C90's vs. V30's - which speakers are for me?

[cliff hetfield]

i want warmth, tightness, and a clear well rounded sound.
have an f-50 head and i currently have those 12m70 celestions from the 80's that have a very scooped bassy sound.
i guess i want more clarity and overall balance, while retaining some of that thump.
i think im leaning toward the c90s only because the 30s ive heard had somewhat of a harsh high end to it.
what are some of your opinions/experiences with these two types of speakers?
thanks!

 

[Cleekster]

i've done some comparisons and found that there is absolutely NO difference between a c-90 and a vintage 30 besides wattage...It's taken me about a year to dial-in a great tone(in the studio) with my Recto/C90 setup so don't be to quick to judge but my live sound is still kinda harsh like you said.......what kind of sound are you going for exactly?

 

[cliff hetfield]

sorry for the late response here. i play hard rock/metal. looking for tones in the sabbath/tremonti/clutch/foos ballpark. i use and f 50. i have 2 hellatone 60s in one 2x12 cab and 2 g12m70 celestions in the other 2x12 cab.
now im looking to replace the 2 g12m70s.
im considering hellatone 60Ls or C90s. a pair of one type or maybe 1 of each.
which speaker has a tighter low end?

thanks again for responding!

 

[Cleekster]

I play metal also i love my C-90's now that ive got everything dialed in.....nevr heard a hellatone 60L.....i have however heard a F-30 w/ C-90's and thuoght it was killer but an F-30 and the F-50 use different power tubes so they might sound totally different......i would suggest you repost this thread in the "modern amps(1991-present)" topic.
have a good one.

 

[PRSKILLER]

I run both in my 4x12, 2 each and I can honestly say the C90 has more THUMP to it. They mix really well together.

 

[boogieman75]

I run both in my 4x12, 2 each and I can honestly say the C90 has more THUMP to it. They mix really well together.

How is your 4x12 configured? C90's in the bottom? C90's on left side (similar to RK cab) or staggered?

Thanks!

"Leave your ego,
play the music,
love the people..."
--Luther Allison

 

[Renarts]

The C90s have more headroom and, therefore, more clarity than V30s, but mixing 2 of each in the same cab makes some killer sounds.
8)

 

[soundpurist]

I run both in my 4x12, 2 each and I can honestly say the C90 has more THUMP to it. They mix really well together.

How is your 4x12 configured? C90's in the bottom? C90's on left side (similar to RK cab) or staggered?

Thanks!

"Leave your ego,
play the music,
love the people..."
--Luther Allison

I spoke with a tech at mesa boogie for swapping the speakers but he suggest me the cross configuration with both V30 and C90 (that's all they got). I'm tempted with Eminence G1258:

http://www.eminence.com/guitar_speaker_detail.asp?model=LEGEND1258&speaker_size=12&SUB_CAT_ID=4

For heavy music but it's maybe too much power:

http://www.eminence.com/guitar_speaker_detail.asp?model=MANOWAR&speaker_size=12&SUB_CAT_ID=4

V30 and C90 should sound great too, V30 for the mid (especially if you own a rectifier) and C90 for clarity.

 

[Russ]

A mix of C90's and EVM's is pretty nice. This is classic Mesa.

If you just want Celestions, many guys use 75's and V30's. The mids of the V30 help the scooped nature of the 75. James Hetfield used 65's early on. Sometime around Black they were using 30 watt vintage (probably g12h30's). Now they use V30's.

My suggestion is to play around some with combinations to find what you like. I ended up with a bunch of 4x12 cabs. I have Greenbacks, 65's, V30's, and 75's to play with. I also have a Thiele and a combo cabinet loaded with EVM's.

 

[psychodave]

A mix of C90's and EVM's is pretty nice. This is classic Mesa.

If you just want Celestions, many guys use 75's and V30's. The mids of the V30 help the scooped nature of the 75. James Hetfield used 65's early on. Sometime around Black they were using 30 watt vintage (probably g12h30's). Now they use V30's.

My suggestion is to play around some with combinations to find what you like. I ended up with a bunch of 4x12 cabs. I have Greenbacks, 65's, V30's, and 75's to play with. I also have a Thiele and a combo cabinet loaded with EVM's.

I am like you. I ended up with 12 4x12's loaded with everything you have...greenback 25's, 30's, V30's, 65's and 75's. I even went more extreme and have the speakers loaded in both straight and slant cabs since they sound different in different cabs. One day I love the vintage 30's the next I like the greenback 25's. 8)

 

[mesanomad100]

c-90's are IMHO alot better in many ways

I never really liked the v30's

 

[soundpurist]

It seems we have same tastes! Me too i like those one maybe because i want my sound to be heavy and clear. I was thinking about to add maybe C90, G12T or EV's (in my 4X12 sdrt straight cab)...i just don't know enough about speakers right now. Maybe somebody can suggest me something, i don't mind to keep 2 v30 in my cab and add just 2 brand new speakers...it's so expensive to be musician...

 

[Russ]

A mix of C90's and EVM's is pretty nice. This is classic Mesa.

If you just want Celestions, many guys use 75's and V30's. The mids of the V30 help the scooped nature of the 75. James Hetfield used 65's early on. Sometime around Black they were using 30 watt vintage (probably g12h30's). Now they use V30's.

My suggestion is to play around some with combinations to find what you like. I ended up with a bunch of 4x12 cabs. I have Greenbacks, 65's, V30's, and 75's to play with. I also have a Thiele and a combo cabinet loaded with EVM's.

I am like you. I ended up with 12 4x12's loaded with everything you have...greenback 25's, 30's, V30's, 65's and 75's. I even went more extreme and have the speakers loaded in both straight and slant cabs since they sound different in different cabs. One day I love the vintage 30's the next I like the greenback 25's. 8)

An affinity for 4x12's is a real b!tch, huh? I can't stand storing them but can't bring myself to sell any of them. As soon as I think: ok, I am going to sell some, I plug into them and can't do it. Right now my office/music room is being crowded by the cabinets. Sometimes I wish that I was completely in love with one particular cabinet but it is too nice to be able to plug into the various speaker types. I keep telling myself I want to minimalize some things but I can't seem to thin the herd. Same thing goes for my guitars.

 

[cliff hetfield]

well guys. i settled on v30s.
well, 2 hellatone 60s and 2 hellatone 60Ls to be exact.

thanks for all the responses. i love my tone now with the hellatones more than ever.

i had the hellatone 60 2x12 cab for a while, then i just added a hellatone 60L 2x12 cab to my rig. last week actually!

i have 2 2x12s stacked on top of each other with the hellatone 60s in the top cab and the hellatone 60Ls in the bottom cab.

i may try switching the two around...putting the 60L cab on top...only because theres almost too much low end thump right now. i still have to tweak my amp a bit.
but never hurts to experiment!


i love the tone of V30s. warm and full and just rich sounding.
new V30s may sound harsh, but NOT these hellatones. not a drop of harsh anything coming from these babys.