Celestion Heritage Series G12M speakers

Thames Ditton manufacturing address
of the hallowed pre-Rola Celestions on a
sweet-looking vintage-style label affi xed
to the green plastic magnet cover.
These two Heritage speakers are indeed
still made in England, as are the more
recently introduced G12-65 and the
Alnico Blue, although the rest of
Celestion’s guitar speaker line now
emanates from China. Structurally, it
will look entirely familiar to anyone who
has ever taken the trouble to prise the
back off a battered old 4 x 12. The
sturdy, stamped metal frame has stayed
with Celestion through the years, but
those solder-only connection tabs
complete the attempt at absolute
accuracy (yep, you can’t just hitch your
clip-end speaker leads to them, and will
need to fi re up the old soldering iron).
SOUN D S: The Classic Series G12M is
an excellent sounding speaker, but this
new Heritage model is just creamier and
throatier enough to elevate it into
another class. It has got real grit and
bite in the mid-range, without so much
of a hump there as to make it nasal or
boxy, and it oozes the sort of juicy
texture that really makes a rock lead
player want to dig in and run with it.
The lows are a little soft – as ever – but
are really round and pleasing too, and
capped by sparkling highs. In short, this
is gorgeous stuff.
G12H
The original G12H was derived as a
heavy duty version of the Greenback,
which became desirable towards the
end of the sixties as rock shows
required increased volume levels and
players developed a taste for bigger,
fi rmer sounds overall. Heavy is indeed
the word – the ‘H’ in
its name is short for
‘heavy magnet’ – and
this driver carries a
50-ounce ceramic
magnet that’s nearly a
pound heavier than
the one on the G12M,
although both are
concealed beneath
identical green plastic
covers. The bigger
magnet and a few other structural
changes make this a bolder, louder
speaker, with a fi rmer low end in
particular. The G12H has a 30-watt RMS
power handling rating, 100dB effi ciency,
55Hz resonance frequency and a 55-
5,000Hz frequency range (the latter two
stats on the G12M are 75Hz and 75-
5,000Hz respectively).
SOUN D S: This ‘low resonance’ version
of the G12H was designed as a dual-use
speaker for guitar and bass amps, but it
really made its mark with heavy rock
lead players, and one Jimi Hendrix in
particular. If you want to slug your
audience rather than caress them, this
is the speaker for you. It is bold,
muscular and articulate, but with a
pleasing, nuanced texture once it has
begun to break in. On that subject, it’s
worth noting that breaking in can take
a little longer than with some
contemporary speaker designs. Note
that, aside from the tonal changes,
replacing G12Ms with G12Hs makes any
rig much, much louder. Aside from the
increased oomph provided by the fi rmer
lows, that added 4dB effi ciency equates
to cranking your volume knob a couple
of ticks. The G12H’s slightly harder
sound might not be as instantly
appealing to some ears as the G12M’s
plummy delivery, but it’s a hard speaker
to beat in a full stack for real rock power
with a vintage edge.
Verdict
Buying vintage speakers can be fraught
with pitfalls: good examples are
expensive, and if they sound “just right”
now – that is, thoroughly broken in and
aged to sonic perfection – you can bet
they won’t stay that way forever. We feel
both of these Celestion Heritage Series
speakers offer a marvellous means of
attaining the look, feel and sound of two
of the greatest vintage speakers of all
time, with the new-gear promise of
some longevity and consistency of tone
over the long-haul. All of this is
achieved only after
adequate break-in, of
course, but put in the
hours required to
loosen up these
drivers and you will
craft yourself some
succulent tones.
The G12M
Greenback might be
more immediately
appealing to some
players, but the fi rmer and more
powerful G12H is actually more
adaptable to contemporary playing and
sounds. It makes an outstanding choice
for modern rock and electric blues
playing in pairs in a 40W to 60W 2 x 12,
or in a closed-back 4 x 12 in a bigger rig.
Note that both of these British-made
speakers are more expensive than
Celestion’s mid-level Classic Series
models, but not as pricey as many
boutique speakers from the likes of
Tone Tubby, or Celestion’s own G12
Alnico Blue. As such, they offer
impressive value and an accurate taste
of the golden age of rock guitar tones.
And don’t think of these as companions
for Marshall amps only: we got great
results with a single G12M in the open-
back cabinet of an 18W vintage tweed
Fender Tremolux, and a pair of G12Hs
sounded stunning in a TopHat Club
Royale 2 x 12 combo too.
CELESTION HERITAGE SERIES G12M & G12H SPEAKERS £85 & £89
MISCELLANEOUS
APRIL 2006 137
A marvellous means of
attaining the look, feel
and sound of two of the
greatest vintage
speakers of all time, with
the promise of some
longevity and consistency
Celestion G12H
RATING
G12M TEST RESULTS
Build quality
Sound
Value for money
■ WE LIKED Creamy classic-rock tones;
vintage look
■ WE DISLIKED Nothing
G12H TEST RESULTS
Build quality
Sound
Value for money
■ WE LIKED Kicking lows and punchy,
aggressive lead tone
■ WE DISLIKED Slightly hard sound before
thorough break-in
Celestion G12M
RATING
CELESTION G12M
PRICE: £85
ORIGIN: UK
TYPE: 12-inch ceramic
driver
POWER RATING: 20W
RMS
IMPEDANCE: 8ohms or
15ohms
MAGNET WEIGHT: 35oz
VOICE COIL: 1.75-inch
SENSITIVITY: 96dB
FREQUENCY RANGE:
70Hz-5kHz
Celestion
01473 835300
www.celestion.com
CELESTION G12H
As G12M except…
PRICE: £89
POWER RATING: 30W
MAGNET WEIGHT: 50oz
SENSITIVITY: 100dB
FREQUENCY RANGE:
55Hz-5kHz
Above: the G12M
has the subtler
delivery of the two
Below: the H in
G12H stands for
heavy magnet
GIT275.rev_celestion 137GIT275.rev_celestion 137 6/3/06 2:03:33 pm6/3/06 2:03:33 pm