Celestion Vintage 30 vs 21 other speakers shootout, plus Mystery Speaker

Celestion Vintage 30 vs 21 other speakers shootout, plus Mystery Speaker
The Celestion Vintage 30 (V30) is one of the biggest selling speakers out there. Some people love it, some people hate it and some people like certain aspects but want to blend in a little something else. In this video we blend the V30 with 21 one other speakers, then set them against each other in a speaker shootout.
The speakers are Celestion Alnico Blue, M greenback (classic series), Century Vintage, G12-65 (Heritage not classic series), Alnico Cream, V type, H heritage 55Hz, Classic Lead 80, Alnico Gold, H heritage 75Hz, H creamback 75, G12H Redback, M creamback 65, H anniversary, M heritage, G12T-75, Neo Creamback, Alnico Ruby, Mystery Speaker, A Type, WGS Invader 50
www.zillacabs.com/
Gear list:
Paul Reed Smith Custom 22
Marshall JMP 2203
Tul G12
Zilla Fatbaby 1x12
Two Notes Reload

[@ZillaCabs]

See if anyone can guess the Mystery speaker. Have a go.

[@chrisnicolaides7834]

The new 'smoking' Celestion G12M-50??

[@ZillaCabs]

@@chrisnicolaides7834 I can neither confirm nor deny that comment.

[@martins.498]

Lynchback!

[@riangarianga]

@@martins.498 I'm siding with your choice.

[@domidigital]

It's the new G12M-50: the look of the hemp cone is unmistakable.

[@davidhovey5152]

At last.. someone is putting together a comprehensive sonic database for comparing speaker combinations!!! This will be universally useful to the guitar community.. thank you! Can hardly wait to see what's next!🤔🤣Please continue 👍👍👍👍

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks David, that is very kind of you. Put it this way, we used 22 speakers and did, clean, mild overdrive, rock, heavy rock/lead and metal.... and we've released two videos so far ;)

[@brightfalls6788]

MIXED Anniversary - 1:41 Red - 1:27 H Green M - 1:48 H Green 55hz - 0:51 H Green 75hz 1:13 65 Cream 1:34 75 Cream 1:20 Gold - 1:06 Invader - 2:31 ALONE Anniversary - 8:32 Red - 8:08 Vintage 30 - 5:49 H Green M - 8:44 H Green 55hz - 7:08 H Green 75hz - 7:44 65 Cream - 8:20 75 Cream - 7:56 Gold - 7:32 Invador - 9:56 I'm thinking an H Anniversary mixed with a 75 Creamback.

[@dontfeartheriffer]

MIX: Neo Cream - 2:02 Gb - 0:15 H30 Anni - 1:40 Solo: GB - 6:07

[@victoriav4317]

Greenbacks mix very well with the V.30; the rest, not so much except, perhaps, the Creambacks. Matter of personal taste? Thank you very much for the video, guys. Cheers

[@geoffwhitemusic]

I agree. I really liked any of the greenbacks.

[@bluesful]

The mix with the G12M 65W Creamback sounded awesome. Dig the Ruby mix too.

[@ZillaCabs]

Yeah I thought the Ruby did pretty good here too...... surprising as I'm not the biggest fan of the Ruby normally. And I agree about the V30 with the M cream, I've always liked that mix.

[@TVoltG]

Would be curious to hear the G12H75 blended with 21 other speakers.

[@MLaurence]

Great demo man! The end of the video with the A-B was really helpful. The only few that contended with the V30 was the Celestion Century Vintage Classic, the Cream Alnico and Warehouse Invader - most of the others sounded like you were putting a blanket on the amp. Thanks for the help!!

[@MakerMark13]

I recently, yesterday, after receiving my new amp (EVH 5150III 50watt EL34) , decided to take my 2x12 with greenbacks in it and pull one out replacing it with a vintage 30 trying to get a more 80's mix from the amp/speaker combo and good lord everything, the amp the speakers, it all came together to make something magical!!!

[@whoisthenext1]

I love G12-65 Heritage and Greenback 25w too. Amazing comparison. Thank you !

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that, they are two great speakers... they mix well together too.

[@dynkle]

Great as always. I've got a Bogner Shiva EL34 2x12 combo it has 2 x V30s in it. I added an M65 Creamback instant bottom end and fullness and the cleans are better. Excellent combination.

[@rockzilla5150]

0:51 Heritage H55 0:58 CL80 2:09 Ruby 1:12 Heritage H75

[@ZillaCabs]

Always good to hear from a fellow Zilla. I like those mixes too.

