Are Celeston V30s the worst sounding speakers ever created?

[the4thlast1]

A friend brought over two of his V30s last night. They are about 5 years old and well broken in. These are british made.

I compared them to my WGS Vet30s and the difference was huge. The V30s were brittle, thin, harsh, ice pick to the head.
I used a 20th Anniversary Shiva and VHT ST/50 to compare.

In the end...he just ordered a few WGS Vet 30s to replace the V30s and I will report back. Once they are broken in...he is going to bring two 212s to a gig since they do 3 sets. We'll get to swap cabs between sets. He has a Bogner 212 and I have the same so i will bring my Bogner 212 and compare.

Is the V30 more hype than anything, or what is going on here that i just don't get. LOL!

I mean, I know plenty of guys use them.

If I could only choose one speaker.........broken-in V30's are the best speaker for me without a doubt.

I went the Veteran 30/Retro 30 for awhile. They are cool at first because they are so different (softer attack, fatter). But I quickly grew tired of it. I have used just about every Celestion and WGS equivalent. You will never get the clarity, articulation, and punch that you get with a Vintage 30 from a Veteran 30. You get closer with the Retro 30, but still not quite there.

Its really no contest for me when I A/B the two. And I'm really not bashing WGS because I think certain models have their place.........especially with clean to mid-gain tones. And they also sound great with single coils. However, for high gain rhythm, I have yet to be blown away with any of their speakers.

I also agree that the V30 is misunderstood and it gets alot of undeserved bashing around the net. If this speaker is so horrible then explain why the majority of amp builders choose to load it in their cabs.

I agree with this..... I personally have tried almost every warehouse and eminence speaker there is, as well as scumbacks and some others. I do like some of them for different reasons however if I had to choose one speaker it would be a celestion v30. With that being said I also have heard v30's sound not so good and that would be non broken in chinese made models... The older made in england v30's sound better as well as the older Mesa branded v30's. The older Mesa branded ones may be the best Ive heard and I have tried a good deal of v30's.

 

[moltenmetalburn]

which is just pretty much typical of what is on these forums where people get on here and blabber on about how every little stupid thing sounds so different lol.

This is a gear forum where we come to argue about the intricacies of our gear. As a professional guitar tech I can tell you these "little things" do matter when chasing your ultimate tone.

If you don't care enough about your sound to care about the little things why are you perusing our gear forum anyway? Get a crate halfstack for $20 and rock out to your hearts content.

lol i figured somebody would get all butthurt and bent out of shape about that - didn't take long either haha.
here we go with mr. "i'm a professional guitar tech and im chasing ultimate tone blahblahblah" lol.
"go buy a crate half stack then because you dont care about tone blahblahblah every different cable has a different tone blahblahblah" lol
not everyone has to be a complete fucking nerd about every little detail of all of the gear they play to have good tone/ be a good player.

by the way - i didn't jump on anyone. lol

Well, you may consider my opinions all "blah blah blah" but your condescending tone and volatile offensive manner just rub me the wrong way. Rude and childish. It is the reason I said you "jumped" on that other member. All gear discussion can be had without resorting to hostility. In no way was I upset, just voicing my opinion as we are all allowed.

I AM a guitar tech for a living for whatever that is worth. I get paid large sums of money to help professional guitarists get the most from their gear, that should lend me some credibility in your eyes which is the only reason I mentioned it.

It is comical to me that YOU are spending YOUR time on a forum full or guitar nerds who have gathered here in order to nerd out about guitar gear yet you complain about that very fact. I don't get it.

Correct, you dont have to obsess about the minor details to be a good player OR have good tone.

You do however need to take all of those factors into account when attempting to have the best tone possible which is what this forum is all about.

Our interaction started through conversation about the differences of mesa v30's and stock v30's which you claim sound no different yet have no knowledge of either. How this turned into me saying or thinking that you need to nerd out about the details in order to play well I have no idea, you concocted that portion.

As for the "argue" comment. I personally find no need to "argue" about gear. I have always been a man of science and let that lead the way for me. Through listening, and testing I have come to conclusions about the gear I have experience with. Nothing more, nothing less. Cables, speakers, wire, etc DO sound sound different and there are scientific reasons why. It is easy for someone who has done no research to claim the results are "magical" or "mythical" as you did with the Mesa V30's.

I need not convince you otherwise though, as I said earlier play whatever moves you and be moved by it. its all about fun anyway.

 

[skoora]

A lot of really dumb comments here. Skoora, you're pretty impressed with youself eh.

Fixed....and yes, abso-fucking-lutely. I rule, my playing is untouchable and my ear is un-questionable. In fact I think I'll start a forum called Skoora the Mighty..come worship my licks!

and before you say well why don't you post a clip of how amazing you are here is a link to quick vid I made just recently

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR7y7g8h ... re=related

 

[Forte]

I've owned a ton of different speakers, including Vintage 30s, over the years and have almost always been able to find a use for them all. The Vintage 30 is a great speaker in the proper application, just like any other speaker.

