by Sid of Stone Marmot

The Celestion G12L-35 is a 12 inch guitar speaker Celestion made from the early 1980’s to about 2000. Information on this speaker is hard to find, but from what I have found it was intended and used mostly for the Marshall 8412 guitar speaker cabinet. This closed back cabinet is about the smallest cabinet you can fit four 12 inch speakers into and was part of the Valvestate line. It appears other manufacturers, such as Fender, Laney, and possibly Crate, have also used this speaker in their amps and cabinets.

From the little data I have found, it is a 35 W speaker with a 80 Hz to 5000 Hz frequency response. It has one of the lowest sensitivities of any Celestion I has seen, with various places claiming it to be between 95 to 97 db at 1W/1m. For many, this is a negative as it means the speaker isn’t as loud for the same power input as most Celestions or other speakers. But for many others, this is a positive as it means the speaker isn’t as loud for the same power input as most Celestions or other speakers. This means you can get this speaker to crunch at lower, more reasonable volume levels better suited for the studio, small clubs, churches, and home. This also means you can run your amp harder and get more of its natural distortion at lower volume levels.

And this speaker does have that distinctive Marshall crunch. I recently bought four of these speakers for $125 and installed them into a four 12 inch speaker cabinet someone was throwing away that I salvaged. I don’t know who made it, but it had a “200” metal label on the front and vertical silver stripes against a black and brown background for the grill cloth. I think Yamaha may have had cabinets like this in the late 1970’s, early 1980’s. The cabinet is all ¾ inch plywood and barely fits four 12 inch speakers. It had four vents in the back board which I sealed with plywood. So its size is similar to the Marshall 8412. Since these speakers weigh less than 5 pounds each, the weight of this cabinet loaded dropped from 70 lb. to 56 lb.

I am using a Dean Markley Signature 120 tube amp to drive it. This 19” rack mount amp is effectively a clone of the Marshall 2203 100W master volume amp. The differences are: a) This amp uses 6L6 output tubes, b) it has most of the more popular “hot rod” mods recommended for the 2203 already in it, c) it has a solid state reverb, which sounds pretty decent, and d) it has a solid state active midrange control, which gives much broader control of the midrange. I got this amp for $5 at a garage sale. I removed half the output tubes and adjusted my speaker impedance connection accordingly to cut the power in half to about 50W.

The speakers sound quite good in this cabinet. They definitely have the Marshall midrange crunch at moderate volume levels. They do clean well, though there are better (and much more expensive) speakers for this. But they excel when pushed, and you don’t have to push them hard. They have a smooth top end, unlike the Celestion Vintage 30 I have, which can be a bit harsh and ice picky in the highs (for me, at least; some like that sound). They have a clean, even, well defined low end, though it isn’t prominent and chest thumping like some speakers. Some people say the low end can be a bit flabby, but these same people also state that they were using open backed cabinets. I was using a Gretsch 6196T big hollow body guitar, which is the guitar that I am most intimate with its sound and can definitely put out some low end (unlike my Tele or Rick).

Are these the best speakers I have ever heard or played through? No. I’ll take my Weber alnico Blue Dog any day over these speakers. But the Blue Dog cost me $185 when I bought it, whereas the G12L-35s were $125 for four speakers. The G12L also does the Marshall thing better than the Blue Dog. I think the G12L is better sounding than the much more expensive Vintage 30. But many will disagree with this. If you need volume and lots of clean headroom, the V30 or Classic Lead series are definitely upgrades to the G12L. But, if you need good sound at reasonable volume levels, don’t have a lot of money, and want to save your back, the G12L is definitely a speaker to consider. You can usually get the G12L-35 second hand in good condition for between $25 to $35 each. You will have a difficult time finding a speaker that sounds this good at anywhere near this price.