[@tete1805]

This is just awesome. I hope you'll release more videos like this. (Can't wait for the CreamBack one personally.)

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that mate, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@johndory2826]

Great vid. I run v30's with lead 80's in a 2 stack and a 4 stack. Awesome for my sound. The t75 is pretty serious as well. Thanks for making these vids!

[@taxo]

This explains why the CL80/V30 combo rocks so hard.

[@ZillaCabs]

That's not a very common mix but it does sound good.

[@rustyl.6358]

I have a G12H Creamback with my V30 in a 2x12. In this video, I liked Alnico Gold best. My combo came in second. lol Thanks! That had to eb a lot of work!

[@sleepwait9613]

Man, these alnico speakers sound fantastic...both alone and together with the v30

[@ZillaCabs]

Yeah they are classy sounding speakers... exensive though.

[@firststep7750]

Isolation: 5:49 - Vintage 30 (60w) - 3rd (mix with 4th) 5:55 - G12 Blue AlNiCo (15w) 6:07 - G12 Greenback Classic (25w) 6:19 - G12 Century Vintage (60w) - 1st (mix with 4th) 6:31 - G12-65 Classic (65w) 6:43 - G12 Cream AlNiCo (90w) 6:55 - G12 V Type Classic (70w) 7:07 - G12 Heritage 55Hz (30w) 7:19 - G12 Classic Lead (80w) 7:31 - G12 Gold AlNiCo (50w) 7:43 - G12H Heritage 75Hz (30w) 7:55 - G12H Creamback (75w) - 4th 8:05 - G12H Redback (150w) 8:19 - G12M Creamback (65w) - 2nd (mix with G12T-75) 8:31 - G12H Anniversary (30w) 8:43 - G12M Heritage (20w) 8:55 - G12T-75 Classic (75w) 9:07 - G12 Neo Creamback (60w) 9:19 - G12 Ruby AlNiCo (35w) 9:31 - Mystery Speaker (50w) 9:43 - A Type Classic (50w) 9:55 - Warehouse Invader (50w)

[@johngregorowski]

Great work, watched this at least 5 times. You’re up there with Segeborn 👍🏻. V30 is my fav, loving it with a Neo Creamback as recommended by Paul. Very minor criticism, with a riff that trails off at the end you can have a speaker being short changed if it coincides with the last sustaining chord. Looking forward to more like this, thanks!

[@ZillaCabs]

haha excellent, he's are some of the only videos I watch on KZbin so that's really cool, thanks. I get that with the riff repeating, we weren't expecting to do such long loops, that is my fault, I'll hold my hands up on that one.

[@valendis]

Love the V-type, it doesn't sound as muffled as the other ones!

[@DanGower]

Really awesome content guys! These speaker shootouts have been a huge help🤘🏼

[@ZillaCabs]

It would be really awesomer if we had one of your mods ;) ..... I was literally bidding on an amp the other to try and send to you. Thanks for the kind words Dan.

[@DanGower]

@@ZillaCabs That would be very cool, we gotta make that happen! 🎸

[@riangarianga]

Unsurprisingly given my personal taste, I loved the most the mix with both G12Ms and with the A-type, the latter one giving the most vintagey type of sound. Others mixes made it for me as well, for example with the the V-type or the G12T-75. However, I was surprised about not liking that much the mix with the G12M Creamback, which by itself I loved.

[@thomasvantorre1922]

G12H30 70th Anniversary or G12M Creamback is the best for me 😉

[@alanst.4417]

Now this one is just epic, guys! Very useful for us ordinary folks who don't have 20 speakers lying around to try it themselves. And with the V30 as the industry standard, it's a great reference. As much as I don't like it on its own personally, I must admit it sounds very good in a mix with another speaker here. Like the M greenback and H 75Hz Heritage greenback with it best. The alnico ones are cool, too, but a little expensive though.

[@ZillaCabs]

Awesome, thanks mate. As always it is good hearing your thoughts on the videos. I quite like the V30, its probably not my go to speaker but I think it brings something to a lot of these mixes.

[@markhomiak6966]

I think I'd like to hear an Anniversary paired with a Creamback!

[@thejailbirdsband]

this is so wicked !!! Thank you for this !!!

[@ZillaCabs]

Our pleasure!

[@padgreen]

Epic comparison, not a huge fan of Vintage 30s, but thought all combos sounded pretty good.

