Why didn’t Mike Soldano use Celestion Greenbacks

[lespaul6]

If you were around back then when soldano first became popular his cabs came with vintage 30s or greenbacks by order.. he only went to eminence to get a cheaper private label speaker.

 

[Lightning]

That’s correct

 

[thegame]

Reread my my last post I said it would a good chose( Celestion vintage 30) to add that high end sizzle brightness that the JBL d120 added to the Van Halen 1 sound when they recorded the album

Actually it'd be a very poor choice because the upper mids of the V30 will easily obscure the sweet mids of the GB in a mix scenario. The JBLs with their neutral to de-emphasized midrange response mostly added to the low and high frequency extension while not conflicting with the mid heavy GBs.

 

[Fiesta Red]

I always thought they used the V30s

 

[skoora]

If you were around back then when soldano first became popular his cabs came with vintage 30s or greenbacks by order.. he only went to eminence to get a cheaper private label speaker.

I’m going on a faint memory of what Mike told me many years ago but because you had to order a certain number of pallets to get a break on shipping, they were becoming pretty expensive with the smaller number he needed month to month, so went with Eminence because it was more affordable. Same working in music retail. Eg. Marshall, if we ordered enough we got a 5% unit cost reduction and if not free shipping, heavily reduced shipping.

 

[Devin]

Idk but I think SLO's sound amazing through EV's

 

[frontline205]

If Peavey and Mesa could still offer Sylvania 6L6s in the early 90s, why not Soldano as well, considering they produced far fewer amps?

Because they didn’t buy in bulk like Mesa and peavey. I watched an interview where peavey said Sylvania told them they’re closing up shop this will be the last order we can fill and peavey ordered 500k worth of tubes right there. I’m sure mesa did the same. I don’t think Soldano had the free floating cash to do that however. And this is a late 80’s 500k

 

[Nigel]

I stand corrected. It was Boris Yeltsin then who got Mike to switch to Sovteks.

The Russian military’s 6P3S-E pre-Gorbachev production sound best. Night/Day different tone than the current Sovtek 5881’s. Back then, the Sovteks were simply rebranded NOS military 6P3S-E’s and could hold their own tone-wise.

The late 50’s / early 60’s is even better.

 

[Nigel]

There was a while in the 90’s where getting Celestions for a smaller maker was not easy (I forget why) and a few makers had to switch to Eminence or at least have Eminence make them a speaker to their specifications. I always thought SLO’s were not for me because for years I heard them through those shit Legend speakers. Same with the P50 from VHT/Fryette. Horrible for the midrange. Once I heard a SLO through a greenback cab, my whole perception of the amp changed for the better.

Steve Fryette switched in like 90/91 because Celestion started making the V30 cheaper. UK V30’s as early as ‘93 and probably earlier still sound boxy compared to 80’s production and my ‘06 T-4416 Mesa’s.

People hate V30’s because they’ve probably never heard a real one.

Ian Thornley, Billy Gibbons, Trey Anastasio and countless other elite players use ‘em for a reason.

Eminence take FOREVER to break in, and that’s one of the big reasons they are typically valued less than celestions. I’ve heard Fryette cabs with P50E’s that vibe and inspire. Then I got a brand new one. Terrible!