Great video. I have two 2013 Chinese V30's that sound different from each other and two Mesa V30's from one year apart and they sound different from each other as well. I saw another video recently showing that the 2022 V30 has a different dust cap that changes the sound yet again. Have you had a chance to try one of those?
The 2021 speaker featured in this video fills that bill, as I bought it this year and it has the same transparent dust cap you'll find in the Fricker video. It's a fine speaker, but not the first one I'd try to record
The Marshall G12 Vintage is NOT a Vintage 30!!! Power rating and coil are DIFFERENT!!! They do sound close but are NOT the same type of speaker!!! I have British V 30's, Chinese V 30's and Marshall Vintages... British and Chinese are not that far apart, maybe 5 to 8%, but the Marshall vintage is over 15% different sounding!!!
Great video, thanks! Most others just dial in a tone for a Mesa V30 and then switch to another V30 without tweaking, which then of course does not sound as good. Neither would it when dialing in tone for a Chinese V30 16 Ohm from 2006 and then switch to a Mesa V30 8 Ohm from 2003. So, it is great that you hsve the tweaked clips! Concerning the V30 2003 speakers I can tell that I have two of them and they sound just as you described and showed it - one of them being a little more brutal and more '3D' than the other, but both sound great. Did a Video on UA-cam (if you search for earforce and gibson, you might find it or clicking on my name). I have also have two V30 from 2010, the 25th anniversary. Nolly said in the Video with Kohle, that with a little tweaking, they would sound quite similar to the 2000-2003 but mine sound very thin and harsh in comparison (but also more precise andclear, I must admit) that I did not manage to get them close (but I did not try very hard up till now, to be honest).
Thanks, man. This was done really well. Your mixing ability is top notch too. Even though each speaker sounded pretty different, you fit them in the mix so good that it made me not care about the difference.
thanks a ton! I'm flattered that you like the full mixes that much, I just do this as a hobby and don't have near the amount of experience or ear training as seasoned professionals do
Question: how did you wire your cab up for the 8 vs 16 ohm issue? did you just use the mono inputs and one side was 8ohm and the other 16ohm respectively?
no, I just said fuck it and put the 16 ohm ones in with the 8 ohm ones and did an impedance mismatch. it's inconvenient to move speakers around in the Marshall, and I'm a lazy individual and didn't think of the one side 8 ohm, one side 16 ohm idea until you mentioned it
All I know is that I dislike the 16ohm and marshall versions. Rest sound close enough that I don't care which one was in my cab tbh. In a mix it's even less apparent what the differences are to me. I'd be perfectly happy with a modern 8 ohm v30. UK or chinese
I'm glad you have tested Nolly's theory and you both are right! I've just scored a 23EN serial number OS cab and I'm very happy with it. Ps. I already have a Traditional 2005 cab, which sounds very good as well, but I always use Empress ParaEQ in the fx loop of my amp to remove the high end sizzle of it. Now I want to swap speakers between the OS cab and Traditional to see which one I'll keep.
Further proof that I prefer 8 ohm speakers lol. I've used both 8ohm and 16ohm vintage 30s, and I had the same results. 16 ohms always sound brighter and more scooped, noticeably so just like here. The 2003 speaker sounded the best to me. Nice and balanced. Tons of mid content, smooth high end, tight low end, it just sounds the most musical to me, nothing too pointy. Which seems to jive with popular opinion in the guitar community especially on youtube. Everyone loves mesa cabs with mesa v30s from the late 90s to 2003'ish. Some of the best metal records were recorded on mesa and engl cabs from that era. Colin Richardson, Andy Sneap, etc.
The different position of the speakers in the cab contribute to the difference which makes it hard to say something objectiveley about one speaker or the other. But I appreciate your efforts
I literally touched on this in the video. the goal here wasn't to make a totally scientific comparison but rather to get a general idea of the speakers' characters when compared to each other
@@LordofDiamondsMetal yeah totally get that, but it's still doesn't really give you insights about the speakers character. Try positioning the mic on the left side vs the right side of the same speaker, you will hear drastic differences, it basically sounds like a different speaker. Mic positioning is everything. You can get a million differen sounds out of the same speaker in a not exactly symmetrical cabinet like any typical guitarcab. Not trying to mock you or your video, I'm just saying there is so many other factors that contribute to the change in tone wehn micing a speaker.
