Joe Bonamassa's/Eric Johnson's Mystery Celestion Speaker

[JazzMuzak]

Am I reading right that Joe is using Seventy 80's in his HP Twins? As in, the super cheap Celestion Seventy 80's that come stock in every cheap amp or cab I've ever seen? That's interesting if true.

 

[somebodyelseuk]

Am I reading right that Joe is using Seventy 80's in his HP Twins? As in, the super cheap Celestion Seventy 80's that come stock in every cheap amp or cab I've ever seen? That's interesting if true.

Yes.

EDIT... and he confirms it in this video
https://youtu.be/eqlUxdgSYqY

He uses JJ valves and Ernie Ball strings, as well.

 

[Mr. Papa]

Hi guys,
It was cool seeing JoBo wearing a LPF T-shirt in his Epi LP Custom ad, and it reminded me I wanted to ask if anyone can clarify, definitively, whether the speaker he is using is the "Classic 80" or the "Seventy/80"? I read different things in different places.
Thank you!

 

[goldtop0]

Hi guys,
It was cool seeing JoBo wearing a LPF T-shirt in his Epi LP Custom ad, and it reminded me I wanted to ask if anyone can clarify, definitively, whether the speaker he is using is the "Classic 80" or the "Seventy/80"? I read different things in different places.
Thank you!

It's the Seventy 80 from what I've read recently.

 

[agogetr]

You'd be hard pressed doing any better than those Orig Jensens. Those 10" bad boys pump out some sublime tone.

true dat!

 

[Wound_Up]

This Celestion 70/80. Is this the same speaker everybody says isn't any good and should be replaced if you buy anything that uses it? IIRC, my Monoprice 15w uses a 12" 70/80 and everybody always says the first thing you should do is replace it.

Are they really that bad? This is my first tube amp and 4th amp overall so I don't have much knowledge about this all, yet. Only started learning to play last December. Thanks!

Hi guys,
It was cool seeing JoBo wearing a LPF T-shirt in his Epi LP Custom ad, and it reminded me I wanted to ask if anyone can clarify, definitively, whether the speaker he is using is the "Classic 80" or the "Seventy/80"? I read different things in different places.
Thank you!

The post above yours provides a link that says Joe confirms that they're 70/80s in that vid. Did you check that?

 

[Mr. Papa]

This Celestion 70/80....The post above yours provides a link that says Joe confirms that they're 70/80s in that vid. Did you check that?

I watched it and all he said was that he uses the 80 watt Chinese speaker, "great right out of the box" or something, but I am still not totally sure he isn't talking about the Classic Lead 80. So, idk...others seem totally confident that it's the Seventy 80 but I haven't seen a pic of his amp from the back to confirm.

 

[Señor Verde]

Doing a little interweb searching this morning, the Bonamassa signature Fender '59 amp uses slightly modified Celestion Classic Lead 80 speakers, model JB85. So if you can't get a JB85, try a Classic Lead 80.

 

[Roe]

Yes, it is a tweaked g12-80

 

[Mr. Papa]

Thanks all for clarifying!

 

[corpse]

Also please remember what Joe does with them- full volume- for an entire tour- before he takes them out and replaces them. YMMV but low volume use may vary the enjoyability.

 

[agogetr]

You'd be hard pressed doing any better than those Orig Jensens. Those 10" bad boys pump out some sublime tone.

i,m with ya 66. ive never felt i was missing out on anything running my bassman pegged with original speakers. i even run a distortion pedal because it really needs it to get into what they now call 'hard rock' territory, funny because in the seventies we just called it rock n roll. my speakers have never blown! of course its been a decade or better since ive plugged it in... actually its been since around 1991! i,m thinkin about doing a youtube video to fire it up after 30 years and see what happens! the longest i ever went before that without turning it on was 10 years, it fired right up. those speakers were tough as nails. i ran full open for many years. then started using hp twins, marshalls etc. so the bassman has been on the back burner as the years (decades!)have slipped by. if i start using it again i will run those speakers till they blow then recone them and go again. hard to believe but ive never changed a tube.i got it around 74 when i was but a wee lad. the deal for me to buy it was cut in a tree fort. my buddy got it from his grandmas junk antuiqe store for 35 bucks

