The 80s Marshall Vintage is more similar to the Marshall labelled T3120 G12 65; vs any other version V30. I compared a Mesa Traditional(Stiletto) cab to a Bogner V30, next up was a Rivera V30 cab. Mesa had the OEM British made V30, while the other 2 had made in China V30s. All 3 cabs sounded practically identical.
The cab seemed to have more of an influence on the tone than the actual speakers.
With a group of V30s that are really close, that will 1000% be the case, as it will with any speaker - but the age, doping, cones, etc definitely make a difference, as do the different manufacturers and versions over the years.
I have had the same set of 4 16ohm early 90s V30s that have traveled from cab to cab to cab with me throughout the years, and they sound
wildly different between eachother. The top left is the one that I use a 421 on because it has the most low end and low mids. The top left has the most midrange detail, so it gets the 57s (either by itself or in a fredman clip). The bottom left is the odd one out that sounds a little more honky and chinese v30 like.
People take into account the variations in versions and manufacturers; I
don't think they take into account the variation from speaker to speaker enough - or guitar to guitar, amp to amp, for that matter. I've played early superleads that sounded WILDLY different from one another. And them super bass and super trem models that sounded more like a stereotypical superlead than an actual superlead.
Especially with gear stuff, this stuff has wild variations. And V30s are one of the most consistently brought up examples for a reason, but I think it's just as much the natural variations as the manufacturing. Just like when producers have a "magic" U87 or Distressor that sounds better or different than others - I have a "magic" v30 that sounds amazing no matter what I do, and others that are fine or good.
I would imagine others such as
@the other John Browne who have gone through this will probably have a handful of "magic" v30s that he's come across as well.
