1972 Orange Overdrive OR 120 we recorded the V30’s then swapped them out for Vintage G12 H’s. The results will surprise you! Ley me know your thoughts.
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#Vintage #Guitar #Speakers #Sound
Originally posted by UCJquYOG5EL82sKTfH9aMA9Q at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh1k4M9Do0c
yes they do! also tubes transformers pickups…you name it the old stuff is way better
Yes they do. And they are more sensitive meaning that you can do more with less watts of power.
I bet they’d blend splendidly together
I think I prefer the new ones in all settings….
Well Orange commenced building their speaker cabs back in 1968 and back then was before the fire at Celestion, where we lost 75% of the pulsonic cone stock ,so we had both G12M and G12H pulsonic cones, many cabs of which used a bass variant, running at 55Hz. These cabs – and the specific speakers with 300 year old tree pulp cones – are legendary for good reason!!
By 1976 ( the blackback speakers used), you had a modern 1777 cone, only two of which were original and we are already in modern territory for Celestion speakers imo.
So, having collected and played through dozens of sets of these old speakers and sat in on original Orange cabs, I'm not entirely sure we would appreciate the extent of the true differences here. Also Celestion had several different models at this time and some are real sweeties (think of the EVH tone, going through early 20 WATT G12M stacks or Hendrix through old 4 x12 G12H bass cabs with those 55Hz cone models; not sounds you'd forget in a hurry).
All the same, an interesting idea and the Vintage 30's held up remarkably well – certainly more articulate – I was surprised.
When chatting with Ted Weber one time, about what speakers to put in an old Blackface Fender cab, he suggested some old Celestion G12M/H Greenback speakers and what a sound!! Genius. Left them in there for several years. Another thing I like to do is use pulled Vox alnico Celestion speakers (think '68/'69, right up to the '72 reissues which have deeper bass) and use them with JMP Marshall stacks.
Incredible sound!
God Bless ????️
Mike Bloomfield
It’s worth getting “your sound.” I can never differentiate speakers from crunch chord comparisons. Some guitarists are going to play interesting stuff and they’ll sound better through whatever they play it on/through than someone who plays something uninteresting on a nice guitar, rig. It’s like adjusting the car seat. Robben ford and Larry Carlton switched Dumble amps one night, neither liked the others, so they went back to their own set up.
I learned much about Celestion speakers and power compression in the studio in the early 1980s. My 1980 50 watt Marshall JMP 2×12 combo with G12-65 sounded muddy after about 30 minutes of tracking time. Jay Antista was the recording engineer. He suggested I bring in…when I told him I had a single EVM12L in a separate cabinet. The difference was night and day in total frequency response, fidelity, and lack of power compression from the Celestion speakers. The much larger voice coils and motors of the EVM speakers…as well as JBL D/K/E120 speakers…is light years ahead of the Celestions. Big voice coil/big motor loudspeakers have a much wider tonal pallete in which to choose from a given amplifier. The extended frequency range of another octave opens up a much wider spectrum of tonal and harmonic freedom that is simply not possible with the smaller voice coils of Celestions that are prone to power compression and a muddy response. The transient response of the JBL and EVM also forces one to be a better player due to the much faster tactical response of the more sensitive speaker. Go big or go home. I'll take a 1×12 or 2×12 JBL/EVM over a 4×12 Celestion every time.
My computer speakers would be unlikely to help discern what each set-up sounds like but you in the room should be able to notice if there is a difference.
These G12h 75hz black backs sound mushy and dark. Not at all like many others I’ve heard. Blackbacks are really the perfect match with a dark;wooly Orange because they are crispier and bright without being harsh. The problem is you need to check each speaker because there are plenty of great old speakers and plenty of tired and worn onee
lol Dave has no clue what he's talking about. Vintage 30s are not scooped in any way. They have tons of mids.
the new celetions are made in china since 2005 or so. theres a big difference between even the 2004 celestion V30s and everything from 2006 onwards
V30 is very specific in what it does the gh are more musical and attractive -context is the ultimate decider????
Both good sounds for different things. I’m all about mids and I thought I would like the old speakers better on everything and I definitely preferred them on what Rhett played but I liked the V30’s on Dave and Ricks parts ???????? tbh I’d love to hear a version with both speakers mixed together. I think that would be a great sound. Orange amps (even the new ones ROCK) also
Only just found this video. I would have loved to hear a clean comparison without gain. If you go back even further in the 60’s Marshalls many were 25watt speakers.
G12 ones sounds more open whereas Vintage ones sound concealed.
I prefer G12.
I like the sound of the new speakers better, or at least that was more of a sound that I would use, but the vintage speakers definitely sound more like an orange amp. Like a lot more.
I liked the Blackbacks best.
I’ve got two 68 straight cabs with Pulsonic 25 watt Greenbacks and have preferred them to any Greenback reissue I’ve heard. I’ve also got a 77 slant with the original 55hz 30 watt Blackbacks on top and V30’s on bottom. Great sounding cab but yes, a little bit scooped. Recently I blocked off the V30’s to cut down on the volume and as a bonus I liked the sound even more. I’ll be buying another pair of Blackbacks soon.
Blackbacks were introduced in 75 so not early 70’s speakers.
Maybe i did not really understand what you did, but shouldn't you compare a new vs a vintage speaker of the exact same model?
Since you compared two different speakers I'd expect them to sound different, independent of one being vintage or not.
Why didn't you use G12H speakers both old and new? It is kind of an apple and pear comparison as is
The vintage 30 is for 30 centimeters not watts