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that, we've got a few more of these lines up. We actually have tracks for clean, dirty, rock, rock solo and metal... thought it would be a it too long if we did it all in one video ;)

[@edjr_edmirjunior]

I have the V30, G12M 25 and G12H 70th in a cab 2x12. Both with V30 are good and enjoyable for my ears. The G12H 70th is brighter and closer than V30. I really appreciate this combination. The G12M 25 is darker (and have your "roar"), but I think that's not as much as G12M 65 or G12T-75 . Really, all depends on the style and your likes. And can change... 😂 I want to test my V30 with G12T-75, and with my others speakers too. Only I need to acquire one 😊

[@Starch1b2c3d4a]

Cant think of a more epic speaker video 🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks for that.

[@pauld1568]

The v30 with the green back H has a nice bark to it!

[@darkhorseO3]

The Anniversary Classic Series sounds ace. I have a Fatboy 212 loaded with a Vintage 30 and a G12H-75 Creamback, it sounds huge

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks, glad you like it. The anniversary did sound pretty cool here didn't it. Thanks for watching.

[@Dan_Ranger]

Big fan of the Redback v30 combo here with my EVH 50 watt heads but the Hempback seems a tad darker... look forward to more tests guys. I love my Super Fat Lads ;)

[@ZillaCabs]

Thanks Dan. I'm looking forward to putting out some Hempback videos for sure... not really allowed to just yet. The Redback/V30 combo is really cool, it isn't all that commonly used/requested but when it is I do really like it.

[@abysmillard78]

The only speakers that compared to my ears (not complemented - for that any number of Greenback varieties are nice) were the Blue and the WGS Invader. I’d like to see a shootout of those two! Thanks!

[@dutypaidrock]

Never played a better cab than my Zilla Fatboy with V30 and G12 K100. For metal, they balance brilliantly, and the mic'ing possibilities are endless.

[@ZillaCabs]

Excellent, thanks for that. We didn't include the K100 here as we were using just 16ohm speakers. But we'll have to add that one in when we can.

[@metalgear74]

My favorite combo too. I have them blended in an older mesa closed-back 412 and also have a v30 mesa 212 that is blended with an avatar k100 212 with the 16ohm versions for an 8ohm cab.

[@gearoftones8585]

It mixed will well with just about every single one of them

[@PedalScience]

Century Vintage sounded really good on its own

[@PedalScience]

And paired

[@ZillaCabs]

I totally agree, it's never been my favourite speaker but it stood out here a bit.

[@silverstaralchemist]

Totally agree. Through my headphones it had so much clarity compared to the V30. That and the G12H-30 70th Anniv. sounded great solo'd.

[@bouillefabien1195]

Nice, thank you.

[@ZillaCabs]

Our pleasure! Thanks for watching.

[@ahankararockband]

Great job on guitar and great presentation. This Sidewinder sound full without boominess and is pretty interesting, sounding better and more balanced that most of other speakers. Thanks! 👍💜

[@jakestewartmusic]

V30 and G12M-65 sounds great to me

[@newamerikangospel]

I kept finding these videos when searching for Hempback examples. It's really weird. That mystery speaker sounds very promising though.

[@ZillaCabs]

haha funy you should say that ;) I have loads of videos on the Hempback, I can't wait to put the videos up.

[@brandonkoch3852]

Imo it sounded the best with the G12H.. Exactly the combo peavy has in a 2x12 convertible cabinet Think you might have just sold me on a peavy cabinet.thanks 😂

[@MAPRIDEL]

Hello, thank you very much for the video. You have cleared up a lot of my doubts because if you look at the graphics of the famous alnico blues it is almost identical to the Vintage V30. I'm thinking of buying two Harley Benton G112 Vintage cabinets and putting a Vox MV50 in each one. What do you think of the idea? I don't think it sounds bad at all. The fact of buying two is to listen to the sound in stereo, Chorus, Delay... Thank you for dedicating your time to others.

[@MrBluzhound]

The G12h30/55, Alnico Cream, g12m OR Heritage version, g12h30 anni…then the Creamback 65.

[@tiagoandrade5145]

Hey guys, thanks for this awesome video! Which V30 is this? Do you know the year it was made?

[@coltondoescars]

0:37 & 1:33 both sound killer and smooth out the V30 mid spike a bit.

