Anything wrong with 80's Marshall JCM800 4X12 cab with Celestion GT-12-65's?

[filthyrich]

I just picked up a beat up 4 X 12 Marshall JCM800 cab from the 80's. It has the rola celestion GT-12-65 speakers in it.

I paid 300. Again. The cab it supposed to be a bit ragged.

Is that a decent deal?

Is that a decent cab for the money?

Thanks.

-Rich

ps...yay stimulus check!

[Blast9]

Buy it!! [Oops - edit you already have it]

GT12-65's - Best Celestion speakers for sure - I believe they were supposed to be high-powered "greenbacks"

I think they are great sounding cabs esp the straight-fronted - deep and warm. Amazing bottom end

Who cares if it is tatty?

[gurubuzz]

Yes, there is something wrong with them

they are very heavy ..

[Blast9]

stike Heavy Metal stike

[stagefright13]

[Blast9]

Actually its the G12-65

From Harmony Central user reviews:

each speaker has a large porous dust cap that deflects and disperses high end in all directions, but also sounds much more natural and open than a solid composition dust cap. the dust caps, magnets, and voice coils are significantly larger than those on greenbacks... they are versatile. they sound really great with almost any amp setting...

the speakers are very warm and mellow compared to a vintage 30. they are way more smooth than a vintage 30 and the midrange kind of honks more and doesnt destroy your hearing. they sound really open. the porous dust cap allows lots of natural high end that is coming directly out of the voice coil to be heard, so the high end is not hard or harsh, its really smooth. they still break up a lot. they sound similar to a greenback, really smooth with nice detailed high end, except they are a bit louder and they don't break up quite as much. the mids honk more than a greenback, it sounds almost microphonic. they also have a lot of good open bass response. they sound great with a vintage fender or marshall, although i would not recommend using them with a super high gain master volume amp like a mesa triple rectifier. the midrange honks too much for something like that. when i have used a pedal to boost my signal, the speakers really started to mud up and everything sounded like mashed potatos. i used both cabs with my ampeg v-4 and it sounded pretty good too. really crunchy.

Man... I really need to find me a straight-fronted 4x12 with these

[filthyrich]

Cool. Thanks guys. I put a deposit down and I'm going to pick it up after work.

[danbronson]

Allow me to go against the grain and comment that I absolutely hate the sound of those speakers. They share a lot of similarities to G12T-75s in that their high end is harsh, the low end is loose and the midrange is sucked out. Pretty buzzy sounding under high gain, not the smooth, rich sound associated with something like Greenbacks. Not the tight, crisp sound associated with V30s. In fact, they don't sound anything like either one of those.

It'll work for you if you want to sound like Dimebag Darrel. Pair it up with a cheap, high-gain solid-state head and you're good to go.

[Blast9]

Well... Apparently there were more than 50 versions/revisions of this speaker during its lifespan... So perhaps you heard a rotten quad?

I have to say they are much nicer than G12T-75s which suck. They are also nowhere near as harsh as Vintage 30s.

The old 4 x12 I've been playing through recently has them in there, and they really improve the JCM900 Duar Reverb that it is paired with. Yes, an enjoyable JCM900 Dual Reverb!

[mtstudios@charter]

Originally Posted by danbronson

Allow me to go against the grain and comment that I absolutely hate the sound of those speakers. They share a lot of similarities to G12T-75s in that their high end is harsh, the low end is loose and the midrange is sucked out. Pretty buzzy sounding under high gain, not the smooth, rich sound associated with something like Greenbacks. Not the tight, crisp sound associated with V30s. In fact, they don't sound anything like either one of those.

It'll work for you if you want to sound like Dimebag Darrel. Pair it up with a cheap, high-gain solid-state head and you're good to go.

I might agree with this post, I would swap them out for the 25's if you are only using this in a recording environment. You could sell the 65's on ebay to cover the cost of new 25 Greenbacks. They do take a good two months to break in.

Blue Thumb Productions-Audio Production Facilities

[danbronson]

Originally Posted by Blast9

Well... Apparently there were more than 50 versions/revisions of this speaker during its lifespan... So perhaps you heard a rotten quad?

I suppose that could go either way then. Makes buying them risky.

I have to say they are much nicer than G12T-75s which suck. They are also nowhere near as harsh as Vintage 30s.

V30s definitely have an upper-mid/high end spike that can wear on you after a while (it's part of why they're the go-to speaker for cutting through a mix). The harshness I'm talking about is completely different though. Not a loud frequency range like in the case of V30s but rather a lack of clarity/smoothness in the highs which makes things sound 'harsh' for lack of a better word - like white noise. Just thinking about it hurts!

Okay, enough of my opinionated speaker-bashing. Greenbacks and V30s ftw! I've played a lot of speakers and these are the two I own (one 4X12 each) because they're the best I've heard. I'm also a big fan of Alnico Blues, the Jensen 10"s from '59 Bassman RIs and the Fanes in Hiwatt cabs. For 1970s to present rock and metal though, it's GBs and V30s all the way.

[Blast9]

Yes very good point - I actually forgot to add "what the feck were they thinking?"

Actually I love the way greenbacks sound too... great speakers!