2003 for me at least was tops in the mix as well soloed without post processing with 01’ coming in second. Thanks for the informative vid, The effort and time put into something like this is well appreciated. Bravo 👏
So just for clarity Marshall Vintages aren’t V30s. They predate the V30 and there’s been a number of revisions since then. There’s lots of 80s celestions that evolved into other modern speakers that we don’t choose to lump in with the modern production examples. People often do it for some reason with the Marshall vintage (I think because it makes it easier to sell 1960AV cabs) which is a bit disingenuous.
When did the Vintage 30 first come into existence, then? Was it when Mesa starting making their Rectifier cabs and needed speakers for them? And what are the differences between Marshall Vintages and Vintage 30s, aside from the power rating?
The Marshall V30 is massively underrated. It has a certain presence all the others don't that sounds great for old school thrash and death metal tones. The 2005 is especially bright but my favorite are the mid-late 90s variants; they have a lot more low end and sound darker but still have that presence grind from being a 16 ohm speaker. I wouldn't use it for a modern metal context like played here... But for some classic 80s thrash or 90s death metal tones the Marshall V30 nails it.
so would I. thanks to the Kohlekeller Studio interview with Nolly though every early 2000s speaker gets snapped up as soon as it goes up for sale. I saw a 2002 one on Reverb a while ago and was going to get it, but by the time I made the decision and reloaded the page it had been sold
@@LordofDiamondsMetal The Kohlekeller interview was an eye opener. Consequently, like many others since, I've been scouring every 2nd hand website for the last 12 months Australia wide. Not that many old 8 ohm V30's available in Australia. I drove people mad asking them to take photos of their date code stickers. I finally managed to track down a 2003 Mesa Cab, with U.K made 8 ohm V30's. It arrives tomorrow. 😁
@@rockostiffredi4276 @ROCKO STIFFREDI That's sweet, I hope you enjoy the cabinet! Yeah, that interview got a lot of people riled up for tracking down date codes, but the thing that gets my goat is they're doing it based on trust of Nolly's word since he didn't provide any audio recordings. That's the huge thing I missed from that interview because Nolly dropped so many bombshells but there was no recorded audio. I don't doubt that there's something to what he said but I was left wanting more. I wonder if there's a post somewhere with more recordings to show what he meant, he did that on Facebook for his block letter vs signature 5150 comparison
@@LordofDiamondsMetal I see your point about hearing actual audio comparisons to back his claims. He must still have the recorded audio comparisons in his possession for sure. It's his decision whether to share them or not.The thing that reinforced it to me was vividly remembering being in Kosmic Music in Perth, W.A. back in mid 2003, and they were demonstrating the Mesa Rectifier/ Mesa V30 Cab to a crowd of notable impressed onlookers. It sounded absolutely huge, and gave me goosebumps. Later that year Shihad played the Big Day Out Festival using the same gear. Goosebumps all over again, and nothing has come close since.
Thanks so much for this video, priceless 6:55 2001-8ohm 8:09 2003-8ohm 9:22 China-8ohm 10:36 Mesa-8ohm 11:49 China-16ohm and Marshall vintage really sucks so fuck it haha
They're mostly 16 ohms, I think, and they also have type 1777 cones (same as on G12T-75s) instead of type 444 cones like other Vintage 30s. they also have a different T number - like, standard 8 ohm vintage 30s are T3903, mesa 8 ohm OEM ones are T4335, H&K 16 ohm ones are T5225
@@LordofDiamondsMetal i have a 8 ohm version Nr. T5273 17AN 50 with 1777cone now,it sounds pretty damn good.They are from 2003 and made in china(has the England Badge like your 2003 V30).Also beside some UK's and China regular i have a 8 Ohm Vintage Marshall,which sounds very nice also.I pair them V30's with redback in ENGL 2x12.
Thanks for all the work. I have a 8ohm xxAN/2003 china v30. Slightly older than yours. Seems to sound pretty good. Currently have it in a 2x12 with a 2023 china v30 with the transparent dust cap. Perhaps the best of old and new?
just try it out. maybe it'll be great. Nolly failed to provide any audio recordings to back up his claims so I wouldn't take anything he says as gospel
This is awesome, thanks for uploading and researching this. That 2003 v30 sounds killer. I would love to see if there are modern alternatives from other manufacturers that get close to the 2003 speaker. There are so many other options now, WGS, mojotone, eminence, Weber. No one seems to have done a thorough shootout that covers all alternatives yet.
