CrazyNutz
Well-known member
journeyman73":5azs73o8 said:
Yes, Chinese.
Yes, Chinese.
ke2
Active member
JamesPeters
New member
ke2":1wok9uea said:
YOU'RE OLD
D
Deanmachine
Member
I should have mentioned mine are the Mode 4 Marshall V-30 and I really like them not ice picky at all .
PBGas
Well-known member
My new Friedman 212 has the Chinese V30s. It still needs some breaking in but sounds hella good regardless! I had a couple of old and very broken in English V30s that I put in my previous Bogner 212CB and they were awesome!
D-Rock
Well-known member
I had a discussion with Steve Fryette a few years back on the Fryette forum about how his amps sounded better with Mesa V30s than the Chinese ones, which he agreed with me on.
Steve Fryette:
The 30 in V30 has nothing to do with power handling. But making a distinction between the Mesa version and the off-the-shelf version is legit, even though it has little to do with actual power handling capacity. The rated power handling of the V30 of any version (see below) is 65W.
The Mesa version is OEM. This is the T4416 model, which is an 16 ohm speaker. It is made in England specifically for Mesa. But Mesa didn't specify it that way. From what we were told by Celestion around 1997-8, Celestion changed the model T3904 (16 ohm) V30 design in the early 90s to make it easier and cheaper to produce. Mesa didn't like it and insisted on the original version, which then became an OEM model. The 8 ohm version of the Mesa speaker is the T4335. To get an OEM model from Celestion requires a large order. This speaker was made on a separate production line from the off-the-shelf V30, which as Van Nord says is fizzy and thin sounding by comparison.
There is a third 16 ohm version only used by Marshall - T3897 - which is even brighter.
When we were using Celestion speakers, we found out about the existence of the T4416 which we had purchased from our German distributor at the time and asked Celestion about it. They had claimed that they didn't offer OEM varitions of the V30, but changed their story when we sent them a T4416 "for evaluation". Then a new rep called us, confirmed that there were in fact two separate V30 production lines and agreed to make us a special T Number OEM speaker. After a couple of months back and forth, we placed a large order and requested the special number assignment, at which time they cancelled the order and reneged on the deal. That's when we switched to Eminence. We haven't used Celestions speakers since.
It's not that V30s don't sound good with our amps. It's just that the T4416 sounds better. The T3904 is now made in China and after all these years, the P50E does what we wanted Celestion to do originally - and does it better, in fact - so we don't need Celestions help.
So, if you like V30s, there is nothing about the amp design that will be compromised using a V30. Our amps are not voiced "only" for the P50E. What is optimized for the P50E is the cabinet design. In that, the P50 will perform better in our cab than any others.
And now you know that when you say V30, you could be talking about 5 different speakers - that all sound slightly different:*
T3903 Standard 8 ohm
T3904 Standard 16 ohm
T3987 Marshall OEM 16 ohm
T4416 Mesa OEM 16 ohm
T4335 Mesa OEM 8 ohm
Steve Fryette:
The 30 in V30 has nothing to do with power handling. But making a distinction between the Mesa version and the off-the-shelf version is legit, even though it has little to do with actual power handling capacity. The rated power handling of the V30 of any version (see below) is 65W.
The Mesa version is OEM. This is the T4416 model, which is an 16 ohm speaker. It is made in England specifically for Mesa. But Mesa didn't specify it that way. From what we were told by Celestion around 1997-8, Celestion changed the model T3904 (16 ohm) V30 design in the early 90s to make it easier and cheaper to produce. Mesa didn't like it and insisted on the original version, which then became an OEM model. The 8 ohm version of the Mesa speaker is the T4335. To get an OEM model from Celestion requires a large order. This speaker was made on a separate production line from the off-the-shelf V30, which as Van Nord says is fizzy and thin sounding by comparison.
There is a third 16 ohm version only used by Marshall - T3897 - which is even brighter.
When we were using Celestion speakers, we found out about the existence of the T4416 which we had purchased from our German distributor at the time and asked Celestion about it. They had claimed that they didn't offer OEM varitions of the V30, but changed their story when we sent them a T4416 "for evaluation". Then a new rep called us, confirmed that there were in fact two separate V30 production lines and agreed to make us a special T Number OEM speaker. After a couple of months back and forth, we placed a large order and requested the special number assignment, at which time they cancelled the order and reneged on the deal. That's when we switched to Eminence. We haven't used Celestions speakers since.
