Where are these Vintage 30's made?

[RoidRage]

I have done all this a LONG time ago... Yes they sound different, Yes the Mesas Sound better than Reg V30's

I have 5 different Versions, and COMPARED THEM ALL!!!

MESAS ARE MADE IN ENGLAND, AND USE 444 CONES... BUT THEY DO NOT USE THE ALNICO MAGNETS OF THE MARSHALLS.

Mesas... Are Slightly Smoother, and Less Bright than Standard V30's BUT they Still Have The RASPYNESS of the Ceramic Magnets.

I RATE THEM AS FOLLOWS:

1- EARLY 80'S & ROLA V30'S MADE IN ENGLAND
2- MARSHALL V30'S MADE IN ENGLAND
3- MESA V30'S MADE IN ENGLAND
4- V30'S 90-2003 MADE IN ENGLAND
5- V30'S CURRENT CHINESE

RR

Thank you for posting your impressions. Will take that into account. Is the raspyness you are hearing noted in any particular range (mids)?

It's like a Grittyness in the Upper Mids... Very Pronounced. Just dirty sounding. In anycase the Marshall versions are just Smoother. If you like a fizzy sounding amp like the Friedman I had. You might like it!

Roid

 

[blackba]

For what it's worth, those Marshall branded V30's do NOT sound like regular Celestion branded V30's.

If your first V30 experience is with those, then you really need to also try the regular Celestion V30's.. As in, the ones you buy as replacement speakers. Big difference. I love regular Celestion V30's, but i absolutely hate the Marshall branded V30's.

I TOTALLY Disagree

I find Regular V30's Especially Chinese ones Iritatingly BRIGHT, and RASPY.... Can't stand them...

They sound like Ceramic magnet pickups cause they Do have Ceramic Cheap Magnets.

The Marshall V30's Are Made To Pre-Rola Specs. When Celestion Changed the V30 to make them Cheaper to produce in the 80's Marshall heard them and said WHOOOA what did you do different to them.. They Told marshall that they switched to Ceramic Magnets cause the Alnico magnets were way too expensive.... And they use the brighter sounding 1770 cones... Rolas used the 444 cones...

So Marshall made a deal with them to make speakers for them to the OLD Specifications, and that is still the way they are made to this day...

That's why the Marshall Branded V30's are more expensive they use Alnico Magnets, and 444 cones. They are DARKER - SMOOTHER - LESS RASPBY!

I think they are the Cats Ass.... Ever wonder why a Marshall 1960 Vintage Cabs cost SO MUCH MONEY??? That's why, the speakers.

PM me if you wanna sell em!

Roid RAGE

Are you 100% sure the magnets on the Marshall V30's are Alnico? They sure look like ceramic magnets to me and nothing like any alnico magnet speakers I have seen.

I have a set of Marshall V30's that I got when I bought my Marshall 2556AV. the cab had a different set of speakers in it and the seller included the original Marshall V30's, unfortunately one of the Marshall V30's had magnet damage (ie the magnet was shifted off center and locked the cone), so I never got to hear them. My friend who had a Marshall V30 412 cab found them very bright and gratting. He didn't care for them much, unfortunately again I didn't get to hear the cab before he sold it.

 

[RoidRage]

For what it's worth, those Marshall branded V30's do NOT sound like regular Celestion branded V30's.

If your first V30 experience is with those, then you really need to also try the regular Celestion V30's.. As in, the ones you buy as replacement speakers. Big difference. I love regular Celestion V30's, but i absolutely hate the Marshall branded V30's.

I TOTALLY Disagree

I find Regular V30's Especially Chinese ones Iritatingly BRIGHT, and RASPY.... Can't stand them...

They sound like Ceramic magnet pickups cause they Do have Ceramic Cheap Magnets.

The Marshall V30's Are Made To Pre-Rola Specs. When Celestion Changed the V30 to make them Cheaper to produce in the 80's Marshall heard them and said WHOOOA what did you do different to them.. They Told marshall that they switched to Ceramic Magnets cause the Alnico magnets were way too expensive.... And they use the brighter sounding 1770 cones... Rolas used the 444 cones...

So Marshall made a deal with them to make speakers for them to the OLD Specifications, and that is still the way they are made to this day...

That's why the Marshall Branded V30's are more expensive they use Alnico Magnets, and 444 cones. They are DARKER - SMOOTHER - LESS RASPBY!

I think they are the Cats Ass.... Ever wonder why a Marshall 1960 Vintage Cabs cost SO MUCH MONEY??? That's why, the speakers.