I want to do more speaker videos for sure, it's just a question of "how much money do I have" XD. most of the video ideas and gear ideas I have would probably cost me close to $1000 to make. I could look at one or two alternatives, though. one of my local music shops has had a WGS Retro 30 for forever
interesting that the 2001 one is your favorite... it's definitely my brightest of the early 2000s ones I own (even now that I own an early 2000s Mesa cabinet), but it's tastefully bright. like, it's not spiky like the Marshall Vintages or the more modern speakers are
@@LordofDiamondsMetal I know. I perceive it brighter too. Tastefully bright, as you said. Maybe I like it better because of the bias of thinking of a v30 to mix it with another speaker in a 212 cabinet.
@@jacob-zs9wc yes. I contacted their support and they replied quite fast. They said everyone has Chinese in the cabinets these days. The cabinet is 8ohm.
Really great video, such useful comparison, especially considering so many endless argument over V30 speakers. Modern Chinese v30s sounded pretty great than I expected. Did you also hear that late 80s Marshall Vintage 12s sound really good?
I've never heard of Marshall Vintage 12s... wait, does the 12 just mean 12 inches, and you're talking about 1980s Marshall Vintage speakers? I've never consciously heard a recording of one or owned one
Very unfair against the g12 vintage. You have to get one from the 90s. Original and Black Album speaker. Celestion and Mesa are just copies. You are creating hype that does not exist. Just because a Dolly out of nowhere tells something about 2001 to 2003 and a lot of objectiv youtube stars follow. Great video production anyway. Greetings.
“Out of nowhere” - literally the entire guitar community has been talking about how the v30 has changed after 2004ish for years. It’s just recently been measured and quantified in a bunch of videos in a way that can be shown starkly.
I like Marshal vintages. I have a cab with them and they sound great, good mid range, without a fizz some V30s have
I guess you got lucky with yours
Honestly, I preferred the Modern 8 ohm Chinese version. It sounds smooth and open.
It's a great one, isn't it? I ended up leaving it in my Marshall 4x12 along with the early 2000s ones
Great video. I have two 2013 Chinese V30's that sound different from each other and two Mesa V30's from one year apart and they sound different from each other as well. I saw another video recently showing that the 2022 V30 has a different dust cap that changes the sound yet again. Have you had a chance to try one of those?
My 2021 Chinese-made one in this video also has the more see-through dust cap that you can see in the Glenn Fricker video. It's a fine speaker
Excellent, thanks for sharing this with us.
Many thanks for watching!
@@LordofDiamondsMetal Ohh . you dont have 8 ohm "Marshall Vintage"
I Liked more 2003 and Chinese modern 16ohms. THE best comparison vídeo. Thx man
glad you liked it
A Video of a 2022 Version of V30 would be great :)!
The 2021 speaker featured in this video fills that bill, as I bought it this year and it has the same transparent dust cap you'll find in the Fricker video. It's a fine speaker, but not the first one I'd try to record
The Marshall G12 Vintage is NOT a Vintage 30!!! Power rating and coil are DIFFERENT!!! They do sound close but are NOT the same type of speaker!!! I have British V 30's, Chinese V 30's and Marshall Vintages... British and Chinese are not that far apart, maybe 5 to 8%, but the Marshall vintage is over 15% different sounding!!!
Great video, thanks! Most others just dial in a tone for a Mesa V30 and then switch to another V30 without tweaking, which then of course does not sound as good. Neither would it when dialing in tone for a Chinese V30 16 Ohm from 2006 and then switch to a Mesa V30 8 Ohm from 2003. So, it is great that you hsve the tweaked clips! Concerning the V30 2003 speakers I can tell that I have two of them and they sound just as you described and showed it - one of them being a little more brutal and more '3D' than the other, but both sound great. Did a Video on UA-cam (if you search for earforce and gibson, you might find it or clicking on my name). I have also have two V30 from 2010, the 25th anniversary. Nolly said in the Video with Kohle, that with a little tweaking, they would sound quite similar to the 2000-2003 but mine sound very thin and harsh in comparison (but also more precise andclear, I must admit) that I did not manage to get them close (but I did not try very hard up till now, to be honest).
