Mesa Vintage 30, 8 vs 16 ohm?

[Nigel]

Yall are gonna make me open my 1993 cab (that has never been opened!)

Arent you?

We shan't force your hand, but perhaps instead inspire your curiosity into vital interest and action!

 

[squealie]

We shan't force your hand, but perhaps instead inspire your curiosity into vital interest and action!

Ha!
I'll bring power tools back home tomorrow. (turning a screwdriver by hand is for Aristotle)

Keep in mind, this is the same gaggle that tells me my G12M-70s sound best in a dumpster.

 

[Beyond Black]

Yall are gonna make me open my 1993 cab (that has never been opened!)

Arent you?

Don’t do it!!!!! Just remove a handle and peek inside!!!!

 

[cardinal]

What's the T-number and date code on that specimen?

Acheoaudiology of Vintage 30's...man that should be a class at GIT! Ha!

This one is wiped clean unfortunately. Looks to have been reconed. I was so bummed.

Here are pics of a similar one with the stamps. '86 and T3904
https://reverb.com/item/34676198-1986-celestion-vintage-30-first-year

 

[Nigel]

Don’t do it!!!!! Just remove a handle and peek inside!!!!

The ninja move.

 

[Nigel]

So then, proper aristocratic banter when denigrating the unwashed, profane screw-top drinkers, is to utter: "Yes, and I do believe his Vintage 30's lack meshed vents, I dare say."

 

[Nigel]

Ha!
I'll bring power tools back home tomorrow. (turning a screwdriver by hand is for Aristotle)

Keep in mind, this is the same gaggle that tells me my G12M-70s sound best in a dumpster.

I had those and hated them. What's the proper application? I mean, what value DO they have? Everyone hates them.

 

[squealie]

I had those and hated them. What's the proper application? I mean, what value DO they have? Everyone hates them.

I cranked my old Laney with 70s tonight.

Just looking for what could be hated.

Balanced, and thumpy. I admit that I have NEVER had success mic'ing that cab. But in the room it is very satisfying.

L/R with my old V-30 cab I am very pleased every time I crank my rig. And have been since the 90s.

Edit: My Laney with 70s 4x12 has 20 lbs of thick batting foam in the cab. This might have a drastic effect.

 

[Nigel]

I cranked my old Laney with 70s tonight.

Just looking for what could be hated.

Balanced, and thumpy. I admit that I have NEVER had success mic'ing that cab. But in the room it is very satisfying.

L/R with my old V-30 cab I am very pleased every time I crank my rig. And have been since the 90s.

Edit: My Laney with 70s 4x12 has 20 lbs of thick batting foam in the cab. This might have a drastic effect.

TWENTY FUCKING POUNDS?! Drastic effect you say?

Laughing out loud!

 

[Luca79]

I use 8 ohm V30 on a old Marshall 4X12. I think it sound good, similar to the Mesa, but less dark.

 

[Rex Rocker]

I always wondered how a 16 ohm Rectifier cab would sound like... especially with amps that like 16 ohm loads better (like EVH, IMO).

 

[Nigel]

Check out the Hiwatt 1992 black frame T-4297! Another T-number!

https://www.rig-talk.com/forum/threads/fs-pair-1992-v30’s-16-ohm-300.229761/

 

[stephen sawall]

This is all the versions I have found so far...


T3896 8 ohm Original Marshall Labeled


T3897 16 ohm Marshall labeled


T3903 8 ohm Celestion Labeled


T3904 16 ohm Celestion Labeled


T4335 8 ohm Mesa Labeled


T4416 16 ohm Mesa Labeled


T5321 16 ohm Marshall Mode Four


T5794A G12-60 S.E. 8 ohm

Special Edition


T5489 16 ohm

Relic 30


T5401B Vintage 30 8 ohm

Bad Cat version


T5731B G12- Vintage 30 16 ohm

Dave Mustaine V30


T5225 16 ohm 1777 cone

Hughes and Kettner


T5273 8 ohm 1777 cone

Hughes and Kettner


T3904A Vintage 30 16 ohm

25th Anniversary


These are all slightly different sounding Vintage 30.


"When you change the impedance rating of the speaker, you also change the inductance of the coil which changes the resonant frequency among other things. So if you have 2 identical amps and 2 identical cabs - one cab loaded with 8 ohm speakers and amp set to 8 next to one loaded with 16 ohm speakers and amp set to 16, they will sound noticeably different. The 16 ohm rig will usually sound brighter and deeper."