PM me if you wanna sell em!

Roid RAGE

Are you 100% sure the magnets on the Marshall V30's are Alnico? They sure look like ceramic magnets to me and nothing like any alnico magnet speakers I have seen.

I have a set of Marshall V30's that I got when I bought my Marshall 2556AV. the cab had a different set of speakers in it and the seller included the original Marshall V30's, unfortunately one of the Marshall V30's had magnet damage (ie the magnet was shifted off center and locked the cone), so I never got to hear them. My friend who had a Marshall V30 412 cab found them very bright and gratting. He didn't care for them much, unfortunately again I didn't get to hear the cab before he sold it.

Black,

I'm sure as I can be... I did exhaustive research, and this is what it bares out... Plus I had 2 identical Cabs with 4 of each type of V30 at a time, and compared:

OLD/NEW = OLD WINS

OLD/MESA = MESA WINS

MESA/MARSHALL = MARSHALL WINS

There are tons of factors involved that could lead your friend to like something one way or another... Bad Amp Head match, Speakers Changed?, DID HE COMPARE TO OTHER V30'S? ETC, ETC.

I mean Even though the Marshalls sound better IMO... They STILL ARE V30s, and if you don't like that sound, you don't like it.

I found a Great Combo in My 68' Pinstripe cab is 2 Marhsall OLD V30's And 2 OLD English Classic Lead 80's In an X Pattern HARD/Soldered Wired.

The V30's give the SNARL, and Lower Mid Punch, the 80's Give the Tight BOTTOM END, and Silky HIGHS... In That CAB It's The BOMB!!

Roid

 

[Nigel]

Also, please note Marshall cabs have the 4/8-stereo/16 ohm jackplates which mean Parallel/Series wiring. If you haven't heard a Marshall V30 cab wired Series/Parallel, you haven't heard it.

 

[50MkII]

There is also a Bad Cat Vintage 30 version which is not just a relabeling.

 

[glpg80]

I had original Celestion 1983 speakers, the ones you have are China. Original G12's do not say suffolk, only "Made in Ipswich, England" on the back of the magnet - no stickers.

 

[BeZo]

Also, please note Marshall cabs have the 4/8-stereo/16 ohm jackplates which mean Parallel/Series wiring. If you haven't heard a Marshall V30 cab wired Series/Parallel, you haven't heard it.

Those Marshall switches are shit. Too many of them have gone bad and shorted out and blown heads. I am about to rewire one this week that took out a 5150 head. I would just get some good speaker wire, wire it series/parallel, and drop a switchcraft jack on the plate and call it a day. Just make sure you seal up all the other holes left from the switch and whatnot if you want your cab to sound tight.

 

[thegame]

I TOTALLY Disagree

I find Regular V30's Especially Chinese ones Iritatingly BRIGHT, and RASPY.... Can't stand them...

They sound like Ceramic magnet pickups cause they Do have Ceramic Cheap Magnets.

The Marshall V30's Are Made To Pre-Rola Specs. When Celestion Changed the V30 to make them Cheaper to produce in the 80's Marshall heard them and said WHOOOA what did you do different to them.. They Told marshall that they switched to Ceramic Magnets cause the Alnico magnets were way too expensive.... And they use the brighter sounding 1770 cones... Rolas used the 444 cones...

So Marshall made a deal with them to make speakers for them to the OLD Specifications, and that is still the way they are made to this day...

That's why the Marshall Branded V30's are more expensive they use Alnico Magnets, and 444 cones. They are DARKER - SMOOTHER - LESS RASPBY!

I think they are the Cats Ass.... Ever wonder why a Marshall 1960 Vintage Cabs cost SO MUCH MONEY??? That's why, the speakers.

PM me if you wanna sell em!

Roid RAGE

The only part of your posts that is accurate is that various V30s sound different. And I agree the current Chinese ones are the 'least best'.

1) No V30 was ever made with an alnico magnet. Maybe a non-production prototype at best. It was Celestion's attempt (with or without Marshall) to get a midrange rich, softer Alnico voicing using modern (ceramic mags, Nomex Voice coil) materials. Celestion was not making GBs, H30s, or Alnico Blues at the time but compared to what they were producing then (T75s, H100s, Sidewinders), they succeeded, to a point IMO.

2) Pre-Rola means Celestions made before the early 70s. V30 debuted in 1985 or 86. There is no pre-rola V30, only a somewhat successful attempt at creating a 'vintage' voiced speaker in the mid 80s.