Thanks, man. This was done really well. Your mixing ability is top notch too. Even though each speaker sounded pretty different, you fit them in the mix so good that it made me not care about the difference.
thanks a ton! I'm flattered that you like the full mixes that much, I just do this as a hobby and don't have near the amount of experience or ear training as seasoned professionals do
Marshall vintage + vintage 30 2001 !!!!
Question: how did you wire your cab up for the 8 vs 16 ohm issue? did you just use the mono inputs and one side was 8ohm and the other 16ohm respectively?
no, I just said fuck it and put the 16 ohm ones in with the 8 ohm ones and did an impedance mismatch. it's inconvenient to move speakers around in the Marshall, and I'm a lazy individual and didn't think of the one side 8 ohm, one side 16 ohm idea until you mentioned it
Have some mesa V30 from 2003, they sound better miced inside the cap zone indeed, great speaker
Amazing job/ Thank you for sharing/
Well done no matter what that other curmudgeon says! ❤😂🎉. Subbed
All I know is that I dislike the 16ohm and marshall versions. Rest sound close enough that I don't care which one was in my cab tbh. In a mix it's even less apparent what the differences are to me. I'd be perfectly happy with a modern 8 ohm v30. UK or chinese
I'm glad you have tested Nolly's theory and you both are right! I've just scored a 23EN serial number OS cab and I'm very happy with it. Ps. I already have a Traditional 2005 cab, which sounds very good as well, but I always use Empress ParaEQ in the fx loop of my amp to remove the high end sizzle of it. Now I want to swap speakers between the OS cab and Traditional to see which one I'll keep.
i collect v30 speakers as well. what a rabbit hole. just like nolly.
Further proof that I prefer 8 ohm speakers lol. I've used both 8ohm and 16ohm vintage 30s, and I had the same results. 16 ohms always sound brighter and more scooped, noticeably so just like here.
The 2003 speaker sounded the best to me. Nice and balanced. Tons of mid content, smooth high end, tight low end, it just sounds the most musical to me, nothing too pointy. Which seems to jive with popular opinion in the guitar community especially on youtube. Everyone loves mesa cabs with mesa v30s from the late 90s to 2003'ish. Some of the best metal records were recorded on mesa and engl cabs from that era. Colin Richardson, Andy Sneap, etc.
The different position of the speakers in the cab contribute to the difference which makes it hard to say something objectiveley about one speaker or the other. But I appreciate your efforts
I literally touched on this in the video. the goal here wasn't to make a totally scientific comparison but rather to get a general idea of the speakers' characters when compared to each other
@@LordofDiamondsMetal yeah totally get that, but it's still doesn't really give you insights about the speakers character. Try positioning the mic on the left side vs the right side of the same speaker, you will hear drastic differences, it basically sounds like a different speaker. Mic positioning is everything. You can get a million differen sounds out of the same speaker in a not exactly symmetrical cabinet like any typical guitarcab. Not trying to mock you or your video, I'm just saying there is so many other factors that contribute to the change in tone wehn micing a speaker.
Marshall Vintage is not the same as V30. It's two different models. Don't you know that? Marshall Vintage is not = V30
Sassy boy😂🎉
2003 for me at least was tops in the mix as well soloed without post processing with 01’ coming in second. Thanks for the informative vid, The effort and time put into something like this is well appreciated. Bravo 👏
love my 2003 V30
and now the hupe over the newest v30 2022 with the different dust cap!
So just for clarity Marshall Vintages aren’t V30s. They predate the V30 and there’s been a number of revisions since then.
There’s lots of 80s celestions that evolved into other modern speakers that we don’t choose to lump in with the modern production examples. People often do it for some reason with the Marshall vintage (I think because it makes it easier to sell 1960AV cabs) which is a bit disingenuous.
When did the Vintage 30 first come into existence, then? Was it when Mesa starting making their Rectifier cabs and needed speakers for them? And what are the differences between Marshall Vintages and Vintage 30s, aside from the power rating?
The Marshall V30 is massively underrated.
It has a certain presence all the others don't that sounds great for old school thrash and death metal tones. The 2005 is especially bright but my favorite are the mid-late 90s variants; they have a lot more low end and sound darker but still have that presence grind from being a 16 ohm speaker.
