Celestion V30 delusion

[beltra79]

I replaced about one month ago the stock speaker with a celestion V30..I dunno, I'm not satisfied with the tone, especially with the clean channel that doesn't sound "fender" any more to my hears: it seems darker than with the stock speaker,very compressed but in a bad way...I would like to have your opinion; is it just the speaker or the new tubes will clear it up? Is it much more a hard-rock kind of speaker than a indie/pop/blues one? I'm not that satisfied with it and I'm thinking of changing it or re-installing the old one..maybe is just a matter of breaking in, but at the moment I'm not happy at all with it

http://www.thefenderforum.com/forum/...ilies/wife.gif

[Kap'n]

Not everybody likes V30's. There is a used market for them.

[beltra79]

what about the "dark" sound in the clean channel? Is it normal for V30's or is it just my amp or maybe my ears?

[trevorus]

They can sound darker. They tend to work better, IMO, with a closed back cab, where the low end doesn't over-power. Pop the old speaker back in, and compare. What amp did you put it in?

[NTBluesGuitar]

It's a darker speaker to me, too, my HRDlx came with it.

It's supposedly best suited for clarity in high-gain applications, and/or in closed-back cabs.

[Kap'n]

I dunno. I always thought the speaker was an ear razor, without any bottom end, unless it was in a closed back cab.

[beltra79]

I put in my HRDX too. I was looking to upgrade it, especially the drive channel but I didn't mean to loose the typical fender clean sound...maybe HRDX + V30 is not a grat match
What speaker would you go for to replace it? Maybe a Jensen for Fenders, isn'it? Want good clean fender tone and usable drive, that's why I'm thinking about retube it (eurotubes.co. got many choices for HRDX, they reccomended me Blues Option #1).....

[Cogs]

I have a Rivera 4x12 cabinet w/them installed & I would agree they sound best in a closed back cab.
I know it sounds cliche but I've always thought that open backed cabs & combos work best w/AlNiCo speakers.

[telecustom]

My amp tech gave me some good advice when I switched the speaker in my HRDx and I was considering a V30...he said,
"Why try to make a Fender amp sound like a Marshall??"

So I switched the stock with a Jensen C12n

Sage advice...

[MikeM]

Do you like the Jensen more than the stock speaker?

[javlib]

The V30 is so shrill and harsh in open back Fenders, it's just not a good match. The speaker is a much bigger part of tone than some people realize or admit, and the same speaker will sound much different depending on open or closed back and also the size and composition of the cab.

I don't know about HRDs, but I'm not a fan of V30s in any open back that I've ever heard.

[NTBluesGuitar]

Regardless, I'm planning on the Texas Heat for mine. I'm saving the V30 for a cab for my upcoming 18W Head build.

Good to know that it's best in a closed back cab.

[telecustom]

^^yes, the Jensen C12n was a big improvement over the stock Eminence. It's a very traditional Fender speaker

[beltra79]

Today I went to the local shop, the guy said that the dark&mud is not because of the speaker that, he also said, is supposed to be bright enough: the V30 in his opinion should improve anyway the sound if compared to the stock eminence not only keeping the same or even more brightness but also giving the sound more richness, not actually darken it
Do you guys think it may be a matter of tubes? Mine are pretty old, I've been using the stock ones since I got the amp 2years and a half ago...

thanks in advance

[flintpunk]

I'm not sure what your amp is or what you're looking for, but I just completed my Twin Reverb project with a couple of the new ones from Eminence. I went with The Tonker and The Swamp Thang. The Tonker is supposed to have really nice highs and is well suited to country and Telecasters. The Swamp Thang is supposed to be a little softer and more suited to southern rock and blues. I've heard a lot of guys are using these two paired up and I had the chance to play through an Avatar cab that had this pairing. I plugged my Blues Jr. into it and it sounded fantastic. The pair provide a broad, deep sound. It really increased the headroom on the Blues Jr. and I decided to go that route on the Twin. They aren't very expensive speakers and I was really pleased with the result. Check them out on the Eminence website. They offer about 2 dozen new speakers and you can pick and chose based on what you're looking for. Good luck!

Edited...I re-read the thread and now I see what you're trying to do...Sorry about that. Anyway check out what Eminence has. If you don't like it, you can always re-sell it!

