^That’s me 100% with my ‘76 Blackback cab that I really like. I use it a lot with the Marshalls, but hesitate at too high of volume or with certain amps. I have no doubt I’m overly cautious with it. It survived touring with a band in LA during the ‘80s, abuse in the ‘90s, etc…and it’s still great and works perfect . Yet here’s me worrying over turning up slightly louder than rehearsal volume, haha.
What’s funny is a friend has been on the hunt for vintage greenbacks. So for kicks I pulled out my old 4x12 with 1972 greenbacks and holy shit do they sound good. I think tried an old cab with Blackback H30’s w/55hz and damn they were so good as well. I then tried the anniversary H30’s and they have a scratchy top end to them that takes a few minutes to get use to.I know you have the Anniversary 12H-30 75hz and I have to say they sound great in all the clips you have posted of them. I bought a quad of MIE Anniversary 12H-30's and they sounded nothing like my original 1979 1982A cabinet with the original 12H-30 75Hz Blackbacks so I guess I have to chalk it up to lack of consistency on Celestion's part. For me the 55HZ heritage is really good for EVH that doesn't have that wooly quality to it that my blackbacks have at lower volumes that I play at mostly now and my 75HZ heritages sounds great for all around styles and really do sound close to my 1979 original Blackback 12H-30 cab just a tad tighter a newer. Did I get a lucky and get a good sounding batch of Heritages?... it's quite possible. I have posted clips of my Heritage 55HZ of that cabinet only, the 75Hz Heritages are less woody but sound great as well.
I'd love to try Jims take on the Blackbacks but I am fairly satisfied since I finished loading my last two 4x12's with the Heritage 55 and 75hz. If people need a higher wattage type of greenback or 12H-30 I think Jim at Scumback would be the way to go since the Heritages are $200.00 a pop and 30 watt each.
I really do wish the Anniversaries would have been more like the Heritages but to my ears circa 2009-2010 they weren't even close, the anniversaries I had were strident and grating in the highs and quite unpleasant. Was is just that production run that I got that sounded this way?... anything is possible. I bought the Heritages in 2019 so who knows?If so I am glad I got lucky...
I have a cab with '83 G12-65s and a 2x12 with G12-65s from the late '70s. They sound good but they lack the top end bite of the G12M.
Yes, the aggressive highs are attenuated some. I would say then for a higher powered Greenback or 12H-30 type speaker that is 65 watts is either going to be the Creamback or Scumback. The I would imagine Jim at Scumback has perfected his building skill over the years since the Weber built days so I would look into the 65 watt M65 or the 65 watt BH or BM models(Blackback) models, all you need to do is decide 55hz or 75hz. If you like your high end maybe 75hz would be a better choice. If you want more a woody tone then the 55HZ might be the one.
I’m surprised by this…if your late 70s cab has late 70s Marshall labeled 65s (T3120s) they have every bit the same top end as any M25; but falling short of an H30. Now, there are like 40 different versions of the 65 that were made; I’ve had a darker version like yours from 83-I’d agree with your assessment but I could get them bright enough with the 800 I had. But the Heritage reissue 65 is very nice and is closer to the earlier brighter version than the darker one I had from 83. They did a great job with it and definitely gives off a high powered GB vibe.
I would stay far away from the EVH 2x12's horrible spikey top end
...and those are loaded with the H30 anniversary? Or the Heritage H30. Either way, bright city.
Part of my problem is I use 8-strings with a low F# and occasionally a 9-string for lolz with a low C#. Even at moderate volumes I worry the extra excursion is not healthy for old speakers.
I don’t think you’ll find anything in Celestion production; I’d recommend Scumback in your case.
Sounds like you have narrowed your selections down then since you dislike 12H-30 variants. You'll have to just jump in and see what they sound like when you get them.
I have a Mesa Roadster 2x12 and I like the Mesa V-30's more than the Celestion Anniversary 12H-30 and regular V-30's although I hear the 80's V-30's are fairly good.