T3896 G12V 8 Ohm Vintage 30, Marshall label, 70w, 444 cone


T3897 G12V 16 Ohm Vintage 30, Marshall label, 70w, 444 cone


T3903 Vintage 30 8 Ohm cone stamp – 444 (standard specification)


T3904 Vintage 30 15 Ohm cone stamp – 444 (standard specification)


T4335 Vintage 30 8 Ohm cone stamp – 444 – Old original spec – now Mesa OEM


T4416 Vintage 30 16 Ohm cone stamp – 444 – Old original spec – now Mesa OEM


T5321 G12 Vintage MF 16 Ohm Custom designed for use in Marshall MF series cabs. G12-CV60.


"What I was referring to was the construction of the speaker itself. Taking a 16 ohm vintage 30 for example, if you simply decrease the speaker voice coil turns to make it an 8 ohm speaker, the chances that it would sound the same in all other respects are slim. By playing with other factors such as wire gauge and doping, they can me made to sound similar, but not identical.


So, it's important to know that when you are comparing cabs. Comparing two identical cabs operated by identical amplifiers, but one cab loaded with 8 ohm V30s and the amp set to 8 ohms vs one cab loaded with 16 ohm V30s and the amp set to 16 ohms, you are going to hear a pronounced difference in sound and performance. The differences will be partly the difference in electrical characteristics of the speakers and partly the resulting change in reactance of the amplifier.


Even so, I think you'll find that two 8 ohm speakers wired in series for a 16 ohm load will produce a deeper wider sound."


Both quotes are Steven Fryette.

 

[mnemonic]

I have a quad of the ‘mode four’ vintage 30’s (T5321) in my mode four Marshall cab. I believe they must be early production ones as they dont have the mode four label on the back, just the typical ‘Marshall Vintage’ sticker you’d get with Marshall v30’s. The sticker on the side does denote the mode four T-number though and states made in U.K. (rather than the ‘50’ to denote made in China)



The serial number in the cab states the year it was built, I forget what it was now but I looked it up at the time and I think it was the year, or year before, the release of the mode four stuff.

If you google the t number for these speakers, some stores are still selling the G12-60S and state T5321 in the description. Might be the same speaker or maybe a re-used T-number? Not sure if celestion do that.

I know that avatar got a bunch of leftover v30mf speakers when they were discontinued and relabelled them as Hellatone something-or-other (pics online of people peeling off the sticker to see the celestion v30mf sticker underneath). Maybe this is yet more leftover stock from all those years back, that hasn’t sold since nobody knows what a G12-60s is.

 

[Nigel]

I have a quad of the ‘mode four’ vintage 30’s (T5321) in my mode four Marshall cab. I believe they must be early production ones as they dont have the mode four label on the back, just the typical ‘Marshall Vintage’ sticker you’d get with Marshall v30’s. The sticker on the side does denote the mode four T-number though and states made in U.K. (rather than the ‘50’ to denote made in China)



The serial number in the cab states the year it was built, I forget what it was now but I looked it up at the time and I think it was the year, or year before, the release of the mode four stuff.

If you google the t number for these speakers, some stores are still selling the G12-60S and state T5321 in the description. Might be the same speaker or maybe a re-used T-number? Not sure if celestion do that.

I know that avatar got a bunch of leftover v30mf speakers when they were discontinued and relabelled them as Hellatone something-or-other (pics online of people peeling off the sticker to see the celestion v30mf sticker underneath). Maybe this is yet more leftover stock from all those years back, that hasn’t sold since nobody knows what a G12-60s is.

April 30th, 2002:

https://celestion.com/blog/datecodes-how-old-is-my-speaker/

 

[Nigel]

So, brethren, are we to understand that Celestion has moved production back to England since due to Covid/etc.?

 

[Rex Rocker]

So, brethren, are we to understand that Celestion has moved production back to England since due to Covid/etc.?

They must have. I have a couple of newer non-Heritage Greenbacks that have the UK sticker. It was my understanding that these were normally MIC (I also have a Vox-labeled Greenback that has the MIC sticker).

 

[Nigel]

They must have. I have a couple of newer non-Heritage Greenbacks that have the UK sticker. It was my understanding that these were normally MIC (I also have a Vox-labeled Greenback that has the MIC sticker).

Lol I wonder if the quality has suffered as a result. Bongland is kind of fucked up these days!

 

[Rex Rocker]

Well, my Greenbacks sound like Greenbacks, lol. No issues here.

 

[wIsEbLooD]

16's run at 16 always sounds best to me.