[beltra79]

Thanks for your advice flintpunk. I'm actually looking for general improvements in my amp sound and I started from speaker replacement choosing V30 under local shop guy's suggestion about one month ago. I basically play indie/rock&roll and I wanted to make the drive channel, generally considered crap, more usable without loosing the good clean tones of the amp that I like. Now with the new speaker It seems I can't get this good clean tone any more...so my doubt is wether I chose the wrong speaker or need a new retube set before thinking about another speaker (or eventually re-install the stock one)

[dmcII]

I s'pose if you were going for a Marshall-esque tone it might make sense but....IMHO a V30 in just about any Fender amp (even a HRD) is a BAD idea. They tend to just suck the Fender right out of the amp. And even if you were going for a Marshall thing it would take more than a speaker swap to accomplish it.

I would look at some of Ted Weber's speakers (maybe a 12F150) or a Tone Tubby. I have the TT ceramic in my DRRI and we are very happy together.

My usual disclaimer....YMMV.

[flintpunk]

There are a couple of the Eminence ones that may be of interest to you..From the Patriot series (suposedly American Speaker clones), The Red, White, and Blue, The Texas Heat, and The Swamp Thang come to mind. The Redcoat Series are supposed to be more like British speakers (think Celestions) and you may want to stay away from them.

[beltra79]

I sort of feel like it was better with the stock eminece rather than with V30...The tubes have to be replaced so I'll get new ones anyway from eurotubes.com..did you have any experience with those guys?
And I'll try to re-install the stock speaker to check if the clean sound is better (as I think it is)

[flintpunk]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've purchased from them in the past. My buddy is a New Sensor dealer and he ordered me a set of Svetlanas last time (for the Twin project). I'm really happy with them as well. My favorite tubes are Rubys though. I bought some 6L6GC-MSTR's for my Silvertone and I was very surprised at the improvement! I think I got them here...

http://kcanostubes.com/content/Default.asp

Even if you don't buy from them, the website has a TON of good tube information.

Good luck!

[beltra79]

Thanks flintpunk, interesting site!
The guys from eurotubes swear on JJ tubes and I read here on the forum some good opinions about 'em...they have different ready to go retube-kits for the main amps including different ones for HRDX..

[Kap'n]

The guys from eurotubes swear on JJ tubes

Of course they do. That's all they sell.

[beltra79]

That's why I'm asking your opinion on JJs, man!
I'm new with tubes so I really don't know where to start...I actually haven't read negative comments on eurotubes here on the forum..but I'm Italy-based and the shipment is going to be more expensive and it takes some days to be delivered...while at the local shop they got many options (E.Harmonix-Sovtek-Svetlana)...I know it's a very subjective choice but what is your suggestion about? JJs @ eurotubes or one the brands available in the shop? Are the jjs that better?

[Kap'n]

I really don't have a lot of experience with current manufacture tubes.

[MikeM]

I've been extremely happy with Eurotubes!! All the experience's I've had with them have been good.

[gnichols]

I recently bought a Mesa Boogie F30 that has the V30 speaker. It can get mightly clean when the amp is on the clean channel and the tone knobs are set to what the manual calls "squeeky clean". I am still much of a beginner as far as amp tones, but it sounds good to me. If I dial the treble knob back a bit from the "squeekly clean" setting and dial the bass knob up a bit, I loose some of the cleanness pretty quickly and some rather rich base tones come in. I am still trying to decide whether I like the tones out of this amp as good or better than my Blues DeVille (4x10). The tone knobs definitely seem more sensitive and I seem to be able to dial in a broader range of tones. The bass seems much richer. By the way, my main guitar is a Am Strat HH.

[beltra79]

Thanks a lot to all of you for your suggestions/shared experiences!
I've just popped in the stock eminence and the clean tones seem better now than through the V30, in a word they seem more "fender" to me...maybe this is just not the best speaker for HRDX!

[dreadzeppelin]

I have the deville 2-12. In it, I have a vintage 30 and a celestion anniversary. Not broken in yet, but I will wait until they break in to judge them. Alot of people change their stock speakers that are broken in and warm sounding to brand new tight speakers and are real quick to judge them.

[NTBluesGuitar]

The clips I posted recently of my 5E5 build was done on the V30. It gets some good sounds, albeit not 'tweed'.