It's not that V30s don't sound good with our amps. It's just that the T4416 sounds better. The T3904 is now made in China and after all these years, the P50E does what we wanted Celestion to do originally - and does it better, in fact - so we don't need Celestions help.
So, if you like V30s, there is nothing about the amp design that will be compromised using a V30. Our amps are not voiced "only" for the P50E. What is optimized for the P50E is the cabinet design. In that, the P50 will perform better in our cab than any others.
And now you know that when you say V30, you could be talking about 5 different speakers - that all sound slightly different:*
T3903 Standard 8 ohm
T3904 Standard 16 ohm
T3987 Marshall OEM 16 ohm
T4416 Mesa OEM 16 ohm
T4335 Mesa OEM 8 ohm
fuzzyguitars
Active member
fuzzyguitars
Active member
mode 4 v30
made in england
T5321 16 ohm
Vintage MF 10AN
444 cone
made in england
T5321 16 ohm
Vintage MF 10AN
444 cone
fuzzyguitars
Active member
Rex Rocker
Well-known member
I'm sure there are ore have been variations within the Chinese production as well.
I used to have a couple or 25th Anniversary Chinese V30's from 2012. They sounded darker, and were noticeably less efficient than the newer standard Chinese V30 in my Orange PPC112 (yes, I did get to try both in the same cab, and all were 16 ohms). I don't know how much that could be attributed to break in, though, but as far as I've experienced, break-in time doesn't radically change a speaker the way these two variations sounded compared to each other. I honestly noticed more of a difference when switching the stock V30 in the Orange cab to the 2012 V30, than I did when I switched the stock V30 to a Creamback H-75.
My experience was along the lines of this video I found:
I used to have a couple or 25th Anniversary Chinese V30's from 2012. They sounded darker, and were noticeably less efficient than the newer standard Chinese V30 in my Orange PPC112 (yes, I did get to try both in the same cab, and all were 16 ohms). I don't know how much that could be attributed to break in, though, but as far as I've experienced, break-in time doesn't radically change a speaker the way these two variations sounded compared to each other. I honestly noticed more of a difference when switching the stock V30 in the Orange cab to the 2012 V30, than I did when I switched the stock V30 to a Creamback H-75.
My experience was along the lines of this video I found:
fuzzyguitars
Active member
the mode 4 v30 sounds pretty similiar to the mesa 16 ohm v30 imo
fuzzyguitars
Active member
T4335 8 ohm vintage30 30DM
Ipswich
444 cone
smoothest to my ear
Ipswich
444 cone
smoothest to my ear
fuzzyguitars
Active member
T3903A
vintage 30 8 ohm 50 26GY
made in china
sounds like a v30
brighter than the other two that i tried above.
vintage 30 8 ohm 50 26GY
made in china
sounds like a v30
brighter than the other two that i tried above.
Rex Rocker
Well-known member
They're darker. They're the darkest V30 variant, IMO. I've got a couple of Relic 30's (relabeled Vintage 30MF's) in my cab, and they're way darker than any other Celestion I've tried.fuzzyguitars":zq3g4lhk said:
R
Racerxrated
Well-known member
True. In fact, I had that cab next to my G12 65 cab and honestly, they were very similar in tone. My G12 65 cab is from 83.Rex Rocker":3cxmf7sr said:
maddnotez
Banned
Well-known member
Chinese for me. Never tried the Mesa.
fuzzyguitars
Active member
just ab mic vs mie 3903a
the older mie is much smoother
hard to say if it is just because older and more broken in although this mic v30 has been in my gigging cab for a few years played at moderate rock gig levels with un mic d drummer.
the older mie is much smoother
hard to say if it is just because older and more broken in although this mic v30 has been in my gigging cab for a few years played at moderate rock gig levels with un mic d drummer.
H
harddriver
Well-known member
Oblivion DC":m47ig3ew said:
Another endorsement for the Mesa Vintage 30. I agree with the above description. Nice and tight with high gain but not harsh or strident in the highs with nice mids. Even sounds good with a traditional 1959 Marshall Superlead, I was quite surprised.
Snave
Well-known member
8 ohm V30s sound best to my ears, regardless of being regular Celestion UK or Mesa variants.