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[pmonk]

Thanks Central Scrutinizer, now the hard part and loading her. Thoughts?

Celestion G12h30 quad 1974 t1281 pulsonic | Reverb

Hi,Here's a rare matched quad of celestion g12h30 t1281 removed from a 1974 cab. They are in good condition, tested perfect at low and high volume, very healthy and well preserve speakers, all original pulsonic 0444 stamped pulsonic code, reverse date code normal for that period (see bigones site...

reverb.com

Celestion T1221 Greybacks 1974 Marshall | Reverb

A matched quad of Celestion T1221 G12M dated 25th Jan 1974.These speakers have 444 55hz cones marked with the yellow crayon which would have been factory fitted at the time when built (confirmed by Bygone tones)They're in excellent condition with absolutely no issues whatsoever. Really great so...

reverb.com

 

[neikeel]

Ideally you will want pulsonics but depends on your patience and pocket.
I like G12H30 (either 55 $$$ or 75Hz$$) with a JTM45 as they tighten the bottom end up a little. Personally I find with well broken in ones (but not knackered) the 75 and 55 do not sound much different. Of course G12M20 would probably be original type in your cab but good luck in those $$$$. The cheapest way to get there to the original tones (and now) would be a quad of Celestion Heritage 20s and break them in yourself
You can pick up G12M25 55Hz T1511 with 014 cones now and again at better prices and to my ears sound better than most T1221 75Hz but of course your ears/style will be different. I’ve had dozens of speakers and cabs to play through Marshalls of all types, no where near as many as Bygone or Scumback (and a few others here with speaker addictions) but these are my distilled views!
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[BygoneTones]

Sorry to hear the script logo got damaged in transit, thats annoying. In future I'll have to use super stiff cardboard to cover the grill to stop it bending inwards. Otherwise looking good though. Nice rig.

 

[BygoneTones]

Celestion G12h30 quad 1974 t1281 pulsonic | Reverb

Hi,Here's a rare matched quad of celestion g12h30 t1281 removed from a 1974 cab. They are in good condition, tested perfect at low and high volume, very healthy and well preserve speakers, all original pulsonic 0444 stamped pulsonic code, reverse date code normal for that period (see bigones site...

reverb.com

Celestion T1221 Greybacks 1974 Marshall | Reverb

A matched quad of Celestion T1221 G12M dated 25th Jan 1974.These speakers have 444 55hz cones marked with the yellow crayon which would have been factory fitted at the time when built (confirmed by Bygone tones)They're in excellent condition with absolutely no issues whatsoever. Really great so...

reverb.com

The greybacks are RIC cones, and will have a darker / smoother top end. The G12H are the later 'large rib' pulsonics, and will be brighter but more gutsy and glassy. In theory the G12H will probably sound the best and have the sound "everyone wants". Depends on the condition of them though, it's all in how they sound when you fire them up, you can't judge it from photos, you have to use your ears. The G12M quad appear to be in the best condition to me. The G12H might be a bit more on the tired side (notice the brown colour of the cones), but I would probably still go for those.

You just need to be very careful of coil rub, lifiting spider supports, and other faults when buying vintage. Faulty speakers are common.

 

[Brewster]

The cabinet was packaged great and made it on one piece. Thanks again Brian for all the work and extra care with making it happen. Your personal notes on the outside I'm sure was noticed and most likely saved her from getting thrown about. The UPS driver even knew it was a speaker cabinet due to the place of origin.
Thanks for the thoughts and input on speakers. Sure would like to find something period correct but I know I am probably dreaming. Maybe those Alnico 100 anniversary speakers??

 

[neikeel]

Personally, although I like Blues (in my '64 Vox AC30T) I do not like them in closed back Marshall 4x12s with a Marshall head. I found them very 'boxy' and disappointing, YMMV. I also had a pair in my 18w Trem 2x12 combo but found them a bit bright and sharp c/w the pair of T1220 that I had before them (G12M25 75Hz with ** 003 cones) and which went back in and remain there with no plans for change.

 

[Brewster]

Okay, thanks Neil for the input. I will not pursue that direction in hopes of finding some vintage.

Placing 1974 speakers in a 1966 cabinet seems wrong to me. However finding an old set of four matching 1966-67 speakers seems impossible, maybe one at a time is my only option.

 

[neikeel]

As I mentioned I have been very impressed with the Marshall 20w Heritages (I used a pair in a 68 BB I restored) so a quad (if you can find them would get you very close to the original tones whilst you search/save up for a set of late 60s T1281s or more likely T1217.
I have a quad of nice T1217s I could trade but I am looking for a quad of Fane 50w with pulsonics for that cab (I have two early 70s Oranges with the same speakers and need a cab with Fanes for my Hiwatts).

 

[Dogs of Doom]

maybe try some Scumbacks, 'til you can find the real deal...

 

[Brewster]

Thanks guys, Actually I found a pair of Heritage close by to me and the seller told me they are still available thru Celestion. I'll double check that since it would be cool to keep it as close to original as possible.
For the cost I cant go wrong with them.
DOD, Nothing against Scumbacks or any other aftermarket speakers. Its just me trying to get the cab as close as I can sound and component wise.

 

[Jimi-C]

PM sent, but does anyone mfg a realistic tolex to restore a vintage cabinet? Wonder how many times Eric Collins has been asked??

That tolex looks like Marshall black elephant hide. you should still be able to get some.

 

[Brewster]

The elephant hide tolex is larger scale type which was used in the later seventies.

 

[neikeel]

Originally Black Levant. Subtle different types/shades and the way they fade.
Bygone tones is the absolute expert

 

[BygoneTones]

Not really an expert. From what I've seen though, anything with a pinstripe grill made from mid 1965 to late 1967 should have the green on black levant tolex. On the left in this pic:

So pretty much all cabs with the leather strap handles combined with the pinstripe grill should have that tolex. If you could go back in time to 1966 to the Marshall factory that's what they were slapping on everything as standard I'm sure. There are slight colour differences in batches, sometimes it can look more blue than green.

Where things get confusing is that the ageing process can remove that green pattern and turn it to plain black. That's why you should always look for it on the inside of the cab where it is usually still well preserved. You can see that effect here. Black on the outside but the green effect is preserved on the inside (this is your old 67 B cab Neil):

Not to mention people dicking around with their gear. People painting them black, or adding boot polish, and people being dis-honest about retolexing them in black, fake ones from MG etc, etc. Like I said, if you could go back in time and cut all that stuff out, I'm pretty sure everything coming out the factory at that time would have that green on black effect tolex on it (bar custom colours etc). Fwiw nicest tolex Marshall have ever used in my opinion.

Some of the last pinstripe cabs with metal handles did come with the plain tolex usually seen on basketweave cabs (on the right in that first pic), it seems to first appear in late 67.

 

[Brewster]

Wow, this stuff is great and it alone should have its own thread. I wish I could cut and copy the last 3-4 post and start a new one in Cabinets and Speakers.

 

[Brewster]

Well, after searching for the missing letter (L) through the packaging and surrounding area I finally found it. It had sprung out of the packaging only to land in a pile of leafs outside my garage door. Ugh, who would have thought. I spent allot of time looking but worth all the time spent.
Thanks again, Brian!

 

[Brewster]

Its a full cabinet again even though the speakers are not the correct date codes. I got a quad of DD (1971) 25 watt green backs installed and will wire it up tomorrow. Fun stuff thus had to share.
Still looking for some old T1221's and hope to find them someday.
Cheers!