Celestion Classic Lead 80

James Freeman

James Freeman

Rock Star
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3,698
I LOVE this speaker, it's the big brother of the G12-65 speaker and the natural continuation of the G12-80, some say the the G12-80 never left and evolved into the modern Classic Lead 80 in 1986-87, read my posts below.

To my ear this speaker delivers the sound of Ride The Lightning, Master Of Puppets, And Justice For All and Countdown To Extinction, just to name a few of my reference albums that supposedly used the original G12-65 or early G12T-75 speakers from the 80s.

My old posts from the other place after some internet research:
Looking at the bygonetones T list, it appears that Classic Lead 80 (T3969) was introduced with the Modern Lead 70 (T3971) along with the G12-80 Mesa Black Shadow (T3989B) which was around 1985-ish.
The Vintage 30 (T3903) introduced in 1986 and has the same style of Celestion black sticker with "blind shades" logo like the CL80 and ML70.

All this leads me to believe the G12-80 or its successor the Classic Lead 80 never actually stopped being produced since the 80s in one shape or another, maybe between 84-86 it took a break until Mesa revived it.
The G12-65 on the other hand did take a much longer break between 1984 (replaced by G12T-75) and 2006 when it was reintroduced in the Heritage series.

It is VERY likely that the Heritage G12-65 is just a small magnet Classic Lead 80, being the last standing Heritage speaker.
The re-cone kit is the same: https://www.tubesandmore.com/products/recone-kit-celestion-g12-65-classic-lead-80-8-ohm
Click to expand...

Classic Lead 80 from 1987:


That is very interesting indeed.
It is almost like the G12-80 never left at all.
Hmm...
Click to expand...

Two different listings I found for the ML70 are from 1987 (KV27), like the CL80 above.
That makes 3 speakers with the blindshade/ladder/stripes logo from 86-87: Vintage 30, ML70 and CL80.

From these date codes and T numbers we can say with pretty good accuracy that the Classic Lead 80 production started somewhere in 1986 - 1987.
Click to expand...
 
I like the voicing of the CL80. I bought one a few years ago to pair with a V30 in a 2x12. When I first tried a Marshall-style amp through it, I also thought I was getting tones that reminded me of Ride the Lightning.

The Heritage G12-65 is one of the next speakers I want to try out. I didn’t know about the relation to the G12-65.
 
Isn't a Mesa C90 related to a G12-80? I recall reading about that when I got into the weeds/rabbit-hole on this subject, years ago. I think a C90 I had at the time even had a G12-80 sticker on it... though that may have been a tone-hunt-induced fever dream.

These days I just stick with V30s (apologies to @la szum ... hey maybe that should be my new sig), although I may be switching to C90s now that I'm in Mesa Mark-land...

(And I refuse to swap speakers in/out of anything. Cab/amp needs to come with the speakers I want out of the gate.)
 
I was contemplating finding some Modern Leads and pairing them with two Classic Leads. Instead, I got the Marshall G12 Vintage (2x) and paired it with new T75 (2x) speakers in an X pattern. Sound awesome!
 
I like the voicing of the speaker, but, to me, I feel they attenuate too much high end. Takes some of the “good” bite away. That could be due to the large dust cap, not sure.

If so, I’d like to hear a CL80 with a small dust cap.
 
TubeStack said:
Isn't a Mesa C90 related to a G12-80? I recall reading about that when I got into the weeds/rabbit-hole on this subject, years ago. I think a C90 I had at the time even had a G12-80 sticker on it... though that may have been a tone-hunt-induced fever dream.

These days I just stick with V30s (apologies to @la szum ... hey maybe that should be my new sig), although I may be switching to C90s now that I'm in Mesa Mark-land...

(And I refuse to swap speakers in/out of anything. Cab/amp needs to come with the speakers I want out of the gate.)
Click to expand...
What’s up TubeSteak?
I hope all is well with you & all amongst you.
My suggestion is do not install the C90.
Which is a customized rendition of a CL 80.
Mesa put their glue on the cone=Custom 90.

Smart decision with refusing changing out speakers to accomodate some labywrinth of lunacy wishful type of seeking.
Speakers also need some break-in.
99.9% of guitar player’s of today actually are truthful of how much break-in time they’ve actually put in with a cranked amp playing Sad But True for hours on end.🎯

If you are in fact entering the labyrinth of lunacy
speaker rabbit hole..
- I’d research the Mojotone stuff,
those speaker’s are dope AF & reasonably priced.