[@REVOLVERNZ]

The speaker is the new hempback speaker, you can just make it out haha, 50watts too. Hey guys I really enjoy the content, I actually used your vids to make a speaker purchase recently and got 2 V types at 8ohms. I was going back between the V type and the H/M Creamback from your demo's they sound great, but the V is more budget friendly atm. It replaced a cool speaker from a Yamaha VX55 combo a JA113a, awesome speaker 8ohms 60watts and especially great for recording but it blew recently. Thought they'd be great for 2 1x12'x stereo rig and they sound awesome, theres enough low end and no spiky high end so i can push a brighter sound with my presence knob tuned up more which is what i like bright cutting/edgy sound. Actually used them at my first bigger gig in a while in a stereo 2x12 here in NZ and straight out of the box killer thought why not take the big rig out for fun since it had been a while. Anyway, Cheers for the content guys, keep up the good work.

[@rnhtube]

Have you combined the V type and creamback? I have neo creambacks and I'm thinking of mixing them with the new neo v type

[@REVOLVERNZ]

@@rnhtube hey there, no I haven’t but they sound good paired with my vintage black backs g12m 25w (running two of the same amp in 2 different cabs. You might have to try it yourself. I also seen via Pete thorn that Celestion have just released a neo V type too, so could be more weight saving for you.

[@jazz_grooves]

V30 iso 5:49 w/ Creamback 1:34 w/ G12T-75 1:55

[@scottdavidson6066]

Hey, Zilla! I was looking for your G12H30 70th Anniversary mixed with 21 other speakers and I couldn’t find it. Did you guys really not do one?! I NEED that video. Please help!!

[@gregjones5349]

I currently have a vertical 2x12 cab with a Vintage 30 in the bottom and a G12H 70th anniversary in the top. Im looking to replace the 70th anniversary with a speaker that will take away some of the ice pick treble and fizz and also not add any more bass. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

[@-LSTR-]

Currently I have an Orange Dark Terror with two ppc112's, one with a V30, and the other one has a classic lead 80. Its a symbiosys:)

[@ZillaCabs]

Those two speakers work well together, I like that mix for sure.

[@kow294]

The g12t-75 is the biggest surprise to me. please do g12t-75 vs 21 other speakers shootout.

[@ZillaCabs]

haha yeah it is a great speaker in the right situation. We have a that video ready... also the T75 vs 21 speakers for more bluesy lower gain playing too.

[@kow294]

@@ZillaCabs Cool.. That would be an interesting video, due to the notorious reputation the speaker has.;)

[@lucwilson1]

V30 still the king! Agreed with others that said the G12M65 and V30 mix was on the best. V30 & Mystery/Hempback was great too. 👍

[@ZillaCabs]

Yeah I love that mix too, it sounds especially good in a 4x12 too. Thanks for watching Luc

[@eyedunno8462]

Personal favorite too. Very well balanced and not muffled or piercing at any frequency

[@ace-rob71]

V30 + G12H-75 !!!!

[@GuvnaOnSpotify]

Thanks for doing the video - great work. The main issue with this (as I see it) is that when you combine the V30 with a less sensitive speaker, you don't get 50% V30 and 50% another... you hear perhaps 80% V30... it ends up sounding like a V30. It's also hard to dial in a setting that works for both speakers. @Zilla Cabs - if you ever do these again, perhaps what might work for that is mic both speakers and keep the same levels on the audio device so when it's played back it sounds like it does in the room (ie v30 dominant)? You may have already tried this. Regardless - love your videos.

[@ZillaCabs]

Hi Simon, I totally hear what you are saying here, the reason we blended speakers this way is so that when listening back you don't hear jumps in volume between playing. There's always going to be a load of compromises with these kind of shootout. Like you say, you'd never not re-eq settings on an amp if you changed the speakers either. It is just to sort of give a flavour. Thanks for watching.

[@GuvnaOnSpotify]

@@ZillaCabs Totally get it, you can't cover everything and you guys do a fantastic job at these. I wrote this as I just put 1 V30 in a Marshall 1960a cab (on the bottom) with 3 1984 UK made G12T-75's and the V30 just volume-smashed them. I ended up removing the V30, it just didn't work (for me) Thanks for coming back to me.

[@aheadofmetal]

Best speaker test I have seen. Super helpful - Exactly the question I am trying to answer. Also thanks for not talking a lot and just getting to it. I appreciate that :)

[@dant7955]

Century Vintage Classic 6:19 Anniversary Classic 8:31

[@ZillaCabs]

They are both two cool speakers and do mix well with the V30. Thanks for watching.