3) All V30s use the 444 cone. You are referring to a 1777, not 1770 cone, and no V30s used those, ever. Unless there's some cheesy Line6 version V30 that uses it, all the 'proper' ones have 444 cones.

4) The change in tone along the V30's production run is ALSO due to the tooling used in manufacturing wearing down and aging. This would have happened if they never moved to China or anywhere else. Unless something outright broke down, its not like Celestion would go to great lengths in refurbishing expensive equipment just to maintain a consistent product !

 

[evilrocker]

Ah that aint my cab, I just bought m75 scumbacks instead

 

[PeteLaramee]

OK - SOT - can anyone tell me which version of V30 was used for the Hellatone 60L speaker?

Ah that aint my cab, I just bought m75 scumbacks instead

 

[_actual time_]

OK - SOT - can anyone tell me which version of V30 was used for the Hellatone 60L speaker?

the Hellatone 60L was a special, different V30 model made for Marshall for their Mode Four cabs. the Marshall labels call it Vintage 30MF. MF for muthafucka! Avatar's old page said it was a V30 built with a 55Hz voice coil.

in some of those endless multi-page V30 threads on TGP, the guy who compared the different V30 model #s Txxxx on the white stickers on the sides of the magnets has pics of the model # for the 60L, and it's the same as on the Marshall V30MF speakers. i own some of each and can confirm that.

i don't think these speakers are used in any other Marshall cab.

i think they sound great. less upper-mid spike, more low-end punch, and a nicer high end (probably because the upper-mid spike isn't dominating anymore).

 

[PeteLaramee]

OK - SOT - can anyone tell me which version of V30 was used for the Hellatone 60L speaker?

the Hellatone 60L was a special, different V30 model made for Marshall for their Mode Four cabs. the Marshall labels call it Vintage 30MF. MF for muthafucka! Avatar's old page said it was a V30 built with a 55Hz voice coil.

in some of those endless multi-page V30 threads on TGP, the guy who compared the different V30 model #s Txxxx on the white stickers on the sides of the magnets has pics of the model # for the 60L, and it's the same as on the Marshall V30MF speakers. i own some of each and can confirm that.

i don't think these speakers are used in any other Marshall cab.

i think they sound great. less upper-mid spike, more low-end punch, and a nicer high end (probably because the upper-mid spike isn't dominating anymore).

Cool - so they're kinda/sorta like H30/55s with a bit more upper mids?!?! Sounds pretty cool to me.

Thanks

 

[thegame]

Cool - so they're kinda/sorta like H30/55s with a bit more upper mids?!?! Sounds pretty cool to me.

Thanks

Not at all. As I said in my post below, all V30 versions have the 55 Hz cone, so this means nothing when comparing to an H30. If anything, the 60L is even further away from an H30 tone as the 60L is definitely a bit harder/stiffer than the regular V30, which is softer, fuzzier and squishier. H30s by design are a softer speaker with more give than any V30s.

 

[PeteLaramee]

Cool - so they're kinda/sorta like H30/55s with a bit more upper mids?!?! Sounds pretty cool to me.

Thanks

Not at all. As I said in my post below, all V30 versions have the 55 Hz cone, so this means nothing when comparing to an H30. If anything, the 60L is even further away from an H30 tone as the 60L is definitely a bit harder/stiffer than the regular V30, which is softer, fuzzier and squishier. H30s by design are a softer speaker with more give than any V30s.

Sorry man, I was reading 3 threads on 3 sites on the same topic at the same time.

 

[RoidRage]

I TOTALLY Disagree

I find Regular V30's Especially Chinese ones Iritatingly BRIGHT, and RASPY.... Can't stand them...

They sound like Ceramic magnet pickups cause they Do have Ceramic Cheap Magnets.

The Marshall V30's Are Made To Pre-Rola Specs. When Celestion Changed the V30 to make them Cheaper to produce in the 80's Marshall heard them and said WHOOOA what did you do different to them.. They Told marshall that they switched to Ceramic Magnets cause the Alnico magnets were way too expensive.... And they use the brighter sounding 1770 cones... Rolas used the 444 cones...

So Marshall made a deal with them to make speakers for them to the OLD Specifications, and that is still the way they are made to this day...

That's why the Marshall Branded V30's are more expensive they use Alnico Magnets, and 444 cones. They are DARKER - SMOOTHER - LESS RASPBY!

I think they are the Cats Ass.... Ever wonder why a Marshall 1960 Vintage Cabs cost SO MUCH MONEY??? That's why, the speakers.

PM me if you wanna sell em!

Roid RAGE

The only part of your posts that is accurate is that various V30s sound different. And I agree the current Chinese ones are the 'least best'.