I wouldn't use it for a modern metal context like played here... But for some classic 80s thrash or 90s death metal tones the Marshall V30 nails it.
Man that 2003 sounds incredible. I'd be curious to see more speakers from the same year to see if it were coincidence or if it's that great.
so would I. thanks to the Kohlekeller Studio interview with Nolly though every early 2000s speaker gets snapped up as soon as it goes up for sale. I saw a 2002 one on Reverb a while ago and was going to get it, but by the time I made the decision and reloaded the page it had been sold
@@LordofDiamondsMetal Yeah. I mean honestly your video is probably inspiring me to pick one up. Thanks for the shootout.
@@LordofDiamondsMetal The Kohlekeller interview was an eye opener. Consequently, like many others since, I've been scouring every 2nd hand website for the last 12 months Australia wide. Not that many old 8 ohm V30's available in Australia. I drove people mad asking them to take photos of their date code stickers. I finally managed to track down a 2003 Mesa Cab, with U.K made 8 ohm V30's. It arrives tomorrow. 😁
@@rockostiffredi4276 @ROCKO STIFFREDI That's sweet, I hope you enjoy the cabinet! Yeah, that interview got a lot of people riled up for tracking down date codes, but the thing that gets my goat is they're doing it based on trust of Nolly's word since he didn't provide any audio recordings. That's the huge thing I missed from that interview because Nolly dropped so many bombshells but there was no recorded audio. I don't doubt that there's something to what he said but I was left wanting more. I wonder if there's a post somewhere with more recordings to show what he meant, he did that on Facebook for his block letter vs signature 5150 comparison
@@LordofDiamondsMetal I see your point about hearing actual audio comparisons to back his claims. He must still have the recorded audio comparisons in his possession for sure. It's his decision whether to share them or not.The thing that reinforced it to me was vividly remembering being in Kosmic Music in Perth, W.A. back in mid 2003, and they were demonstrating the Mesa Rectifier/ Mesa V30 Cab to a crowd of notable impressed onlookers. It sounded absolutely huge, and gave me goosebumps. Later that year Shihad played the Big Day Out Festival using the same gear. Goosebumps all over again, and nothing has come close since.
Thanks so much for this video, priceless
6:55 2001-8ohm
8:09 2003-8ohm
9:22 China-8ohm
10:36 Mesa-8ohm
11:49 China-16ohm
and Marshall vintage really sucks so fuck it haha
I already have timestamps in the description, there wasn't really any need to post your own
@@LordofDiamondsMetal yes i see, i just wanted to quickly jump between specific parts of the song not just the begining
A blend from '01 and '03 would be THAT TONE!
the third one had a tinge of sandlewood, while the fourth one was a bit too nutty with some slight notes of citrus
lmao
Nice🤘
Do you know if the V30 25th anniversary celebration is better than the Chinese 2022?
I can't say; I've never tried one, you might get lucky with it. The anniversary speakers are just a label, though, there's nothing special about them
@@LordofDiamondsMetal thanks for your feedback.
Do you know the Version for Hughes&Kettner?
They're mostly 16 ohms, I think, and they also have type 1777 cones (same as on G12T-75s) instead of type 444 cones like other Vintage 30s. they also have a different T number - like, standard 8 ohm vintage 30s are T3903, mesa 8 ohm OEM ones are T4335, H&K 16 ohm ones are T5225
@@LordofDiamondsMetal i have a 8 ohm version Nr. T5273 17AN 50 with 1777cone now,it sounds pretty damn good.They are from 2003 and made in china(has the England Badge like your 2003 V30).Also beside some UK's and China regular i have a 8 Ohm Vintage Marshall,which sounds very nice also.I pair them V30's with redback in ENGL 2x12.
What guitar are you using?
Cheapass thing from Thomann
Excellent, bravo! This answers my question from your previous video. I arrive to the same conclusion, 2003 rules!
It just can't be beat. I'd love to get some other speakers from the same year and see if there's little variation or if I just got lucky
@@LordofDiamondsMetal I think we are just lucky to have 2003 ones :)
Good job 🤟
Thanks for all the work. I have a 8ohm xxAN/2003 china v30. Slightly older than yours. Seems to sound pretty good. Currently have it in a 2x12 with a 2023 china v30 with the transparent dust cap.
Perhaps the best of old and new?