 

[somebodyelseuk]

It's worth bearing a couple of things in mind, here, and this applies to many touring musicians.
What Joe uses on the road is not necessarily what he uses in the studio.
More significantly, perhaps, he has said in interviews that component choices in his rig are made based on how easily available they are, everywhere on the planet. Hence, he uses JJ valves, because you can find em everywhere. Remember, next day delivery from the internet doesn't cut it if you need a part for tonight's show.
Same may apply for speaker choice.
That last 2% of tone is irrelevant on stage. The audience can't hear the difference.
In the studio, that's a different situation.

 

[Joshabr1]

He does not use the 70/80 speaker. He uses the classic g12-80 and now celestion is making him his own speaker which is a g12-85. The 70/80 speakers are terrible in my opinion and most anyone who I trust that has heard them. But it’s very subjective and what I think sucks others may absolutely love. And that’s all that really matters. But with that said there is a huge difference between the d g12-80 and the 70/80 speaker they (Marshall) use in the combos

 

[goldtop0]

He does not use the 70/80 speaker.

Can you provide proof of this(in reference to his HP Twins).

 

[Joshabr1]

Can you provide proof of this(in reference to his HP Twins).

There are a couple videos on line where he talks about how amps the twins and baseman’s having his personal g-12 85 celestion speakers. Totally different speaker than the 70/80

 

[goldtop0]

There are a couple videos on line where he talks about how amps the twins and baseman’s having his personal g-12 85 celestion speakers. Totally different speaker than the 70/80

He's got a gazillion vids on youtube and he's in a whole lot more on the net...........which ones specifically??
The vid in post #22 of this thread is about the 70/80............and that's what we know.

 

[yladrd61]

I believe that originally those were equipped with Tung-Sol 5881's in the power section.

Yes, and the Russkie Reissue Tung-Sol 5881s sound really good in there I still prefer late 50s GE preamp tubes especially a 12AY7 in V1.

 

[Hamerfan]

He does not use the 70/80 speaker. He uses the classic g12-80 and now celestion is making him his own speaker which is a g12-85. The 70/80 speakers are terrible in my opinion and most anyone who I trust that has heard them. But it’s very subjective and what I think sucks others may absolutely love. And that’s all that really matters. But with that said there is a huge difference between the d g12-80 and the 70/80 speaker they (Marshall) use in the combos

The G12-80 are godly speaker, they are a tiny bit brighter and little bitier than the famous g12-65.

 

[rshackelford]

Re: his alleged use of 70/80's.... you might think these things suck, but they don't.... they're actually quite good PROVIDED YOU KNOW THE TRICK! ;-)

The trick is to give them way, way more break-in time than you think makes any sense. I put mine in a closet in the far-away room and let it run 24/7 for more than a week, using a looper track as the source for half the time and a loop designed for breaking in headphones for half the time. You can use blankets, etc, to help muffle the speaker, but if you're using a tube amp, make sure the amp part gets plenty of air. I went on the assumption that it didn't have to be mega-loud but it did need to cover all the frequencies available on the neck, plus some beyond that range for good measure. Dunno if I was right about that, but that's what I did and it worked,

I don't claim to be an expert on speakers... I dunno what makes them require mucho break-in.... is it the cone?.... is it the dope? Beats me...

But once these things are broken in, they're remarkably good (IMO) at not coloring the sound. I wonder how a well broken in one measures vs a FRFR speaker. I'm sure there will be notable diffs.... but I bet they'll also show notable samenesses. I'd be very curious to see that...

When people get a new amp that has one of these, they think they're terrible... but that's just because they're new and still stiff as a board. So, the impatient folks wind up tossing a very good speaker because they were in too much of a hurry and didn't know the trick.

If you know somebody like that, get them to give theirs to you. ;-)

p.s. I'm not saying Celestion set out to do this. I assume they set out to make a very affordable OEM speaker that noobs couldn't blow up during the warranty period. But sometimes there are happy accidents ;-)