[@piercem26]

0:30 0:58 1:55 6:32 7:20 8:56

[@timmbosliice]

Wow the cream alnico sounds almost the same as the v30

[@bluesful]

The mystery speaker is the new Hempback.

[@ZillaCabs]

I can neither confirm nor deny that.

[@dani351]

How would different speaker efficiencies “mute” the less efficient speaker in a 2x12? Or is that only a factor at very high volumes, when reaching the speaker limits?

[@ZillaCabs]

It's a good question. Here we balanced everything, just so the overall volume wasn't jumping up and down, it's never going to be a fair test but we tried to do the best we could here. Mixing sensitivity ratings in one cab causes less of a problem than you would think, there are plenty of companies that do it and I don't think anyone has ever complained in fifteen years of us doing it. It does become more of an issue at higher volumes. I hope this helps.

[@hungry4des]

I'm realizing more and more that I don't like something about the H75CREAM, which is strange because I bought it based on a Zilla video where you compare all the new Creamback speakers. It's kind of the same thing I don't like about the V30. There's a frequency spike that almost sounds like the buzz of a blown speaker to me both recorded and in person. Some people are able to dial in a tone with these speakers that gets rid of this buzz and sounds awesome. I don't know if maybe their particular speaker doesn't have this buzz or their rig just doesn't tickle the speaker that way.

[@ZillaCabs]

With the H cream there is quite a bit going on it the top end, upper mids, and if your ear goes to that and its something you're not in to then I can definitely see how it would grate.

[@georgefromgreece4119]

It's just extended mid highs up to highs.

[@georgefromgreece4119]

@@ZillaCabs that it is

[@0Orion]

G12H-75 with v30 1:20 V30 7:50 G12H-75 7:56

[@jaychen2000metal]

Yay, a WGS but you still never heard their best one, the Reaper 30 watt

[@ZillaCabs]

Don't worry its on its way, we have four or five WGS coming in next week.

[@jaychen2000metal]

Nice. The slightly bitey treble will mellow out after a bit...

[@kosmicwizard]

Right now I've got an alnico goldback in a 2x12 with a G12H30 70th anniversary, but I'm thinking that I might throw the V30 I have laying around into the cab with the gold, what do you think?

[@ZillaCabs]

That could sound really good. The H anniversary and gold are a really nice mix. I;ve done the gold with a V30 before and liked it so its always worth a shot... if you already have the V30 there's nothing to lose really.

[@kosmicwizard]

@@ZillaCabs Thanka for the reply! Yeah, I try that out, then I'll put the G12H30 70th anniversary in my Orange Rocker 30!

[@Krzysztoffffer]

G12m65 8:20 G12t75 8:56

[@johndory2826]

would be cool to run the same speakers on clean, see what would happen.

[@ZillaCabs]

We've done a clean version too but it's harder to notice the differences in what the speakers are doing when clean, it is more emphasised with these kinds of tones.

[@IndyRockStar]

is the mystery speaker a Hempback?

[@ZillaCabs]

That's the one.

[@alvarg]

Is this a Chinese V30 or a UK V30

[@oswaldolacerda1]

Is it the Celestion Seventy 80???

[@ZillaCabs]

No, but good spot as we didn't include it in this.

[@thorinbane]

That lynchback sounds pretty good.

[@ZillaCabs]

haha close but no banana, it's not the Lynchback.

[@Amiga1200_Juicer]

V TYPE!

[@ZillaCabs]

Glad you like it Faruk.

[@catsandbarbells]

V30 and v type to me

[@nicolaslopez5923]

1:20 1:55

[@ZillaCabs]

Glad you like it.

[@junkawakami3193]

i'm going to assume the mystery speaker was hidden out due to yellow dollar sign, but that's the only hint i can think of lol.

[@junkawakami3193]

points aside, i like V30 with Creamback H, thanks to you guys' suggestion towards Periphery.

[@ZillaCabs]

It was hidden out because it hasn't officially been released yet, we've got one of the only samples and Celestion didn;t want sound samples being released in case there were manufacturing differences that made them sound different. Thanks for noting the V30/H creamback was our suggestion, I often read we only do it because that's what Periphery use haha. Thanks for watching.

[@profile_01]

0:15 0:37

[@craigfrancis5062]

6:56 7:11

[@esmeulonsouzadeoliveira3636]

Like 353 💫⚡🔱⚡💫 👑 .

[@chaseth]

You said vintage 30 vs. you should have said vintage 30 WITH

[@ZillaCabs]

We said Vs in the title but put with in the thumb nail.