Rola Celestion G12/75

MartinB

I have an old Rola Celestion G12/75 which I haven't been able to find much information on.  It seems unrelated to the G12-75T, as it's a few years older and has an H size magnet.  The T- number is T2570 and the date stamp is AL17 which would be January '78.  All Celestion were able to tell me is that it has a 2" voice coil and is closest to the G12-100 which came shortly afterwards.  The cone feels a little stiffer and heavier than other guitar speakers I've had around.  
I'm using it with a home-built amp that I'm still getting used to, so it's hard to be sure how the speaker itself sounds.  I'm certainly getting some satisfying sounds, though I don't know if another speaker might sound better still.  Has anyone had experience of these?  Would you consider them a decent enough old Celestion?  

Bridgehouse

I've got 2 in a 2x12 cab that I refurbished. They are about 1977.

One was very slightly ripped so I repaired it with a bit of teabag. 

I don't know if it's the weight of the cab or the speakers themselves but it's bloody loud and sounds really really nice.

MartinB

Oops, I didn't quite manage to post the image links from my tablet.  Let's try that again...

Bridgehouse

MartinB said:

Oops, I didn't quite manage to post the image links from my tablet.  Let's try that again...

I see you've had your dome removed (fnarr!)

MartinB

Bridgehouse said:

I see you've had your dome removed (fnarr!)

Hard to say, but I thought it may have come like that.  The dust cover on mine is a silvery grey cloth material. 

Bridgehouse

MartinB said:

Bridgehouse said:

I see you've had your dome removed (fnarr!)

Hard to say, but I thought it may have come like that.  The dust cover on mine is a silvery grey cloth material. 

Possibly. The domes are supposed to make them a bit more spikey, but I can't say I've noticed..

Mine pair nicely with a Jet City head..

ICBM

It's a long time since I heard one, but from memory they're a big, chunky-sounding speaker, not too bright but not really muddy either. As with many Celestions from that time there may be more than one spec though - they made apparently identical (going just on the back label) speaker models for guitar, bass and PA, all with different cone types, and they all sound quite different. The T number is the real model designation.

The metal dust caps do usually add a spiky buzz, most noticeable with a distortion/fuzz pedal, but if the speaker isn't very bright anyway it may not be particularly noticeable. I'm pretty sure the silver-grey cloth cap is a replacement - I don't think I've seen one on a stock Celestion, and the glue stain around it doesn't look right either.

MartinB

Neither bright nor muddy does sound about right - it will brighten up sufficiently with the Presence knob turned up, but it doesn't seem to have a whole lot of upper mid peakiness going on.  It's a bit dull sounding with my Princeton Reverb copy, but quite enjoyable with a more Marshall-voiced amp. 
I'm presuming this is more likely to be a guitar model than bass or PA, since it doesn't have anything outlandish like a cloth surround or whizzer cone.  Searching for the T-number on google, the list on bygonetones.com describes the T2570 as having a white coloured dust cap so I guess there are others out there, but yes, it does have that dark glue mark.  I notice that T2571 is also an 8 ohm G12/75, so that must have been another cone option. 
I've got it in a 6v6 Plexi-ish combo I'm just finishing up, and I reckon it can probably stay for the moment.  I'm just getting used to a new build amp with a speaker that's also a bit of an unknown quantity.  I should probably try it out through some other cabs when I get the opportunity, to get some more idea of how it sounds. 

Bygone_Tones

It is probably not a guitar speaker in  my opinion. These type of speakers tend to turn up in stage monitors and things like that. The marshall powercell range etc. They are usually quite neutral sounding with guitar, but there a few different versions of them with different T-numbers.

In the mid 70's, Celestion made a G12/50 - which is a very similar speaker, it has the same type of cone with the thicker ribs and the 2" coil. You see them on ebay from time to time with the yellow frame or red frame. They definitely came in some stage montiors and marshall powercell.

Im guessing the G12/75 and G12/100 are the higher power handling version of those speakers. Celestion were increasing their power handling from about 78 onwards. If you think about the G12/80 and G12/65 replacing the greenbacks at that time.