Celestion "Greenback" ID thread, pics, descriptions, etc.

[Jeff West]

Howdy- There were two "X" boxes for awhile, but they didn't open. Maybe benno will fire again.

[Scumback Speakers]

Not complete yet, 7 more cabs have been added since (with 6 more to go!), but here's my demo room as of 8 days ago. Some of you are probably wondering if I've been talking out my butt about pre rolas for the last six years...hopefully this will assure you I have not.





I still have 16 more original pre rolas in boxes to load into cabs, too. Obviously I've been the pre rola Kool Aid for awhile.

[borisson]

Originally Posted by Scumback Speakers

OK, more pics to illustrate cone codes to watch for on old Celestions.

I'm going to show you pics of the cone codes from 1969 to 1973 for G12H30 55 hz speakers, widely known as the "holy grail" of Celestion speakers. These speakers came with a Pulsonic 55hz bass cone.

Earlier today I picked up a quad of Rola Celestion 1973 G12H30 T1281 55hz speakers (EF 8 date code, May 8th, 1973). The seller swore they were all reconed, no numbers, no nothing. Turns out they had the very rarely seen "4" code on the cone. The "4" code cone is the last in the Pulsonic 102 014 speaker cone line. This cone is the one that so many search for for the ultimate tone. (Hogy uses these speakers for his Komet Amp clips on his site. http://www.kometamps.com/sounds.html)

Here's the 102 014 cone code pic. The one I have loose for pics has a significant cone tear repair. Whoever did it (before I got it) did really well, since this speaker passed OCSR's speaker tests (www.speakerrepair.com), and they're a Celestion authorized recone/repair station. I've seen others that had no repairs not pass, so this is an anomaly, for sure. This cone code is underneath the black speaker tab, high up by the voice coil (generally were Celestion put the cone codes when installed at the factory, all three of these are in the same proximity).
1969 G12H30 T1281 102 014 cone pics:


Then in late 1970 or so, Pulsonic shortened the cone # code to 102/14, here's a pic of what that looks like. The DD23 date code on the speaker this code pic came from dates it to April 23, 1971.
1971 G12H30 T1281 102/14 cone code pic:

Finally the 102/14 morphed into a "4" all by itself, with a line on top of it. It almost doesn't look like a complete number 4 printed on the cone at all, have to admit. The ones I picked up today all looked like this (the fourth was a recone, a 1777 75hz lead cone that was an incorrect Celestion recone kit). These pics came from a 1973 G12H30 T1281 Rola Celestion 55 hz speaker with a date code of EF 8, May 8th, 1973.
1973 G12H30 T1281 "4" cone pics:


Here's the label on the 73 Rola.


And here's the comparison of the 102 14 cone and the 4 cone. One is a seasoned rock 'n roll warrior that's been in a cabinet for 30 plus years, the other hasn't seem much dust/duty at all considering how shiny the doping is and free of settled dust (like the one on the right). Make a guess, let's see who can figure it out!

I picked up 1972 1982b cab today. Checkerboard, birchply back, plastic handles, looks like new...(from a colector Who died 2 years ago and somebody is selling the stuff now...)
Inside are 4 greenbacks T1281, no label, all 4 dated CE (March 72, thanks Jim for your email reply...)
2 of them have 102/14 on the cone
2 of them have only white 14 on the cone, anybody know these?
Thanks
Couldnt make pictures yet...

[Jeff West]

Yes. I have couple late as 5/73 with "102/14", but '71 to '74 can see "xx 102 014", "102 14", "102/14", "14", "4", or "4", more or less in that chronological progression most typically, all presumably the same nominally 55hz res cones.

Not counting the smudging and malstamped variants.

And I see one in the photo is underlined at the top!

[borisson]

Thats great, thanks! That means they re all 4 pulsonics! (all 4 are absolutely clean on the cones, with black tabs... pictures will follow) i think great score considering the price i paid...
My ceriatone 1959 should be coming on monday... but the cab sounds killer with the mark v too :-)

[borisson]

Originally Posted by Scumback Speakers

You can wire those 20w in series/parallel in a 4x12 to be a total ohm load of 16 (15 is no problem). Speaker dating seems to be correct as well. Be very careful with them, though. You won't be able to run a 100w Marshall through them safely, only a 50w. Get that dust cap repaired/glued down so it doesn't rattle.

My 1982b cab is wired like the picture above, 4 x 12 15ohm speakers, total 15 ohm for the cab ( the label on back of the cab says 15-8 ohm per pr?)
Is it ok to run the cab with 16 ohm from the amp or better 8?
Thanks

[Scumback Speakers]

Run it at 16, not 8.

[borisson]

Originally Posted by Scumback Speakers

Run it at 16, not 8.

Thanks Jim

[borisson]

Originally Posted by borisson

I picked up 1972 1982b cab today. Checkerboard, birchply back, plastic handles, looks like new...(from a colector Who died 2 years ago and somebody is selling the stuff now...)
Inside are 4 greenbacks T1281, no label, all 4 dated CE (March 72, thanks Jim for your email reply...)
2 of them have 102/14 on the cone
2 of them have only white 14 on the cone, anybody know these?
Thanks
Couldnt make pictures yet...

here with the pictures

[alandick]

Great post on identifying "greenbacks".

I have an old Marshall cabinet kicking around that I don't use much and the wife wants me to get rid of it. So I started doing a bit of research and sent some photos to Marshall. They tell me that the cabinet is "late 60's or early 70's" and appears to have original castors, handles etc. It has the "100" logo but the larger style Marshall badge. It is pretty much immaculate other than a few tears in the cover on the bottom corners as you would expect from a 40+ year old cab.

So I looked inside to check the speakers. They are 15 ohm T1281. According to Marshall they are the 25w bass version of the G12.

The speakers all have date codes which (if I am reading them correctly) suggest April 1969 - three are coded BD3T and one is BD11W. I can only see two of the cone numbers but these are 45 102 0014 and 49 102 014.

I was originally a little concerned that the magnet covers didn't have any labels on them but I notice from your the photos in post that this isn't unheard of. Are these original bass greenback Celestion G12H speakers?

I tried to upload some photos along with this post but can't seem to manage. I can send you photo's of both the cabinet and speakers if you want to take a look.

Thanks
[IMG]file:///Users/Alan/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG]

[Scumback Speakers]

alandick, I shot you an email.

[borisson]

Originally Posted by borisson

here with the pictures

Are these actually considered to be pre-Rola?

[Scumback Speakers]

B: the speakers have the Pulsonic cones so they have the pre - rola tone. The cab isn't the more desirable basketweave cloth w/metal handles model, however it's still a decent cab.

[Blondie]

Hey I'm newbie and noob...
Just got these here on the way... and two more that I haven't got pics of... will post when I got'em...
What can You say about'em... And what are they worth???

[louis]

I have four of these and they sound awesome !


Louis