1) No V30 was ever made with an alnico magnet. Maybe a non-production prototype at best. It was Celestion's attempt (with or without Marshall) to get a midrange rich, softer Alnico voicing using modern (ceramic mags, Nomex Voice coil) materials. Celestion was not making GBs, H30s, or Alnico Blues at the time but compared to what they were producing then (T75s, H100s, Sidewinders), they succeeded, to a point IMO.

Possibly some confusion here as I read that the V30 was an attempt to capture the Alnico SOUND, I know that Alnico magnets for speakers were fased out in the 70-80's

2) Pre-Rola means Celestions made before the early 70s. V30 debuted in 1985 or 86. There is no pre-rola V30, only a somewhat successful attempt at creating a 'vintage' voiced speaker in the mid 80s.

Yes... I meant ROLA as in the 80's Not PRE-Rola Thanks So much...

3) All V30s use the 444 cone. You are referring to a 1777, not 1770 cone, and no V30s used those, ever. Unless there's some cheesy Line6 version V30 that uses it, all the 'proper' ones have 444 cones.

Yes 1777 Typo... Perhaps here I could be confused with the CL80... As I have them with BOTH the 444, and 1777 cones the early ones had 444, and Like I said I actually have them both

4) The change in tone along the V30's production run is ALSO due to the tooling used in manufacturing wearing down and aging. This would have happened if they never moved to China or anywhere else. Unless something outright broke down, its not like Celestion would go to great lengths in refurbishing expensive equipment just to maintain a consistent product !

Yes well I never said CHANGED The tooling, I said they moved it to China... I'm surprised with your Amazing Pention for Accuracy... You didn't Catch That.

Thanks So much for crossing and dotting all my T's and I's for me...

In Anycase I will search for original source that I'm basing my statements on... I did this research years ago... I see you are very EnLightened.
But I Stand By My Critiques of each Rendition of EACH V30... MESA, MARSHALL, RETAIL, RANDALL, OLD ENGLISH, NEW CHINESE. I had them all at the same place
at the same time, and used them with the same cabinet, and same electronics... And have people on this forum that can backup what I say...

Perhaps you can detail your test setup, and if it's anywhere near as well done as mine... we will have to agree to disagree, cause to my ears that's how the lay out.

Roid RAGE

 

[thegame]

I'm surprised with your Amazing Pention for Accuracy... You didn't Catch That.

Thanks So much for crossing and dotting all my T's and I's for me...

In Anycase I will search for original source that I'm basing my statements on... I did this research years ago... I see you are very EnLightened.
But I Stand By My Critiques of each Rendition of EACH V30... MESA, MARSHALL, RETAIL, RANDALL, OLD ENGLISH, NEW CHINESE. I had them all at the same place
at the same time, and used them with the same cabinet, and same electronics... And have people on this forum that can backup what I say...

Perhaps you can detail your test setup, and if it's anywhere near as well done as mine... we will have to agree to disagree, cause to my ears that's how the lay out.

Roid RAGE

i Was jUst tryinG to help. Perhapzs you wOuld see thaT with A litTle Less Roidz aNd RAGe in yoUr system ?

 

[killertone]

Also, please note Marshall cabs have the 4/8-stereo/16 ohm jackplates which mean Parallel/Series wiring. If you haven't heard a Marshall V30 cab wired Series/Parallel, you haven't heard it.

Those Marshall switches are shit. Too many of them have gone bad and shorted out and blown heads.

Really? I have never heard of that happening. I have a pair of 1960BV cabs that I have had since '99 and never had a problem. A few other cab companies use that switch and I have never heard of one failing.

 

[RoidRage]

I'm surprised with your Amazing Pention for Accuracy... You didn't Catch That.

Thanks So much for crossing and dotting all my T's and I's for me...

In Anycase I will search for original source that I'm basing my statements on... I did this research years ago... I see you are very EnLightened.
But I Stand By My Critiques of each Rendition of EACH V30... MESA, MARSHALL, RETAIL, RANDALL, OLD ENGLISH, NEW CHINESE. I had them all at the same place
at the same time, and used them with the same cabinet, and same electronics... And have people on this forum that can backup what I say...

Perhaps you can detail your test setup, and if it's anywhere near as well done as mine... we will have to agree to disagree, cause to my ears that's how the lay out.

Roid RAGE

i Was jUst tryinG to help. Perhapzs you wOuld see thaT with A litTle Less Roidz aNd RAGe in yoUr system ?

PM'ed... This BS does not belong on the fourm...