At this point in my journey TS,
I’m all about some vintage JBL orange frames
& super mint Alnico Blues.

I’ve learned, speaker’s are more important than the amplifier.
It’s the speakers that let the amp come on through,
-allowing your amplifier to sound it’s best
 
Last edited:
Life Eats Life said:
What’s up TubeSteak?
I hope all is well with you & all amongst you.
My suggestion is do not install the C90.
Which is a customized rendition of a CL 80.
Mesa put their glue on the cone=Custom 90.

Smart decision with refusing changing out speakers to accomodate some labywrinth of lunacy wishful type of seeking.
Speakers also need some break-in.
99.9% of guitar player’s of today actually are truthful of how much break-in time they’ve actually put in with a cranked amp playing Sad But True for hours on end.🎯

If you are in fact entering the labyrinth of lunacy
speaker rabbit hole..
- I’d research the Mojotone stuff,those speaker’s are dope AF & reasonably priced.

At this point in my journey TS,
I’d look into some vintage JBL orange frames
& super mint Alnico Blues.
Click to expand...

... :rofl

Thanks, I'm not entering any rabbit-holes, just idly commenting on the CL80 and possible connections to the C90.

I stopped futzing around with removing/installing speakers years ago. Too lazy and don't trust my own screwdriver skills. :grin

If I do go all-C90 (at least with my gigging setup, still rehearse with a 4x12 of V30s), it will just involve buying a second Mesa 1x12.
 
(@James Freeman seems to have lost interest, anyway...)

No One Page GIF
 
Unlike many Celestion guitar speakers, the Classic Lead 80 stays clean and articulate with volume under (classic) higain and palm muting. Once I got over my (too long) V30 phase, and I discovered the CL80, I was sold on them and never looked back.

I can't say it more often, and repeat myself over and over again: I just don't understand why folks using a 5150-ish or Diezel-ish higain amp, put a boost up front (to take away bass, but also add mids and treble gain), boost depth or resonance, AND put all this into a V30 cab, which anyway smears high end and upper mids under volume, and muddies and softens bass attack and chug tracking under volume... *inhales*.... these folks are telling stories about a "tight" higain sound they're achieving :facepalm
I mean, ok, this is a sound, and it sure can be great, and that's totally fine and all.
But if it's one thing, then NOT tight. I repeat: with this signal chain the sound will NOT be tight. Tight in a sense of hitting hard, being impactful and precise, tracking exactly what you're doing with your right hand.
Ever played a Fryette amp (Deliverance, or Pittbull, take it easy with the gain knobs!) through a CL80s loaded cab? THIS is tight. Really hits you hard, pounds your chest. Spits out the dynamics you put into the signal chain.
Or take a 2203-ish circuit, or a Laney GH50/100 in low gain mode, and boost it sliiiightly. THIS also is tight.

Sorry for the rant.
Actually, I just wanted to say: the Classic Lead is such a great speaker :grin
 
Speakers are way easier to swap than pickups. I probably have 4 or 5 unloaded cabs of various sizes
that I need to do something with and take my own advice for once in my life.

Probably won't, though. :guiness
 
I never changed a speaker in my life til just a few weeks ago. I feel empowered but I’m also pretty well satisfied with all I got going on at the moment…

Curious to see what I think about V30s in 2024 once I receive the Mesa
 
headcrash said:
Unlike many Celestion guitar speakers, the Classic Lead 80 stays clean and articulate with volume under (classic) higain and palm muting. Once I got over my (too long) V30 phase, and I discovered the CL80, I was sold on them and never looked back.

I can't say it more often, and repeat myself over and over again: I just don't understand why folks using a 5150-ish or Diezel-ish higain amp, put a boost up front (to take away bass, but also add mids and treble gain), boost depth or resonance, AND put all this into a V30 cab, which anyway smears high end and upper mids under volume, and muddies and softens bass attack and chug tracking under volume... *inhales*.... these folks are telling stories about a "tight" higain sound they're achieving :facepalm
:grin
Click to expand...

Isn't that an EV or a Fane?? :idk

I do applaud the V30 truth. One day everyone will realize it. :rofl
 
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