Dude your riffs are killer bro! Great video! And I agree with your findings.
you are like the v30 warlord, thanks for the vid
I just bought 2x12 with v30 1777 cone (T5225) from 2001, and im scared after what nolly said.
just try it out. maybe it'll be great. Nolly failed to provide any audio recordings to back up his claims so I wouldn't take anything he says as gospel
This is awesome, thanks for uploading and researching this. That 2003 v30 sounds killer. I would love to see if there are modern alternatives from other manufacturers that get close to the 2003 speaker. There are so many other options now, WGS, mojotone, eminence, Weber. No one seems to have done a thorough shootout that covers all alternatives yet.
I want to do more speaker videos for sure, it's just a question of "how much money do I have" XD. most of the video ideas and gear ideas I have would probably cost me close to $1000 to make. I could look at one or two alternatives, though. one of my local music shops has had a WGS Retro 30 for forever
Could you make an IR of the modern chinese 8 ohm, please? Sounds awesome.
I don't have a reliable setup for making impulses. I would still need a clean power amp and a reamp box/passive DI
Fantastic and informative demo
the best is the 2001 one
again, great work man :O
I liked the 2001 and Chinese 8ohm the best. Less boxy sounding. Then again I'm more of a greenback guy.
I have yet to try any greenbacks. What am I missing and what should I look for
@@LordofDiamondsMetal Lots of mids and speaker breakup. More of a late sixties through 70s sound. Though EVH used greenbacks.
nice job !!!
Dude!! Great video. Thanks for sharing. My favorite one is the UK 2001 V30. 2003 my 2nd choice. I think something happened after 2004/2005, for worse.
interesting that the 2001 one is your favorite... it's definitely my brightest of the early 2000s ones I own (even now that I own an early 2000s Mesa cabinet), but it's tastefully bright. like, it's not spiky like the Marshall Vintages or the more modern speakers are
@@LordofDiamondsMetal
I know. I perceive it brighter too. Tastefully bright, as you said. Maybe I like it better because of the bias of thinking of a v30 to mix it with another speaker in a 212 cabinet.
Have you tried the Marshall Vintage 30MF used in the MF280 cabs?
no, I didn't know there was one branded for the Mode Four cabinets
@@LordofDiamondsMetal the version in the mode 4 cabs is MUCH warmer, F.Y.I.
This is extremely helpful, thank you for putting this together! Also, it made my evening to hear some Sonic Mayhem at the 18:00 mark. :D
I play Quake 2 riffs all the time in these videos. easy to play and effective at showing off whatever I've got
@@LordofDiamondsMetal I agree, it is effective. I'll have to listen for some more, I just came across your channel yesterday. Good stuff!
Please, pardon me for perhaps, an off-topic question, but does ENGL 212VHB Pro has Chinese-made or UK-made Celestions? Also, are those 8ohm or 16ohm?
Did you find out
@@jacob-zs9wc yes. I contacted their support and they replied quite fast. They said everyone has Chinese in the cabinets these days. The cabinet is 8ohm.
@@KeepAnOpenMind thx
That’s is a NASTY riff bro. 🎉
glad you think so! I have a ton of riffs but I just can't put them into anything more than a short demo track
@@LordofDiamondsMetal SAME HERE!
They all sound the same
Really great video, such useful comparison, especially considering so many endless argument over V30 speakers. Modern Chinese v30s sounded pretty great than I expected. Did you also hear that late 80s Marshall Vintage 12s sound really good?
I've never heard of Marshall Vintage 12s... wait, does the 12 just mean 12 inches, and you're talking about 1980s Marshall Vintage speakers? I've never consciously heard a recording of one or owned one
@@crankyourampupalltheway Aha, I see. Wish I could find some sound recordings
Very unfair against the g12 vintage. You have to get one from the 90s. Original and Black Album speaker. Celestion and Mesa are just copies. You are creating hype that does not exist. Just because a Dolly out of nowhere tells something about 2001 to 2003 and a lot of objectiv youtube stars follow. Great video production anyway. Greetings.
Nailed it, I’d even go for the late 80s Marshall vintage of you can find them.
“Out of nowhere” - literally the entire guitar community has been talking about how the v30 has changed after 2004ish for years. It’s just recently been measured and quantified in a bunch of videos in a way that can be shown starkly.