 

[HerbieBoogie]

i love my v30's almost as much as i love cookies

 

[moltenmetalburn]

i love my v30's almost as much as i love cookies

 

[Dimebag11]

IMO, the V30 is best suited for an amp that has a slightly scooped midrange. The V30s help to bring the mids back into balance. V30s with an already midrange heavy amp can sound harsh. Once again, this observation is just from the cabs and amps that I have owned. YMMV.

This^

I couldn't have said it any better.

They work great for Engls, Cobras, Diezels, etc.

They suck with nice, middy hair metal amps (like mine)

I completely disagree with V30s sounding good with the Cobra, I liked mine WAYYY better with Greenbacks....actually wasn't very fond of V30's with the Cobra.

On a side note I've decided I strongly dislike K100 speakers.

I think I'll settle for an all v30 cab and all greenie cab.

 

[lolzgreg]

I realized I hated K100s and MC90s as well. There is a disgusting, unnatural midrange I just can't jive with.

 

[charveldan]

I have an older Uber cab that has a mix of the V30 and G12T75 and its one of the best combos I have ever played or heard. I dont like them alone but they sound incredible mixed.

I like them mixxed with 80w celestions. Alone is another story.

I to mix them.

I've got two older Marshall cabs and two Carvin cabs, i prefer the Marshalls, on the Carvins i swapped the British series speaks for V30's but they were too shrill/brite with my JMP's.

So yesterday i did an X-pattern with V30's & British series and it seemed to work well, the British series sound like a cross between a Greenback & T-75.

 

[thegame]

i love my v30's almost as much as i love cookies

Classic

 

[madrigal77]

They are good for some things, but personally I can't stand them.

 

['63-Strat]

Slash uses a Marshall 4x12 with V30s. He gets a pretty killer tone. Not sure if his pickups smooth things out or what, but he has great tone.

Sssshhhh. No one wants to hear about that. Or that Angus Young has used 'em for years too. Both of those guys suck and so do V30s and only metalcore guys like V30s etc.

 

[Dimebag11]

I realized I hated K100s and MC90s as well. There is a disgusting, unnatural midrange I just can't jive with.

I can agree with that statement! Especially the K100's!

 

[skoora]

Slash uses a Marshall 4x12 with V30s. He gets a pretty killer tone. Not sure if his pickups smooth things out or what, but he has great tone.

Sssshhhh. No one wants to hear about that. Or that Angus Young has used 'em for years too. Both of those guys suck and so do V30s and only metalcore guys like V30s etc.

Not having a go..I would be interested in your source of info on Angus using V30's

 

[troublehead]

Slash uses a Marshall 4x12 with V30s. He gets a pretty killer tone. Not sure if his pickups smooth things out or what, but he has great tone.

Sssshhhh. No one wants to hear about that. Or that Angus Young has used 'em for years too. Both of those guys suck and so do V30s and only metalcore guys like V30s etc.

Not having a go..I would be interested in your source of info on Angus using V30's

Angus has used V30's for awhile now.

 

['63-Strat]

Slash uses a Marshall 4x12 with V30s. He gets a pretty killer tone. Not sure if his pickups smooth things out or what, but he has great tone.

Sssshhhh. No one wants to hear about that. Or that Angus Young has used 'em for years too. Both of those guys suck and so do V30s and only metalcore guys like V30s etc.

Not having a go..I would be interested in your source of info on Angus using V30's

Angus has used V30's for awhile now.

^ This.

 

[troublehead]

Slash uses a Marshall 4x12 with V30s. He gets a pretty killer tone. Not sure if his pickups smooth things out or what, but he has great tone.

Sssshhhh. No one wants to hear about that. Or that Angus Young has used 'em for years too. Both of those guys suck and so do V30s and only metalcore guys like V30s etc.

Not having a go..I would be interested in your source of info on Angus using V30's

Angus has used V30's for awhile now.

^ This.

Yeah. Even without knowing that, the last album has characteristic V30 tone all over it IMO.

 

[blackba]

Yeah. Even without knowing that, the last album has characteristic V30 tone all over it IMO.

I will have to listen again to 'Black Ice' again and see if I hear that. I do find when I listen to that album that I have to re EQ my stereo, as the overall mix has too much treble for my tastes.

 

[Superunknown]

Angus does not use V30's....Malcolm does. Angus plays through Greenbacks. I have seen both rigs and played through Angus's rig.......

 

[skoora]

Slash uses a Marshall 4x12 with V30s. He gets a pretty killer tone. Not sure if his pickups smooth things out or what, but he has great tone.

Sssshhhh. No one wants to hear about that. Or that Angus Young has used 'em for years too. Both of those guys suck and so do V30s and only metalcore guys like V30s etc.

Not having a go..I would be interested in your source of info on Angus using V30's

Angus has used V30's for awhile now.

^ This.

Yeah. Even without knowing that, the last album has characteristic V30 tone all over it IMO.

I'd still like to know the source of info on him using that speaker and if after recording, mixing and mastering you can tell it's a V30 just by listening to the CD you all must have amazing ears.....maybe even as amazing as mine